Activities

Encourage the children to draw with washable markers on a coffee filter. Make a wick out of a paper towel by rolling it up like pencil. Tear a smallslit in the center of the decorated coffee filter and insert the wick.

Act out Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. Discuss the peddlers strategy. Why did it work to get the monkeys to throw the caps? What other things might he have tried? This could be done in large group.

During outdoor time, encourage the children to use clipboards, paper, markers, crayons and pencils to draw pictures of the weather.

Create a set of math cards in the shape of cars, using craft foam or heavy paper. Use bottle caps with faces drawn on them as drivers for the cars. Have the children place one driver in each car.

Talk with the children about the importance of sitting in their car seats. Read Berenstain Baby Bears My Trusty Car Seat by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain. Have the children sit with a small doll in their laps. Ask the children to stand up.

During outdoor time, set up a tricycle wash. The children select roles such as car washer, cashier and driver. Encourage the children to alternate roles as the activity progresses.

Give the children a large bucket of water and add some child-safe soap. Provide sponges and encourage them to work together to wash the tricycles on the playground. They can also wash the slide or other playground equipment.

Provide materials to create cards in the writing center. Encourage the children to create birthday cards and thank you cards for family members and other familiar adults.

Place cardboard cylinders and flat pieces of cardboard in the block center for building.

Have a tub of boxes that have been recycled for building in the block area such as tissue boxes, small gift boxes, paper towel tubes and small boxes. Have the children build all kinds of castles.

Provide the children with recycled greeting cards and envelopes. Use just the fronts of the cards if desired. Encourage the children to write lettersto family members or friends.

Read the book Career Day by Anne Rockwell and have the children describe how a character in the story may serve the same role as their family members. This could be done in large group.

Read the book Career Day by Anne Rockwell and have the children describe how a character in the story may serve the same role as their family members. This could be done in large group.

Provide a nontoxic plant for children to care for and observe. Show them how to water the plant using a water bottle sprinkler. Make several holes in the bottle cap. The children can squeeze the bottle to squirt the water onto the plant.

Have the children wash plastic animals in soapy water (created with child-safe soap) in the sensory table. Assist the children in drying the pets and putting them back in their homes.

After reading Oh, the Pets You Can Get!: All About Our Animal Friends from the Cat in the Hat's Learning Library, discuss with the children how to take care of a class pet, such as a fish or hamster.

Introduce children to movements from Camille Saint-Saens's Carnival of the Animals. “Hens and Cockerels,” “The Elephant,” “Kangaroos,” and “Aquarium” are good choices.

Gather clean egg cartons. Cut them in half lengthwise, then in half again crosswise to create sections of three cups each. Place manipulatives in the cups. Some sections will have one itemin one cup, some two and some three.

Cut the lid off an egg carton. Give the children hair curlers. Show them how each curler fits in the carton's compartments. Encourage them to feel the curlers.

Place 2 cups of cornmeal and 3/4 cups of oil in a plastic tub and mix together until it has a sand-like consistency.