Who Loves you, and Whom Do you Love?

“Hide My Word in Your Heart.”

February is the month for talking about love. Whom do you love and who loves you. At circle time we talked about all the people in our lives who love us very much and everyone we love too. Three of my children said they love their dogs, cats and Morris the tortoise. In a little basket beside my chair I had small items for each of the children. I asked if they had little treasures and they wanted to put them some place safe where would you hide them right now so they would not get lost. I gave them each a small toy and saw where they put them. Most put them in a pants pocket, shirt pocket and one in her shoe.

We talked about the Word of God and our Bible verse. To keep it safe we hide the word of God in our hearts by memorizing our Bible verse each week. Our Bible verse is “Love the Lord Your God with all Your Heart”, Matthew 22:37.

We talked about color patterns in our shirts and our pants. I gave them a cut out of a pair of pants or a shirt and let them decorate them as they liked. They had their choice of anything that was in the art center to use. Some used markers, paint, stickers and the girls loved the sequins and glitter pens. After their article of clothing was dry I gave them an outline of a heart and they cut it out and glued it to their shirt or pants. On the heart I wrote-I Have Hidden Your Word in My Heart… After we recited the Bible verse they tucked the piece of paper into the heart pocket. We hung our shirts and pants on the walls for about a week and after we had memorized the verse, they took them home.

Hiding small items from the science center, cars and trucks area, and small animals is all part of the preschool experience. Hiding the Word of God in their hearts is part of their growing experience.

Have a joyous February.
Lynn

Cows, Eggs and Families

Families come in all shapes and sizes. When teaching about families, one of the concepts I like to begin with is that not every family is exactly the same. As a class we talk about how all of us in our families are special in our own way and we each bring something special to our family. We talk about how we are all of God's children and we are all family in His eyes, and we are special in our own way.

I let the kids describe their own families, and then we discuss that no matter what defines our “family,” it’s important to be loving and kind to our family members and remember that each of us in turn are unique and important to our family, who loves us very much. One of the books we like to read in our class of 3- and 4-year olds is about a cow and an egg, aptly named The Cow That Laid An Egg, by Andy Cutbill.

The story surrounds a farm where a cow named Marjorie feels very ordinary. The chickens on the farm decide to play a joke on her and make her think she’s laid an egg. But when it hatches what will it be? Certainly not a baby cow… And, sure enough, a chick eventually pops out of the egg. However, when it makes its first sound, it’s clear that Marjorie is the rightful mom after all, for the chick lets out a resounding MOO!

I bring in hard-boiled eggs for the kids to decorate. I usually bring one pre-decorated to have black cow spots on it, like the one in the book, and I let the kids take turns holding it during the story, if they can do so without being too distracted. After the story the children decorate their own eggs (with markers, glitter glue, crayons, stickers) any way they want. Then we look at all the different eggs and talk once again about how, just like each of us and our families, each egg is special and beautiful in its own way.