Graduation!

It's taken a while, but here are some pictures from our Blue Preschool Graduation! The boys all seemed to have a great time and it was a wonderful way to end such a fun year of preschool. We all missed Teacher B and J but everyone else was able to attend with their families for support.

Teacher and Preschool boys. We were all sure proud of those little boys and they were sure proud of themselves:)

From left to right: Teacher W and G, Teacher S and EM, Teacher J and P, Teacher C and EW, Teacher R and T.

Each of the boys had their own special chair to sit on for graduation (made by Teacher R).

The boys wore their Blue Preschool shirts and Teacher J made cute graduation hats for each one. They then took turns walking down the aisle and getting their cute diploma (made by Teacher C). It was really fun to watch them be so proud of themselves and grown-up as they shook Teacher W's hand and got their diploma.

T getting his diploma.

G getting his diploma.

P getting his diploma.

EW getting his diploma.

EM getting his diploma.

P then led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance- something the boy's learned really well since we did it every preschool class.

EW and Teacher C led the boy's in "Higgly Wiggly Bumblebee".

Each boy got to introduce themselves by saying their name in the song. T sure liked saying his name into that microphone!

G is so proud of himself after saying his name!

EW did NOT like it when everyone shouted for the song:)

P was very involved and sang the whole thing!

Each boy then got a turn to give a little talk about themselves where they told us a little bit what things they liked about preschool and what they had learned this year.

G was the first to go and he did a great job!

EM was next. It was great to see him speak up so well and not be scared at all. Way to go EM!

T loved that microphone and thought he was a pretty big boy and loved sharing what he had learned in preschool.

EW was so cute and made everyone smile.

P had his whole talk memorized and even used flash cards so he could do it all by himself! We decided he would probably be the Class President:)

After the talks and songs the boys passed out popcorn to everyone and we watched a slideshow (made by Teacher R) of music and pictures from our year of Blue Preschool. What a great way to finish out graduation and relive some fun memories.

All the boys with their diplomas. From left to right: T, G, EM, P, and EW.

Jumping for joy!

Yeah! We love Blue Preschool!

We did it!

The boys and their Teachers (Moms). What a fun group and what a great year of preschool we had! From left to right: Teacher W, Teacher S, Teacher J (who had just had her baby a few days previous!), Teacher C, and Teacher R.

We missed Teacher B and J so much and wished they could've joined us. Preschool would not have been the same without them!

Finally we had some refreshments and a big Bounce House (that Teacher C brought) for the kids to play in. We got down the big preschool banner and were going to have the kids break through it to get to the Bounce House as a final celebration. Well... they tried...

But they just bounced off it then when it fell down proceeded to run to the Bounce House. Notice all the parents laughing their heads off behind them, and Parker's dad (on the left) saying, "Why me" to himself.

The second time one of the Dads punctured the sign a little bit with his leatherman so the boys were able to break through. Too cute!

We did it! Wahoo!

Thanks to everyone for an amazing year!

Train Ride

For our transportation field trip this week we went on a ride on the light-rail train in town (TRAX).  The boys were thrilled by the whole experience.  They thought buying tickets, sitting and waiting for our train, and then riding the train were so fun!  It was really cute to see their huge eyes and giant grins because they got to ride on a "Choo-choo train"!!  The whole trip was just delightful and we were also blessed with beautiful weather for the whole morning (a huge feat this month). 

 All the boys waiting for the train to come.

Is it coming??

Riding the train!

A very excited EW riding the train.

 G and T show their excitement for being on a train.  G said, "I'm so happy to be on a train right now!"

 EM riding with his Mommy.

We rode downtown then got off at the old Union Train Station and let the kids look at all the cool pictures of trains on the walls and stain glass and run around to their hearts content- what a perfect thing for little boys who had been sitting so still for 20 minutes:)

After this we watched the fountains at the Gateway and the kids loved enjoying the beautiful day and watching the water.

We then went to the food court and got some ice cream cones.  The kids loved it even though it was early in the morning and it was a fun treat to have before we took the train back home.  (Oh, and we also took a little trip up and down the escalators which was also very exciting).

The whole gang with yummy ice cream.

 EM with a great ice cream face.

 EW taking his ice cream eating very seriously.

 C (EM's brother) enjoying his ice cream very much!

While we were waiting for the train for our ride back we sang, "The Wheels on the Bus" and then the modified "The Wheels on the Train" which was really cute.  The boys were also delighted when "Mr. Conductor" actually waved to them as the train pulled up. 

On the whole it was a great field trip and one those boys won't soon forget:)

Science Day

We had a great preschool science day.  These kids love "getting their hands dirty" and experimenting with everything around them.  So it was very natural for the kids to play these games and experiment with all the materials around them.  Here's our cute little preschool boys along with K (J's brother who we were lucky enough to have join us for the day!). Left to Right: EW, T, P, J, G, EM, and K.

Gathering Activity- Trains, Mr. Potato Heads, and Little People.
Circle Time- Color Orange, Cone Shape, Letter Z, Number 11.  All the kids took turns finding a magnet letter that was orange.  We looked at a cone shape and talked about all the things we could do with it- a hat, or ice cream cone, or horn.  We sang the alphabet song and practiced making the letter Z in sign-language.  We also counted to eleven and a few of them made the letter eleven with the magnet numbers.
Group Experiment- Blow-up Balloon.  We learned the word "experiment" and "hypothesis" and practiced saying them.  We did an experiment all together where we talked about how air is all around us, we just can't see it and that we would be doing a lot of experiments about air today.  I put baking soda in water and we watched what happened.  I then put some in vinegar and we watched the chemical reaction that made bubbles in the air.  Finally I put baking soda in a balloon and vinegar in a bottle then put the balloon on the bottle and we watched how the balloon inflated with the expanding air from the reaction.  The kids all thought this was really cool.

After this we split into two groups to do some experiments that were more hands-on.  Teacher W took the boys upstairs to do water experiments in the kitchen and I, Teacher R, took the kids to do some air experiments downstairs.
Water Experiments- Water and Air- The kids learned that air stays in a cup if you hold it straight down into the water.  They put paper towels in the bottom of the cups and tried putting them straight down into the water and seeing that the towels don't get wet! They also saw that if you tip the cup the air in the cups will escape as bubbles in the water.
Sink or Float- The kids learned what it means to "sink" and "float".  They experimented with different objects to see which ones would sink and which would float.  They were able to say, "My hypothesis is the ______ will sink (or float!) and then to test it out.  There were a few surprises like the baseball that floated and the jar lid that sunk.
Balloon in Water- It was explained that air is all around us and when we breathe we get air into our lungs just like when we blow air into a balloon.  The kids watched a balloon being blown up and saw what happened when the air is let out.  They then tried the balloon underwater so they could see the bubbles and air escaping from the balloon.

Air Experiments- Ziplock balloons- Ekid had a straw that they zipped into a ziplock bag and then blew into the straw to fill up the bag and make it a balloon- they then took the straw out and zipped it closed quickly.  Once they opened the bag they saw how it got smaller when the air went out.  The kids got a kick out of this and were all able to do it by themselves.

Straw Races- We used the straws again with crumbled paper towels and practiced blowing them across the table to each other.  We talked about how we are blowing air through the straw and it is pushing the towel. Once we were good with that I lined up the kids and we did straw races.  They all lay down behind the line with their paper towel balls and blew them when I said, "Go".  Most of the kids really enjoyed this activity and asked to do it over and over again.

Making Bubbles- The kids had a few pans of soapy water and blew their straws into the water to make bubbles.  They had fun watching the bubbles get bigger as they blew more air into them.  They also experimented with touching the bubbles- they would pop with a dry finger and not pop with a wet finger!

Bubble Art- Each kid got a colored paper and tried to catch bubbles (as I blew them into the air) on their paper.  Once they had some bubble marks they colored the marks to make bubble art!
Exploding Pop Bottle- T's Dad helped us with this experiment.  We got coats and shoes on and watched him put Mentos into a pop bottle and saw what happened.  The kids loved that it shot up like a rocket into the sky.  They all wanted to do it again! (For Parents: This works best with mint Mentos and Diet Coke).

Snack Experiments- For snack we did a few food experiments.  I poured some club soda or "bubbly water" in a clear cup then dropped some raisins into it and we watched the raisins dance in the bubbles.  Each kid got a little bubbly water to play with as well- some even liked how it tasted! They then each got a raisin box for snack.  They also each made a mixture by mixing cinnamon and sugar together in a jar then putting it on a piece of toast.

After snack we switched which groups for the water and air experiments.

Finally we all got back together and practiced using scissors by cutting up tissue paper into small pieces.  We then blew up balloons and I showed the kids how if you rub the balloon in your hair or on wool or fur then it would pick up the tissue pieces or stick to the wall. They all thought that was really fun and were SO happy when their balloon stuck to the wall.

Here is EW showing off his balloon on the wall.

Some GREAT preschool science books that I used to help me with this lesson:

Pint-Size Science by Linda Allison and Martha Weston

Bubbles, Rainbows, & Worms (Science Experiments for Preschool Children) by Sam Ed Brown