Activities

Take clipboards outside along with crayons and paper. Set up a spot with a blanket where the children can sit or lay down and look at the sky. Encourage them to draw what they see.

Lie on blankets or mats with the children and encourage them to look at the clouds, planes or birds.  Talk with them about what they see.

After reading It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw, take blankets outside to lie on during outdoor time. Ask the children to notice any clouds they might see.

During outdoor time, have the children sit in a circle. Start a “slap your lap, clap your hands, snap your fingers” pattern (SLAP>CLAP>SNAP). Explain that when the children snap, they will name a food item in the category you have chosen.

During large group, encourage children to lie on the floor as though they were sleeping. Sing: Sleeping, sleeping, all of the children are sleeping...

Place a variety of seeds in small, plastic bags with water-soaked cotton balls. Place the seeds under a heated blanket or towel. Ask the children, “what do you think will happen?” The children should see the seeds sprout by the end of the day.

Provide each child with a baby doll and appropriate props such as a small blanket or a baby bottle, for example. Show him/her how to wrap the baby doll in the blanket.

Provide baby dolls, blankets and small mats in the dramatic play area. Encourage the children to follow the classroom's rest time routine with the dolls.

Hold up the child's shirt or jacket sleeve. Tell him/ her there is a "surprise" hidden up his/her sleeve. Invite the child to reach all the way in the sleeve to find the surprise. Put two of your fingers into the bottom opening of the sleeve.

During outdoor time, as the children go down a slide, have them describe a character they could be, using that character's voice and facial expression: “I am a beautiful princess,” “I am a scary monster!” or “I am a growly bear.

Use butcher paper to cover the slide, during outdoor time. Have the children dip a spiky tactile ball into paint and roll it down the slide. Repeat as the children continue to add color. Offer balls of different sizes and textures.

Create a chart with two columns labeled “Will It Slide?” and “Did It Slide?” Collect small objects such as a fabric square, a bottle cap, a block, a counting bear and a puzzle piece. Fill a cookie pan with water and freeze it.

Bring bunny ears and paper tortoise shells for the children to wear during outdoor time. Set up a Tortoise and the Hare race. The tortoise group will walk or crawl steadily along while the hare group hops, runs, and takes rest breaks.

Read any version of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Discuss the characteristics of each animal that make him/her slow or fast. Talk about other animals that are slow like the tortoise and fast like the hare. This could be done in large group.

During outdoor time, place toys at the far end of the playground. Have the children make a horizontal line and when you say “Go,” they walk, crawl or crab walk as SLOWLY as possible to get to the toys.

Provide the children blocks of different sizes. Model for the children how to place them in order, then encourage the children to do the same. Narrate what the children are doing as they participate.

Cover a table with butcher paper. Provide glue and an assortment of spices, such as paprika, curry and cinnamon. Put the spices in individual bowls or shaker bottles. Have the children put glue on the paper and then sprinkle spices over it.

Place cotton balls with various scents in small containers. Consider using vanilla extract, peppermint, coffee and lemon. Have the children smell each container and describe the individual scents.

As friends enter the room, generate excitement by saying, “Look who just arrived! It's Jacob! Let's all wave to Jacob.

Hold the infant in your arms so he/she can see your face. Say this poem:
I looked inside my mirror

To see what I could see.

It looks like I am happy today

Because that smiling face is me.