Preschool Corner: All About 'Aa'

Preschool time with co-op is a little bit different {and on a much larger scale} than trying to focus on one child at home. I've worked in the 4 year old class with one of our local co-ops for the last few years and love it. This year I'll be teaching the letters A-E with the class and we started our first week with the letter 'Aa'.

Alphabet Book

Throughout the year, the kids create an alphabet book to take home and it is filled with crafts that they make - each letter of the alphabet having it's own craft. The apple craft we did last year went over really well, so we did that one again this year.

You'll need:

~ Red construction paper apple
~ White rectangle piece of construction paper
~ Black inkpad
~ Green construction paper leaves

To Make:

1. Have your child cut out the apple if they are able to use scissors {we cut them out ahead of time due to limited time}.
2. Let your child rip the apple in half, horizontally.
3. Rip the white piece of paper on both sides, so the apple 'core' appears to be eaten.
4. Have your child stamp their fingerprint on the white 'core' of the apple to make seeds.

Art

I can't take credit for this too-cute alligator Aa. No Time for Flash Cards has directions for the craft. We used foam sheets that I picked up at the Dollar Tree along with construction paper teeth and googly eyes. Super fun and a cute take home for the kids to remember the letter we studied!

Math

Apples were the primary focus of the week, so during our circle times we had several different activities we used to focus on different math skills.

Sequencing

I printed off a page of different sized apples from File Folder Fun and cut them out and the kids took turns putting them in order from smallest to largest.

Apple Tree felt board ~ How does an apple grow? I have a cute little apple tree that we used on the floor to show how apples grow. We put flower blossoms on the tree first and then they 'grew' into big and little apples. We picked the apples off the tree and sorted them by big and little and counted to see which one we had more of.

Cuisenaire Rods ~ We used cuisenaire rods to build the letter Aa. First we used the big rods and then tried using the little ones. We also made an apple tree, airplane and an alligator with the rods {this is something I did with Zachary, not the class!}. :)

Science

The biggest hit of the day revolved around taste-testing apples. I brought in three different colors of apples and sliced them up. Everybody took a bite of each apple slice and then we talked about how the apples tasted {sweet, sour, tangy, etc...}, the different colors of the apples, and everyone voted on their favorite tasting apple and we graphed the results.

Golden Delicious was the winner by ONE vote...why those kiddos liked the Granny Smith is beyond me....

Songs and Rhymes

During our circle time we did several songs and games together. After reading through The Lady with the Alligator Purse, I sang the song to them while 'reading' the book again {I love that book!}.

Apple Tree {song and game}

We passed around a little apple {like playing Hot Potato} while singing the song below and whoever was left holding the apple got tickled!

Apple tree, apple tree,
Will your apples fall on me?
I won't cry, I won't shout,
If your apples knock me out!

Additional Resources

Be sure to check out my other post for some more ideas for teaching the Letter Aa - there are some different activities and printables in that post too!

Stories & Books We Used:



About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week!