Egg Carton School Bus

Materials:
• lid (TOP) of an egg carton
• yellow paint or markers
• black construction paper or 2 lids from milk jugs (for wheels)
• black marker
• OPTIONAL: small cutouts of people from magazines, coloring books or hand drawn
Instructions:
• cut the lid off an egg carton

• Paint (or color with marker) the lid yellow. We only used one coat, but you could do two.

• While the paint is drying, cut 2 circles out of black construction paper
o (You can have the children trace the lid from a baby food jar or orange juice container -- preschool kids enjoy tracing). Use white crayon, chalk or pencil crayon for tracing.
o Allow the children to cut out their circles with safety scissors (or supervise them closely while they use regular scissors).
o The wheels don't have to be perfectly round -- let them have fun.
• OR
o use the lids from milk jugs as an alternative to construction paper wheels

• OPTIONAL: Also while the paint is drying, have the children cut small images of people from magazines or coloring books or let them draw their own.
o Once again, let the children roughly cut out the images with safety scissors.

• Once the paint is dry, glue on the wheels.

• OPTIONAL: Glue the images of people onto the bus. The carton we used had holes down the center, so we glued the people into the holes.
o If yours doesn't have holes, just glue the people onto the bus... you can draw "windows" around them with a black marker.

• Write SCHOOL along the top of the bus (or if your child is beginning to write on their own, let them write it out).

Back to School Family Photo Collage

It is common for young children to have some separation anxiety when it comes to beginning preschool. Help your preschooler to create this artful reminder of home for the first days of school. Using family photos and a little bit of imagination, your child can collage a cheerful memento of home.
Not only will the Family Photo Collage aid in the preschool transition, but it can also serve as a great lesson that will enhance your child’s development. Exploring art processes, learning about shape, increasing fine motor skills, and developing awareness of spatial relationships are all important objectives for this project.

What You Need:

• A variety of family photos (include all family members, even pets)
• 1 piece of thick or sturdy paper such as cardboard or poster board
• Glue
• Safety scissors

What to Do:

1. Help your child to search for a variety of family photos. Include all members of the family. Try to find pictures that capture special moments such as birthdays, holidays, or vacations.
2. Have your child arrange the photos on the cardboard or poster board. Choose a size that meets your needs. Instead of purchasing a thick paper, try using the front or back of a cereal or cracker box (if your child is bringing this to school, avoid boxes that once contained nut or dairy based products).
3. If needed, help your child to trim and crop the photos with safety scissors. Discuss what shapes the photos are. Ask questions such as, “Is the picture of Daddy a rectangle or a square?”, or “Can you make a triangle from the picture of Nana?”.
4. Glue the photos to the cardboard or poster board.
5. Set aside to dry.

Extend this activity into the school year. Take a photo of your child on the first day of school and add this in to the collage with the rest of the family!

Back to School Scissor Skills Projects

Materials:
• children's scissors
• construction paper -- you can pre-choose the color or let the kids pick their own
• glue
• paper and printer

Directions:
• ADULT: print template of choice or make your own.

• ADULT: Cut the construction paper into long, one inch wide strips (you can cut fast, they don't have to be perfect)
ex:

• show the child how to hold their scissors

• let the child snip off pieces from the strips of construction paper... as the children get older, you can ask them to try to snip perfect squares, but to begin with, just let them snip away


• Either squeeze the glue onto the template for the child or squeeze some into a margarine container lid and give the child a q-tip or popsicle stick to spread the glue themselves.

• Let the child fill the template with the snipped pieces -- don't worry that they go over the lines

• Let dry

Chalkboard

Even in the age of dry erase boards, there's something to be said about an old-fashioned chalkboard. With a few ingredients from your local hardware store, you can make and decorate your own chalkboard that will add a little pizazz to any playroom. Your kid will love it because she'll get a nifty reusable "canvas" to practice writing, drawing, or math. It's a special treat for children up to third grade!


What You Need:
• Newspaper
• An old picture frame
• thin, smooth board (smooth plywood works well for this)
• Chalkboard brush-on paint (available at hardware or discount stores)
• A paintbrush
• Wood glue
• Paint, any bright color
• An exacto knife or box cutter
• Chalk and a chalk eraser
• Sharpie marker, jewels, stickers, glue (optional)


What to Do:
• Cover your work space with newspaper to avoid any mess.
• Using your box cutter, cut out an appropriate size out of your wood. (ex: 8x10 for an 8x10 frame…)
• In a well ventilated area, use the chalkboard paint to cover the entire piece of wood.
• Let dry for about 3 days
• Decorate your frame with paint, stickers or anything else your child desires!
• Glue the chalk board in the frame
• Before breaking in your new chalkboard, rub it all over with the side of a piece of chalk and erase. Now your child is ready to use it however she pleases! If your child is older, encourage her to use it to practice her spelling words, math equations, and draw silly pictures. Let her pretend she's the teacher, and invite her to teach you what she's been learning in class. It's even great for preschoolers--have your child practice writing the alphabet, numbers, her name, and the date for a head start into kindergarten.

Week 34: Back to School

*Suggested Reading*

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
First Day, Hooray! Nancy Poydar
Franklin Goes to School Paulette Bourgeois
Strawberry Shortcake Goes to School Emily Sollinger
It'S Back To School We Go! Ellen Jackson


Items needed this week:
• Newspaper
• An old picture frame
• thin, smooth board (smooth plywood works well for this
• Chalkboard brush-on paint (available at hardware or discount stores)
• A paintbrush
• Wood glue
• Spraypaint, any bright color
• An exacto knife or box cutter
• Chalk and a chalk eraser
• Sharpie marker, jewels, stickers, glue (optional)
• construction paper -- you can pre-choose the color or let the kids pick their own
• paper and printer
• A variety of family photos (include all family members, even pets)
• 1 piece of thick or sturdy paper such as cardboard or poster board
• Glue
• Safety scissors
• lid (TOP) of an egg carton
• yellow paint or markers
• black construction paper or 2 lids from milk jugs (for wheels)
• black marker
• OPTIONAL: small cutouts of people from magazines, coloring books or hand drawn