Thursday, April 2, 2015

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:





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!

30 comments:

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    1. I LOVE this craft! Am going to keep doing it forever and ever and ever....

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  2. hey! that's not fair! (although, the first book I read on achieving blogging success said, (and I misquote): 'you must write a title to inflame your Readers and they will flock to your your blog'... did I say, 'Hey!' yet?

    I must assume that I have a lot in common with 4 and 5 year olds, as that did strike me as a funny statement to make.

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    1. Privately, my assistant and I referred to them as "bunny butts." I was more genteel and professional with my class.

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  3. Too cute! New follower here - stopping by from the "A to Z Challenge". I look forward to visiting again!

    Sylvia
    www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks, Sylvia! Glad you stopped by! I'll be popping over to check your A to Z entry.

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  4. It's a lovely project.
    Happy Easter!


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    1. Thank you, Romi! We made a cross picture that was lovely, but I did it with last year's class, too, so I didn't think it counted to put it on my A to Z Challenge :)
      Happy Easter!

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  5. I was so grateful to get out of teaching preschoolers with all of my fingers intact. And my eyeballs. Some of them consider cutting with scissors a full-body activity. :)
    Cute bun(nie)s.

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    1. I guess it's better that they cut ME than themselves, but dang! Those little "safety" scissors can hurt!
      Lurrrrve the bunny butts!

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  6. The bulletin board is adorable. Makes me miss teaching (just a little). Happy Easter.

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    1. Thank you, Val! I know you can appreciate the blood, sweat and tears (mostly mine) that went into this!

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  7. Ohhhhhh the bunny bums are SO CUTE. And yeah - little kids and scissors and the frikkin SNIPS OF PAPER EVERYWHERE

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  8. Oh, how cute! I can just imagine the kids turning the papers over to find the faces.

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  9. Awww score! While I would be too afraid to teach runts how to use a scissors (I'd likely lose some digits), this seemed like a great project for them all!

    Just think of all the different seasons and holidays you can do similar boards with.

    Though, I'm partial to bunny bottoms. Beach Bunny bottoms! ;-)

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    1. Thanks! We really should get some kind of hazardous duty pay when teaching scissor skills.

      I do a horse bottoms bulletin board at the end of the year with my pre-k class....

      Oh, Jak!. Beach bunny bottoms?!

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  10. This post is so full of win! I sense a project coming on for my kids. :)

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    1. Thank you! It was really simple and didn't involve paint. Because you really don't want to do painting AND cutting in the same project!

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  11. adorable - when Amelia was given scissors for the first time she cut a piece of her bangs - did anyone wanted to cut your hair?

    Seriously the bunnies are adorable - So cute when you say certain words they giggle,

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    1. I had THREE cut their hair my first year of teaching preschool. To the best of my knowledge, no one else has done it since, at least, not on MY watch. I've had several do it at home, but not my monkey, not my circus :)

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  12. How adorable!!! Do you have a pair of "training scissors"? Those have a second pair of "finger holes" for an adult to help guide the kid. If you want one, I can send one to you! Ours were never too helpful for us, because both girls are lefties and I'm a righty. It sure was funny trying though :-)

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    1. They do surprisingly well with the little blunt nosed scissors. I've seen training scissors before, but I never knew how to use them!
      BOTH your girls are lefties?! I don't have any in any of my classes this year, which is unusual. I'll admit it makes it a lot easier on me!

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  13. That's SO cute! Love the pinterest win :)
    ~AJ Lauer
    an A-Z Cohost
    @ayjaylauer on Twitter

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