Sweet Smiles Preschool: CASTLES!!!

On Friday we had "the best day EVER!!!" Mother Goose Time thought of the funnest day of planned activities for preschoolers...a day all about castles!!!! We were all SO EXCITED for this day! Kings, queens, princes, princesses, dragons, castles, knights, wizards, etc...It does not get much more fun than this!

I told all the kids to bring in a costume or something to share that was related to our castle theme!

Here are the girls in their queen/princess costumes! I was so surprised I only had one Elsa! I thought they would all be in their Frozen attire! Lol!

Here are the boys ready to fight, guard the castle, and ward off any fire breathing dragons!

We started the day with our Mother Goose planned activities. During circle time we added the letter E to our alphabet house.

I cut out gem shapes from paper and wrote the letters A-E on them...

I spread out the gems face-down on the floor. A few volunteers took turns flipping over the gems and identifying which letter they chose. This was a great way to review the letters we have learned this week.

Next we made a circle and pretended the center of our circle was a castle. We took turns singing 'In the Castle" to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell" to all our friends!

"(Name's) in the castle,

(Name's) in the castle,

She is the queen today!

(Name's) in the castle!"

Mother Goose provided these materials for the kids to make a crown!

We used paint dobbers to add extra details to the crowns...

N made a pattern with the jewels!

Next, we made a castle with strips of paper and the letters of our name!

We pretended the strips of paper were the towers of a castle. The kids grabbed one strip of paper for each letter in their name. They glued them on their paper and then wrote one letter on each tower. A few of the kids needed a little help with this, but it was it was still a lot of fun for them.

We discussed the different rooms and parts to a castle while completing this craft: drawbridge, moat, dungeon, dragon's den, etc. We also imagined what the common rooms would look like such as the bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, etc.

Next, the kids worked on a castle puzzle from their math workbook. I made a copy of each child's puzzle so they had a template to work with...

A lot of questions arose while they were doing this. They were amazed to see this photo and learn that castles are actually REAL and not make believe!

I was SO EXCITED to surprise the kids with these new Lakeshore Learning castle blocks on this day! These were shown on the cover of Lakeshore's most recent catalog, and I knew right away I wanted them! They are so awesome!!!

I set the castle blocks out right away in the morning, but when I did my formal introduction of the blocks I had the kids gather around the blocks, two baskets of rocks, and a die.

We took turns rolling the die. The kids could choose the same number of rocks or blocks to add to a castle we built as a team. We discussed the importance of sharing and respecting our friend's opinions of the way they want the castle to look. We also discussed that a castle is often made of stone, brick, or wood.

This was the castle they completed as a team with the die...

Then later on I saw this unfold...

N started a new castle by making a large square with big blocks. She started lining up rocks all the way around it. When I asked her what she was up to, she replied "I am making a castle with a moat!"

This gained the attention of the other kids fast!

They all worked together to make a grand castle! I was just giddy to see their minds and bodies working so creatively!

I saw even more creations throughout the remainder of the day. I am telling you, these castle blocks are a hit!!!

I also set out these play castles. These have been in storage for a while, so the kids were excited to get their hands on them! Thank you J for bring the red dragon!

The country we are learning about this month is Poland. I explained to the kids that the Wawel Castle in Poland has a tunnel that leads to what many believe was a dragon's den! The den is now a popular tourist attraction. We labeled Poland on our world map and sang our continent song.

Mother Goose provided us with this adorable paper bag dragon! I set it in our BIG BOX in our dramatic play area, along with our tunnel and other castle props for the day. The kids had a blast make believing they were in a real castle!

Poland's Wawel Castle tunnel leading up to the dragon's den...

I also set up a pop up castle tent, a horse (for the knights to ride)...

A pink and a green dragon costume...

A Melissa and Doug knight costume...

Two capes to be a king or knight...

King and queen hats...

Also a wizard's hat and wand...

The kids had so much fun playing in our dramatic play area!

Hey! Where did the dragon go?

Watch out! Don't mess with Queen Elsa!

I love this! This knight is saving the princess!

This cutie is blocking the dragon's from getting out!

Shhhh....don't wake the sleeping princesses!

Whoops! Too late!

When we went outside, the kids still continued to imagine they were in a castle! The playground was the castle...

The drawbridge!

The dragon's den...

We had our story time outside again!

This was a great book about all sorts of different homes!

This book was intended for the kids to look through and see real life photos of castles...

This was their favorite book for the day!

I love these photos of the kids reading outside...

After nap time we headed outside right away. The kids worked on the letter E in their literacy workbook as we waited for our two school-agers to get back from school.

School's out for the summer!!!! This handsome dude is now officially a third grader!!!!!

Bittersweet day today! I am saying goodbye to this beautiful young lady who is now officially a second grader! I starting caring for her in 2011! She has grown so much, and I have enjoyed every minute of my time with her! She came running to give me a hug right away, and said "Don't worry, I will come back and visit!" I truly hope so!