Activities

During morning meeting, encourage the children to share something that is going on in their lives at home. For example, a child might have recently gotten a baby brother/sister and would like to share an experience or their feelings.

Tape black construction paper over a pair of child- sized sunglasses. The children take turns wearing the glasses as they try to guess the object that is placed in their hands. Encourage the children to use four of the five senses.

Describe an object you have hidden under a blanket and let the children try to guess what the item is.

Give one child a card with a picture of a community worker in the safety or health fi eld. The child will give clues as to what this person does and the other children guess which community helper is pictured on the card.

Have one child secretly think of another friend in the small group. The other children will ask questions such as, “Is it a boy?” or “Does he have brown hair?” to try and guess the secret friend.

As the children gain experience with estimation, you want to begin to anchor their “best guesses” to benchmarks of five and 10. Show them two jars, one with 10 marker lids inside and one with a different amount.

Invite interested children to join you in the science center for this fun cooking project.

Take push toys, grocery carts or scooter boards out in the hallway on a rainy day and encourage the children to interact with one another.

Play hand-clapping games (they take a lot of practice) such as "Miss Mary Mack":  Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack  All dressed in black, black, black  With silver buttons, buttons, buttons  All down her back, back, back  She asked her mother, mother, moth

During large group teach children the following song with hand gestures:
My hands can talk in a special way These are some things they help me say:

“Hello”(Wave)
“Come here” (Beckon)
“It

Create a poster with pictures and words to hang above the sink to remind the children of the steps to washing hands.

Demonstrate and discuss the proper hand washing procedure with the children. Work with the children who may need assistance with turning on the faucet, retrieving soap from the dispenser and getting a paper towel.

During large group encourage children to wash hands for at least thirty seconds. Wash, wash, wash your hands Soap will make them clean.

Use the dramatic play area to set up a pretend hand washing station close to your kitchen set. Include a poster, an empty soap bottle and paper towels.

Read the beautifully illustrated book Handa's Hen by Eileen Browne. In this story the children will learn about Handa, a young girl from the Luo tribe, who feeds breakfast to Mondi, her grandma's black hen, every morning.

Read the beautifully illustrated book Handa's Hen by Eileen Browne. In this story, the children will learn about Handa, a young girl from the Luo tribe, who feeds breakfast to Mondi, her grandma's black hen, every morning.

Have the children trace one hand on a piece of paper. Provide stamp pads and have them stamp their fingerprints on the corresponding finger on their drawn hand. Discuss with the children how everyone's fingerprints are different.

During large group, read Hands Are Not for Hitting (Best Behavior Series) by Martine Agassi and discuss all of the things that hands can be used for to help each other in the classroom.

During small group, read Hands Off, Harry! by Rosemary Wells. Discuss it during and after reading. Then create a language experience chart.

Read Hands Off, Harry! by Rosemary Wells, during small group. Discuss it during and after reading. Then create a language experience chart.