It's Raining Ladybugs in our Learning Centers!!!

In an effort to build a sense of community and get our 3 to 4-year-olds ready as they transition into their preK classrooms for next year, we combined all 3 of our classes together for one fun, amazing, morning filled with Ladybug exploration and learning!!!!  It may have been raining outside, but that did not stop our fun and learning inside!!!

While the kiddos in the classrooms of Mrs. Mullen and Mrs. Myers were learning and watching their caterpillars grow, the excitement for ladybug exploration was bursting out of Mrs. Atherholt's class. 
​-And she was too kind to share!!!!

As we gathered all the kiddos together, Mrs. A read to them about the different life cycle stages of ladybugs.  We learned about the different types of ladybugs, what they ate, how they pretended to 'freeze' to avoid predators, and even how their legs tasted yucky so they would not be the 1st choice for somebody else's lunch.

Station 1:  Mrs. A then broke the kiddos out into 3 stations of learning and exploration.  The first station included groups of 'ladybugs' (adorable rocks painted with googly eyes) inside grass pods.  The kiddos were asked to use their homemade binoculars to count the ladybugs in the pods.  Which ones had more, which ones had less, could you add the 2 together, could we take some away?  After tons of fun and exploring, each kiddo was able to select their very own ladybug to take home, love and enjoy.
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Station 2:  Mrs. A prepared great ladybug gross and fine motor skill games.  The first station was a simple, yet oh so fun, lady bug toss.  She created a large ladybug to lay flat on the floor.  The kiddos took turns tossing the ladybug spots (sand filled black balloons) onto the ladybug's back.  We had the option of dividing the group into teams to see which team got more on their side?  We counted how many landed on the ladybug's back.  We also talked about which side had more or less. 

The second game of the station focused more on fine motor skills.  The kiddos had a blast putting the pompom pipe cleaner spots into the ladybug colander back.  I don't know how Mrs. A can think of all of these, simple, adorable, but so impactful learning opportunities. 

Station 3:  Ladybugs like to eat, and so do we!!  Mrs. A prepared an adorable ladybug snack for our kiddos with upside down jello fruit molds.  The kiddos adored these (and teachers did too)!!!  What a cute idea for a picnic or bday party?  

After all of our Ladybug fun and learning, it was time to release them into our School Garden, so that they can share in the love and joy of God's world.  The rain stopped just enough for us to take the kiddos out for a few minutes and let them release into the world (thank you God).  It was fun talking to the kiddos about where they thought the ladybugs would go.  Some said to their mom's, a play date, picnic, shopping and more!  What a joy!  We can not thank you enough for letting us share in these special moments of your kiddos at UDCNS. We adore each and everyone of them so much and our lives are enriched everyday by their amazing love from God!!!

A special thank you to Mrs. A!!!  Mrs. A. (with her hubby & 2 kiddos) is a member of our church and nursery school.  She is beyond dedicated to helping our kiddos grow, learn and share in God's great love.  Our church and school thrive in highlighting the God given gifts that we are all blessed with.  God has created such a diverse population and everybody has their own set of special, precious chosen gifts.  Instead of wanting everybody to be the same, we cherish each special gift that God has given us.  Mrs. A is beyond hard working with her dedication to details, amazing creativity, and tireless effort to create new, original and dynamic lesson planning and curriculum.  -And I swear this lady has more hours in her day than mine.  From the bottom of my heart, Mrs. A inspires me to be a better teacher and we are so very, very thankful to have her in our ministry.  God is Good!!!