B is for Bunny Bottoms

I teach preschool. Three mornings a week, I have 15 pre-kindergarteners (4 year olds who will turn five over the course of the year). Two mornings a week, I have 7 primary kiddos (3 year olds, turning four). In a nutshell, in Pre-K, we work on kindergarten readiness skills. In Primary, we work on the skills needed in Pre-K. The hardest one for Primary kids to master? Cutting.

You might be surprised at the variety of ways a 3 year old can hold a pair of scissors, none of them the correct way.

At the beginning of the year, we cut straws into little pieces, just to get the hang of using the scissors.

When we progress to cutting paper and then trying to cut on a line, we pretend the scissors are a crocodile that takes nibbles of paper, ending with a big CHOMP.

Some of the kids cut like a house afire, and you're sure they're going to take off fingers (usually mine, as I help guide their scissored hands). Some of them take little chips out of the paper but never make any real progress. All of them whisper "Squeeze, open, scoot" as they cut.

For our spring bulletin board, located in the hallway outside our door, my assistant found a darling idea on Pinterest for a bunny bulletin board:

http://firstgradeflipflops.blogspot.com/2014/03/its-spring.html

I figured our cutting skills were more than adequate to pull this off. I made a pattern by drawing an oval shape and copying it onto brown construction paper. (I also drew ears, but I'm no fool; I cut those out myself.)  

The kids cut out the oval, then glued on the ears and the cotton ball tail:

"Where's the face?" one of the boys asked.

"This is the back of the bunny," I said. "His face would be on the other side."

He turned the bunny over and frowned, as, obviously there was no face on the other side.

"We made bunny BOTTOMS," I told him.

Seven 3 and 4 year olds collapsed into giggles.

I hung the bunny bottoms on our bulletin board. Look how much personality each one has, just based on the way the ears were glued on:

PINTEREST WIN!