Activities

Create a basket of books that are about emotions and affection such as I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak. Invite the children to pick out a book and come sit on your lap to read throughout the day.

Lead the children in singing the “I Love You” song to the tune of “This Old Man”:
I love you, you love me.

We're a happy family.

With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you.

Role-play with another teacher showing how the children should ask for help when needed. Use a real situation in the classroom. Say, "The other day, I came in from the playground and I had a rock in my shoe and it hurt.

Sit with a child in your lap and read a board book. After you read a page, ask the child to help you turn the page.

Provide books about signs and communities in the reading center area. I Read Signs by Tana Hoban and Signs by Susan Canizares and Pamela Chanko are two examples.

Play this game to expand a child's vocabulary and encourage longer sentences. Pick up a familiar toy from the classroom, such as a car from the block center, and say, "I see a car." Have the child repeat your sentence.

Share the book I See A Song by Eric Carle. Have children draw along with the book what they would see if they were the musician in the book. This could be done in small group.

Display family photos around the room near floor level. Place the infant where he/she can see the photos. During the day, point to and name family members. Encourage older infants to point to and name family members.

Assign a primary caregiver to each infant to help foster a stronger, trusting relationship. Primary caregiver sits with the young infant on the floor. Place the infant face down on a blanket for tummy time.

Introduce three sentence stems: “I see...,” “I think...” and “I wonder...” to the children. Use these to help them make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations of a work of art.

Play this traditional game with a variety of classroom items or adapt it to your theme. Talk about children's clothes or the foods they eat. At lunch time say, “I spy a vegetable that is tiny and green.

Play a game of I Spy using positional words instead of colors. For example, “I spy something under the reading loft,” or “I spy something next to the reading center.

Say the poem, “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the /p/ sound.” Encourage the children to guess what you may be looking at.

Play "I Spy" on the playground.  "I spy with my little eye something that is yellow.  Yes, it is the dump truck.

Use pictures from school supply catalogs as classroom labels and center signs. Encourage the children to walk around the room and read the labels.

Create a poster with pictures cut from magazines of commonly known items such as cars, flowers, watches and dogs. Glue several examples of each in random places on the poster. Have children play I Spy and count the number of each item.

Read The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper during large group.  Show a toy train engine as a prop as you read
the story.

Read a story with a detailed illustration on the cover such as Louella Mae, She's Run Away. Ask the children to predict what the story will be about, using the pictures on the cover as their justification.

During large group, read a story with a detailed illustration on the cover such as Louella Mae, She's Run Away. Ask the children to predict what the story will be about, using the pictures on the cover as their justification.

During large group, read I Want a Dog by Helga Bansch. Pause part-way through reading to discuss the little girl's problem and brainstorm ways she might solve it. Finish reading to discover what she did. Discuss why that was a good solution.