Activities

Use simple cooking activities to explore the concept of measurement.

To make applesauce, mix together in a crockpot: 6
diced apples

1 teaspoon cinnamon

11/2 cups water

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
Place crockpot out of reach of the children while the apple

Have the children build a representation of their center or school using small blocks. This activity could be done in small group.

Have the children build a representation of their center or school using small blocks. This can be done in small group.

In a dish pan, freeze an assortment of small plastic arctic animals so they are suspended throughout the ice. Dump the ice on a solid surface. This can be done at the sensory table or taken outside.

Read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. This story is about Chester, who is fearful about being away from his mother while he is at school. Talk to the children about how they think Chester might feel. Use words such as “afraid,” “worried” or “sad.

To help an infant settle down, say the infant's name and sing this song in a soft, pleasant voice to the tune of "Where Is Thumbkin?":
Are you crying? Are you crying?

I see you, I see you.

Tune: “Frere Jacques”
Are you helping  

Are you helping 

Pick up toys, pick up toys 

Let's all be a helper 

Let's all be a helper 

Girls and boys, girls and boys

Tune: “Frere Jacques”
Are you listening? Are you listening?

Girls and boys, girls and boys

If you are listening, if you are listening

Clap three times, clap three times

 1...2...

Sing to the tune of "Frere Jacques": 
Are you listening? 

Are you listening? 
Everyone, everyone 
If you are listening,

if you are listening 
Look at me, look at me.

Read and sing “Are You Living?: A Song About Living and Nonliving Things” by Laura Purdie Salas. This song is sung to the tune of “Are You Sleeping?” and lists thecharacteristics of living things. There are illustrations for each phrase.

Act out Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman or Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino. Use a feather headband for the baby bird or wooly ears for the llama and any assortment of stuffed animals or puppets for the rest of the cast.

Before going outside, sing this song as you help the children put on their jackets, gloves and hats. You can also use nonverbal cues to line up the children such as taking a child by the hand or pointing to a child to line up.

Sing a song to the tune of “Are You Sleeping?” that addresses different feelings.

Have the children identify where the office, the kitchen and the playground are located.

Provide a variety of multicultural instruments for the children to play. Use the song “Play Your Instruments” by Ella Jenkins. Have the children match the sound of their instrument to the instruments in the song.

Set up art experiences for children, such as painting on newsprint or wallpaper samples. Talk about what they are creating. Say, "Tell me about your picture." Record their comments, write them on their artwork and read them to the children.

Provide paper plates, butcher paper and paint in the art center. Red, yellow and blue are great alone but when you mix them with a friend, you can do so much more. Place butcher paper on a table for the friendship mural.

Provide appropriate library books of artists' work for the children to look at, compare with the children's work and talk about in the art center.

Show children a famous painting, such as Van Gogh's Starry Night. Ask the children to brainstorm descriptive words about the painting. Write these on chart paper.