Lauren's performance/award and PreK cooking day!

Last Thursday was a busy day for us. First we watched Lauren do a performance with her Kinder class, where she was the injured person in the Good Samaritan story. She did a great job moaning and begging for help ;)

 

Then Mrs. Cooper called her onstage to get her second GOAL award in Leadership. I almost laughed out loud... the irony of my quiet, shy, follower girl being awarded for being a LEADER! Mrs. Cooper said she shows many leadership qualities, by " being a good example in all areas! She loves God, has a happy and helpful attitude, obeys quickly and does well in her school work!"

 

Great job, LaurenBug!

 

After the play and awards ceremony, I went into the PreK class to cook with them. We made smoothies this time and the kids faces lit up... they LOVED them. I just had them chop and prepare some fruits to be blended; strawberries, oranges, bananas, blueberries, etc. They each got to add a dollop of Greek yogurt and a splash of juice and then we blended. And of course, they all got to push the 'blend' button... that's a big deal for 4-5 year olds :)

 

Yummy!

PreK cooking; Fishing!

With both PreK and Kinder working on reading rather than individual letters, I was told by both teachers to plan whatever I wanted (hurray!). So instead of planning around a letter, I opted for a fishing theme because 1) it was fun! and 2) we spoke about being Fishers of Men :)

 

Using celery (which they cleaned and cut), peanut butter (which they dished out) and goldfish, they fished until their little hearts were content. They were so preoccupied with 'fishing' that I used that time by sharing how as Christians, we are to 'fish for men'.

 

The fishing went well, learning was achieved and bellies were full :)

PreK and Kinder cooking; Yam dip and butterflies

The preschoolers were working on the letters X, Y and Z last week which was awesome because there are sooo many kid friendly ingredients that start with those letters. Not.

 

So, I got creative and made my own "Yam dip' recipe:

 

First we cut up some soft yams (already cooked and skin removed), a dash of almond milk, a squirt of honey, a tsp. of canned pumpkin and a shake of Pumpkin Pie spice:

 

They added all of those ingredients to their cups and mixed it until their little hearts were content. When they were though, they got as graham cracker square and dipped 'em :)

 

 

Tasty and I got them to eat a rare veggie :)

 

Then I headed over to the Kinder class where they were learning about Butterflies. So using a couple apple slices, a carrot, pretzel sicks and raisins, they crated their own butterflies.

I love watching how their little minds work and how each child creates something different each time!

Next week, I'm going to have them create a different butterfly. I'm not sure if these cooking lessons are more for their learning skills or my enjoyment :)

PreK and Kinder cooking; Letter U

With Lauren's class working on a weather unit and Jake's class working on the letter U, it seemed logical to make Umbrellas!

 

The idea was simple; I gave them different ingredients to cut up and tear apart (cheese, ham chunks, crackers, marshmallows, etc). 

 

Using a candy straw as the umbrella handle, they combined all of the food items and made patchwork umbrellas. There were some cute ones but they were already eaten before I was able to snap a picture of them :( So this is the only finished product... bet you can't tell a preschooler was the artist here, huh??? :)

PreK and Kinder cooking; Easter tombs!

I was super excited to do a cooking lesson with the kids this past week because 1) I love Easter and the reason we celebrate it and 2) I had an awesome inspiration; Easter tombs!

 

 

Before I began though, I read this story below and taught the kiddos about where Jesus was buried and why He had to die in the first place. It was sweet to hear it in their words :)

 

 

Oh! And before I got started in the Kinder room, they treated me to a dance they had learned, waving palm fronds and riding as donkeys, just as Jesus had done. It was too sweet :)

 

 

Anyway, back to the cooking!.

 

Each child got a graham cracker and spread a thin layer of peanut butter on it as glue (this is the floor). Then they each got a scoop of grass (coconut that I had dyed green) and they spread it out on the peanut butter cracker.

 

Then they added a donut hole (the tomb) and set in front of it an Oreo cookie, which symbolized the large rock rolled away from the entrance of the tomb.

 

Then I handed the preschoolers little flags that said "He is risen!'. And for the Kindergartners, I gave them their own flags to write themselves.

 

He is RISEN! The greatest news of all time, really!

 

PreK and Kinder cooking; Cat in the Hat theme

It was Dr. Seuss week a couple weeks ago, so I got inspired to do some Seuss-y cooking with my  Preschoolers and Kindergartners :)

 

 

I started off reading Cat in the Hat, and encouraged them to guess what we'd be making... most were right. We were making hats! 

 

(This was a special treat- there was nothing of nutritional value but every once awhile, I say let them be kids and get some cavities :))

We started by separating an Oreo cookie and then layering some white frosting on it. Then they added a red Gummy Lifesaver, a layer of frosting, another Gummy, more frosting, etc, making a hat:

It was simple but the kids really enjoyed this one because there was chocolate, frosting and candy. What's not to love?!?

PreK and Kinder cooking; Tortilla flags

A couple weeks ago (I'm a little behind on these and trying top catch up!), the Preschoolers were working on letter T, while the Kindergartners were learning about America (with it being Presidents day and all). I have begun to make it my mission to create a cooking lesson that ties the two themes together, so that I'm not 'cooking' several things in the same week.

 

So, I came up with Tortilla flags :)

 

I started off by giving them tortillas that I had cut into rectangles. Then they each got a dollop of cream cheese, and the practiced spreading it onto the tortillas. Once they had a white layer, they added some blueberries in the corner for stars, and placed some cut up strawberries in rows as the stripes (whcih offset the white cream cheese 'stripes'). We added a few pretzel sticks as the flag pole, and voila!

 

Megan is starting to be able to participate with us which makes me so happy that she's enjoying these lessons as well :)

We talked about the American flag and how many stars and stripes it had on it, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance as well as the Christian Pledge of Allegiance. And as a thank you to me, the kids sang "God Bless America' to me :)

PreK and Kinder cooking; Rainbows

With PreK working on the letter R, and the Kindergartners working on a weather theme, I decided Rainbows would be the perfect combination.

 

I started by reading a book Mandy let me borrow about eating a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables. It was the perfect book for this cooking lesson!

 

So after we read, we got to work. I gave them each 1/2 a banana, and had them peel and then cut the banana into thin slices. Then we put that aside for a bit.

 

Then I asked each of them to count out x amount of cut up fruit pieces, and they created their rainbows:

 

(The bananas were the clouds on one end of the rainbow; we added marshmallows to the other).

For the Kinder's, we talked about when rainbows occur (after a rainstorm). I tied in the weather theme here.

Of course, we talked about God's covenant with us in that He promised to never flood the Earth again. So all in all, we did some sorting, some math, learned some cutting skills, weather patterns and talked about what the Bible promises us. I'd say it was another enriching lesson :)