Back To School Bulletin Boards...Redux!

We are getting ready for a new school year, and teachers have been working themselves silly getting their rooms ready for the new classes. I've had the pleasure to peek at some of their bulletin boards and thought I'd share some here today.

(note: Each class in our center has a "color bear" designation for example: Green Bears, Yellow Bears, Red Bears, etc.)

Welcome/Class List  Bulletin Boards

 Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Boards!

 And A Few More!

 A close up of the ship and portholes!

Birthday Bulletin Boards

Art Display Boards

Parent Information Boards

Other Great Boards

Writing Display Board

Family Pictures Display

 Meet The Teachers

 Character Education/Rules

Center Boards

I was filling in at one of our other Preschools this summer, and this bulletin board was in the lobby. I love the idea of a central place to share special pictures and news for the entire Center!

Looking for even more great bulletin board ideas? Stop by Rainbows Within Reach and check out Debbie's collection of bulletin boards!

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Check out the little illuminations facebook fan page and see what we're sharing.

Words Matter!

A little word cloud with our favorite "play" words:

The Earth and I: Earth Day Books, Activities and a Blog Hop!

I am thrilled to participate in a Earth Day blog hop, by the Preschool Blogger Network. We are sharing an activity and a favorite book for Earth Day.

Earth Day is April 22nd and the perfect time to talk about protecting our environment. My favorite Earth Day Book is "The Earth and I" by Frank Asch. I love the watercolor illustrations and the simple text helps children understand the importance of caring for our Earth. 

One of the favorite activities in my classroom around Earth Day is to make these coffee filter earths. Throughout the year, we try a variety of techniques, from watercolor painting, to coloring with markers and either spraying with a water bottle or using an eyedropper to help blend the colors.

Our recycled earth collage was a wonderful way to use up scraps and magazine remnants from our scrap box. I drew an outline of the world and a couple of continents and the kids glued shades of blue and green to the background.  

We have a fabulous group of bloggers participating, all sharing their favorite Earth Day books and activities. Be sure to bookmark or pin them all!  If you have a post about a favorite Earth Day book or activity, you are invited to link up your post here! 


Teach Preschool : Child Central Station : Living Montessori Now : Aunt Annie's Childcare : The SEEDS Network : Flights of Whimsy : Pre-K Pages : Kreative Resources : I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here! : Share & Remember : Music Sparks : little illuminations : Greening Sam and Avery : Putti Prapancha : Early Play : 52 Days to Explore : Little Running Teacher : Look at My Happy Rainbow : Rainbows within Reach

"Eggs"-perimentation in Pre-K

We've been learning about oviparous animals as part of our Spring activities. We talked a lot about animals that hatch and played some fun games where we pretended to be animals hatching from eggs. We also read some wonderful books about eggs, including "Chickens Aren't The Only Ones" by Ruth Heller. 

I got a few toy eggs (a chick, a duckling and a turtle) that hatch in water and we put a new egg in each day. I wanted them to wonder, guess and talk about them as they observed, so I hadn't told the children what animals were in the eggs. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't hatch as planned. The eggs were supposed to hatch within a day or two, but when we left for Spring Break, only the chicken egg had hatched so far. I'm sure the School-agers using our room during the break will take them out and save them for us when we return next week. 

The teacher (Ms. H) that uses my room for the School-agers saw a neat experiment on Pinterest and decided to try it with her kids. She read that if you place a raw, shelled egg in vinegar, the vinegar will eat away the shell and leave an egg that is almost translucent, contained within the membrane. The white foam at the top of the cup is actually the disintegrated exterior shell. 

I planned on just observing her eggs, but my mom mentioned that they had some brown eggs, and a chicken that had been laying double-yolked eggs, so I brought a few in to compare them.

We watched as the vinegar bubbled around the shells. You could really see the shell in the water with the brown eggs.

A day or two later, we were able to see some of the inside of the egg. The outer layer still had to be scraped a bit to make it easier to see inside. 

When the egg broke, the membrane could be pulled off. We observed that it was soft and pliable, but when we let the membrane dry out a bit, it hardened and became brittle.  It was a very interesting exploration. 

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Spring Bulletin Boards

We've got some really great bulletin boards this spring in our school, so I thought I would share them in case anyone needs a little inspiration.

This board for Earth Day is in its beginning stages. I'm sure this will be a work on progress as Earth Day (April 22nd) approaches.

A few sunflower window decorations made from paper plates...

I love this simple illustration of the cycle from seed to plant.

This is one of my favorite bulletin boards of all times, illustrating various life cycles.

This was our Spring board last year. It was so cute, and the parents loved it! After we took it down, we added the bunny ears pictures to our yearbook pages, so the parents could treasure their little "bunnies" forever!

 I'm so thankful to have wonderful co-workers who allow me to come in and gather inspiration from their classrooms. I love sharing the ideas I see in their classrooms with you here on little illuminations!


Thanks for visiting! Leave a little "comment love"~I'd love for you to share your thoughts!