The Cat and the Hat Requests Granted

I logged on to the computer this afternoon to find an inbox full of requests.
All asking for the same thing, A Cat in the Hat craft w/pattern.

Well, that I can certainly do my friends.

I assume, that just like myself,
you are getting ready for a
Doctor Seuss birthday celebration this week?


You can find the crafts and patterns [HERE] or [HERE].

Cheers!

Robot Coloring Pages

Click on images to enlarge, save and print.

Rainbow Cupcakes

This CUPCAKES are AWESOME.

They were brought to us by one of our favorite preschool moms, Erica.

With permission, I pass along her instructions for making Rainbow Cupcakes.
ENJOY!

First, you need to mix up the batter for plain vanilla or white cupcakes. Divide batter evenly into 5 small bowls; each should have a little more than 1/3 cup batter (approx 6 tbsp or so for each).

Add about 1/2 tsp food coloring to each bowl to make red, orange, yellow, green and blue batters. Stir well, so no streaks of plain batter remain. Vibrant colors are the best thing about these cupcakes, so don’t be afraid to add a little bit extra food coloring if you don’t think that yours are strong enough. (Gel color works great too.)

Starting with whichever color batter you would like too, add a small spoonful to each of the cupcake liners (just over 1/2 tbsp in each). Repeat with all remaining colors, adding each spoonful on top of the previous color. You may need to use spoon to help spread batter out, but be careful not to blend colors.However, if you do not want a layered look or get tired of the whole layering thing, just spoon batter in randomly all over to make it spotty. Every cupcake will be different :)

Bake for time indicated on cake mix, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes on a wire rack before frosting. - ERICA

R is for Rainbow

After reading the above story and talking with your class about What colors make up a rainbow,
have your kids use watercolor paints to paint rainbows. Encourage them to memorize the color order a see if they can paint them in the order of the story.

Rabbit Puppet

Rr Rabbit

By Miss Moragn
Sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Rr, Rr, Rabbit likes to hop.
Hop, hop, hop right to the top!

Rr, Rr, Rabbit hops all day.
Rr, Rr, Rabbit likes to play!

Rr, Rr, Rabbit likes to hop.
Hop, hop, hop and never stop!


Color and Cut our Rabbit face and mouth. Use glue to attach the pieces to a brown paper lunch sack. Copy poem above and glue to the back of paper bag puppet.

Click on image to enlarge, save and print.

Conversations With a Preschooler; BEARS

Miss Morgan "Touch your nose if you can tell me something you know about BEARS."

Preschool Boy "My dad fought a bear once. Yep, he was taking the safest and quickest way to school and he ran into a bear. The bear swiped him on the arm but my Dad, he punch the bear in the face a ran as fast as he could to school. It's true."

Preschool Girl "Once we saw a bear in the mountains when we were driving in our truck. My dad, he threw a rock at it. Not at it Miss Morgan, just by it. The bear, it just hopped into the brushes with it baby bear real quick."

Preschool Girl "Once my mom did not die because the bear did not get her."

Preschool Girl "Bears vibrate in the winter. That means they sleep a real real long time."

Bear Facts

BEAR FACTS

Bears are mammals.

Bears have dense fur, a short tail, great ability of smell and hearing,
five un-retractable claws, and long and shaggy fur.

Bears have a large body with powerful limbs. They walk very much like humans do. They have broad paws, long snouts, and round ears. Their teeth are used for defense as well as eating. Their claws are used for ripping, digging, and catching.

Bears live in a variety of habitats from the tropics to the Arctic and from forests to snowfields. They are mainly omnivores, although some have a more specialized diet, like polar bears. They eat lichens, roots, nuts, and berries. They can also go to a river to capture fish. Bears will travel far from food. Hunting times are usually in the dusk or the dawn except when humans are nearby.

Some of the large species, such as the Polar Bear and the Grizzly Bear are dangerous to humans especially in areas where they have become used to people, but in most part, bears are shy and are easily frightened of humans. They will, however, defend a cubs' nest ferociously.

Bear Reads

Baby Bear Puppet Pattern

This Baby Bear Puppet is designed to use with a brown lunch sack.
Color, cut out and glue to your lunch sack!


Click on the image to enlarge, save and print.

Teddy Bear Day

Have a Teddy Bear Day at Preschool!
Invite your students to bring their favorite teddy bear to school for a day. They will love having their soft friend come to class with them. Put the teddy bears in all together and have the children separate the bears and group them by size, color, etc.

*Patterns and Science

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

The Bear Went Over the Mountain
Author Unknown.
Sung To: For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
To see what he could see

To see what he could see,
To see what he could see

The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
Was all that he could see

Was all that he could see,
Was all that he could see,
The other side of the mountain,
Was all that he could see!

Bean Bears

Use the Bear Pattern below, a bag of dried pinto beans and some glue,
to give this bear some fur!

You Will Do:
Glue beans all over the bears body so that he will be warm when he hibernates for the winter!


Click on image to enlarge, save and print.

On the Calendar

For the week beginning Monday, February 22nd.

AM CLASS: Letter R Week.
Wednesday: Show & Tell [Letter Rr Items Please] ~ Last day to sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences ~ We will be finishing our special project for our February theme; Pride in our Country.
Thursday: Parent Teacher Conferences 9-11am.

PM CLASS: Bears, Bears, Bears!
Tuesday: Bring your favorite Teddy Bear to class!
Wednesday: Show & Tell [Something Rectangle]

Giveaway

Want to enter a sweet giveaway in which Brilliant Beginnings is taking part?

Go [HERE]

And now that you know Miss Morgan keeps a personal blog, try your best to keep separate, church and state. Or business and pleasure. Or professional and friend? Er.... Can't we be friends?

GO ENTER!

Moose Hunt

A MOOSE WAS LOOSE IN OUR CLASSROOM!










Wait! Could it be?
He's asleep in our treasure chest?

SILLY MOOSE!

The day before you plan to do your Moose Hunt, be sure to read to your class the book If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Point out to your students that the Moose makes a huge mess everywhere he goes!

The next day before class begins, place moose tracks (use this printable) around the classroom, mess things up a little bit as if a Moose was loose in your room!

Moose Tracks (Printable)

Click on image to enlarge, save and print.
Copy onto brown paper, cut out and laminate.
(Specifically used for THIS activity.)

Moose Antlers

You will need:
The pattern below
Brown Cardstock or Construction Paper
Scissors
Stapler


ANTLER 1
Click on image to enlarge, save and print.

ANTLER 2
Click on image to enlarge, save and print.

A Snack for a Moose

Muffin Moose Facts

Moose Facts
They are the largest species of Deer
Their Life Span is up to 27 years
Males are 25% bigger than females
They live in forested areas in the winter, and preferably on swampy ground
They are fast runners
They are strong swimmers
They eat twigs and water plants in the summer
They eat conifer branches in the winter

Use these Facts and the Muffin Printout below.
You will also need a Moose of some kind (a stuffed animal or puppet), and the Book, If you give a Moose a Muffin.

Before Class, copy the muffins below onto brown paper. Cute them out, and laminate them for good keeping. Label the back of your muffins with numbers or letters. Print out the list of Moose facts and correspond each fact with the number or letter on the Muffins.

At gathering time, read the book If You Give a Moose a Muffin with your students.
Then Introduce your own Moose and show the class your paper muffins.
Tell your class that like the Moose in the story, your pet Moose also likes muffins and is getting hungry. Have a child come up and pick a muffin out of your hand or a bag, etc. Have them tell you the number or letter on the back and then read the corresponding Moose fact from your paper. Continue this until the Moose has eaten all the muffins. You can also add a little math into the activity by having the class count the muffins and subtract one each time a muffin is eaten.

Click on the image to enlarge, save and print.

Math , Science and Nature

Moose Coloring Page

Click on the image to enlarge, save and print.

Duck for President

5 Little Ducks

5 little ducks went out to play,
over the hills and far away.
When the mama duck called "quack quack quack!"
4 little ducks came waddling back.

4 little ducks went out to play,
over the hills and far away.
When the mama duck called "quack quack quack!"
3 little ducks came waddling back.

3 little ducks went out to play,
over the hills and far away.
When the mama duck called "quack quack quack!"
2 little ducks came waddling back.

2 little ducks went out to play,
over the hills and far away.
When the mama duck called "quack quack quack!"
1 little duck came waddling back.

1 little duck went out to play,
over the hills and far away.
When the mama duck called "quack quack quack!"
no little ducks came waddling back.

No little ducks went out to play,
over the hills or far away.
BUT, when the daddy ducks cried "QUACK QUACK QUACK!"

ALL FIVE DUCKS CAME WADDLING BACK!

Q is for Quack!

Duck Mask


You will need:
Paper Plates
Orange and Blue Construction Paper
A Black Marker
Tape
Popsicle Sticks
Yellow Yarn

Letter Person Q Coloring Page

Quiet Mr Q


Click on the image to enlarge, save and print.

On the Calendar

For the week beginning Monday, February 15th.

AM CLASS: Letter Qq Week. We will also be working on a special project for our Monthly Theme, Pride In Our Country.
Wednesday: SHOW & TELL [Qq items Please] -
A Sign Up for Parent Teacher Conferences [February 25th] will be out this week as well, don't forget to sign it!

PM CLASS: It's All about MOOSE week!
Wednesday: SHOW and TELL [Something Oval]

From all of us here at Brilliant Beginnings!

Valentine Boxes

You will need:

A box (one per child of course) I get my mine at the paper store nearest me, XPEDX.

Red Paint

Paint Brushes

White and Pink Heart Cutouts

A cutout of each child's name. I use the Cricut and cut out each child's name with white vinyl.

You will do:

Paint the outside of the box until all sides are completely covered in red. You can wait until the paint is dry and then use glue to attach your hearts if you want. I prefer to stick the hearts right into the wet paint. That way you are pretty much done once the paint is dry! You can apply the name stickers to the boxes after the paint has dried. OR, if you used paper to cutout the names, you can apply them directly to the wet paint, or glue them on when the paint is dry!

Miss Morgan's Notes: Whatever the reason, DO NOT go against your better judgement and leave the tables uncovered:)

Don't think to yourself "Oh it's washable paint, I don't want to spend the extra time covering the table with paper. It'll wash right off."

Ya, don't allow yourself to think that way.

Mkay?

Decorate a Sugar Cookie Anyone?

And, what's a Valentine Sugar Cookie without Sprinkles?
LOTS of them.

Heart Rubbings

You will need:
Glue Gun (with glue:)
Poster Board
Paper
Crayons (sans wrappers)

You will do:
Use your glue gun to make several different kinds of hearts on a poster board.
Different sizes, plain and patterned, etc.
Have your children place a thin piece of paper over the poster board and rub the paper with a crayon. They will love the cool heart designs that appear!

Tissue Paper Hearts

You will need:
Red and Pink Tissue Paper (cut into 1.5 (ish) squares)
Cardstock Heart Cutouts
Glue

You will do:
Crumple tissue squares and glue them onto heart cutout.

Use them to decorate a bulletin board or your classroom for February!

Miss Morgan's Notes: One package of each color
of tissue was plenty sufficient for 24 students.

February/Valentine Bulletin Board

On the Calendar

For the week beginning Monday, February 8th.

AM CLASS: Letter Review and Valentine Fun.
Tuesday: Letter Recap and Review activities.
Wednesday: Valentine Exchange. Each child is welcome and encouraged to bring a valentine to share with each classmate. No bags or boxes necessary. We will be Making our own! If you need a new class list please let me know. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING WRAPPED CANDY OR CLOSED TREAT BAGS ONLY.
No SHOW & TELL

PM CLASS: Valentine Fun.
Tuesday: I Care about YOU!
Wednesday: Valentine Exchange. Each child is welcome and encouraged to bring a valentine to share with each classmate. No bags or boxes necessary. We will be Making our own! If you need a new class list please let me know. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING WRAPPED CANDY OR CLOSED TREAT BAGS ONLY.
No SHOW & TELL

P is for Pigeon

If you follow this blog, then you certainly must know that I am a big fan of the Author Mo Willems and, that I have a great many of his picture books in both my preschool and home libraries.

I particularly love Willem's series of Pigeon Books.
So, when it comes time for Letter Pp Week, I do my best to include The Pigeon.

Mo Willems uses Word Bubbles in nearly all of his picture books.
I use the Pigeon Books to introduce the concept of a Word Bubble to my preschoolers.

As you read the stories with your class (or child), encourage them to point out the word bubbles on the pages and allow them to recognize and tell you which Word Bubbles belong to which character. (Where the arrow of the bubble is pointing, etc.)

(This is Miss Morgan's fave of the series)

After you have read through one or more of the Pigeon Books (I read the whole series to my class!) Give each of your preschoolers a copy of the Pigeon coloring page below.
Have them color the pigeon and then tell you what they would like their Pigeon to be saying. Write the sentence in the bubble for them, or if they are able, have them write it themselves.

Do you hate it when you can't find exactly what you are looking for when you dream up a particular lesson? I do! So, occasionally I make my own, and am left hoping it doesn't look too unprofessional. Ha Ha. I drew this Pigeon Coloring Page myself, I'm happy to share it with you if you'd like to use it in your class or in your home. But, please don't knock my drawing skills:)

Click on image to enlarge and print.

P is for Pajama's

Pajama Day!!!
P- pajamas!
P-P-pajamas!


Be sure to read this darling story to your kids as the cozy up at circle time in their Pajamas.

Pretzel Math

Have your students wash their hands as if they are preparing for snack time.
Have them sit at the table and give them each a napkin and 10 pretzels.
Call out a number and challenge your students to count out the correct number of pretzels to match your number. Continue to call out numbers and give equations for kids to solve. Such as, "take 3 of your pretzels and place them in a row on your napkin. Now add 2 more. How many do you have now?" When you are done with your pretzel math, you can eat your pretzels!

P is for Pirate

On a Pirate Ship
Do you think you would be brave enough to be on a pirate ship?
An adventurous tale
By Sarah Cortauld and Benji Davies



Pirate Ship Coloring Page
Click on image below to enlarge and print

Popcorn Calling Me Song

You can't say that P is for POPCORN and leave out my favorite popcorn tune now can you?

Laurie Berkner's (of course) song Popcorn Calling Me
is a must have.

I was walking outside, it was a quarter to 3 when I heard my popcorn callin' me.
Walk on home, it said. Walk on home. Walk on home or I'm gonna be gone.

CHORUS: (quieter and rub hands together)
And I heard it go sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle,
sizzle sizzle sizzle.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle POP! (clap your hands) POP, POP, POP!

I was dancin' outside, it was a quarter to 3 when I heard my popcorn callin' me.
Dance on home, it said. Dance on home. Dance on home or I'm gonna be gone.

CHORUS

I was runnin' outside, it was a quarter to 3 when I heard my popcorn callin' me.
Run on home, it said. Run on home. Run on home or I'm gonna be gone.

CHORUS

P is for Popcorn

You will need:
Purple P outlines. (Copying onto cardstock works best because it won't bend.)
Glue
and POPCORN!


You will do:
Cut out your letter P (some children will need help with the center)
Cover your P using Popcorn and glue!