Preschool Graduation Activities

Okay, as promised, a review of our carnival. This year was tough for volunteers, but next year I have a better plan. Add to that, one of the teachers had accidentally tossed the carnival box when she was cleaning out the staff room and I didn't discover this until the day before the carnival. YIKES! It was totally my fault, I didn't label the box and just assumed people would know what it was...NEVER ASSUME!

Needless to say, I spent the entire day on Thursday recreating all the booths. Plus, making all the name tags and don't forget dealing with the portrait place. I managed to get all the parents free pictures from a local store (their affiliate store) and one 5x7 cap and gown picture each. So, I put those into the nice framed 'diploma books' for them.

We had a HUGE turnout. I had less graduates this year and more attendance. My cook made 180 hot dogs, there were 10 left. I know not everyone ate and I didn't count, but I am putting the attendance number at around 150.

This picture is just from the beginning as people were starting to come in.

I didn't have a projector screen, but I had a projector to play a slide show off the computer. I bought a white sheet and was going to have it up between the two poles you see in the back right of the picture. Well, when we had it all up, you couldn't see it. Good thing we tried it out earlier. So, we quickly went to plan B and put the sheet over some dark blue butcher paper on the window and used that is the front of everything.

It was difficult to get every one's attention when we were ready to start so I will have to look at a way to fix that next year. I tried even to sing some children's songs and get them involved, but it still didn't quiet everyone. Once I got through my very short talk about thank-you-for-trusting-us-with-your-child's-education and all that, I showed the slide show...silence everywhere. They loved it!

After the slide show was the pledge allegiance and then to the games!

This was actually a last minute change to a boring sorting game. I walking in the other day and saw my 3 year old assistant teacher blindfolding children to do simple puzzles and thought that this would be a hit...and it was a HUGE hit. The children loved it!

Yes, I know this pictures fuzzy, but can you see the name tag hanging? On the back are 10 squares that they are supposed to put stickers in each square after they complete a game. It doesn't matter that they do the same activity 10 times or 10 different activities. Once their 10 squares are filled they can come to the prize booth and pick up their diploma and prizes. One of the booths was actually to write their name on their name tag.I also had available name tags for the siblings. This is supposed to be a day of fun for everyone as well as a celebration and farewell party for the graduates; so everyone gets to participate.

Once everyone had started and were involved in the games, I went over to the pictures. Parents were able to look through the packages of pictures and purchase them right then. This is a huge advantage because the grandparents are there who want to buy the pictures too and we get kickbacks from the sales! I was also there to pass out the prizes to the children when they came up.

The prizes were: their diplomas, stickers, and a CD that had all the pictures we had ever taken at the center with them in it as well as a copy of the slide show. Last year we had more donations so the prize bags were better, but each year is different. I also had extra sheets of stickers for the siblings as well.

People stayed around for close to three hours. Much longer than any of the traditional graduations; but way better. The families had a great time just hanging out! This is totally the way to go. I think people had much more fun, and it's so much more appropriate. I had one particular person who works with me (someone with no child development experience or knowledge) who kept making comments all week about "how important this is for the families" and basically didn't like that I wasn't doing a graduation ceremony. It was like beating my head against a wall trying to explain to her that this is about the children and what is appropriate to do with them. Anyway, in the end, after all was done, she did say that it was fun...but she still thinks that we should have done a ceremony because "it would have been easier". Glad I don't always look for the easy, but the best.

Next year I will have to work at getting more volunteers because I think this years activities were perfect: the perfect number and type. Next year I would like to up the stakes and maybe have a face painter, someone to come do some songs or storytelling, and make it even bigger. I would love to have this take off as a huge event!

Anyone want to share their preschool graduation experiences? What do you do?

Wow, I've been so busy!

I've been so busy I didn't even remember not blogging in so long. We are preparing for graduation activities and the big change over coming up. I'm sure you don't want to hear about the big change over preparations (they really aren't that exciting); but I know you want to know about our preschool graduation activities preparation.

As I have mentioned before, we do a carnival for our children rather than a graduation ceremony. It's much more developmentally appropriate. So, what does preparation call for? For these next two weeks I try and get a little bit done a day.

First, I take out "the box". This is a crate full of all the materials we used last year at the carnival (posters, bean bags, cups, fishing poles, shapes, etc...). Anything that could be saved was saved and tucked away.

Also in this box is a journal of the event from previous years (most recent on top). This journal talks about set up and clean up and how the day went. We also make two lists at the end: what worked and what didn't work. This is so that we can remember what not to do and what to do again. Oh, and there is one more section that is what to try next year.

With these notes in hand, we prepare for the day. The most important is getting volunteers. I don't allow parents of graduates to work the event. They really shouldn't be doing this; they need to enjoy the day. I ask parents in the younger classrooms (which is pretty unsuccessful because they have to work), but I can usually get a few.

I also will ask local businesses and put the event in the local volunteer web page (ours is Volunteer San Diego). It is a difficult time to get volunteers because it is at 10:30 on a weekday, but sometimes we can get a few. Last year we were able to get some Marines. This was the best volunteer group; I would highly suggest it if possible. They were hard workers, self motivated, and gone things done about 5 times faster than anyone else ever has.

I had the brainstorm one day too late this year to put it out to the local high school. This would be a great high school student volunteer activity. They typically love hanging out with the children and their isn't much responsibility involved, just man the booths. That idea is going on the what to try next year list.

We then put a wish list up to the younger classroom for little trinkets and things. Some of my favorites: small boxes of crayons, small tablets of paper, small puzzles, and pens. These are perfect for children getting ready for kindergarten. I like to stay away from the candy and junk. Oh, stickers a fabulous as well.

Whatever I need to supplement, I take cash to the dollar store and pick up lots of things there. The best are to buy those dollar tubes of small animals and foam stickers. There is more than enough in those for everyone. I typically don't spend more than $20 on the entire event. But this is because of the great donation and volunteer opportunities; and we use the food bank for food.

Which brings me to the food: Our center cook prepares that in the kitchen along with the younger classes meal. We just do hot dogs in buns, baked beans, cut fruit, and milk. For the parents at the carnival we also have chips; and if the children accidentally get some...oh well. This way, since we are on the CCAFP (Child Care and Adult Food Program-federally funded) we can still claim the graduates meals because it has all the components.

After they eat, they go home. Typically the preschool teachers get to go home after this; however since we are doing continuity of care this year and the following Monday will be the movement day, the teachers will stay long enough to rearrange their new classrooms and cover for the other teachers to rearrange their classrooms as well. If time will allow, the preschool teachers will get to go home early, but it won't be more than an hour.

This was a nice bonus for the preschool teachers before; but they could only go home if they had vacation time available. If they got to go home early the year before, we would give the option to another teacher in the center to go home early. It's just a nice extra half day off.

So, any questions? I know of a center that has a camp out in the playground every year for their graduates. I will be writing about this soon as well. What other great ideas are out there? Would you like to share your graduation activities? Write it up and email it to me and I will post it: thepreschooltest at gmail dot com

Preschool Slideshows

As I have recieved many inquiries about slideshows for preschools and preschool graduations and all sort of things, I am including a "sort of" copy of the slideshow I will be including at our graduation carnival. Yes, the pictures are smudged for obvious reasons. But you can hear the good music that I have decided on for the background, and the genreal idea of the type of shots I used.

A few notes:

I try and take a variety of pictures with 1-3 children in a shot.

This year we were able to have children's pictures from the start of their time here and I put this slideshow together pretty much chronologically until I got to the last half of this year.

I had some "filler" shots that include larger groups that you maybe can't quickly recognize your child, but I needed a few more slides.

Depending on the number of children depends on the number of shots. I spliced together the two songs and then went from there as to the number of slides I would be able to put in. Each child has no fewer than 2 no more than 4 slides. You can't make an exact number as some children as in every group shot and others are in hardly any. I did have to take out some of my favorite pictures for the reason that I had a few children who would have been in 15-20 slides if I hadn't taken them out; they are just that social.

It does take time to put together; I have worked on this a few hours a day over the last month. I would say I probably put in a good 20-25 hours on it. But I make it easy on myself as I have a great system throughout the year as I collect pictures on my computer, I save copies into a "slideshow" file. When it comes time to complete, I go through this file first and determine which children I still need pictures for and go back into each child's file of pictures to get what I need.

The longest part is putting them together in a decent order so that no child is in a row of three slides and that there is a good mix

Slideshow Music found!

Okay, I have found the perfect duo of songs for our slideshow. Since I am able to include pictures of the children from the last 3 years, I had to encompas growing up and moving on, etc...
The end is going to be The time of your life by Green day. Man people are going to cry. I was already tearing up with just the pictures; add this song to it, and it's difficult to hold it together:




The beginning, I am using Peter Pan's I won't grow up. This is a fun up beat song to begin things with. Plus it illustrates the fun childhood. It's going to be a great slide show.

Graduation time

Graduation is coming up for those children going on to kindergarten. This is a time of year that is special to us; and filled with mixed feelings. First, we are proud of the children who are moving on to kindergarten. Then we are sad; we are going to miss them. They have accomplished so much with us, and been through so much. Many of the children have been with the center for many years (three years for us, longer if you have infant care). In addition, things get crazy as those now-kindergartners do move on and we get a whole new classroom full of new children. Most likely these children are the younger ones and will have an adjustment period. But today we are focusing on the graduation. What do you do to celebrate this big step?

I don't have a graduation ceremony!!!

What?!? That's right! I don't have a graduation ceremony. I have a few outlooks on this: True graduation is cheapened by this. What's the great accomplishment in graduating college if you can graduate preschool? Second, I don't like putting children on display. Okay, that's really first. Most of the children couldn't care less about putting on a performance for the adults...and even more so they don't want to! So, a few years ago I sat down and thought: what is the purpose of graduation?

I came up with this simple answer:

To show the parents everything we have learned throughout the year.

It also involves somewhat of a "parent pleaser". What parent doesn't want to see their 4 year old in that little cap and gown? So, this is how I please them: I have cap and gown photographs taken about 3 weeks ahead of time. We use a company that gives us kickbacks from the sales of the pictures so it works as a fundraiser for us.

No the more difficult question: how do we show what the children have accomplished? I had the brilliant idea of having a carnival! That's right! We have a graduation carnival every year now. This is not just any carnival. We have about 10 booths that are manned by volunteers (the last few years we have been blessed by some marines to come and volunteer). The volunteers ARE NOT the parents of the graduates. The preschool parents have to do nothing for this event. It is strictly for them and their children. We decide on the booths by looking at our assessment forms. We use the DRDP-r so we look to that as we decide what the booths will be. Here are the booths:

Fishing game-children throw their poles over the wall and "catch" different shapes and colors of fish. When they get the fish, the tell us what shape and color it is.

Bean bag toss-the children are given a certain number of beanbags and shown a pattern. They then toss the next few bean bags onto the shape and colors that would come next in the pattern

Pin the tale on the number-on the poster are sections with groups of dots, in their hands are items with numerals written on them. They match the numeral in their hand to the number on the poster.

Feelings-the child draws a feeling out of a grab bag (a cartoon picture that shows an emotion). They then say what the feeling is and use a mirror to make a face that represents that emotion.

Obstacle course-we make an obstacle course that has things like over, under, through, as well as balancing jumping, and other key elements. At the end of the course they take a ball and throw it at a target.

Letter/sound matching-a poster with different letters and objects that start with that letter is hung. There is a piece of yarn connected to one side with a clothespin so they can match the letter to the sound.

Bean count guessing game-we have several different jars filled with different amounts of beans. The children get to guess (estimate) how many beans they thing are in there. Then they get to count them out.

How many will fit-there are empty jars and they need to guess how many scoops of flour will fit in.

Ordering-different size balls are grouped together. The children need to put the balls in order according to size

Grouping-three baskets are placed out and the children are given items of different colors (red, blue, yellow). They toss these items into the baskets to group them according to color

These activities can vary according to the children for the year, but that is the general idea. After the do an activity, they get a sticker. It doesn't matter if they do one activity 10 times or if they do each activity. It's up to them which activities they want to do (very much like our child centered classrooms). Once they get their 10 stickers, they can come to the prize table. Each child has a bag that is filled with little trinkets (we stay away from the candy). The trinkets, for the most part, represent things they could find in their classrooms: little animals, dress up necklaces, crayons, stickers, small games. The dollar tree is a perfect place to get these items. They have a wide range of selection that is perfect.

In their prize bag there is also a "certificate of graduation" from preschool and a CD full of pictures of them while they were at our school (from their very first day). The disc also includes a slide show made special for the graduates. This slide show is also shown on a continuous loop throughout the activities.

Remember those cap and gown pictures we took three weeks ago? Well, they have been delivered by now and we sell these at the graduation as well. This is a perfect time because the grandparents are there and are very willing to take out the checkbooks!

We also ask the other classrooms to bring in hot dogs, chips, salads, and drinks. This is the gift from the other classrooms. Then we buy a cake.

Before starting, we have a gathering place where I call all the children to come up to the front of the crowd. We sing some of our favorite songs (kind of campfire style). Then everyone stands and we do the pledge of allegiance. This is probably the only place that you can say the children are "put on display"; however, the are standing with their back to the adults as part of the group, and no one is uncomfortable. Plus, the adults are participating as well. After the pledge of allegiance is when we open the gate to the carnival area. It really is a very fun day!

Believe it or not, time ends up flying! We start graduation at about 10:30 and everyone is done by 12:00. Then, we clean up and allow the preschool teachers to take the rest of the day off. Since we do continuity of care, each teacher gets this opportunity every year (it's never the same teacher). The years that we have Marines volunteer, they end up having everything cleaned before we can even blink. They are a great help. You could easily rely on your volunteers to get everything done from set up to clean up. It takes a huge weight off your shoulders.

So, what do you do for your graduations?