Preschool Adventure Box: B4FIAR The Red Carpet

Each week my two youngest are given a preschool adventure work box full of lots of exciting activities for them to do throughout the week. They are allowed to have a quick look through to build up their excitement for the week ahead. This week their B4FIAR book was The Red Carpet and the theme for the week was ‘maps’. Most of the activities were based around this theme.

Read aloud fiction books

Go along non fiction books

We read through The Red Carpet every morning. It was a huge hit with my girls. They enjoyed the illustrations and A4 immediately recognised the street scene from Katy Kangaroo. We also loved the rhythm and rhyme. We have rowed this book slightly differently to the others because I particularly wanted to introduce my pre-schoolers to map work so I could slowly move one of their study days to an earth study theme, in line with a topic a day for proper FIAR, which we’ll be integrating with B4FIAR next year.

For more book related ideas:

Little Worlds

We read through Me on the Map, which is such a lovely introduction to the world of maps. The night before I had made a file folder type activity for A4. Using different coloured foam, I cut out the shape of her and B2’s bedroom and added the area which is used as a wardrobe. I also marked the doors. Then I cut out two beds, a rocking chair, chest of drawers and rocking horse- the sum total of everything in the room:

I asked A4 to try to put together her room in a map form, just like the little girl in Me on the Map. She found this so hard. I took her upstairs and we looked at the room from the door and chatted about where everything was in relation to us. We returned to the activity. She continued to find this hard, so I helped her out by putting her bed in. From then she was off and totally got it:

She completed the map very quickly, once she understood:

Trays

Most of our activities this week revolved around maps of some sort so I didn’t do too many tray activities with them, although we did manage to borrow a play mat which the girls LOVED! (Thanks Becky!)

Books and a read and build lego:Vehicles — Books and a read and build Lego : Vehicles

Mummy and A4 activity

In Mapping Penny’s World we learnt about all the uses of maps, one being that it shows an individual which the shortest route to a destination would be. I designed a small map of our nearby community. We live behind a row of local shops, one of which is a coffee shop. I marked the coffee shop with an X

We can get to the coffee shop two ways:

Down the silver alley way to the right of the map
Through our back garden and down the alley way on the left of the map

It is obvious (to me, anyway!) that the first route is shorter. Not to A4 though! When asked which way would be the shortest and therefore the quickest she answered the second route through the garden. We decided to check it out by walking both routes and counting our steps:

We found the first route was 138 steps, whilst the second route was 168 steps. She understood straight away that she had been wrong. You can see the routes marked in red on our map:

The final map showing the routes taken and the number of steps of each route.

Special Activity

For our special activity the little girls and I decided to make a treasure map for their brother and sisters as a surprise. First we made a map of the garden using shapes I had cut out of card. We did this at the end of the week and it was obvious to me that A4 fully understood all the concepts I had been teaching her:

I had the two little girls mark on the map where they would like to bury some treasure:

And then they both went outside to hide their ‘treasure’ (fruit roll ups which looked like the red carpet):

We also hid one by the rabbit hutch, but that photo seems to have disappeared. The littles then went and called their older brother and sister very loudly and very excitedly. It was good for them to be doing something special for the older ones rather than the other way around! The older ones were in their independent study and were very happy to have been interrupted out of it!

The older children with their treasure map

Everyone found them straight away (a very enthusiastic A4 'helped' them!!) and they were able to eat their treasure — Everyone found them straight away (a very enthusiastic A4 ‘helped’ them!!) and they were able to eat their treasure

Muffin Tin Meal

For our Red Carpet muffin tin meal I made some hotel shaped tortilla, cucumber and cheese slices; traffic lights out of red, orange and green peppers on toothpicks; two cars made from apple slices and grapes held together with tooth picks; a fruit roll up for the red carpet and some pretzels as they were mentioned in the book.

For more MTM ideas:

DVD’s and any other learning bits and pieces

I would really recommend this DVD for anyone wanting to teach mapping skills to very young children. It is so clear and very well done. We watched it everyday.