Fulton UPK Family Night

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The Fulton City School District Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Program held a Family Fun Night. UPK students and their parents gathered at the Fulton Education Center for an evening of nursery rhyme related activities focusing on literacy.

Mother Goose herself greeted each student and their accompanying family members upon arrival, posing for pictures and presenting them with a read along nursery rhyme book as a souvenir. Once inside, the students couldn’t wait to visit the many stations of fun hands-on activities prepared for them by their teachers. Each activity required the student-parent team to read instructions and complete a task with all of the stations emphasizing one of Mother Goose’s favorite nursery rhymes.

At the Hickory Dickory Dock stations visitors could make and play the Mouse Run Game and then make Marvelous Mice Puppets from a few basic craft supplies and a paper plate. At the Three Men in a Tub stations students played Rhyming BINGO and a Does It Float or Sink Game? Other fun stations included creating a snack, counting stars, constructing a star wand, coloring a bookmark, making puppets, and playing with a squishable mixture called Ooblick.

According to the Fulton City School District Director of Literacy and Universal Pre-K, Mary Ann DeMar, this Family Fun Night was made possible through the collaboration of the agencies and staff members from all four of the UPK community program providers and has scheduled to hold additional Family Fun events focusing on math, science and nutrition.

The UPK program in the Fulton City School District is solely offered through the funding of a New York State grant to the Fulton City School District and is offered at no cost to program participants. For more information visit the district website at www.fulton.cnyric.org or call 593-5517.

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water… and thank goodness because when Fulton UPK student Alexa Bell and UPK Teacher Liz Fraser get finished playing with the Ooblick they are going to need it. A special combination of cornstarch and water makes an ooey-gooey squishable concoction called Ooblick that students and most parents could pass up playing with during the Fulton UPK Family Fun Night.

Does it sink or does it float? Fulton UPK student Quinn Backenstross and his Dad (Kurt) and Mom (Tracie) are about to find out while playing at this Three Men in a Tub station during the Fulton UPK Family Fun Night. Quinn was given a bag of items ranging from a sponge to a rock to a toy dinosaur and had to find out which items stay afloat and which items sink to the bottom of the container.

Does anyone have an item on their BINGO card that rhymes with the word cat? Fulton UPK students Madison Shaffner (left) and Kayla Yacketta (right) listen carefully to words that are called and find the rhyming matches on their BINGO cards during the UPK program’s Family Fun Night.

Pictured above is UPK student Alexandra Coakley with Mother Goose during the Fulton UPK Family Fun Night. The legendary Mother Goose (Roberta Hamilton from the school district’s curriculum office) stopped by the event to meet the students and their family members and presented each student with a read along nursery rhyme book as a keepsake.

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