This month, our Preschool Pals focused on building a strong community. Each area of the classroom was transformed to represent a place in the community. The snack area served as a restaurant, the manipulative center was a construction site, the science center became a hospital, the group area was the city hall, and the writing center was the local post office. As students visited different pillars in their community, they participated in a variety of activities enhancing our curriculum. “We did two cooking activities the kids really enjoyed,” Lead Teacher, Mr. Eka tells us. “After the children practiced identifying the different fruits and vegetables at our grocery store, we read The Ugly Vegetables and made a vegetable stew. Following suit, after reading The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza, we made personal pizzas.” I’m sure you can guess which recipe was the classroom favorite!
The preschoolers also took part in a science experiment, dissecting eggs! Going along with Humpty Dumpty, some of the preschool friends suggested gluing the eggs back together. “For art this week, in addition to our letter of the week, we made community signs such as stop signs and traffic lights that we posted around the room. We also drew fire fighters in action, extinguishing realistic fire paintings.” 
Each student played in the sensory table which was filled with packing peanuts. After searching for community helpers, the children played a matching game, pairing them with where they work. At our writing center, children traced words for our community helpers and completed a tricky maze connecting their community workers with their vehicles. Wrapping up this week’s activity, the class made posters of what they want to be when they grow up. To Mr. Eka’s delight, “teacher” was the most popular career choice!
