Feed the Penguin

 Practice color recognition with this penguin-themed idea! Make a penguin out of a box and practice various concepts while playing this game with your youngsters.

                                 
 Materials:  Medium size box, glue, brush, scissors, box cutter, black construction paper, white construction paper, various colors of construction paper, glue stick, white crayon, pencil.

 We will be turning the box into a penguin.  I happened to have a box that has a large slit in it already.  If your box does not have a slit, use a box cutter to carve a slit into the box which will become the penguin's mouth.  If you are cutting out your own mouth, you can make it a bit smaller than the size of hole in my box.

 Next we will be covering that front side of the box with black construction paper.  You can also do the next few steps by painting a penguin onto the box, but I did not have paint so I used construction paper instead.

 Squeeze some glue onto the box and spread all around using a brush.

 Cover the front side of the box with black construction paper, leaving the slit uncovered.

 It should look something like this.  No, it is not perfect and that is okay.  Unless I am planning on using something I have made over and over again, I don't worry about spending extra time on making it look perfect.  The kids don't notice the imperfections and  frankly, I don't have the time to make it look perfect.  If it serves it's purpose and somewhat looks like what your trying to represent, then its fine.

 Next, draw a beak onto yellow construction paper.  I just freehand it...remember, it does not have to be perfect.

 Cut out the top and bottom beak.

 Glue them over the opening on the box using a glue stick.

 Cut out a half circle and glue centered on the bottom of the box.  The white half circle represents the penguins tummy.

 Cut out two small circles and glue them toward the top of the box to represent eyes.

Cut out pupils out of black construction paper. Now he is ready to eat.

 Draw a fish onto the colors of construction paper that you would like your children to review.

 I drew this fish freehand, but I'm sure you can find a stencil online if you feel uncomfortable drawing it on your own.

 A set of color fish.

 You may also label some with shapes, numbers, or letters that you want to review.  If you decide to label your fish, I would recommend using the same color fish so that the child can focus on the symbol.

 Encourage child/ren to verbalize the color/letter/number/shape before they feed it to the penguin.

If you plan on saving this game to use again and again, you can cover the front of the penguin with contact paper and glue the fish onto cardstock or something similar, cut out, and laminate.

Cheesy Alphabet, Number, and Shape Recognition!

I am super excited to finally write my first blog post!!  Hang in there with me, for blogging is a new venture for me and I am learning as well! My first preschool fun learning idea is super simple...it combines learning with food!!  If there is anything you will learn about me is that I love food.  I think it makes learning fun and, of course, you can tweak anything you see on here to try to make it healthier or to suit your needs.  However, I don't think there is anything wrong with eating a "naughty" snack every once in a while.  The Greek saying "Pan Metron Ariston" which means "Everything in Moderation" is a motto I live by.:):) Anyhow, you only need two items:  spray cheese such as Cheese Whiz and crackers.  I just used some crackers I had at home, but you can use anything from Triscuits to Saltines.  Anyhow, while you are having snack with your children all you do is write the letter, number, shape you want to review onto the cracker.  You can even put letters together to make names/words or do addition or subtraction problems!

 I bought the store brand because it was cheaper, but it is not as tasty as Cheese Whiz :/

 If your child has very good fine motor skills, they can even try spraying the cheese. However, you will probably need a bigger cracker!

 Ask questions such as: Can you tell me what this letter is?  Does it have straight lines or curvy lines? Or you can write out letters in their names and have them put them in order to spell their name. 

I gave these crackers to my fiance<3

Have fun and always remember to KEEP learning fun! Never be forceful about getting the right answer or doing something the RIGHT way.  We want to foster an excitement for learning, not a fear or disdain towards it:)