lion around

We learned about lions when we were focusing on the letter "L". Every time I held up the picture of our animal friend, Larry Lion, one of my little ones would say, "Miss Eileen! Miss Eileen! That's like the Lion King!" Yup, great connection (thank you Disney!). 

Here are some of the activities we did while we were learning about "L":

Lion Painting:  

I loved the painting process I found here at Teach Preschool, and I would have used Deborah's entire project idea, but I had a bazillion copies of lion color sheets in my file drawer.  I decided that we should use those (I'm a little neurotic about using supplies that we have on hand...especially leftover color sheets that are taking up space in my file cabinet!).  So, we painted the lions using cotton balls pinched by clothes pins and a yellow/orange paint mixture.  The cotton balls got really soggy and sloppy by the end, but it was fun to paint with something other than a brush.  We also glued on "Ll Lion" - another leftover. : )

Lego, Leaf, & Lace Prints:  

Usually when we paint my kiddos want to use copious amounts of paint and smear everything around so all they have is one big painty, falling apart piece of paper.  I knew if I wanted to do a print project (which would require major paint-control), I'd have to offer two ways to paint.   I covered our tables in paper and gave each student an "L" cut out of construction paper.   I took some time to show my students how to make prints using the objects.   Then I instructed them to make the prints on the "L" shape.  When they were done with the "L" they could then paint on the paper covering the table and experiment with the paint and objects in whatever way they chose.  The prints turned out pretty good, the legos worked the best, the leaves were ok, the lace just got soggy and didn't print very well at all.  I think next time we'll just use legos.

Lion Small World:

I put beans, raffia, cardboard tubes, trees (made from paper and tubes), and a "cave" that I made from a piece of an oatmeal box into a sensory bin.   I've found that the "small world" pretend play spaces are much more popular with the 4 and older crowd... my 3's just like to take everything out of the bin, throw the beans around, and hijack the lions : ).

Do you have any other lion activities that you do with your kiddos?

Miss Eileen