Group Time & Insects & Loving It

I love group time!  Most of the time when the kids are told that it is time to clean up for group time, they cheer.  The rest of the time, I am upsetting their in depth play time.  They quickly forget about it because group time is fun and engaging.  Here we were, yesterday, showing and counting 8 fingers.

Believe it or not- the kids actually ASK me to get out the name cards.  They LOVE the recognition and praise that they get when they can show me when they see their name. 

I always ask them, "Alright, what should you do when you see YOUR name?"  They tell me, "Raise your hand!"  I always remind them, "Do we tell someone else when it is THEIR name?"   They respond, "NO!"  The kids pay very close attention, because if they do not raise their hand when they see their name, they could miss the chance to spell it out loud.  I love that they look forward to this. ♥

Out comes "The Good Job Jar"  any time I feel that someone has remembered something spectacular.  For instance, the letter that I point to, or excellent job sitting in group time.   The reward is one MnM or Reeses Pieces from the jar. 

Now, group time for 3 and 4 year olds should include some movement.  It's an excellent time to implement songs,  particularly ones that involve hand motions or dancing.  We sang "Four Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed" because there were four kids.  Their cushions are the beds, and as we sing, I choose one child's name to be the next to fall of of the bed.  They love it.

Here they are, showing the blinkers on the bus, going blink blink blink. 

We review the shapes that we have learned, as well as the colors.  We look around the room to see if we can notice the shapes and colors anywhere.

We take a moment to discuss what the weather is doing and put up the appropriate weather card.  It helps that we go to the bus stop each morning.  The kids are noticing and keeping it in mind for group time.

Off we go to the table for our work after snack and book time.  We are working on the letter Ii, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to create insects. 

We used these paint dotters for the insect bodies.

I showed them a simple example, and they all just worked independently on the insects.  

I loved them!! 

Now we carry on again this morning.  I am so lucky to get to do this all over again.  Still LOVE this job.

♥♥♥Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥