Activities

Give the children construction paper and magazine pages cut into one-inch strips. Have them cut these into various shapes and sizes, then glue them onto black construction paper to create a mosaic art. Ask the children to describe what they've made.

Provide paper pictures of animals and encourage children to choose the pet they want to take care of. Talk about the basic needs of animals.

Begin large group with a fun activity to practice subitizing. Place dot stickers on paper plates and show them briefly to the children for them to identify.

Begin large group with a fun activity to practice subitizing. Place dot stickers on paper plates, and show them briefly to the children for them to identify.

Provide paper plates with a different facial expression drawn on each, such as happy, sad, excited or angry. Read The Way I Feel by Janan Cain. Show the children each plate and ask what feeling the plate shows.

Provide the children with food magazines, scissors, paper plates and glue sticks. Guide them in cutting out pictures that would make up a healthy, balanced meal. This can be done in small group.

As a foundation for solving addition and subtraction problems, introduce the children to part-part-whole activities. These are designed to help the children understand that any whole number greater than one can be represented in parts.

You will need paper plates, markers, and mirrors for this small group activity. Have the children look in mirrors and draw a variety of facial expressions on paper plates based on what they see.

Give each child two thin paper plates as “skates.” Play children's disco music such as “Bounce, Rock, Skate” by Vaughan Mason and Crew. The children create movements to skate on the carpet.

Using inexpensive paper plates, provide each child with two paper plates to “skate” around the room. Play music as they move. Let the children use the entire room so they can experience a full range of movements.This could be done in large group.

Fill the sensory center table with shredded paper. Give children small tongs, scoops and trucks to move the paper around. When children get tired of this, add water to make the paper moldable.

You will need liquid watercolor paints or water colored with food coloring, in two or three different colors. Place in small containers, using spoons or droppers. Cover a tray with several layers of newspaper and then a layer of paper towels.

Give all the children a textured paper towel to use as a canvas. Provide paint and brushes for painting on the textured paper. Cover a paper towel roll with bubble wrap and have the children roll paint on a piece of paper.

Encourage the children to come up with new games to play with the parachute.

During outdoor time, while playing with the parachute, incorporate personal characteristics such as, “If you have green eyes, run under the parachute.

Place balls on a small parachute and have the children move the parachute up and down so the balls move. Encourage them to move the parachute quickly and notice how the balls behave. Then move it more slowly and watch what happens.

During outdoor time, place a beach ball in the center of a parachute and show the children how to lift and lower the edges to move the ball around. Vary the motions and ask the children to note what happens.

During outdoor time, while playing with the parachute, begin with one lightweight ball in the center and ask the children to bounce it as many times as possible. Keep track of the bounces.

Take the parquetry blocks and parquetry cards outside to use during outdoor time.

Provide each child with a number of 3-D shapes cut out of sponges of various colors. Make sure each pair of children have matching sets of shapes. One child will create a picture using his/her set of sponge shapes.