B is for Berries

• Exploring Berries
1. Buy different kinds of berries at the store (or pick them if you have that ability near you). We used Blueberries, Strawberries, Blackberries, and Huckleberries. 
2. Explore the berries through the 5 senses
• Sight – what color are they, what shape are they, are they big or smal
• Hear – Say the name of the berry. When you say “berry” in the name (ie: StrawBERRY) say it loud or clap.
• Smell – Smell it. Does it smell good or yucky
• Touch – is it bumpy, smooth, rough, slimy, soft, etc.
• Taste! – is it sour, sweet, salty, etc.

• Pom pom Berries
1. Using craft pom poms (we used blue, pink and black, big and small sizes) put them in a pile on the table, thrown out on the floor, in a sensory bin, or on a piece of green paper to look like a bush.
2. Have your preschooler “pick” the berries and sort them by color. We put them on matching colored paper.
3. Then sort by size for each color.

• Water bead Berries
1. Sensory bins are always a win, even if you don’t put anything else in but water beads! Again I used black, blue and pink (and clear) water beads.
2. They then sorted by color and played with them in the water.
• I like water beads for this one because they are round and small like a lot of berries.

• Berry Math
1. Pick a color (or many colors) of playdoh to make “berries” – small round balls of playdoh.
2. Cut out a piece of green paper, felt, foam, etc to resemble a bush.
3. Berry Math – (Berry picking [subtration] or berry growing [addition])
• Put all the berries on the bush and roll a die/dice.
• Count the dots and “pick” that many berries.
• Repeat until all the berries are picked.
• Roll the die/dice again.
• Count the dots and add that many berries to the bush (they’re growing).
• Repeat until all the berries you made have grown.

• Cheerio Box Blueberry activities
1. Cheerios had a perfect activity on the back of their Blueberry Cheerio's box and I saved it for today. They had:
• Blueberry memory match
• Berry Rhyming questions

**For more BERRY inspired preschool activities, click HERE**

Huckleberry Preschool

It’s huckleberry season here in Montana, so we did preschool activities to go along with it.
*These activities could also be used with B is for Blueberries (or B is for Berries).

• Pick Huckleberries!
1. We went on a hike to find our huckleberries
2. Pick, and eat, as many huckleberries as you can! (at least 1 cup for the projects below)
3. Talk about the different sizes and colors of huckleberries as you pick
• be sure to also talk about different wild berries how some kinds of berries are not safe to eat, so always ask before they try a berry!

• Huckleberry Dot-Counting
• You’ll need: paper, green crayon/marker/etc, die, and a dot-stamper
  
  
1. Start with a picture of hand drawn leaves all over the page to make a big huckleberry bush (minus the huckleberries, for now).
2. Have your child roll the die and count the dots.
3. Using the dot-stamper (we used a purple color like a huckleberry!), stamp that many “huckleberries” on the bush.
4. Repeat as many times as your preschooler wants, or once the bush fills up!

• Huckleberry Observations and Comparisons
  **My preschooler REALLY like this one.
• You’ll need: dixie cups (or sorter), berries of choice (we used blueberries and huckleberries), paper with observation/comparison questions (see below), crayons
1. Use the handout below, or make your own – on a piece of paper, divide it into as many sections as you have different berries (ie: we used 2 berries, so we had 2 sections – Huckleberry and Blueberry), write the berry names at the top (or have your preschooler write the names), and add things for your preschooler to observe and compare.
• Going through the paper I made:
1. (Write the names of the berries at the top) Which letters in their names are the same - match and color them
2. What color are the berrie
3. What size are the berries – small, medium, or large
4. How do they taste – good, not good, sour
5. How do they smell – good or not good
6. What shape are the berries
7. How much do you like them (color part or all of heart)

1. As you go through the questions with your preschooler, let them answer however they think, then talk about why they answered it that way.
2. After the observations are recorded, let them eat the rest of the berries in the cups!

• Make Huckleberry Muffins
1. Put an apron on your preschooler and let them help measure & pour in the ingredients, and stir the muffin batter
2. If you use liners, put those in, then have your preschooler count a certain amount of huckleberries in each cup
• Each column I told her a different number of huckleberries that she needed to put in (ie: first column is 4 huckleberries, the next is 5 huckleberries, etc.)
• It takes a while to fill up the whole pan with huckleberries, but it’s a great counting activity, especially if they get to eat some berries while they do it!

1. (I added huckleberries to the batter), spoon batter in, and bake. While you wait, you can make up a Huckleberry story!

• Make up a story about a Huckleberry
1. I recorded my preschooler as she made up a story about a huckleberry (named Huck) with question prompts from me. It’s pretty cute what their imaginations come up with.
2. Write it down word-for-word, so they always have that story
3. If they are feeling artistic, have them draw a scene from their story or you can help them draw it and they can add dot-stamp huckleberries (you could also help them make an actual book of their story).
4. Re-tell the story as you look at their picture/s, or have them re-tell it to you while you snack on huckleberry muffins.

My Preschooler’s Huckleberry Story:

-Kiley

B is for Blue

•  Blue Model Magic … a fun gathering activity
1. I had never used Model Magic before, but I’m converted. It is cleaner than Playdoh and the kids loved it.
2. Place a ball of blue Model Magic on the table for each preschooler.
3. Let them play while everyone is arriving.

• Read “Blueberry Mouse” by Alice Low
  1. We just happened to find this book at the library and my kids and I love it.
  2. This little mouse is different. She doesn’t need blue cheese like the other mice. She lives in a blueberry pie, until she eats it bit by bit. But then she comes up with another blueberry solution. So cute!
• Blue Song …. to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
  1. Ask the kids to wear blue clothes today.
  2. Sing this simple song and have the kids stand up and point to their blue.

• Bop Blue Balloons
  1. Blow up several blue balloons.
  2. Write B on each one.
  3. Have the kids practice the Bb sound.
  4. Have fun b-b-bopping and b-b-bumping their balloons around the room.

• Letter B Memory Game
1. Search the house for several item beginning with the Bb sound. I used:

   ball    boot    bear    beanbag    baby    book    block    bowl    button    banana

2. Show the kids each of the items and have them help you say the Bb sound and name.
3. Cover the items with a cloth (a blue blanket!)
4. Have the kids take turns remembering one item under the blanket. Then pull it out for them to see!

 

• Build the letter B … I found this idea somewhere but now I’ve searched and can’t find it.
1. On blue paper, print out the B pieces here. Cut them out.
2. Have the kids arrange the pieces to make a letter B. Glue them down.
3. Add several blue stickers.
4. You could give them a blue crayon and let them practice writing Bb.
5. The kids really liked this … and loved the stickers of course

 

• Blueberry Hunt
1. Cut out 26 circles from blue foam craft paper.
2. Write A-Z on each circle.
3. Hide the “blueberries” around the yard outside or in the house.
4. Write A-Z on the ground with sidewalk chalk.
5. Have the kids run out to find a blueberry, bring it back and match it to it’s letter on the ground. Then run out and find another until all the blueberries have been found and matched!
• Blue Snack … We had blueberry muffins, bananas and fresh blueberries!

Have a Blueberry Day!

Blueberry season officially opened for us this week! I love taking the kids u-picking. It’s such a fun way to spend the morning and we usually end up with something in their buckets (whatever didn’t make it into their mouths)
If you live in an area where blueberries grow, check www.pickyourown.org to find a u-pick farm nearby. If not, there are still lots of fun activities to do with blueberries!

I decided to make it a whole Blueberry Day today.

  

• I pulled out Jamberryby Bruce Degen and Blueberries for Salby Robert McCloskey. I love both of these books and we have read them over and over with the kids.
• Go Blueberry Picking! … My daughter was definitely a Little Sal today. She ended up with 4 berries in her bucket after picking for half an hour. She would pick, pick, pick, then eat, eat, eat. TIPS:
  1. let each of the kids have their own bucket to fill
  2. go early in the morning. It gets too hot later to enjoy picking with kids.
  3. bring a water bottle
  4. NOTE! If you can’t go blueberry picking, grab a package of blue pom-poms, hide them around the house, give the kids a bucket and let them go “blueberry picking” in the house!

   

• Narration and Art … I’m definitely going to do this with more books. It was so fun to hear the kids retell the story and see their illustration.
  1. Read Blueberries for Sal (my kids know this one well. We’ve read it many, many times).
  2. Then ask the kids to tell you the story.
  3. Type the story they tell you & try to get it word for word.
  4. Print out their story and let them illustrate it. I’m going to keep these in a binder with the other stories we will do.
  5. I also love this idea from Delightful Learning to use pom-poms and blue paint to make blueberries on their page. (images from Delightful Learning)

Blueberry Counting Pail

1. Need 10 large blue pom-poms & a little tin pail (try Target’s dollar spot!)
2. Print out the word strip and number cards (cut them out). Apply a small piece of magnet to the back of each number card.
3. Attach the word strip to the outside of the tin pail. 

TO PLAY:

1. choose a number card and place it in the blank square.
2. count that many blueberry pom-poms and place them in the tin pail.
3. dump them out, choose a new number card & repeat!
4. If you’d like a simple paper version, go here to print out the pail worksheet, number cards and blueberry counters!

Snack Idea:

• fresh blueberries
• blueberry parfaits 
• blueberry crumble … click the links for yummy recipes