Preschool Theme: Tractor and the letter T

O and I attend a preschool, well, technically we're just a really organized and structured moms group but we try to offer our kids the same kinds of things other kids get in their paid preschools and co-ops. We benefit by not paying any fees and I get to teach sometimes. I like teaching because it gives me a chance to introduce ideas I know O is likely to be interested in and I always make the kids sing lots of songs because I know it's great for their growing brains and O loves it. Anyway, tomorrow I'm teaching and that means coming up with some songs and one main craft. We'll be learning about the letter "T" for tractor even though we just recently talked about "T" for trains.

The craft we'll be doing involves turning the letter T into a tractor. I printed out some photo paper (it is really great with glue sticks) with a barn the kids can color then glued down the "T" shapes I cut using my Silhouette SD. I glued the "T" down sideways next to the barn:

Next I cut small strips of tan and cream felt (it's what I had on hand) to serve as hay, mud puddles cut out of non-slip drawer liner, tractor tires out of 2-inch and 3-inch circles out of black paper and some grass out of green felt. We'll have crayons, glue and cotton for the exhaust coming out of the tractor in our supply tub at school.

I asked O to complete a sample one and with a little help, here's the one he did:

As you can see, the tractor is driving through some grass, approaching a [heart shaped] mud puddle on a sunny day just outside the barn. I'm hoping the kids enjoy the different textures of the paper, felt, drawer liner and cotton.

We'll be singing Old Macdonald and a Tractor Song sung to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus. I'm so excited, I hope they have fun.

Thank you for reading,
Julie