What's Happening at UDA Creative Arts Preschool- February!

Love isn’t the only thing in the air this Valentine season. From snowflakes and bubbles to shadows and balloons, we’re lovin’ our learnin’! At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, our preschool theme weeks keep us learning and exploring our world.

Humpty Dumpty & Other Fun Nursery Rhymes

Science & Engineering

Our scientific studies on “Humpty Dumpty” led to many hypotheses and deductions.

It takes some serious skill to build a wall “Humpty” will stay on. We also experimented with different insulators to protect our “Humpty Dumpty” from his fall. We tried cotton balls, rocks, sand, tissue and dried beans. Conclusion: dried beans are the only substance that protects “Humpty” from cracking. Who knew?

Our engineers went to work building a variety of walls for our “Humpty Dumpty” to sit on. We learned it’s hard for a round “Humpty” to sit on a flat surface. But leave it to our scientific learners to create solutions! A ledge is a perfect fix.

Math & Language

Hickory Dickory Doc…

…the mouse ran up the clock. Learning to tell time can be a tricky concept. Introducing your preschooler to analog and digital clocks at an early age can give them a jump start in math.

Hickory Dickory Doc.

You can change the time of your clock.

As you make a new time, you invent a new rhyme.

Hickory Dickory Doc.

Math and language development lesson in one. Cha-Ching!

Groundhog Day & Movement

For Ground Hog Day we learned about our shadows. Here is a sneak peek at one of our classes experimenting with shadow sizes.

Playing with shadows isn’t just a fun scientific learning activity, it also develops your child’s small and large motor skills. At home, you can set up a flashlight or bright light and have a dance party or do a puppet show. And if your kiddo is concerned about those monsters under the bed, playing in the dark will also help your child feel more comfortable when it’s time for lights out.

Uu-Underwater Adventures!

Dramatic Play

After our fun nursery rhymes, we “row, row, rowed our boats” right into our Underwater Adventure theme week.

In the discovery room we used our boats to fish for fishy letters, My Little Ponies…

…and even rescue babies. Besides letter recognition with the fish, this dramatic play activity helped us discover our water world, as well as develop balance and small motor skills.

Math

A fun math activity this week was counting the right number of pearls to match the number in the shell.

Textures are great for sensory play! As children touch different textures, ask how they feel. Is it smooth, bumpy, rough, hard or soft?

Sensory Play

At the sensory table, the children play with different objects in the water beads. This multisensory learning is developing brain synapses that will produce a better foundation for later learning.

Not to mention all the colorful fun that can be had under the sea!

Do you ever have those moments when your preschooler stumps you? Why do fish have scales? Why don’t birds have eyebrows? Now there is one you can explore together! Check out our post on integrated learning to find out more on how to explore with your child!

Alphabet Learning

Can alphabet learning get any more fun than Jaws?

Just kidding. But seriously, we love making alphabet learning a game. By integrating our letters into our play, children are learning the alphabet and loving it!

Science

Meanwhile, at the science table, our preschoolers explore real underwater life in our aquarium. Children are great at discovering the answers to questions when asked. Don’t forget to ask lots of questions at home to help your preschooler’s brain make more connections!

Movement

“We’ve got no troubles, life is the bubbles, under the sea!”–Little Mermaid

Ah, to be as carefree as a child with bubbles!

Art

Our preschool theme followed us into art time as well. We had so much fun creating our sea with water colors.

After we created our ocean background, we decorated our sea with a plethora of sea life.

Name Writing

Last, but not least, what better way to learn spacial relations for under than being under something? Why not practice writing our names under the table? We can’t wait to hear how dinner under the table goes at your house!

Vv is for Valentine

Discovery Room

Love was all around as we celebrated Valentine’s Day and the letter “V”.

And so was our yummy smelling play dough! We used it to bake up a storm in our dramatic play kitchen.

Playing with scented play dough is a great multisensory activity. Not only is it using several parts of the brain and creating more connections, it also develops stronger hand and pincer grip muscles, an important skill for kindergarten.

Roll playing builds confidence and independence, characteristics needed for life skills. Check our our recipes below for your own chocolate and strawberry scented play dough!

Math Centers

Our scented dough found it’s way to our math activities as well. How can math not be fun when it smells like chocolate?

Kids love small objects and math becomes more concrete when they have something to hold. Click here for 16 fun counting activities you can do at home with your preschooler.

Art

We also went to work making our own valentines and decorating our valentine boxes. Process-focused art activities teach your child to be creative, independent, and induce a feeling of success. Check out this great website to learn more about process-focused art.

Play Dough!

We had so much fun with our scented play dough, we’d love to share! You can (and should) try this at home.

Chocolate Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp. cream of tartar
2 cups water
2 tbsp vegetable oil

First, pour all ingredients into a saucepan and cook over low heat while stirring and mixing. When it starts to thicken and resemble dough, remove from the heat and let cool. When cool, knead the dough until it is smooth.

Strawberry Play Dough