Shapes, Colors, and Stories: Early Preschool’s Week of Discovery

Apr 3
7 min read

Hello, dear parents!

Welcome to this week’s blog. We’ve had a fun and engaging week full of learning, creativity, and exploration!

Please make sure your child brings their library folder every Thursday along with the book we give them. This helps keep our library program running smoothly and allows your child to continue enjoying stories at home.

Large Group Activity

Our large group time begins with a cheerful good morning song, creating a warm and welcoming start to the day. We then move into discussing the weather, where children actively observe and identify whether it is sunny, cloudy, or rainy. It has been wonderful to see their growing understanding, as they confidently describe the weather and even apply this knowledge during recess, saying things like, “It’s a sunny day!”.

We also talked about appropriate clothing for different weather conditions. For example, when it is rainy or cold, the children suggest wearing jackets and boots. They are beginning to connect weather changes with daily choices, often explaining their ideas such as, “I wear a jacket because it’s cold”.

During attendance, the children engage in identifying who is present and who is missing. They carefully look around, recognize their friends, and call out names, showing strong social awareness and a sense of belonging within the group.

We also explore colors through visual activities on the board. For example, when we focus on the color orange, the children observe and identify different orange objects such as cars, butterflies, flowers, and roads. They excitedly connect this learning to their environment by noticing orange items in their classmates’ clothing as well.

Story time is another engaging part of our large group. We read the book “Bedtime,” where children learn about day and night concepts. They shared that at night we see the moon and stars instead of the sun. The activity became even more interactive as they pretended to say “good night” to their families and acted out going to sleep.

We also practice counting together, and it is impressive to see the children confidently counting from 1 to 15. This shows strong development in their early math skills, which we are glad to see.

Literacy

During our literacy activity, the children participated in a fun and hands-on water exploration using plastic water bottles. Each child used a cup to carefully pour water into the bottles, which helped them practice control and strengthen their fine motor skills. As they poured, held, and managed the water, they were also building coordination and independence.

To connect with our color learning theme, we added orange paint into the bottles. The children excitedly shook the bottles and observed how the color mixed with the water. This sensory experience encouraged curiosity, creativity, and active engagement while helping them better understand and recognize the color orange.

Although we had planned to decorate the bottles with cardboard paper, we were not able to stick them on. Instead, the children made the activity more personal by adding their own pictures to their water bottles, which gave them a sense of ownership and pride in their work.

Throughout the activity, the children were also developing their language skills by describing what they were doing and what they observed. This combination of sensory play, color recognition, and hands-on exploration made the learning experience meaningful and enjoyable.

Gymnastics

Our gymnastics activity began with warm-up exercises on the grass, where the children moved their bodies freely and energetically. They stretched, ran, and prepared their muscles for the main activity, showing excitement and enthusiasm throughout.

For the main task, the teacher prepared the area by drawing two straight, parallel lines on the ground. At the finishing point, a chair was placed with a box on top to hold the balls.

The children participated in pairs, standing on the two parallel lines: one child on each line. Each pair held a piece of cloth together, which contained three or four balls. Their challenge was to walk carefully along the lines as a team, balancing the balls in the cloth and making sure none of them fell. At the end of the line, they carefully placed the balls into the box on the chair.

The children worked together closely, learning to coordinate their movements and communicate with each other. This activity not only required physical balance and control but also encouraged patience, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. They had to move slowly and steadily, adjusting their steps to keep the balls from falling, which strengthened both their gross motor skills and fine motor control.

The pairs were very focused and engaged, celebrating each success together, which also built their confidence and sense of achievement. Watching their friends complete the task and cheering each other on helped enhance their social skills, including cooperation and encouragement.

This gymnastics activity was a fun and meaningful way to support physical development, teamwork, and concentration, all while allowing the children to enjoy themselves and take pride in their accomplishments.

Art- Heart Stamping

This week, our art activity focused on exploring heart shapes and the color orange. To start, all the children put on their art smocks to protect their clothes and get ready for some creative fun. Wearing their smocks made them feel prepared and excited to participate in the activity.

Each child took turns using a heart-shaped stamp. Before stamping, we guided them by asking simple, focused questions like, “what shape is this?” and “what color is this?”. This helped the children pay attention to the details of the materials and reinforced their learning about shapes and colors. By focusing on the heart shape and the bright orange color, the children began to recognize and name shapes and colors in a meaningful way.

The stamping process was exciting for the children. They enjoyed pressing the heart stamp onto their papers and watching the shapes appear clearly. Some children experimented with placing the hearts in different positions, noticing how the shape looked each time they stamped. This hands-on exploration helped strengthen their fine motor skills, as they carefully held and pressed the stamp with control.

Working in turns also encouraged the children to practice patience and attention, observing their friends while waiting for their chance. Many of them noticed similarities and differences in their peers’ stamped hearts, which sparked curiosity and conversations about shapes and colors. They proudly shared their creations, building confidence and a sense of accomplishment.

This experience allowed the children to learn about shapes and colors through play, develop fine motor control, practice taking turns, and observe carefully. By focusing on the heart shape and orange color, the children were able to connect their learning to the theme of the week in a creative and memorable way, making the activity both meaningful and enjoyable.

Library

During our library session, we started by singing one or two cheerful songs to welcome the children and set a positive tone for the activity. After the songs, we introduced the library session and reminded the children about the importance of bringing their library folders. We explained that every Thursday, library folders should be returned so that books can be exchanged properly. We also took a moment to appreciate and recognize the children who consistently bring their library folders on time, encouraging positive habits.

Once the expectations were clear, the children were invited to choose their books and enjoy reading. Many children engaged independently, exploring the stories and practicing their reading skills. They were able to identify words and follow along, especially when the text matched what they had learned during large group reading. Some children even read with confidence, mimicking the way a teacher reads, which was both fun and encouraging.

The children also showed enthusiasm by asking to read books together with the teachers, enjoying the shared reading experience. This interaction not only supported their literacy skills but also strengthened their love for books and stories.

Finally, for those children who brought their library folders, we gave them the opportunity to take books home, allowing them to continue exploring stories and practicing reading outside of the classroom.

Matching Activity: Discovering Shapes Through Sensory Play

In this engaging matching activity, the children explored shapes in a fun and hands-on way using rice as a sensory base! We hid small pieces of paper cut into different shapes: triangle, circle, square, and heart, inside a container filled with rice. This created an exciting “search and find” experience for the children.

At the top of the rice box, we placed a tissue roll, and on the outside, we displayed the different shapes. The children were encouraged to dig into the rice, carefully search for the hidden shapes, and then match each one by placing it into the correct opening on the tissue roll.

The children were very enthusiastic and focused throughout the activity. As they searched through the rice, they were developing their sensory skills by feeling different textures. At the same time, they practiced shape recognition and matching, which supports early math skills.

This activity also played an important role in strengthening fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, as the children used their fingers to grasp small objects and carefully place them in the correct spot. It encouraged problem-solving and concentration as they figured out which shape matched where.

The children did a wonderful job. It was a fun, interactive learning experience that combined sensory exploration, critical thinking, and skill development all in one activity.

Science Activity: Tactile Shape Explorations

In our science activity this week, the children engaged in a fun and meaningful sensory experience that combined shapes, touch, and creativity. Each student was given a paper with different shapes drawn on it, including a square, heart, triangle, and circle.

We then introduced cotton as a new material for them to explore. Before starting the activity, we encouraged the children to touch and feel the cotton and describe what they noticed. They used words like soft, light, and fluffy, helping to build their vocabulary and sensory awareness.

After this exploration, the children used glue to carefully apply it inside each shape and then placed the cotton on top. They showed great excitement and focus as they worked to fill each shape, practicing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

This activity supported multiple areas of development. The children were engaging their senses through touch, building early science skills by observing and describing textures, and strengthening problem-solving as they figured out how to place the cotton within the shapes. It also encouraged creativity, independence, and concentration.