Activities

After reciting “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” add this variation, using big motions. Use your whole hand for the spider, not just your fingertips. Encourage the children to use a “big” voice (loud and deep).

Provide a variety of green foods for the children to try. Include foods such as broccoli, honeydew, celery, green apples and artichokes. Chart the children's preferences as to which food they like best and which one they like least.

Read Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox.

Model greeting family members at departure time. Greet the family member, and help or encourage the child to smile, wave or hug as is developmentally appropriate.

Establish a morning ritual with your class to show affection. Ask the children how they would like to be greeted. Examples include a high five, hug, foot tap, smile, air kiss or hip wiggle. Display visual pictures for each greeting.

Play the song “Greetings in Many Languages” by Ella Jenkins, and have the children repeat some of the greetings in the song.

Gather newspaper grocery ads and provide each child with a page. Give them Bingo markers and ask them to put a dot on all the numerals they see. Encourage them to name some of the numerals.

Provide empty food boxes and grocery carts in dramatic play. Encourage the children to grocery shop for dinner. Talk to them about what they would like to eat and what they need to buy to fix their meal. Provide cash register and money for checkout.

Gather empty food containers and boxes such as from cereal, rice, chips and canned foods. Have the children sort containers into “GO” (healthy) and “NO” (unhealthy) foods. Discuss why they picked the “GO” or “NO” group.

Put small notepads in the writing area. Talk to the children about stopping on the way home to pick up some groceries. Tell the children that you always forget what you need to buy.

Have a discussion about the exchange of goods and services when you go to the grocery store. For example, you make a list of things you need but you have to look at each item to see how much it costs and make sure you have enough money to spend.

Create a grocery store in the dramatic play area. Talk to the children about the different jobs that are required to run a grocery store. Make labels on necklaces that the children can choose when they arrive to “work.

Set up a grocery store for the children to purchase food items. Label products with prices ranging from one to 10 cents, such as carton of milk = 10 cents or dish detergent bottle = 7 cents. Give the children pennies to buy the items they want.

Cover a classroom wall with bulletin board paper at the children's level and title the paper with a theme such as “Winter Fun.” Provide paint, crayons, stickers, construction paper and glue and encourage the children to add to the mural.

Cover a medium size box with butcher paper, and work with the children on a group project. Have them glue a variety of 3-D items such as cotton balls, buttons, sequins and wiggly eyes onto the box.

Create a story by having each child contribute a sentence or idea. Provide a beginning sentence and encourage each child to contribute the next line of the story.

Group time, group time

Come and find your places

Group time, group time

Come and find your seat

Turn the sensory table into a “garden” by adding clean mulch, small garden tools, gloves, shovel, rake, trowel, aprons, small cups and plastic beads to represent seeds.

Choose seeds that sprout quickly, such as beans or peas, and plant the seeds with the children. Place the plant in a sunny window and have the children help water it regularly. Observe the plant as it grows.

Read the book Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Elhert. Ask the children questions such as, “How do vegetables grow?” Place pictures on the table to represent digging the hole, planting the seeds and watering.