In every monthly box from Mother Goose Time (our thematic preschool program) there is a theme poster.
The theme poster uses colorful and bright illustrations to bring the current theme to life for the kids.
For example, the current monthly theme is “Winter Wonderland” and the poster is entitled, “Snow Cover.”
Snow Cover Theme Poster
The theme poster comes with a set of “I Spy Glasses.” On one side of the glasses there is an image for the kids to find. For “Snow Cover” the kids were asked to look and find
- a penguin,
- a hat, and
- a tree.
An open “I Spy Glass” is also included, which my kids use to isolate their findings on the poster. For example, my son is demonstrating where the pink hat is located on the poster in the image below.
On the back of the “I Spy Glasses” there are additional questions focused on colors, shapes, counting, etc.
This month the kids were asked
- What color is the hat? Where else can you find that color on the poster?
- Which penguin would you like to be? Why?
- How many pine cones are in the trees?
The poster also comes with a set of unique instructions for further engaging the kids. The ideas provided for this poster, “Snow Cover” as provided by the teacher guide are listed below.
Discuss and Explore
What do you think would happen if your shoe was covered in snow?
Invite children to tear up toilet paper and explore tossing it on objects.
Play Together
Invite a child to select an I Spy Glass and find the matching image on the theme poster.
Invite the child to find a picture on the poster and cover it with a piece of tissue paper.
Simplify
Cover the theme poster with large pieces of toilet paper. Invite a child to remove pieces and discuss pictures.
Challenge
Encourage the child to ask a friend to find an animal or color on the poster.
Observe
Did the child ask and respond to simple questions about the poster? What words did he use?
I love this little guy’s concentration face!
Our Experience
Sometimes we use the suggested teacher guide ideas and other times I find better success in simply hanging the theme poster and letting the kids come discover the “I Spy Glasses” all on their own.
We typically leave the theme poster up for the entire month.
Discussion Starter
I’ve found the poster is a great discussion starter. The poster is hung near the breakfast table and the kids routinely ask questions about the pictured animals, people, and other nature items.
Story Inspiration
Another unique benefit of the theme posters has been that the images encourage the children to develop their creative writing abilities. No, my preschoolers aren’t sitting down with pen and paper, but they are telling me detailed and fanciful stories about the characters featured on the poster. I’ve even jotted a few of these down for retelling, which the kids love.
The theme posters are a favorite part of what we find in our Mother Goose Time box.
Visit our Mother Goose Time Preschool Curriculum page to see more of our favorite parts of this curriculum!
Happy Learning!
