Activities

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.

Play classical music, and encourage the children to dance with a partner and sway to the beat. Talk about how the music makes them feel and what it makes them think about.

Create a buddy system that pairs children together to introduce an area of the classroom they may not normally go to, such as the science center. Encourage the buddies to help one another explore the materials and become familiar with the materials.

Give the children picture cards that have been cut in half. For example, a picture card of a bus is cut so that a child sees the front of the bus on one half of the card and the back of the bus on the other half.

Give one group of five children cards with the numerals zero to five written on them. Give another group of five children cards with sets of objects zero to five, such as one apple, five balloons and so on.

Have the children partner up, choose a puzzle and go to a table or find a space on the floor to work together. Encourage the children's interactions by asking open-ended questions and prompting them to talk to one another.

Give the children a ball to pass. Draw names and actions until everyone has had a turn. “Chris is going to roll the ball to Jasmine, Jasmine is going to bounce the ball to Alan.”  This could be done in large group.

Begin large group by introducing the concept of onset and rime. “Boys say /h/ and girls say /op/, ready? Boys /h/, girls /op/, boys /h/, girls /op/ HOP!” Do this several times with different action words such as:  sit, clap, smile, tap, wink, jump.

You will need Unifix® cubes, a bag and number cards one through 10. Place numbers one through 10 in a bag. Have one child from the group pick a number from the bag and grab one Unifix® cube.