Playgrounds are a lot of fun with nature items. Preschool students enjoy jumping on these tree cookies. They are parts of an old tree cut up into smaller pieces. We anchored them into the ground so they are sturdy.
This is great for gross motor activities and hopping or stepping from one tree cookie to the next. The students were very creative as well by adding large waffle blocks to make the line longer.
Preschool students read and studied the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, recently. After reading this story, they thought of ways to help him. The teacher created a bulletin board with pictures and quotes from the students of their responses on how to help.
One student said, put tape around him. Another student said, put a bean bag around him.
This activity brought out the creative minds and thoughts of the preschool students. All good ideas to protect Humpty Dumpty from his fall.
Technology is an important interest in the lives of young students. These pre-k students enjoyed a visit from 6th graders in Wisconsin via Skype. The 6th graders read two books to the pre-k students: Caps for Sale and Make Way for Ducklings. We chose those particular books because both classes had copies of the books and the pre-k students could see the pictures and follow along easily on their side of the computer.
The students loved this experience. It was something different and a highlight of their afternoon at school.
This is a great activity for young students to do to illustrate the Parable of the foolish man building his house on the sand. Matthew 7:24-27 The Message.
Start with a tray of play sand. Have the students build up the sand as firm as possible. Then used blocks or Lincoln logs to construct a house. 
Punch 2-3 holes in the bottom of a plastic cup. Fill the cup with water. Hold the cup above the house built on the sand. The water will drip out of the holes in the bottom of the cup to represent rain.
The students will observe the sand getting wet and collapsing, causing the house to collapse and lean. This activity proves that we must build on a solid foundation to withstand rain and storms. 
Jesus is the solid rock foundation upon which to build our lives.
Individuals must possess many skills for job success. Job skills are similar for different professions and careers. Multiple job skills are imperative for job success. If employees only have one or two skills and are lacking in other ways, they are missing out on important elements of their work life and career. The possession of many job skills makes for well-rounded employees.
Teamwork is a major factor in job success. Employees must be able and willing to work on a team. They not only must be called to the team, they must be commissioned to the team. When employees are called to work on the team, they are team members. When they are commissioned to work on the team, they are actually playing and working in the game. Commissioned employees give more energy, enthusiasm, and effort to the team as a whole.
A second important job skill is flexibility. Employees must be flexible in their jobs and work duties. Flexibility is essentially important in the educational field. Teachers write lesson plans each week with their goals and ideas to meet learning standards. However, students give the true lesson plan evaluations. If the students are not understanding and comprehending the material, then the teachers must revise their plans and teaching methods. Plans and activities and the methods to carry out those plans may work for one class or student but may not work for another. Teachers must be flexible and devise an alternative plan to meet the desired goal and standards.
Flexibility plays a big part in lesson plans but also plays a big role in teachers as well. Teachers write their lesson plans for their own classes but many times some teachers are out of work, causing other teachers to share their workload and have double class sizes for the day. These situations are unfortunate but often must be done due to staffing availability or budget resources. With larger class sizes and different students, teachers often must revise their lesson plans to accommodate these differences. They must be flexible with what they have planned and how they have planned to implement activities and assignments.
Sharing classes leads to another important job skill: sharing resources. As teachers, it is important to share resources. Teachers in the same grade level and on the same grade team must learn to and be willing to share resources. They can share books, activities, ideas, lessons, and even special guest speakers. Sharing resources is directly related to teamwork and being commissioned to work on the team. Many teachers become territorial throughout their years of teaching experience. They have their own things and ways of using things and often become competitive with fellow teachers. It is important to collaborate and share resources with teammates in order to do the job and tasks together to reach a desired outcome.
Another skill closely related to sharing resources and teamwork is having open communication. Employees must be able to speak openly to and with their teammates and communicate their needs and ideas. When employees hold back their feelings and frustrations from another during a project, the work is slow to be completed and is often not completed satisfactorily. Employees must be able to openly communicate with one other in order to accomplish goals and complete work projects on time for the benefit of the company.
The multiple skills highlighted are essential characteristics for job success. With these skills, employees can be strong individuals and will work to benefit and grow companies and institutions. These skills ultimately create a teamwork approach that lead to accomplishing tasks necessary to operate businesses as a whole.
The M&M candies tell the story of Easter. Hold up an M&M to show the M on it. A big stuffed pretend M&M works well and is easily seen for this object lesson.
Turn the M&M candy different ways to make the M change to represent different letters. Hold the candy right side up to see the M. M is for the mercy the Messiah showed as He died in our place.
Turn the candy to one side and the M becomes an E to represent that E stands for Easter.
Turn the candy again to another side and the M looks like a 3 to represent the 3 days Jesus spent in the grave.
Turn the candy one more time upside down. The M becomes a W to represent that He alone is worthy of our worship and praise and calls us to be His witnesses all around the world.
