Activities

Show the children an apple that has turned brown. Ask if that has ever happened to their apples. Tell them apples turn brown because oxygen in the air combines with iron in the cut apple to form iron oxides.

Read Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. Ask the children, “Why do you think the little girl left her bunny at the laundromat?” Encourage them to explain their reasoning using the word “because” to make the link to cause and effect.

Read Under One Rock by Anthony D. Fredericks.

During large group, read Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton. Ask a variety of “why” questions so the children can state answers using cause and effect language. For example, you might say “Tell us why... ... Splat took Seymour to school? ...

Inside of the writing center provide a variety of writing tools so that the children can notice differences in line width or color intensity. Talk about what kind of marker or crayon they would choose for different tasks.

Use a song or chant to get the wiggles out before starting a group activity. Try this one:
I wiggle my fingers, I scrunch my toes,

I shrug my shoulders and wrinkle my nose.

Tune: "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" 
Oh, my hands are starting to wiggle

My hands are starting to wiggle

My hands are starting to wiggle

And....

Use cards with emotion faces on some and wiggle worms on others. One child draws a card and acts out the emotion or shares something that makes them feel that way. If they draw a wiggle worm, everyone gets up and wiggles.

Introduce this song to the children to help them transition to small group time. Sing it to the tune of “Jingle Bells”: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, Wiggle all around. Reach your hands high in the air And now let's touch the ground.

During large group literacy time, display a big book or poem chart. Engage the children in identifying familiar words and letters. Use Wikki Stix to highlight the words and letters. Discuss the initial letter in the word.

Mix five parts red clay, three parts clean mulch and one part wildflower seeds with 16 ounces of water.  Have the children work together to mix the ingredients in a dishpan using their hands.

After reading Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, take musical instruments outside so that the children can host a wild rumpus during outdoor time.

After the children have had some experience with sink and float activities, set up the following experiment. Fill a clear container halfway with water, another with vegetable oil and a third with corn syrup.

After the children have had some experience with sink and float activities, set up the following experiment. Fill three clear containers about 1/2 full – one with water, one with vegetable oil and one with corn syrup.

Read Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Tom Slaughter. Take a walk and have them point out living and nonliving things. Discuss what it will take for living things to grow. This could be done in large group.

Have the children experiment with dropping cold water and warm water on to ice cubes and observing the results. Ask them to summarize what happens in each case. Then encourage them to predict what will happen if they use ice water.

Have the children experiment with dropping cold water and warm water onto ice cubes and observe the results. Ask them to summarize what happens in each case. Then encourage them to predict what will happen if they use ice water.

During outdoor time, fill a plastic bucket about three-fourths full of water. Provide a selection of rocks for the children to drop into the water. As they drop them in one by one, encourage them to notice what is happening to the water level.

During outdoor time, fill a plastic bucket about 3/4 full of water. Provide a selection of rocks for the children to drop into the water. As they drop them in one-by-one, encourage them to notice what is happening to the water level.

Have the children experiment with a variety of objects, noticing if they sink or float and comparing their characteristics. Make charts showing which sink and which float.