I teach pre-kindergarten five mornings a week. I have two classes; one meets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and the other on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The kids are energetic and fun and say HILARIOUS things, and I'm always searching Pinterest for crafts and activities to use with them. We have turned out some pretty cool stuff thanks to Pinterest, like these:
 |
| X-rays made with glue and liquid watercolors. Messy, but cool. |
 |
| Grass seeds planted in the toes of knee-hi nylons. Messy, but cool. |
 |
| Messy, but cute. |
 |
| Then there was this activity, where we made a rainbow with colored water and paper towels. TOTALLY cool and not one bit messy! |
You get the idea.
I have, oh, probably HUNDREDS of preschool projects pinned on my Pinterest boards. Obviously, there's not enough time to get to all of them, so most of the pins languish on my boards. I am well-intentioned but kind of lazy. This one, though, THIS one, I should have done years ago:
 |
| https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/ balloon-tennis-gross-motor-play-activity/ |
All it took was a trip to the dollar store for flyswatters (2 fer $1) and a bag of balloons. I took the kids to the gym, told them the rules were to try and keep the balloon up in the air by hitting it upwards with the flyswatter and not hit anyone with a flyswatter in the process.
It was FUNNNNN!!!
They lasted about fifteen minutes before wearing out.
A definite Pinterest win.
Now see, I thought these were going to be Pinterest Fails, but no - you're the champ! Love Flyswatter Tennis.
ReplyDeleteSo far, no fails. The Challenge is young, however! We had so much fun playing it last week that we played again today when it was too cold to go outside for recess!
DeleteI love this. I am adding these to my next dollar store shopping list, my daughter is so full of energy. :/ She will love this.
ReplyDeleteJust give her plenty of room.... ;)
DeleteYou are the Coolest pre-school teacher eva!
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the grass head knee-hi's 😁
2nd runner up, the cardinals!
You are the sweetest sister eva! The grass head knee hi's were a pain but they were cute. Best part is some of the seeds slipped into the nose area and it looked like they had hair growing out of their noses...
Deletelolol
Deletevery cool!!! i wanna play too! zoe
ReplyDeleteCome on over!
DeleteI sense a theme there! But boy are those projects adorable. And it was worth the visit just for the pic of balloon tennis! I can imagine they were pretty settled for the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun B!
@IsaLeeWolf
A Bit to Read
We played at the end of the morning and then I sent them home :)
DeleteMy grandson who will be 4 at the end of the Month would love all of your ideas. Balloons are such fun aren't they - until the burst of course LOL:) Enjoyed your 'B' in AtoZ
ReplyDeleteSue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond
B is for Beauty - The importance of Inner Beauty
I was a little worried about the combination of dollar store flyswatters, dollar store balloons, and 5 year olds, but none of them popped!
DeleteGreat post! I have a 3-year-old and have to try the balloon tennis and rainbow paper towel.
ReplyDelete-Dorky Mom Doodles
You're set to go!
DeleteBalloon tennis sounds like amazing fun for adults as well as kids! :-)
ReplyDeletehttps://iainkellywriting.com/2018/04/02/b-is-for-birkirkara-malta/
It could be a pretty fun adult game!
DeleteThese are great idea! If I had the energy I would try them with my 3 year old grandkids. Maybe I will share with their parents.
ReplyDeletehttp://findingeliza.com/
You can send them outside to do it!
Deletedefinitely trying balloon tennis with my toddler. at least it'll tire him out for bedtime
ReplyDeleteIt wore me out chasing balloons and bringing them back!
DeleteA definite win! The inner-child in me wants to play, too!
ReplyDeleteIt would make a great solitaire game.
DeleteHow I would have loved for my kids to have a pre-school like this! It is awesome that you are willing to undertake messy projects for the fun of experiencing and learning that life is indeed messy but wonderful! I will remember balloon tennis, even older kids could safely expend some energy this way and have fun doing it! Most certainly a win!!
ReplyDeleteVisit me at Josie Two Shoes
So many parents don't want to undertake messy activities with their kids! I have kids that don't get to play with play-doh at home for that reason.
Delete