Polka Dot Pearl Minis

Unless you are new to this blog, you probably know that I love Disneyland. Disneyland history, stories, and concept art are very important to my library collection. Today I would like to share some of the books I have read and enjoyed about Disneyland.   Disneyland Through The Decades ♥♥♥♥ If you have visited the park, there's no doubt you have probably seen this in stores. Disneyland Through the Decades is a beautiful hardcover book, that retells the history of Disneyland in Anaheim and includes beautiful pictures and artwork. Although I do have books that I like even better, this one is definitely among my favorites.   Mouse Tales ♥♥♥♥♥ If you are looking for unique stories, history, and secrets about the park, this is a great book to pick up and is one of my favorites. I am always looking for books that offer things about the park I haven't heard before (which, after enough research, can be a difficult task). This book has a lot of good information a

Your preschoolers may know how many legs an ant has, how to use a pipette, and how to count to ten, but do they know how to stay safe around strangers? It is such an important lesson, yet not all children are exposed to it. It is also a difficult subject for us adults to talk about, but there are ways to introduce "stranger danger" skills without scaring young children. To get you started, below are a couple ideas for a stranger danger unit. Intro to Stranger Danger Circle Transition in- For our transition in, we started with a finger play to get children settled. Before our story, I introduced the question "What is a Stranger?". As I had anticipated, children guessed that a stranger was a bad guy; they described strangers as being burglars, people who take kids, and bad guys. Body- For the bulk of this circle, I chose to read a book from my childhood, which is "The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers". This story is about young sister bear lea

For the feet I used the cardboard inserts you find when you buy sock liners, although you could also choose to make your own. For a chart I used cardboard and a sheet of scrapbooking paper. During the activity, we took turns measuring each other with the feet. One child would lie on the ground on their back and the other child would measure them by lining up the feet next to them and counting. After taking our measurements, we recorded our heights on the chart, which we will be putting up in our classroom. We even measured myself to see how tall I was (7 feet...according to the cut out feet anyway)! We even used the foot cutouts to measure other objects in our classroom, like posters, tables, and shelves. "Are you longer or shorter than _____?" "How many feet do you think this will be?" It is easy with math and literacy to turn to over-used tabletop (or worse, workbook) activities, but by using real objects and involving their whole bodies, we can teach t

Hello all, today I wanted to share a recent Pre-K circle time plan. I had decided recently to introduce the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, but I was surprised to find that there weren't many activity ideas online. I decided to improvise and it was a success! So below is a summary of the Three Billy Goat's Gruff lesson that I used: Title: The Three Billy Goat's Gruff (circle time/ large group) Developmental area of focus: Literacy What you will need:      The book "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" (the one featured in the picture is the retelling by Janet Stevens) 5 or more cardboard pieces A retelling visual aide (I used my miniature puppet theater, which was made with a shoe box and other found objects) Transition in: Depending on your classroom circle time routines, you may have certain rituals to help children settle down at the beginning of circle time. I did not create a separate finger play for this circle time; instead I went with the c

Welcome! Below is my lesson plan for a circle time based on one of my favorite childhood stories...Mortimer! This story is a classic and kids love interacting with the story. The story also experiments with a scale of high and low sounds, so it is a good way to expose children to basic concepts of music. Thank you for reading and let me know in the comments below if you used any activities from this lesson or if you have ideas for other extension activities for the story Mortimer! Mortimer Circle Time Plan Transition in: Before we began our story, we used the finger play "Open, Shut Them" to settle children down. We also buckled on our listening ears to prepare for the story :) Hook: Have children guess what the story will be about by presenting two clues (my clues were a pajama top and eye mask, which I wore over my regular outfit) Body: Next we read “Mortimer”, providing opportunities during the story for singing and movement. For example, we tapped our hands o

Activities Free writing- for this activity, set a timer for 2-5 minutes and write down everything that comes to mind in a notebook, entirely unfiltered Journal/ Diary Observations and pictures- Another thing you can do to help you get some ideas is to browse pictures on the internet. One site that is good for this is Pinterest. Try to think of stories behind the pictures you like most. Write down any ideas you get. Colored notes (Characters, Settings, Conflicts)- Here is one brainstorming activity. Get out three colors of note cards or pieces of paper. One color will include settings, another characters, and the last one conflicts. Use these pieces of paper and time yourself for five minutes. During this time you will sit in a quiet environment and write down ideas for each category. When the time is up, pick a card from each category at random. Try to think of a story that can use all three elements. When you are done doing this activity, write down your ideas on a separate piec

Beginning Makeup: A Primer Welcome...your basic intro to how to use those beauty goos and powders to your advantage! The first step in a face makeup routine is primer. First Things First- Da Face Primer-  The first step in a face makeup routine is primer. This step is perfectly optional, and basically I will be bundling anything you would do before applying makeup in this category. I personally have very dry skin, so moisturizing is an important thing to do before I ever let makeup touch my face. There are plenty of other things you can do before your makeup to, ideally, make it look better and last longer. This step may include sunscreen, moisturizer, and other priming products. Products used for priming carry a lot of different claims, including brightening, pore filling, and color correcting. A primer is optional, but if you were wondering what a primer is...that's it! Everyone's opinions of primers is very different, so just take everything