All About Desert Animals

Continuing our theme of animal habitats, we learned about desert animals.  We learned about camels, gila monsters, rattlesnakes, lizards, tortoises, and many other animals, as well as what the desert is like and what plants grow there.  We worked on our letter recognition and writing skills as the Pre-K kids wrote various names of desert animals. 

  The 3-year-olds practiced letter recognition too as they matched and glued the letters of the word “desert” on their pages.  They strengthened their finger muscles by coloring their picture instead of writing the letters.

 As part of our desert theme, we read “The Tortoise and the Hare.”  The kids showed us how fast they could hop if they were a rabbit or a hare and how s-l-o-w-l-y they could crawl as a tortoise. 

 After the majority of each class voted that the hare would win the race, we read the story.  They were amazed!  It is so rewarding and delightful to share such traditional and well-known stories with these cute kids!  They love taking it all in.  Then they each got to make their own little puppets so they could retell this classic story to their families. 

 Retelling a story is a great way to increase comprehension and build language skills as well.  And, it can be very fun!

The kids always love it when we get the scarves out for them to dance with!  Music is a beautiful thing and I love how much children enjoy listening to and moving to the music!

 

 

  We also had a special visit from Mother Goose!  This time she brought lots of books and stories about babies.  It was darling to see how much these sweet preschoolers love babies!  Many of them have a baby brother or sister at home, but even those who don’t really delighted in Mother Goose’s stories and rhymes!

 

 

A couple pictures from centers:  centers help structure the developing mind of a child by providing a reliable autonomous period of time when the child has structured free time guided by adults’ encouraging attention and scaffolding (helping them when needed as support). Parents, you could set up such carefully guided, structured activities with your kids at home too!  Remember, children learn so much through play!