Activities

Rub the infant's arms and legs with different textures like silk, velvet, satin, wool, flannel and terrycloth. Describe each one as you gently touch the infant.

Place infants on their tummies facing one another and encourage them to interact.

During small group, have each child make a face. The other children will say how they think the child is feeling. Talk with the children about how to respond. Say, "Billy's face said he was sad.

Take pictures of the children making a variety of feelings facial expressions in the art center. Add these to tissue boxes, cardboard boxes or foam blocks using clear contact paper.

Provide free-standing mirrors and encourage the children to explore their facial features. Point out the different characteristics. Have them look at each other's faces and explore similarities and differences.

Down, down, 

Yellow and brown, 

Fall leaves fall 

All over the ground 

Rake them up 

In a pile so high, 

They almost reach 

Up to the sky.

In the fall, place the parachute on the ground, have the children gather leaves and lay them on the top, during outdoor time. When you have plenty of leaves, check to make sure there are no rocks or sticks.

Record family members reading stories or singing songs. Play the stories or songs and encourage the infant to recognize and react to familiar voices.

Brainstorm with the children to get ideas about families. For example, families can live in a house or an apartment, have grandmothers and have grandfathers. The children can also come up with activities that families could do together.

Give each child a sheet of construction paper and a variety of markers and crayons. Have them draw self-portraits. Then have them draw their family around them.

Put family pictures on soft blocks. Wrap each block in clear contact paper. Encourage the infant to look at, reach for or touch the picture. Use prompts such as, “Look at Mommy,” or “Where's Grandpa?” while pointing at the pictures.

Put family pictures on soft blocks. Wrap each block in clear contact paper. Encourage the infant to look at, reach for or touch the blocks.

Read the book Families by Ann Morris. This book of beautiful photographs depicts families from all over the world, showing how they are alike and different.

Read Career Day by Anne Rockwell. Have the children identify family members that may have the same jobs as in the story or different jobs. Discuss the roles of their family members, such as how they do jobs to help the family.

Have the children bring in pictures of various family members or use photos from the family, use magazines and create a family collage. Each child can create a collage of his/her family and identify each family member and his/her role in the family.

Serve meals and snacks family style. Have the children help set the table and serve themselves from small serving bowls. Have the children assist with cleanup after the meal is over.

Read the book The New Baby by Mercer Mayer. Create a family graph with the members of each child's family represented. Discuss the roles and responsibilities of each family member identified.  This could be done in large group.

Have the children create a picture that shows the number of people in their families. Create a graph with numbers zero to 10 listed across the bottom (you may not need to go up to 10).

Have the children create a picture that shows the number of people in their families. Create a graph with numbers zero to 10 listed across the bottom (you may not need to go as far as 10).

Ask family members to come in and share what their job is. They might wear their work uniform and tell what things they do throughout the work day.