Spring Songs and Activity Ideas for Preschool and Kindergarten

I can once again hear the birds chirping like crazy in the morning.  

I'm so happy to hear that sound!

Despite the rain and gloom we've had this week, spring must be on its way!

So this weekend I pulled out my favourite Spring songs and activities to get ready!

One of my favourite go-to songs for spring is my Baking a Pie song.  

My daughter filmed me performing this song a summer or two ago.  

  It actually took about 5 tries to get a version that was acceptable to post.  

Between the dog barking, the dog begging me to throw his ball, the dog running into the picture...let's just say it was a bit more challenging than expected!  

Here's the culprit!  

But anyway, I'm not too proud to share my video 

 here with you. 

(By the way, my voice is not really that high in person...   

 I was just trying to "be the crow."  :))

This song has been a big hit in my classroom.  

It's unique, has a quirky ending, and the kids can learn it quickly due to the repetition. 

The words and puppets for "Baking a Pie" are included in my Spring Unit along with 10 additional activities for

 Centre Time and Circle Time.

Below is a sample of four more of the 11 items in the unit.  The details of how each item works is written on the images.

And my Froggy Fish 'n Match Number Game!

You could set up this fishing game on a table on days when you want to keep life simple, but if you want to add another element of fun, on some days you could also create a little "fishing hole" as you'll see in the post HERE.  

If you're in a part of the world where spring hasn't hit yet, just hang on.  It's comin'!

And if you want some more fun activities for the season, check out my full Spring Unit for Pre-K and K in my shop!  

It includes the 5 activities shown in this post plus 6 more! 
Click HERE. 

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 click on the Subscribe button on the right margin of this blog!   

Catchin' Frogs and Learnin' Numbers - A fun activity for Center Time!

As a kid I always loved pretending to "fish" at the annual school fair.  

Do you remember those fishing booths at the fair? 

There'd be a big wall that you'd have to cast your fishing line over and then someone on the other side of the wall would attach a prize for you to "reel" in.   

I always found that station so exciting!

My enjoyment of this activity as a kid spurs me to set up at least one fishing game for my class every spring.  

Last year, the activity ended up being fishing for frogs in a pond.

I created the station by flipping one of our tables on its side and then decorating it to look like a pond.  

 A blue tablecloth would have been preferable, but I thought I'd work with what I hand on hand!

The fishing ROD is created from a paint stir stick.  
The fishing LINE was created by twisting a series of pipe cleaners together.  (Long ago I learned the perils of using a string or yarn fishing line.  You spend most of the class trying to untangle it!)     

At the end of the fishing line, I looped the pipe cleaner through a clothespin to form the HOOK.  

Here's a photo of the clothespin "hook."
  Sorry I don't have a better photo of the full rod, but I'm sure you get the idea!

To play the game, students cast their fishing line over the table.

The children on the other side of the table attach the clothespin to one of the frogs.  

When the frog is attached, the children behind the table tug on the line to let the fisher boy or girl know it's time to reel in their catch. 

The "caught frog" is then placed on the lily pad that has the matching number of flies!  

If you'd like to play this froggy fishing game in your class, I am currently offering the brand new updated version of all the frogs and lily pads you need for this activity in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. 

It includes frogs and lily pads numbered from 1-12, as well as a set of frogs with numbers 1-12 represented in various forms (i.e., with tally marks, ten frames, and dice).

I should also mention, that the set includes directions for making this an easy to set-up table top activity.  

Some days, simpler is better!

The kids get to fish either way, and practice counting, numeral recognition, and subitizing at the same time!

Find this Froggy Fishing Set HERE!

Journal Writing in Preschool and a FREE Journal Prompt Page

At our preschool, the children start the morning with about an hour of center time.

About once a week, one of our center stations is

 Journal Writing.  

Each child has a small Hilroy exercise book with the pages divided into a blank and interlined section.

The children draw an image of their choosing on the blank section and the teachers scribe their ideas underneath their picture.

Having the children see that their ideas
can be recorded in WORDS 
and then read back to them (just as they told it!) 

is very exciting for them.

For many of the kids, it is the first time that they have seen their ideas in print!

As you can see, we tend to write the words exactly as the children say them.

As you could probably guess, the entry above was written by a little girl.  

And I must say, there is more interest 
in journal writing amongst the girls overall, 
BUT, once we give the boys a nudge
most of them enjoy coming to the writing table, as well.

Star Wars, monsters, and ghosts 
often form the theme of their writing,
but that's fine with us!

We don't have a lot of rules for the journals, but we often ask the children to use at least 
3 colours in their work.

It encourages the children to put a little more effort into their drawing - particularly those students who try to be "fast finishers."

Some kids tend to have lots of ideas for us to scribe,  while others have trouble coming up with more than a sentence.  

For those that are struggling, we will ask some questions to help get a few ideas rolling.  

Journal entries don't need to be long, but we do try to encourage everyone to come up with at least two sentences for us to record.    

The edges of the next image are cut off, but I had to  
include this journal entry anyway.  

It was just too cute!

This year we are also using journal prompt pages.

I made a page for every major holiday, one for each of the seasons, and then a variety focussed on themes like friendship, family, and "all about me."

We glue them right onto the page and use them at various times throughout the year.



I made 27 different journal prompt pages and some covers for the journal books, too! 

Check them out in my shop HERE!

I'd love to offer you a free sample from this journal printables set for your own classroom.

If you'd like this prompt page for Earth Day, 
just click HERE!

Not every preschool uses Journal writing, 

but for us, it's been a good fit.

  Excitement over storytelling and creating "books," 
learning to organize thoughts into a logical sequence, developing their pencil grip, 
seeing that ideas (their ideas!) can be recorded in print -- 

all good things 
that help set the stage for becoming
a reader!