Unit 10: Valentines Recap

Here are a few of the titles we read. You can be sure to find a book by Gail Gibbons in almost every unit we’ve studied. She’s one of our favorite non-fiction picture book authors! Are you a Gail Gibbons fan too? The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond was another favorite but I think our most favorite was Valentine Express by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (not pictured.) It’s a precious story of an adorable duo creating and delivering the most thoughtful valentines. 

At this point in the preschool school year we’re working on identifying number words. Macie Jane isn’t sounding them out to read them but rather memorizing what they look like and “reading” them that way. We used our number cards in the unit along this activity to reinforce this skill. 

Our following directions activity really had me laughing. Oh my, what an adventure it is juggling both girls with two very different personalities and trying to complete this activity. Sadie, who is 3, had an entirely different outcome than Macie Jane (just turned 5.) It was a perfect example of those exposure type activities I talk about. Macie Jane followed every direction and Sadie…. well… Sadie had an adventure of her own. I will say she did try to follow some of the directions before scribbling over the front and back of the page. 🙂 

Any activity involving a toss able cube is a win in our books. Both girls loved this activity although it was geared a bit more for Macie Jane’s age range. Sadie used it to practice number recognition and Macie Jane used it to practice transferring, counting, and left to right progression. This is another one of those great activities that seems small but packs so many skills in! 

Ok, now, y’all know there is NO question here. When preschool includes candy we are SOLD! This activity was perfect for both girls. Sorting and counting for Sadie and those skills along with comparing amounts for Macie Jane. We all had a great time and good sugar rush after this activity!

One of our more messy activities was the Valentine invitation to play. I provided the girls with materials and invited them to make and create however their hearts desired. We went through several rolls of washing tape, lots of stamps (some on paper some on skin), and made many memorable valentines. Invitations to play typically capture the girls attention for a good amount of time and are great opportunities for them to develop creativity and imagination. There was no end product in mind just independent, open-ended play with age appropriate materials. 

STEM activities are beginning to rival the girls love for crafts. The fizzy hearts activity had them mesmerized. I didn’t shy away from talking technical with them. We talked about acids and bases and identified which vinegar and baking soda were. We made guesses about what would happen when the two combined and didn’t waste anytime exploring the experiment. The classic fizzy explosion experiment never gets old. We had a great time and they thought it was just the most awesome experiment! (Can you see the heart in MJ’s pan?)

Want to grab the valentine unit to use with our littles? Click the link below or join us for our newest unit available on my resource page! We’d love to play and learn with you!