Activities

In advance, gather items from the different centers, such as a block, doll or counting bear, and put them in a box. Tell the children that someone has mixed up the items and they need to be returned to their proper places.

Provide infants with safe, clean recycled materials to explore, such as empty cereal boxes, oatmeal tubs and beverage containers with secured lids. Use language related to what the child is doing with the specific object.

During the daily closing circle, provide an opportunity for the children to share something new they learned that day, a moment that made them laugh or something they want to do better tomorrow.

Place chairs in a circle and put a deck of picture cards beneath just one chair. Have each child stand in front of a chair. Sing, “Rhyme around the rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all sit down.

During outdoor time, have the children collect objects from around the playground. Ask them to say the name of the object and a word that rhymes. Nonsense words work great; “Here is a some mulch, it rhymes with tulch.” Provide assistance as needed.

Read the rhyming book Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw. Encourage the children to rhyme with you as you read.

Provide the children with picture cards of words that rhyme and words that don't. Encourage the children to give a thumbs-up for words that rhyme and a thumbs-down for those that do not rhyme.

Provide rhyming books, in the reading center, for the children to read such as Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae; The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root.

Make a rhyming cube using tape to cover a tissue box and rhyming pictures.  In small group or large group, have children roll the cube and procdue a rhyming word that rhymes with the picture the cube landed on.

Use purchased or handmade picture cards turned upside down for this rhyming game. The children can play in small groups with their peers or with an adult, depending on their level. The children take turns turning over two cards.

Provide picture cards and encourage the children to name words that rhyme with the pictured item.

You will need rhyming picture cards and two bells or buzzers. Have two children play together. Give each of them half of the cards. They each turn over a card.

Using any book, go back to pages and tell the children that you spy something on the page that rhymes with _________________.  Prompt children to guess the word.  This can be done in large group.

Play Michael Jackson's “ABC” song and invite the children to keep up with the rhythm of the song by tapping the rhythm sticks. This could be done in small group.

Play Michael Jackson's “ABC” song and invite the children to keep up with the rhythm of the song by tapping the rhythm sticks.

Provide two rhythm sticks to each child and have children sit in a circle. Establish a slow, steady beat with the sticks and have the children join you.

Attach a variety of ribbons to a shower curtain ring or rattle for the infant to grasp. Play music and gently bounce the infant as you show him/her how to move the rattle or ring. As the music plays, continue to hold the infant close to you.

Make ribbon rings by tying colorful ribbons or thin fabric strips to a small embroidery ring or canning rim. Play various styles of music and have the children copy your motions and then create their own dance moves.

Have the children decorate large popsicle sticks with markers and stickers. Staple a length of ribbon (cover the staple with masking tape) onto the stick for use with dance.

You will need rice cakes, cream cheese, fruit cut into small pieces and plastic knives. You can use bananas, strawberries, blueberries and apple slices.