Planning for Mother's Day with young children

Mother's day is coming up, and I think it's an opportunity to showcase the strengths and interest of the 3 year-olds. They absolutely like working with playdough. Some children always stayed at the playdough table for sustained periods of time. On the days when I did not set up the playdough, a few children would requested for it; and once a child tried to climb up to reach for the playdough container. They are skilful with playdough, rolling it nice and flat with the rolling pin, and they are able to cut the dough into various shapes tidily. So, my plan is to let children make some dough shapes, probably heart or star, which will be a pendant for a necklace for Mum.

I will upgrade the art activity with a focus on maths learning. This group of 3 year-olds are "young mathematicians". They love to use numbers and count. When I announce,
" packing up will be in 2 minutes,"  and some will negotiate, "4 minutes!...8 minutes?" At snack time, a child who always finishes his food quickly will offer to count how many children at each table. It's probably his excuse to walk away from his chair and move around, as they are encouraged to remain seated to wait for everyone to finish. Yes, cooking and measuring ingredients is naturally a meaningful way to use numbers and measuring tool. In addition, I will use a "child friendly" recipe with numerals and pictures to draw the young children's attention to numbers and counting. They are going to "read" the recipe:

I adjust the quantity of the recipe to 20 children in my group. We will make the dough together. The children are going to count the pictures of the measuring cup to find out how much flour is needed. We will talk about what does a "half" means. The picture recipe is clearly illustrative and "readable".

Also, the activity can't be finished in one session, as the baked pendant shape needs to be cool down before it is painted and varnished. The young children will learn to re-visit an activity and that a project will require longer time to complete. it's about perseverance.

Let you know how it goes later! 

If you want to give it a go, write me some feedback.