One of the mainstays and most popular themes in any preschool classroom is the “About Me” unit. I always start my year with a week of ‘Welcome to School’ making sure my Welcome bulletin board is ready for the weeks ahead. I’ve made a board with Balloons then Flowers with a “Watch us Grow” theme. This year I went a little crazy! I decided to use the words “Welcome Friends” and make a series of “kids” with simple smiley faces and stick-figurelike outfits and bodies. Y’all…it was A LOT OF WORK! I think if I added all the time I spent creating this board together…it would amount to an entire 12 hour day!
I have to admit…it was worth it! It turned out so cute! A lot of the faculty came down to see the preschool boards and absolutely loved it…and of course my co-workers were so supportive and full of encouragement…which meant the world to me…because frankly…I was over it by the time I finished!
It is my tradition to always have an oval or a circle for each child on my Welcome board. I always have a plan for my Welcome board to evolve into something both parents and students will delight in!
Bring on the first self portrait!
To me, as both a mother and a teacher, nothing is cuter than a preschoolers first self portraits! The crooked smiles and the funny little markings as they try to manipulate crayons or markers to make eyes, nose and mouth. There is such a big developmental leap in detail from my 3-4’s and my 4-5’s pre-k kids! It is both fun and fascinating to see the evolution! I love to take a photo of each face and save it for the end of the year portfolios of progress. They grow so much I so many ways…in such a short time.
In small group centers I let the kids pick from different flesh toned circles to make their own face. I provided mirrors, markers and differing lengths of yarn in lots of colors to use as hair. I demonstrated how I look in the mirror and see 2 blue eyes with eyebrows and lashes. I have 1 nose and one happy smiling mouth! I always have an example ready to go!
I love sitting back and watching the kids examine heir own faces and sketch out the features they see. I always help with the hair…but even that is so much fun to watch them choose what colors they would like and how they want it ‘styled’ on their little round heads! The end result is a bulletin board that represents both my classes as they see themselves. It represents where each child is developmentally and will serve as a landmark to see how far they go by the end of the year! I love it…it makes me so happy each day!
You can find this idea in my “All About Me!” Lesson Plan for preschool Prek and Homeschool in my TpT store! Just follow the link below! More from this unit will be coming to my blog in the coming days! You will love it!
All About Me! 5-Day Unit/Lesson Plans for Preschool, Pre-K, K, & Homeschool
