Programs & Groups : Prairie Preschool Companions

Every Tuesday & Wednesday
(same program both days)
9-10 AM
Drop in - no reservations required.

Adventure for preschoolers and their caregivers.

Puppets, stories, activities, and songs in our comfortable museum, outside, in a tipi, or in a pioneer sod house. Get out of the house and into our native landscape while you learn together!

Programs are designed for children ages 2-5, accompanied by an adult.  Younger children may attend at no cost with siblings; please be respectful of others enjoying the program.

Cost:
$6 per child per session
Value packages available:
$40 for 10 sessions for members; $20 for 5 sessions
$50 for 10 sessions for non-members. $25 for 5 sessions

April:

Using our Senses

2008

April is a great month for exploring the outdoors! Not only is the weather warmer, but April is Children and Nature Awareness Month sponsored by the Children and Nature Network. Not only is the entire month of April dedicated to getting kids outside but there are a variety of special days devoted to celebrating nature.

•  April 13 th -19 th is National Environmental Education Week

•  April 19 th -27 th is National Wildlife Week

•  April 22 nd is Earth Day

•  April 25 th is National Arbor Day

Celebrate the month of April by exploring and playing in nature! Join us at the Plains Center to explore and celebrate using all the senses.

April 1st and 2nd Sight

April 8th and 9th Sound

April 15th and 16th Touch

April 22nd and 23rd Earth Day

April 29th and 30th Smell

Using our Senses!

Learning about the senses is a good way to help young children develop science and observational skills. It is important to help them recognize patterns and to develop language skills to describe what they observe. Not only is using the senses a good way to involve young children in learning about the environment around them, but it also aids in the development of wonder and respect for nature.

Reminders

Remember to come dressed for the weather! Bring all your warm clothes inside so we will have plenty of time to explore outside.

We will have a variety of school groups visiting the center in April and some arrive right at 10:00. You may want to consider coming a few minutes early to look for books to take home or to explore the center before class.

Nature's Classroom in your Neighborhood

Activities to Extend Learning

Environmental Education research has shown that an adult's involvement and interest in nature goes a long way toward helping children develop their own environmental ethic and interest. Help cultivate your child's interest at home with these activities:

Look: I Spy

Play I-spy when you take a walk around the neighborhood or in a local park. Pick out things you see out side and describe them (i.e. I spy something tall and brown). Ask your young learner to guess what you are describing. Or play a guessing game. Young learners choose something that they see outdoors. Ask your learner yes or no questions about the object to try and guess what it is. (Is it bigger than a squirrel? Is it small than my hand? Is it green? Is it shaped like a circle?) By asking questions you will be encouraging your learner to look closer and make additional observations. Consider taking binoculars on your adventure outside. Check out this great article from Green Hour about choosing the right binoculars for kids. ( http://www.greenhour.org/content/blog/detail/3788/ ).

Mystery Objects

Bring an old sock with a butter tub or other open mouthed container stuffed in the bottom on your next walk outside. Take turns picking out objects and putting them inside the sock without letting anyone else see. Use all your senses to guess the mystery object. Shake the object in the sock. What does it sound like? Close your eyes and smell the object. Reach inside and touch the object. Take a guess. What it is it? Last but not least, look at the object, what else can you find out about it?

Meet a Tree

On your next walk to the park, adopt a special tree. Close your eyes and use your senses to get to know it. Wrap your arms around it. Can you reach all the way around? Smell the tree. Feel the bark. Do your fingers fit inside the groves? Put your ear up to the tree and listen. What do you hear? Knock on the tree. What sound does it make? Look at the tree. Stand back and look at the shape and color. Don't forget to give your tree a name and come back to visit it!

Sketch It: Magic Spots

Find your own magic spot! Does your child have a favorite place in the yard or at the park? Make it your own magic spot. Sit down in your spot and use all your senses. Take a clipboard and draw what you see, hear, smell, and touch around you. If your spot is in your yard, make it your own. What can you sit on? Find some natural objects that are already on the ground to decorate your spot. Draw what you see on sunny days and cloudy days. How does your spot change through the seasons?

Looking for more ways to get outdoors with your preschooler?

Check out the National Wildlife Federation's website, The Green Hour at www.greenhour.org. The website offers activities to do with children and plenty of opportunities to converse with other parents and educators about the importance of taking kids outdoors.

Comments and Feedback

What do you think about the Prairie Preschool Program? Please email me with any comments you have. I would love to hear about the things your child liked or disliked. We are always looking for ways to make the program better, so any suggestions are welcome. Email me at knavin@plainscenter.org or call 303-693-3379

Past Activities

  Developing Observation Skills

“Developing a child's observational skills is an important first step in science education. As students make observations, they are learning to collect and organize information. Observation leads to questions, which are the basis of inquiry. Questions lead to a search for answers by making inferences and then using more detailed observations and actual experiments to see if the inferences are true. Science is all about finding out “why.”

(From Block Publishing Article Home School Hints:  Developing Observation Skills http://www.blockpub.com/pages/ed/observation.html )

Observation involves using all the senses and so does looking for signs of animals.   This month at Prairie Preschool and at home encourage learners to make observations on color, shape, texture, smell, sound, and even taste (if it is safe).  Learners can also sort objects to develop both classification and observation skills.  Give learners suggestions to sharpen their observation and encourage them to be creative and develop their own ideas.

Look:  Nest Hunt

Take a walk around the neighborhood or in a local park and see if you can find any squirrel nests.  Squirrels make their nests high up in trees and they look like clumps of dead leaves.  Try looking in different ways.  Look at you walk around or lay down on the ground underneath several trees.  Are the nests easier to see?  What other evidence of animals do you see?

Sketch It

Trying to draw something that you see can help you to see details.  Encourage your young learner to draw something outside, at the park or even out the window of your house.  Think about taking a shape outside and looking for something that has a similar shape.  Draw what you see.

Upcoming Schedule

May: Grasses and Flowers

6th and 7th Build a Prairie

13th and 14th Grass

20th and 21st Flowers

27th and 28th Pollination

June: Insects and Spiders

3rd and 4th Insect or Not

10th and 11th Butterflies

17th and 18th Grasshoppers

24th and 25th Spiders

July: Scales and Slime

1st and 2nd Turtles

8th and 9th Snakes

15th and 16th Salamanders

22nd and 23rd Frogs

29th and 30th Eggs

August: What's Under Our Feet

5th and 6th Dirt

12th and 13th Rocks

19th and 20th Worms

26th and 27th Roots