Activities

To help the children connect to prior knowledge, make up new verses or add words to familiar songs such as “Down by the Bay” or “A Hunting We Will Go.” They can use the familiar rhyming pattern of the song and substitute new words during large group.

Prepare the students for a special visitor by talking about and using specific vocabulary appropriate for conversations with that visitor. For example, with a firefighter, the children might want to talk about stations, alarms and emergencies.

Give each child a piece of unfolded newspaper to be his/her individual dance floor. As you play music, the children dance freestyle on their dance floors. At some point, stop the music and have the children fold their papers in half.

Give each child a piece of unfolded newspaper to be their individual dance floor. As you play music, the children dance freestyle on their dance floor. At some point, stop the music and have the children fold their paper in half.

Start with a section of newspaper for each child, unfolding it and laying it flat. This is the “dance floor.” Play music while the children dance on their personal “dance floor.

Read Hands Are Not for Hitting by Martine Agassi.

Create a day bottle using water and one or two drops of blue food coloring. Create a night bottle using several drops of red and blue food coloring to make it very dark purple. Hot-glue the bottle caps on tightly, for security.

Read Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Ask the children to share their nighttime rituals. As a family activity, send art materials home and ask families to help the children draw a picture of something they do at night.

Use a magnifying glass to look at individual grains of sand. Talk about how sand feels. Introduce the word “gritty.” Show the children sandpaper of different grades from very smooth to very rough. Encourage them to feel the texture.

Read the book No No Yes Yes by Leslie Patricelli. Point out the things the baby did that had a "no" response and those things the baby did that had a "yes" response.

Provide a sheet of white paper with a picture of a magnifying glass for each individual child. Have each child stamp fingerprints inside his/her magnifying glass.

For this activity, cut a hole about the size of a child's fist in the side of a shoebox or use a cloth bag with a drawstring at the top. Place several items, such as plastic blocks or wooden beads, in the shoebox or bag.

Read The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak. Ask questions about the new vocabulary introduced in the book such as, “What do you think blaggity, blaggity might mean?” This can be done in small group.

Read the book No Two Alike by Keith Baker. Use phrases with the children to help them understand how they are the same or different, such as in hair length, eye color, or gender.

Read Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. Invite the children to share a time when they were worried about something. The children can be encouraged to draw pictures of a time they were worried during center time.

Read No, David! by David Shannon and encourage the children to provide reasons why David's mother always said no. Act out some of the scenarios from the book.

Use a toy that makes a sound, such as a truck or a squeaky animal. After the toy makes a sound mimic the sound and encourage the child to do the same.

You need chart paper and markers. Choose a sound such as /b/. Encourage the children to create a sentence using words that start with the same sound. Write the sentences on paper. For example, “Bobby Bear bounces basketballs.

Provide Styrofoam® noodles in various lengths to build a structure in the art center. Dampen the noodles to make them stick together. This can be done inside and outside.

Provide a variety of noodles, play dough and pipe cleaners. Have the children create 3-D sculptures and describe what they created. Styrofoam® pieces can be substituted for noodles if desired.