Are you looking for items that will make classroom life easier and will comply with COVID-19 requirements? I don't know about you, but I have spent hours in Webinars since March, listening to professionals around the country share ideas about re-opening programs safely. Below, I share my top 5 things to help you reopen Your Preschool or Child Care Center after COVID-19.
NOTE: Check with your local licensing and health department authorities. This post serves as a list of simple items for classroom use. In no way does this post dictate what you should do. Your local authorities will have information about health and safety plans and requirements.
I went through our entire day and thought about all of the times children share materials. I then began to think of what would be feasible in a classroom of 3-5-year-olds. Our art area was beautifully arranged in years past with mason jars that contained groupings of markers and other essentials. (We never broke a jar, by the way!) Looking through the COVID-19 lens, however, I have decided small art caddies from Amazon will work this year. A quick wipe-down at the end of the day will keep a lot of germs at bay!
Our writing area is another area that contains shared materials, all of which are not easily sanitized. I found the perfect clear envelopes that will hold our Handwriting Without Tears crayons and pencils, word cards, and vocabulary words. Again, only a quick wipe-down is needed.
These sports bottle holders are awesome. They fold-up when not in use and we run them through the 3-step washing process at the end of the day with all of the children's water bottles.
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Every child in our class will receive a drawstring bag to use for the year. Small nap time blankets and special items will be stored in them and hung in their locker. The items will go home on Friday for washing.
We go through a lot of dishcloths and rags every day, so this pop-up laundry bag is easy to store in our office, then take home at the end of the day. It also holds pillows, puppets, and other items that need to be washed.
Student lunches will be stored by skill-time group and we will provide children with individual bags of playdough, I am sure I will find other uses as well.
There you have it! My 5 things to help you reopen your preschool classroom or child care center, COVID-19 style. I hope you found this post useful. If you have any questions about our plans for reopening, please email me at [email protected]
If you are looking for the labels I used on the individual student supply caddies, you can find them here:
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Looking for outdoor ideas for your preschooler? Here are some easy Summer STEAM Ideas for Preschool.
It takes a bit of ingenuity and fresh ideas to make learning fun at home for a 3-year-old. Things could easily get stale and boring, especially since there are no other children in our home. Thankfully, I have help from Experience Early Learning. The monthly curriculum kit is absolutely beautiful, complete with lesson plans, STEAM Station ideas, the majority of the supplies including books, a puzzle, props and so on.
Above is one of the daily Topic Posters from the Treasure Island Theme. Iris and I had so much fun with Crab Day. Take a peek below at just a few of the things we did. You can see more of Treasure Island in an earlier post here andhere.
In the summer, we eat 2-3 meals outside and, as much as possible, and we take learning outside, too. I am always thinking of how to extend our day outside, and the preschool activities, especially the STEAM Station ideas from Experience Early Learning are perfect!
Above is one of the STEAM Station ideas from the Teacher Guide.
I modified the Crab Paths activity and substituted the connecting blocks we received in an earlier curriculum box. The shells were included in this month's box as one of two the manipulatives that are in every box. Iris and I made paths to her Kinetic Sand tray and "walked" the crabs on the paths. She made up a story about the crabs looking for treasure. I love listening to her experiment with language.
Iris had fun making Shell Prints, also a STEAM Station idea. She engineering a Crab Shaker that she used to dance to Island Calypso music on the included, Dancing on Alphabet Island CD. The awesome thing about the crab shaker? All but the glue, crayons and scissors came in the curriculum kit. I appreciate not having to go to a million stores or digging through my craft supplies. I keep a small caddy with crayons, scissors, tape and glue in our outside basket, ready to go each day.
So, if you are looking for outdoor ideas for your preschooler, I highly suggest you check our Experience Early Learning. You will love the easy Summer STEAM Ideas for Preschoolers.
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AuthorSheila Anderson has over 25 years experience in the Early Childhood Field and still loves going to "school" everyday. Archives
January 2022
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