Welcome back friends!!! This week at Mrs. Kat’s Kids we explored the canopy layer of the rain forest with our preschool curriculum experience early learning.
The canopy layer is home to many animals in the rainforest. Most sunlight attracts birds, bugs and plants. This layer is made of overlapping branches and leaves. The canopy acts as a roof. Some of the animals you might find in this layer are sloth, snakes, dart frogs,and parrots.
Sloth
Upside down
Supplies
• Ball
Do Together
• invite children to lean forward and look around upside down.
• Encourage children to follow simple directions, such as “push a ball back and forth with a friend.”
This activity helps children practice following directions and not giving up even when there are obstacles.
Next we read the book “ Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth
By Eric Carle
** to help get the children engaged I had them listen as I read the story and asked them to roll their hand over hand Whenever they heard “slowly,slowly, slowly.”
We had a great time with transitions during our sloth day. I had the children imagine they do everything very slowly. A few examples were let’s pretend we’re riding a bike very slowly to the restroom….. Let’s pretend to eat our food very slowly as we prepare for snack….. Let’s walk very slowly to wash your hands.
We also made Upside-Down Art today in our Creative Art center with our preschool curriculum.
Upside down art
Supplies (in your EEL curriculum box)
• tile display
• Inspiration photo
• Frame
• Background paper
Your Supplies
• chairs or table
• Markers
• Tape
Set up
• set out the Michelangelo masterpiece photo and additional supplies.
• Take a piece of paper to the bottom of a table or chair. Encourage children to lay on their back‘s and draw.
Prompts
• just like a sloth hangs upside down, Michelangelo had to lay on his back to paint the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.
• What do you want to draw?
• What do you see in Michelangelo’s painting?
• How does it feel drawing upside down?
Parrots
What so you think a parrot might say??
Creative Art
Parrot Puppet
Supplies ( in your EEL curriculum box )
• paper plate
• Wiggle eye
• Festoon
Your Supplies
• markers
• Paint
• Glue
• Scissors
• Black Colored paper for the beak
Discuss
• what body parts does a parrot have? Which of these body parts will you include on your puppet?
• I have child cut the paper plate in half. Decorate 1/2 of the plate like the head and the other half like the body. ( I have a younger group so I went ahead and cut the paper plates in half and glued them together into a bird shape.)
• Paint your bird red and add black instruction paper for the beak.
• Encourage the child to problem solve have/she will make feet and a tail.
• Attach some festoon and the wiggly eyes.
Play
• go outside and pretend you’re a parent is being chased by a rain forest animals in the canopy later. Invite peers to be the animals chasing your period. Invert other roles for pretend play.
I hope you all had a great week and we will see you again next week. Thanks for stopping by.
As an Experience Early Learning Blog Ambassador, we receive the Experience Early Learning Preschool curriculum in exchange for our honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. As always, our opinions on amazing stuff for children are 100% our own. Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best judgement when planning activities for your children.
Mrs. Kat’s Childcare 