Activities

Plan this for a day when the weather is nice and lunch can be served outside. Have the children help with setting up and cleaning up, just as they would if they were eating inside.

Take photos of the children in your class throughout the day and create a simple pictorial schedule. Place it at the children's eye level. Provide language to help the children understand daily routines.

Provide picture cards and number cards in the reading center. Encourage the children to identify the word and how many syllables it has, then match it to a number card.

Create picture Bingo cards. Use bottle caps as markers. Call out an object. Have children place a cap on that object if they find it on the card. Don't play to win; just fill in the cards.

Add a picture of each child to a rectangular unit block. Use these to tell a story or, when reading a book such as “The Little Red Hen,” substitute children's names for the characters in the book.

Read a book without any words, such as The Red Book by Barbara Lehman. Sit with a few children and talk about the story.

Use a picture book with photos showing the daytime and nighttime sky, such as Day and Night by Robin Nelson. Ask the children to point to the sun or show you the stars.

Provide assorted picture cards of words that rhyme. Encourage the children in the reading center to match the rhymes.

Show various pictures to the children, and encourage them to demonstrate how they might feel in the situation shown. For example, when shown a picture of pizza, a child might rub his/her tummy excitedly.

Create a matching game using a clear acrylic picture frame and some stick-on hooks. Place the hooks on the frame in a 3x3 arrangement, spacing them so there is room under each hook to put a small picture.

Ask the family to bring in pictures of their child at different ages along with a few additional pictures of family members and pets. Use VELCRO® strips to place the pictures on flannel board.

Place pictures on the floor and cover them with clear contact paper. Encourage the infant to explore the pictures and narrate what he/she sees.

Provide the children with pictures of different items that are similar but not exact, such as different types of fish, dogs, flowers, cats and people. Encourage the children to match the pictures.

Use old calendar pictures with animals, bright scenery or other engaging pictures. Look at them with the children, talking about what they like and what makes them laugh or smile.

Give the children a big book with large pictures and simple words such as Jump, Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan.

Show the children a variety of pictures. Have them complete a statement for each one using the word “because.” “He is holding an umbrella because....” “She is laughing because....This could be done in large group.

Use a picture schedule on the wall for the children to follow events. To make it fun, use pictures of the children and a clip or magnet that moves to each segment of the day.

Let the children use a digital camera to take pictures of different things around the center or school. Download the pictures and let the children tell about the pictures they took.

Prior to reading a book, provide an opportunity for the children to look at the front cover of the book and predict what they think it might be about.

Choose a book and guide a discussion about the pictures before reading the story. Introduce new vocabulary as appropriate.