Monday Preschool Camp

During the summers, I take care of kiddos for extra money. This summer, like last year, I am having a "preschool camp day" every Monday during June and July. The kids are 3 and 4 years old. Last year I had six kiddos every week. This summer there are only three. Boogs has a lot of fun having friends over on such a scheduled basis, especially since his preschool does not run during the summer. This week our theme was rabbits. I chose rabbits because of an activity I found after Easter, http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2010/04/peter-rabbits-garden-snack.html

I realize this is an Easter kind of thing but we worked it into June. The kids did not mind. We read Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, Barnyard Friends - Rabbits by Jason Cooper, and Grumpy Bunnies by Willy Welch.

The kids loved “digging in their gardens” using a toothpick for their gardening tool. They had to decide which food could not be found in a real garden – pretzels. After they finished their garden snack, the kids brought plastic bugs in from the playroom to put in their gardens. We had a lot of fun using tweezers to pick bugs out of the gardens. We even used magnifying glasses to see if the bugs damaged our gardens.

In Peter Rabbit, Peter hopped on the garden path to get to his tasty treats. So, I had a rabbit trail (poly spots) for the kids to hop along to get a treat. While they hopped on the trail we sang a rabbit song (can’t remember where I found it) with hand motions to the tune of I’m A Little Teapot:

I’m a little bunny, my name is Joe. (hands up for ears)

I hop fast and I hop slow. (hop up and down)

Whenever I get sleepy, my ears droop low (bend fingers down)

But after my nap, up they go! (hold fingers up)

Hop! Hop! Hop!

They liked this so much we had to do it four times. The treats were: graham crackers, tattoos, baby carrots, and bubbles.

 We spent almost an hour outside playing in the water, collecting june bugs, pill bugs, and caterpillars in some bug jars before we came in for lunch.

After lunch we moved on to a craft and a bunny game. For our craft, we made bunnies hiding in the grass because Peter Rabbit had to hide from the farmer in our story. I also had a rabbit color sheet and the easel out with paints. We played a game called Build a Bunny from Home School Creations. The kiddos had to use their counting skills for this game. http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2010/03/build-bunny-printable-game.html

We finished our time together by blowing bubbles in the front yard while we waited for parents. These days make me miss teaching full time.