Aug. 8, 2007 - Preschool Bored Meeting
I thought I would share with you my "Bored Meeting".
For a long time now I have had a handwritten list of things to do when the kids complain of being bored or when I need to direct the preschoolers with something while I'm trying to school the older. I haven't used the list in several months as there has been so much fun to do outside this summer.
However, we've had rain the last couple days (which has been rare this summer). We are all out of practice on how to play inside all day that I've had to pull out my "I'm Bored" list.
Yesterday, I typed my list and titled it "Bored Meeting". So now when I hear "I have nothing to do!" or when I need to direct some structure, I will declare a "bored meeting"!
I also want to share a couple of new additions to my list. Junk Mail. My 4 year olds (twins) love to be paper shredders. I give them all the junk mail. They first pretend to fill in all the forms and then I let them cut it up in pieces.
The other thing the 4 year olds love to do is type. I let them create their own WORD document. I taught them the space bar and the return button as well as how to change the font size. Changing the font size is amazing fun!
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May. 23, 2007 - Free Preschool Entertainment
My littles love to help in the kitchen. One of their favorite things to do is spin the salad, which is what they're doing in the pictures. However, when I've needed to keep the littles busy with something during "school", this salad spinner has been known to spin Hotwheels, Polly Pockets, blocks, flashcards and keys. You name it, if it fits it's probably been made dizzy in the spinner!
Zak was pouting having to wait a turn for a spin and picture.
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Apr. 12, 2007 - Pig Award
I've taken an idea from Christine Field's book "Life Skills for Kids" and put our own spin on it. It's a pig award to encourage good table manners. Here's how it works.
This little piggy sits in the middle of the table. When someone displays poor table manners such as throwing their plate of food across the room (hee hee), the pig assumes a position at that person's place. The pig stays there until someone else is guilty of breaking table manner code. At the end of the meal, the person with the pig has to sweep the floor.
Field's idea was that the last person with the pig has to clear and clean the table. I didn't favor that idea because I am trying to make it a habit in the kids that they always leave their personal table space clear & clean whether at home or away. So I used sweeping the floor as a consequence instead since I'm usually the one doing it or I was rotating that responsibility.
As for our table code - I don't think that any of my kids have even dared to think about throwing their plate of food across the room! I've felt like it at times, though! LOL! Some of our rules include: No loud outbursts (unless daddy gets that going for some reason). No getting up from the table without asking to be excused. Sit properly in chair. Do not complain about the food. And so on.
We've been having fun with the Pig Award! Actually, tonight will be difficult for the pig because we will be eating pork chops in front of him!
Just a side note: You may notice that I have a Thinking Blogger Award in my sidebar. I was awarded it from Training Hearts. I still feel shocked that she picked me. But here's the thing, I now will be awarding it to 5 bloggers. I'm taking this very seriously and don't want to be haste in who I choose and on my presentation. I'm working on this and it's taking a bit of time. So watch for my post with more information about the Thinking Blogger Award soon.
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Feb. 28, 2007 - Hand Washing Motivator
My children needed a refresher on the why, when, and how about hand washing. So here's what I came up with for the munchkins:
The white paper lists all the different times that their hands should be washed. They each have an orange paper for their stickers.
So, each time they wash their hands they are to come and tell me that they have done so. I then ask them why they washed their hands. Otherwise, they are amazingly creative as to the reason and would be washing their hands every 5 minutes (maybe not such a bad idea!). If the hand washing was appropriate they can then put a sticker on their paper.
The red paper says "Uh-Oh" on it. If I catch them forgetting to wash their hands their name goes on the "Uh-Oh" paper. Willow's name was put on their within 1 hour of starting this. This was predictable.
The rules are that only Mama can call the Uh-Oh. They cannot call it on each other. I want them to work as a team and encourage each other. They can, however, call an Uh-Oh on Mama. (Mama has not yet been caught!)
In a few days I will come up with a motivator for washing hands the proper way!
In the first photo you will notice that Zak was suffering a bad attitude. Well, we took care of that! He asked to have his picture retaken.
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Feb. 2, 2007 - Free Preschool Bath Toys
My twin 4 year olds decided to play with hangers in the bathtub. They had so much fun they never wanted the bath to end! The water was so cold by the time they decided they had had enough!
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Jan. 9, 2007 - Morning Routine
I'm always trying to be creative to keep the routine and work fun for the kids. I suppose this is probably for my own benefit as much as for theirs! 
They never enjoy doing the morning routine. They just want to play. So, this is one of those areas that called for some creativity! We started out with Code BLT.
B = make Bed
L = Look good (clothes & hair)
T = brush Teeth
When they completed all 3 they were to run down to the kitchen and ring a bell. They had a lot of fun with this for several months. But then it was time to change it up. I came up with our Morning Routine chart. They've been doing this for nearly 6 months and were sad when I mentioned coming up with a new idea. So I guess it's sticking around a little longer!
I made the chart out of sturdy foam board. I pasted clip art along the top. I used adhesive velcro circles along their lines.
They simply move their foam circle along the line as they complete each task. They like to race. Racing usually produces less than excellent work, however, so they know that mom is the final judge.
