Circus Week Dramatic Play

It is Circus week in my classroom right now so I switched out our Dramatic Play area. I Decorated our Dramatic Play with a Circus banner and the words "Circus" cut from my Cricut. The kids did some clown art so we also hung that in there. We have Popcorn containers, Circus tickets, a clown bean bag toss game, Ring toss, and clown and circus animal costumes.

Circus Sensory Table

This week is Circus Week in my classroom. I created a fun (and MESSY) sensory table to go along with our theme. Here is what our sensory table includes this week: White paper shred Rainbow Curling Ribbon Circus Animals "Rings of Fire" (Pipe Cleaner and Tule) Slinkies Warning: With 3-year-olds the shred will be ALL over your classroom, stuck to your clothing and carpeting, and possibly in your hair. :)

Galaxy Play-dough

This is the coolest play-dough ever! It is also not as messy as you would think. Once the glitter is kneaded into the dough-it stays there so there is no mess after you make it!

Here is what you will need:

1 c. water
1/4 c. salt
1/4 tsp. food coloring
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 c. flour
1 Tbsp. alum
1 or 2 small packets of glitter (Found at Dollar Tree)

(Doubling this recipe works well for a larger group of children.)

How to:

In a saucepan, mix the water, salt and food coloring. Boil on high for about 1 minute, stir until the salt dissolves.



While it is still hot, stir in the oil, flour and alum. Mix well. (It will be a little bumpy but not to worry, you will knead that out later!)



When it is cool to the touch, knead for about 5 minutes.



Roll Dough out into a circle about 1 inch thickness. Pour glitter in the center. Knead in glitter.



&& Voila! Here you are: (The picture hardly does the sparkle justice!)



Store in an airtight container (gallon size bag works well) for several weeks!




*SIDE NOTE:
For this Galaxy Play-dough I mixed blue and green food dye together. I used about 1/2 of the blue food dye and only about 5 or 10 drops of the green. I use the food colors from the Dollar Tree. It comes in the box below and the colors are actually really great. Here is a photo of the food dyes:

Button Snake

This idea is from Counting Coconuts. It is super easy to make.

What you will need:
2 foot long piece of ribbon
Large Button
Scissors
Felt



How to:
Tie the ribbon onto the button on one end and tie a loop on the other end.

Cut a bunch of 2 inch by 2 inch squares out of felt.

Cut slits in the felt squares.

String the felt squares through the button onto the ribbon.

:)

ABC Play

I saw this idea here on Pinterest. I thought it was super cute and looked like fun.

I might add velcro on my ice cream and cones so that after the kids match them they don't move around.

I used the Cricut die cutting machine to create these, Doodlecharms was the cartridge.

Interactive Counting

I have to admit, this is not my idea. I saw something similar to this on Pinterest and adapted it to fit my needs.

How it works:
Let the children count the hearts and then open the blue heart to see the correct number inside.

Counting Cards

I made these cards using mainly the Provocraft Cricut as well as random Fiskars punches.

These are great for children who are just beginning to learn how to count. They can count the pictures and see the number on the card which builds number recognition. Great for ages 2-4 years old.

*SIDE NOTE*
These are not flash cards and should not be used to "quiz" children.