Activities

Sing a silly rhyming song such as “Down by the Bay.” Encourage the children to rhyme and sing with you.

Read Down Comes the Rain by Franklyn M. Branley. Talk about kinds of rain you have seen "light, sprinkling rain or hard, pouring rain. Make

it "rain" in the classroom.

Construct an inclined plane using sturdy boxes or long, hollow blocks. During small group, encourage the children to roll balls or cars down the plane. Discuss what causes them to roll downward.

Read Oobleck by Dr. Seuss. Invite the children to create some. Mix together:
2 cups cornstarch

3 drops food coloring

1 cup water
Encourage discussion of the texture.

While the children are engaged in the dramatic play center, play with them and guide conversation toward an appropriate topic connected to the current theme. Make statements such as, “This is a voting booth.

Provide props in the dramatic play area to encourage the children to act out scenarios linked to learning content. For example, after a visit by a vet, stock the area with stuffed animals, stethoscopes and posters about caring for pets.

Place paper and writing instruments in the dramatic play area and encourage the children to use them during play. Suggest activities such as taking down orders for a restaurant or making a shopping list.

Provide thin black markers. Show the children how to draw stick figures in various poses such as hands on hips, both arms raised and so on. Play music and encourage the children to mimic the poses on each other's cards.

Give each child a blank piece of paper. Play various types of music. For example, classical, rock, guitar, water sounds or jazz. Have the children draw to the feel/beat of the music. This could be done in large group.

Provide the children with a variety of dress-up clothes and hats. Encourage them to work together to create costumes for each other and help each other get dressed. When everyone is dressed, march around the classroom to show off their costumes.

Provide the children with boxes of dress-up clothes and accessories.  Encourage them to work together to create costumes for each other and to thelp each other get dressed.

Use dolls and doll clothes to show the children how to put clothes on. Use dressing boards to teach how to button, zip or VELCRO.

Set a timer and provide the children with clothing from the dramatic play area. The children will help dress one another in the clothes as the timer ticks down.

Engage the children in relay races to work on dressing themselves. Use dramatic play clothing or clothing that is seasonal. Have family members bring in items from home to use and return the items to them at end of week.

Tune: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
Drink, drink, drink your milk

Drink it every day

It makes your bones so very strong

So you can run and play

Discuss the importance of clean drinking water. Pour each child a cup of water and give them a magnifying glass to look at the water closely.

Add water to tempera paint to make it a very thin consistency. Place fingerpaint paper on a cookie sheet. Add a spoonful of paint to the tray and show the children how to tip the tray to roll the paint around.

During outdoor time, create a drive-thru. Bring out dishes and food from the dramatic play area. Encourage children to ride their tricycles up to the drive-thru and order food. Have the children create a menu of food options if they want.

While in the math center fill a cookie sheet with Epsom salts and give the children small cars and trucks to drive through the “snow.

Create a drop and pop game by attaching a tube to the lid of clean yogurt or similar container.