Soaring High

Today our centers revolved around airplanes.  At one of the independent centers the children were given clouds(Ziploc bags with paint in them) and q-tips.  They used the q-tips to practice writing their names in the clouds.  The purpose of using q-tips is to increase the children's fine motor abilities.  By making their fingers stronger they will be better able to grip a pencil, crayon, or marker, and cut with a scissors.  When the children were done practicing their names they could write letters in their cloud or draw pictures with the q-tip.

At Miss Sue's center the children were given airplane mats with numbers programed on them.  They then counted the correct number of passengers on the plane.  The children who are beginning this skill practiced counting 1-6, while the children who are more secure in this skill counted out 7-15.  You don't need fancy counters like we have to practice this skill at home.  You can have your child give you 8 leaves from a pile, count out 7 forks for the table, or take 5 pieces of apple from a dish.  The possibilities are endless.

At my center the children cut out an airplane and glued it to a piece of paper.  They then glued on cotton balls for clouds.  Lastly, they drew an illustration of what they would see from their plane.  I then recorded their responses.


At the fourth center the children played the Milk Cap game.  Each child was placed with a partner.  They each had a set of six milkcaps labeled with the numbers 1-6.  The children took turns rolling a die and turning over the corresponding number.  The objective of this game was to teach number recognition, learn how to work with a partner, and how to be a good sport.