Activities

Place an item inside a box. Encourage the children to shake the box and guess what might be inside. Write their guesses on a class chart. Open the box and allow an opportunity for the children to confirm their guesses.

Using dry erase board and markers, invite the children to guess the letter you are making. Provide verbal clues or just write one stroke at a time, pausing to let the children guess after each stroke.  This could be done in large group.

You will need some clean, empty egg cartons. Write a numeral in each space in the egg carton. Place a large bead or button in one of the spaces, and close the carton.

Take the pieces to a floor puzzle out of the box and put them in a basket. Have the children work together, with your support, to assemble the puzzle.

Have a container filled with old marker tops and have cotton balls available for children to play nail salon during centers.  As they put nails on their "clients" they will practice one-to-one correspondence.

Place items in the dramatic play area for a “nail salon.” Include items such as Q-tips® and water, and invite the children to polish nails, working together.

Clap and say the letters in each child's name. Make some pom-poms to shake by rolling sections of newspaper tightly in a tube, wrapping tape around one end and cutting the other end into strips. Have one child stand in the center of the group.

Laminate each child's name on a piece of paper and give the child play dough. Encourage the child to roll the dough into the letters of his/her name.

Starting from one part of the room and using your name, say, “Ms. ____ (your name) is looking for ______ (infant's name).” Watch for the infant to respond to his/her name being called. Repeat as you move closer to where the infant is playing.

Give the children name cards with their first names. Have them count the letters in their name. Graph the children's names by the number of letters in their names.

Make a matching game with the children's pictures and names. Print each child's name on a card and paste his/her picture on another card. Have the children match their pictures to their names written as text.

Review sign language for common words in the classroom. Encourage the children to create a sign for their own name. This can be done in small group.

Write letters inside various sized bottle caps, then make name cards. Provide each child with a water bin, bottle caps with letters, and a slotted spoon.

Give each child a penny, nickel, dime and quarter. Talk about what colors they are, the pictures on them and what they are worth. Display the coins so that the children can see them and tell them that you are thinking of a coin.

During large group or small group give each child a penny, nickel, dime and quarter. Talk about what colors they are, the pictures on them and what they are worth.

Write letters in the bottom of the cups in an egg carton. You could also stick them on so that you could remove and change them later. Place a large bead in the egg carton and close the top.

Create a grid with an organized array, such as different shapes in different colors. Make five columns, each a different color, and five rows, each a different shape.

Use a muffin tin turned upside down for this game. Glue shapes in a variety of colors on the cups. Make a row of triangles, a row of squares and a row of circles. Make one column red, one green, one blue and one yellow.

Write the children's names on a sentence strip and place them in the art center. Encourage the children to trace their names, using watercolors.

Make copies of book covers and cover the book titles. Laminate the covers. Place them in the writing center and encourage the children to make up titles and write them on the covers.