Activities

Display photographs of typical homes, your center or school, workplaces and neighborhoods in your community. Discuss with the children the different functions of these places as part of the community.

Display photographs of typical homes in your community, your center or school, workplaces and neighborhoods in your community. Discuss with the children the different functions of these places as part of the community.

At the end of center time, use a call-and-response chant to get the children's attention and remind them that it is cleanup time:
Teacher: “Who got the toys out?”

Children: “We got the toys out.

Have the children sign in when they come into the classroom by moving their photo from the home board to the school board. During small group time, have the children count how many children are at school and how many are at home.

Using a play telephone or block, pretend to talk on the phone. Prompt the child by saying, “Mommy wants to talk to you.

Sit in front of a mirror with the infant in your lap.

Lie on the floor with the infant. Hold a hand mirror just above you. Point to the infant and ask, “Who is that?” and then use the infant's name and say, “I see you, Tyrese.

Have pictures of different people familiar to the children (such as the director, other teachers, the cook) on a poster in the classroom. Review with the children who each person is: "This is Ms. Kim. She helps fix our lunch.

Ask the children to tell you what they know about caves and what kinds of animals live there.  Read a book, such as Gail Gibbons' Caves and Caverns, or engage the children in research to learn about caves.

Show different items used for different jobs such as a rolling pin, a firefighter's hat and a hammer. Ask the children what person would use that particular item while working at their job.

Gather several familiar items that can be easily related to specific tasks, people or occupations: a toy stethoscope, a whisk, a computer keyboard, a flashlight, a hammer or a toothbrush.

Before reading the story “The Little Red Hen,” use a variety of props to spark the children's curiosity.

Make file folder puzzles by gluing a picture inside. Cut the front cover of the folder into three sections, cutting from the long edge all the way to the fold. This will make three lift-up flaps that can reveal parts of the picture underneath.

Use picture cards to introduce adults in various job roles, such as firefighter, chef, police officer and mail carrier.

Read the story, Whose Hat is This? by Sharon Katz Cooper. Have the children make a hat to represent what they would like to be when they grow up. This can be done in small group.

In a small group, have the children remove one or both shoes. One at a time, give each child a shoe or pair of shoes that does not belong to him/her. Have him/her identify who the shoe belongs to and give it to the owner.

Line up a variety of shoes on the floor (lace-up shoe, buckle shoe, slip-on shoe, sandal, VELCRO® shoe.) You can also use pictures of these types of shoes. Give all the children a small photo of themselves.

Read the book Whose Toes Are Those? by Jabari Asim. Have the children take off their shoes and socks and observe each other's toes as you read the book.

Gather pictures of events such as a girl putting on a coat or a dog barking.

Show the children an apple that has turned brown. Ask if that has ever happened to them. Tell them apples turn brown because oxygen in the air combines with iron in the cut apple to form iron oxides. Enzymes in the fruit make this process go faster.