Activities

Provide a water table, goggles and small pool noodle blocks (create blocks by slicing a pool noodle into 3- or 4-inch pieces). Have the children create a splash by dropping the blocks in the water.

Place several older infants on a blanket together. Give them pop beads to pull apart and put together.

Gather five or six children in a circle and sing “Pop! Goes the Weasel.”
All around the cobbler's bench

(Holding hands, run in a circle.),
The monkey chased the weasel.

Place pop-up toys in front of the infant. Demonstrate hitting the top to make the toy work. Then take the infant's hands in your own to assist him/her in doing it. Encourage the infant to play with toys.

Sing a song or play music and encourage the children to stoop/crouch down, then stand up with the music.

Let the children help make popsicles for snack by pouring fruit juice into an ice cube tray and adding a craft stick for a handle. Freeze the popsicles overnight.

Have the children draw a self-portrait using a paper plate. Provide crayons, markers and other art materials. Once completed, create a class portrait gallery to display the self-portraits.

Play “Simon Says” using positional words in your directions, such as “Simon Says put your hands behind your back,” or “Simon Says point your toe in front of you.

Give each child a counting bear and a cup. Tell the children a story about the bear that includes positional words. Have them move their bear to the correct position. For example, “The bear woke up INSIDE his cave and was hungry.

Create a scavenger hunt that uses positional words in the clues. After the children get the idea, give them the opportunity to create their own scavenger hunt and clues for friends. This could be done in large group.

Add envelopes, cards, paper, markers, pens and pencils to the dramatic play area. Have stickers be stamps. One child can be the person who sells the stamps. Another can be the postal worker who delivers the letters to all of his/her classmates.

During a math center activity have markers and small Post-it® notes available for the children to write numbers.

Show the children the work of various artists in books or on the computer. Engage the children in conversation about the exhibit.

Display a poster reflecting the work of an artist, such as Van Gogh's The Starry Night, and ask the children to help you write a story about the picture. This could be done in large group.

Encourage the in the writing center children to create posters about keeping the school clean and recycling. Hang the posters around the school.

Provide metal pots, pans, lids, pie pans, wooden spoons and coffee cans. Sing “The Ants Go Marching One by One” and encourage the children to play the instruments. The children can take turns using different noisemakers as they march.

Provide a Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head in the science center that the children can use to identify body parts. You could also give the children the body parts to stick in their own play dough creations.

Provide a shallow container such as a pie tin to hold paint and several different kinds of potato mashers including some with a grid design and others that are curvy and snake-like.

Read a book such as Dora's Potty Book by Melissa Torres or Fuzzy Bear's Potty Book by Dawn Bentley. Explain that everyone uses the bathroom. Take a few children on a tour of the bathroom.

Read a book relevant to an upcoming field trip; for example read, Show Me Your Teeth! A Visit to the Dentist! by Christine Ricci.