Kindergarten welcomed spring with various activities. We started off by making beautiful spring trees. Using paint and tissue paper to create their very own colorful creation. We then were able to create flowers in a unique way. Each kiddo had a fork for each color they wanted, we used the forks as paintbrushes and the outcome was amazing! They each had very colorful and different flowers that lit up the room. The next thing we did was read a book about clouds called Cloudette, by Tom Lichtnheld. We used a creative way of painting by folding a piece of paper in half and giving three dots of white paint. We then squished the paper together making a cloud form. Each and every cloud was different and made the kiddos excited to try more unique art like this. Finishing the week, we made coffee filter butterflies. Using watercolor paint, we dipped the wings into different colors. After letting them dry they are now lining up the hallways of LEDP. 

We then learned about Spring animals during this short week. We started off by learning about birds and their nests. We then made our very own bird nests that are hanging up in our Kindergarten room. This project has gotten many compliments for their beautiful colors! Next, we were able to finger paint and make some sheep to hang up in our classroom. It was kindergartens first time finger painting in LEDP and lets just say the kiddos had a blast doing it! Messy it always better! We finished the week off by making bunnies on carrots, which was enjoyed by all! Bunnies of all different shapes, sizes, and colors were added onto our wall for all the parents to see on Family Night. 

We welcome kindergarten families to join us Thursday, April 4th, at 5:00-5:45, to enjoys games and activities, along with snacks, with their kiddos. We hope to see you all there!

We welcomed kindergarten back after an amazing February vacation. They were all thrilled to share their experiences during their time off, and were all ready to jump right back into LEDP! We started off by focusing our week on pets. They were able to use their journals and share what fur friends they have or dream of having. We welcomed Pete, the cat into our classroom by reading Pete the Cat Rockin in my School Shoes, and following the book by making our very own Pete the Cat. We followed that by making our own four legged friends. The kiddos were able to make their own doggies in a collage form, with many different colored paper. Splashing into our next activity, we made our own bowls of goldfish, who were swimming around the hallway when we were finished. 

After pet week, we started learning about continents and their animals. The kiddos were very eager to share what animals came from which continent. The whole week we all learned many new facts and new projects. We created “My Place in the World”. Having the kiddos draw pictures of their planet, their continent, and their home. We then conducted a polar bear science experiment. This was a very exciting... even for the teachers! We put crisco oil in a bag which was like the fat of a polar bear and put that in ice cold water, then the kids would touch the water without the “polar bear fat” and they would feel the ice cold water. We then would switch bags and see how the water feels when the fat was surrounding their hand, and majority of the scientists noticed a difference and found it to be much warmer. We ended our week with a group show- and-tell, and it was amazing to learn where all our friends are from and a little bit of their culture! We loved to see them beaming with pride!

Kindergarten moved onto celebrating Saint Patricks Day. We started out our week by having groups of friends make their very own leprechaun houses. It was awesome to see their teamwork and collaborations figuring out how their group wanted their house to be. We then made leprechaun lookers, which were a big hit in our LEDP room. They were all very creative during this activities. We welcomed our older friends into our group to mentor us and do an amazing flower art project that are blooming in the hallway. Finishing up our week we learned how many shamrocks tall we all were, and ended this amazing week with a scavenger hunt around the school, and finding the party at the end of the rainbow. Since the little leprechauns had such an amazing week they were able to have lucky charms at the end of the rainbow!

This February is Black History month! We spent the last few weeks learning about some important African-American figures in history. We started off the week by discussing Serena & Venus Williams and their amazing legacy in the world of tennis! The kiddos were able to draw themselves playing tennis in their journals. We then talked about Rosa’s Parks and how her one heroic act on a bus made her an instant icon and symbol of activism! We discussed and wrote down what we learned in our journals then all our friends drew their own buses.

We then read a book called “Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt,"  which followed a young girl name Clara who created a quilt made of different scraps of fabric that would create a her map to freedom.  Kindergarten made their own quilt by drawing their own pattern and we made a collage of all of them together. We also learned about the famous African-American baseball player, Jackie Robinson and is amazing impact on America's oldest past time! To celebrate Jackie we played a baseball activity in the gym which was a BIG “HIT” in the kindergarten group!

We then moved into friendship week and welcomed our first snow day of the year!  The kiddos were super excited to fill us in on their not so snowy day off. We also made cards for Valentine’s Day which the kids were thrilled about.  We then did journals and activity stations to celebrate Valentine’s Day, including more card making, tissue paper flower bouquets, love bugs and water color painting. We ended this week with an epic dance party in the gym before February break. We enjoyed seeing all their creations for their loved ones and had so much fun dancing our way into February break!

Kindergarten got creative this week by dedicating a whole week to mythical creatures. We created a castle where each kiddo got to design their own mythical creature. We split them up by having them design two a day and by the end of the week, we filled the whole castle with dragons, mermaids, unicorns, giants, trolls, gnomes, fairies, and leprechauns. The kindergartners truly enjoyed being able to have full artistic control on what they were able to design for this project and each of them were proud to show the teachers their creations. 

Following mythical creatures week kindergarten focused on the color wheel. We started off by mixing different colors in mason jars with water and food coloring and they would be able to guess what color would appear after mixing them together. The joy filled the classroom when they were all correct in guessing which color would appear. We then were able to make our own color wheel pizzas, which included coloring in the triangles while also being able to decorate the triangles with the correct color.

We then did a magic milk experiment, with food coloring. The group loved this science project and being able to observe how the milk and food coloring mixed together when a q-tip and soap mixed with the milk. The last experiment we did for color week was color mixing fizzy science experiment. Where the baking soda was on a plate with a drop of food coloring on it and the kiddos were able to put vinegar on the pile to make the reaction happen. They truly enjoyed being little scientists during this week. We look forward to an exciting Feburary!

We were very excited to welcome our kindergarten friends back from winter break. They were thrilled to share their experiences and travels during their time off with their friends at LEDP. We jumped right back into our activities by learning about winter sports. We started off with a snowboarding activity. Kindergarten was able to make people snow down a winter wonderland of their own imagination. Following that we each got to make our own ice skates. They were given many options of what to put onto their skates, and they were thrilled to show us their creations.  We ended the week by kindergarten being little scientists. We were able to make snowstorms in a jar and their excitement from it filled the room up with joy. 

We then learned about Artic animals. We started off by getting to know what a snow owl, polar bear, penguins, and narwhals were. We then learned each of their habitats and they were eager to tell us teachers the facts that they knew about each animal. We then made each of these animals in their environment and were able to get creative with each animal. By using water color for the polar bears and their habitats, to drawing and cutting out our own creations. 

We look forward to next weeks theme, exploring colors!

In the past two weeks we focused on rainforest animals and winter wonderlands. We learned a lot about the animals that live in the rainforest and were able to create some of our very own! We decorated frogs that sat upon lily pads and rainforest puppets where they chose their favorites and used stamps for their hands to create animal bodies. We then read the book The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carl, and with that we made our very own mixed-up chameleons. They loved sharing what emotions went with each color of the chameleon. After that kindergarten made alligators out of popsicle sticks. They were thrilled when their alligators were able to stand on their own. 

 For our winter wonderland week, we started off the week by making our own silver snowflakes. They were so excited  to make one to decorate their LEDP room and one that they were able to take home. We then got to use those snowflakes for a rainbow light experiment. We used the snowflakes we cut, with flashlights and CD's to make the rainbow appear. They were in absolute awe when the rainbow appeared on the table. We also made snow made snow globes that had snowmen inside of them, and cardinals with a snowy background. To finish up the week, kindergarten was able to make their very own snow. Although this was a messy project, the joy it brought to the room was incredible. They were thrilled to be making their own snow, and couldn’t wait to tell others about it!

We hope everyone enjoys their holiday break and we will see you all in the New Year!

The month of November kindergarten had many great activities! 

Before the November break, Kindergarten focused on Thanksgiving and what they are thankful for. The kiddos got to decorate pine cones that some helped gather and created turkeys out of them. We also made caramel apples- they were very excited to show us what their favorite toppings on their apples were. 

When we got back from break the theme was mindfulness, breathing, and feelings week. We started off with handprint emotions, where they would describe a feeling for each finger. We then did breathing bracelets that they were thrilled to make on their own.  Which when they felt like they needed a deep breath, they would move the beads up and down. A science project that was a big hit was a mind jar.  The different colored glitter represented all of our feelings, and they loved expressing which colors meant what emotion.  This jar could also be used for breathing exercises. Watching the glitter of “emotions” fall to the bottom of the jar, instilling calmness and peace with their emotions. We ended the week by having our mentors do a snow owl activity with our group.  Any time the mentors come in the kindergarten faces light up! We look forward to another amazing month ahead! 

These past two weeks in kindergarten our themes were halloween and harvest. We created our very own candy corn paintings, with googly eyes to bring our creations to life. We also made mummies, and a big hit was the halloween stress balls made from balloons and rice. They were thrilled to make their very own and couldn't wait to show all the other LEDP teachers! 

Wrapping up Halloween, we started harvest week. We created pumpkins, skeletons, scarecrows, and Fall trees with a tracing of their hand as the tree trunk. As requested by the K group, the skeletons that first graders made were a big hit, so we decided to make our own. They loved getting to do something that the older kiddos have done and couldn't wait to show them their creations. 

A highlight of this week was the halloween parade. It was so wonderful for us teachers to see the little ones all dressed up in their costumes, and their excitement filled the rooms later in the day. 

As the leaves are changing, so are kindergarten themes. These past two weeks we focused on Fall and dinosaurs. We also welcomed our behavior chart where the kiddos try to fill the pumpkin patch to earn a reward party in October. They are loving watching the pumpkin patch grow! They have been doing a great job earning them- we currently have four pumpkins and our goal is to get ten pumpkins.

We welcomed Fall with some fun season inspired activities- starting off with making our own pieces of pumpkin pie. They made leaf handprints with stamp pads and fall trees. A big hit in the kindergarten room were the fall bracelets!  To end off the autumn themed week, we learned about all of their favorite apples where they even taste tested them! We took a poll to find out Kindergartens favorite and the winner by a landslide was honey crisp!

The following week we learned about dinosaurs! This was a big hit in the K group. They were all thrilled to teach us about the fun facts they know about dinos! Kindergarten students became paleontologists this past week by making their own fossils! They really enjoyed being able to create their fossils with  clay, and they loved it even more when we were able to paint them. Wrapping up dino week we ended with a fizzy experiment. Each of them had their own egg with a hidden dino inside. They got to use vinegar to dissolve the hidden dino and find out what kind they had. We look forward to what the rest of October brings to the kindergarten group!

These past two weeks in kindergarten we focused on transportation and community helpers. 

The K group got to make their own hot air balloons that are lined along the LEDP hallway. We also got to make our own license plates and helicopters. The kiddos really enjoyed being scientists for a day with our float a boat experiment. They loved guessing how many marbles and pennies it would take to sink the boat and had a blast slowly adding the weight, penny by penny, marble by marble!

Community helpers week was also very enjoyable in kindergarten. They were thrilled to tell us all about the community helpers they knew and what they wanted to be when they grew up. We focused on fire safety, and they had many pointers on the safe steps to take if there is ever a fire. We practiced our first fire drill in kindergarten and even though they did one with their own kindergarten class, each student took it very seriously and the group had a great first fire drill. We made our own fire safety dogs in the classroom, which was followed by an experiment called the bubbly fire experiment. The kiddos got to observe the experiment and became little scientists and described what was happening during the experiment and what colors they saw!

Kindergarten has quickly learned  our routines in LEDP, they have finally settled in and all are participating in our activities. We have had a great two weeks despite the rainy days, we made the best of it. All three teachers love seeing them finally expressing themselves, and can't wait to see more of their personalities.

This week we welcomed our new kindergarteners into LEDP! We focused on introducing the routines along with rules and expectations in the K classroom. We love how all of our new friends have jumped right into our routines and activities. We started the week with an "All About Me," activity and a science project! The kindergarteners became little scientists and observed a classroom-made lava lamp! The joy and excitement they had during the science project made it the hot day just a bit more bearable!

Week two of LEDP we had "Respect," week in the classroom. They got to make their own respect cones, which each had kind words to spread through the Lawrence hallways. We focused on how words can make an impact on friends and the words and actions we should use to spread kindness. Another science project our group did was making our own rainbows and ended the week strong with a kindness quilt!

A friendly reminder that LEDP does not provide snacks for later in the day, so please have a snack packed for your little ones. If you packed a snack, it may be helpful to write LEDP on them, so the children know which one to save for their LEDP day.

We are so thrilled to have such an energetic group we love getting to know each unique personality. We are excited to see what the year brings for the K group!