Baker's hats? Yes, please! The kids really couldn't contain their excitement when they saw the baker's hats! Then, when they noticed they would be wearing aprons too,... Well, it looked like they were in complete bliss. When we are introducing concepts in preschool, or any grade for that matter, it is important to get them incredibly engaged, excited, and motivated! One of the best ways to do this is to role play.
Kids love to pretend like they are a character in places they see every day or in an imaginative world. Today I'm sharing a couple of stations to cook up some fun in preschool!
To set the scene, I created a portable bulletin board. I love making these type of boards because they are highly engaging and you can easily move them around the room. And of course, they are easy to store for the next cooking station. I used a checkered plastic tablecloth and extra baker hats to decorate the board. I had the kids go to two different stations on this particular day. The first station was a fun "Muffin Match-Up". There are a number of activities you can do with these manipulatives. Kids can match up muffins up to the corresponding color card. Kids also roll the foam dice to match up the numbers and the colors. Kids could also practice addition and subtraction by adding and taking muffins away according to the number the di rolls. I also introduced word problems that corresponded to the muffins only with stickers that had the same color. We are practicing going from concrete to abstract and vice versa. The kids loved using the tongs to pick up the muffins, practicing their fine motor skills. The second station was an "ABC Cookie Puzzle". These were so fun for kids because they look so much like real cookies. The quality of these manipulatives is superior! The kids had fun flipping the letters too, ha! We practiced our letter sounds, then gobbled them all up. We also talked about vowels and consonants. The kids loved moving the letters off and back on the tray. Other resources I hope to use for this station throughout the year also include, "Smart Snacks Counting Cookies" and "Shape Sorting Cupcakes". The kids will have so much fun pretending they are baking things. Role play makes everything more fun!
