Activities

Read Press Here by Herve Tullet. Discuss the movement of the dots in the interactive book, introducing diff erent positional words. This could be done in large group.

Set up items in the dramatic play area that are typically hot or cold. As the children play with the items say, “Oh! That's hot!” or “Brrr... that's cold!” Encourage the children to say “hot” and “cold” or “no touch” for the stove.

Have the children make a postcard. Write or dictate a note to someone about his/her favorite celebration or holiday. Prompt children's thinking by asking “Why is that your favorite?” or “Describe what you know about that holiday.

Read Pretend You're a Cat by Jean Marzollo. This book offers great opportunities to pause as you read to allow time for the children to guess the rhyme.

During outdoor time, play a version of “Forever Blowing Bubbles” and invite the children to blow small and large bubbles to the tune of the music.

Tune: “London Bridge”
Pretty leaves are falling down, 

Falling down, falling down. 

Pretty leaves are falling down, 

All around the town. 
Let's rake them up in a pile, 

In a pile, in a pile.

Place golf balls in several colors of paint. Provide Pringles® cans with paper cut to fit inside. Show the children how to use a spoon to scoop a golf ball out of the paint and put it in the chip can.

Facilitate the creation of a progressive story. Provide the group with a story starter, “If I had a pet giraffe, I would...” and encourage the children to take turns adding the next sentence.

Provide prop boxes in the dramatic play area that relate to specific stories to encourage the children to retell the stories.

Add prop boxes to dramatic play to encourage vocabulary development. For example, a post office prop box might include envelopes, stamps, a mailbox, a cash register and a letter carrier's hat.

During outdoor time, create a “protected space”. Designate a corner, have a moveable safe zone or draw one out of chalk. Also consider using a hula-hoop or a carpet square that may be moved anywhere outside to designate the protected space.

Make a toy from a can with a plastic lid, a pom-pom and soft elastic. Remove the metal ends of the can. Make sure you use a can opener that doesn't leave a sharp edge. Cover the can with contact paper. Fold the excess over the edges.

Make a simple pulley to add to your block center. Use an empty ribbon spool and an unsharpened pencil or dowel. Show the children how to place the dowel through the spool and drape a length of string or ribbon over the spool.

Read Pumpkin Countdown by Joan Holub, and create pumpkin cutouts with numbers on them. Have the children count the pumpkins by counting forward and backwards.

Read Pumpkin Countdown by Joan Holub, and create pumpkin cutouts with numbers on them. Have the children count the pumpkins by counting forward and backwards. This could be done in large group.

Gather a few large pumpkins. Set them up around the room and encourage the children to crawl around the pumpkins. Model how to weave in and out of the pumpkin maze. Play Hide and Seek around the pumpkins.

In the fall, after the children have explored pumpkins in several ways, place a pumpkin in the sensory table for the children to wash with scrub brushes, sponges and turkey basters.

Use a large cardboard box to create a puppet stand in the art center. Provide puppets for the children to role play. In imaginative play, children easily use puppets to express, explore and work out their own ideas, thoughts and feelings.

Assist the children in creating a puppet show. Ask, “Who will be the characters? What will be the problem?” Help the children in the reading center to create dialogue for the puppets.

During large group, use puppets and guide the children through several scenarios where they may need to problem solve or ask an adult for help.