Preschool @ Home, Horse Unit

Horse Unit

I knew that getting back into our everyday routine would be difficult after such a looooong break over the holidays. To ease the pain, I decided to find a new unit topic that would entice June’s natural interest. This, of course, meant HORSES! She is by all accounts, obsessed. And so, we both eagerly and happily jumped back into the rhythm. Overall, I’d count this unit a major success.

Morning Read Aloud

We read the book, The Mare’s Tale, each morning during breakfast. It was a simple storyline without any drama or sassy characters. I was actually surprised by the number of questions that June asked throughout the reading each day. I’m going to check out more books in the series for her.

Invitation to Play/ Science: Horse Anatomy Cards

We loved these Horse Anatomy Cards so much that they acted as our invitation to play throughout most of the week. We used them as flashcards, matching cards and then June was able to cut and make them into her own horse book. I loved that as the week went on she was able to make the connection between word and object.

Letter Recognition and Spelling

1. Alphabet Cards
These free printable barn and horse alphabet cards brought us a lot of joy and entertainment. June loved matching the letters of her name and the word “Horse”. I’ll definitely be saving these to integrate into other activities in the future.

2. Letter Match-Up

I wanted June to work primarily with the word HORSE this week. So, we used our gifted handmade felt letters, letter rocks, and magnets for several small activities.

Grouping and Sorting: Melissa and Doug Magnet Horse

My little preschooler is always hesitant to do any activity on demand, so tasks and milestones like her ability to group and sort often become a challenge for me to gauge. We were able, however, to use this magnet horse for a lot of grouping and sorting activities (which eased my momma mind and left her none the wiser). This toy was also great for independent play when I was cooking dinner each night.

Color Recognition, Sorting and Fine Motor

I found these small circular color-coded horses and printed them off. June was given the task to color each one the proper color, then we spent the morning matching and threading the correct colored beads onto the chain. This may have been her favorite activity of the week.

Social Studies Activity: Cave Drawings in the Chauvet Caves

I’ve always been particularly interested in Chauvet Cave drawings, and I knew that June would love looking at and doing her own horse drawings. After our readings, we pulled the dining room table to one side of the room, covered it with a quilt and paper and spent the morning drawing in our own secret cavern. I’d love to go deeper into this lesson as the years’ pass, but for now, I’m content with whispered drawings and flashlight discoveries.

Books We Used
Maps
Horses
About Caves (I found this one in a used book store and can’t find a link for it)

Independent Activity: Horse Sensory Bin

I’m always looking for activities that June can do independently. This week, we filled her sensory bin with popcorn and rice. It was fun to watch her imagination run wild with the new horses she had received as Christmas presents.

Other Books of Interest:

Pig, Horse, Cow, Don’t Wake Me Now
I Wanna Be a Cowgirl
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses I’ll definitely mbe using an expanding on this book in the future.