Activities

You will need number cards, with two cards of each numeral. Place the cards face down and allow the children to take turns flipping over two cards at a time. Encourage the children to say the numerals on the cards.

Provide matching numeral puzzles or make your own. Cut a 4" x 6" piece of cardboard in half with a distinctive edge, like a puzzle piece. Make each puzzle edge different.

You will need two calculators. Line the class up in two lines. Stand in front, a few feet away, and call out a number for the first children in line to type into the calculator.

Cut large number figures out of paper, and hide them around the room or on the playground. Give each child a number card, and have each child locate the match.

Label different areas of the playground with the numerals one through four. You will also need dot cards one through four. Flash the card of your choice to the children and have them go to the area that matches the number you flashed.

During outdoor time, label different areas of the playground with the numerals one through four. You will also need dot cards one through four.

Introduce number stories in large group by providing a variety of objects and inviting the children to act out the story. For example, say, “Kendra has six feathers and Michael has two feathers.

Write numerals on ping-pong balls, using numerals as high as the children can count, one to five or one to ten. Give children each a small cup. Provide plastic containers filled with beans for children to throw the balls into.

Under close supervision, take the children for a walk around the center to look for printed numerals in the environment. Ask them to touch or point to numerals they see.

Provide the children with character and setting picture cards from familiar nursery rhymes. For example, a Humpty Dumpty card and a wall card, a Jack and Jill card and a hill card, an Itsy Bitsy Spider card and a web card.

Choose several nursery rhymes for the children to act out and divide the class into groups accordingly.  For example, to act out "Little Miss Muffett" you will need two actors or actresses, Miss Muffett and the Spider.

Provide posters of familiar chants and nursery rhymes for the children to use while in the reading center.

Inside the dramatic play area create simple prop boxes for the children to retell familiar nursery rhymes.

Read or recite nursery rhymes with the children.

Choose a nursery rhyme such as “Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill” and make vocabulary cards with words and pictures that children can use to retell the story. Examples include fetch, crown, boy, girl and trot.

Create prop boxes for the children to act out different nursery rhymes. For example, Little Miss Muffett's props include a dress, a small stool (tuffet), a plastic spider, cottage cheese (curds and whey) or just a bowl and spoon.

Provide a variety of different sizes of nuts and bolts. Encourage the children to screw the nuts on and off the bolts. Use a magnifying glass to examine the inside of the nut and the outside of the bolt.

Gather nuts and bolts in three or four sizes and place them on a tray. Ask the children to find the ones that go together. The children will need to match the largest bolt with the largest nut.

Provide an assortment of nuts and bolts, keys and locks. Encourage the children to screw the nuts onto the bolts and place the keys in the matching locks.

Trace the outlines of several classroom items(a book, a spoon, a block, a marker, a hammer,a large button) onto poster board and cover the poster board with clear contact paper.