Activities

Read Llama Llama Red Pajama by Ana Dewdney and then ask children questions: “Do llamas really wear clothes and sleep in beds?” “Do they live on farms?” Use pictures to show the difference between fantasy and real life.

Place a local newspaper inside the reading center for the children to “read” about their community.

Place maps, local newspapers and fl yers for local events in your writing center.

Introduce terms that describe different community types. Terms may include suburban, urban and rural and characteristics of those locations. This could be done in large group.

Provide several different locks and matching keys. Have the children find the key that will open the lock. Show them how to fit the key into the lock and turn it until it clicks. You can color-code the pairs to make the task easier.

Provide a variety of locks and keys in the math center and have the children match the keys to the locks. The locks and keys can be color-coded to minimize confusion.

Create Bingo cards using environmental print. Cut out nine different logos and place them in baseball sleeves that can be purchased from a dollar store.

Encourage families to cut out and send in logos of different stores, restaurants and foods. Provide an opportunity for the children to paste these onto card stock before binding them. Create a “We Can Read” class book.

Encourage families to cut out and send in logos of different stores, restaurants, and foods. While in the reading center create an opportunity for the children to paste these onto card stock before binding them. Create a We Can Read class book.

Place a number of cards printed with familiar logos face down and in a grid in the middle of the workspace. Taking turns, encourage the children to turn over two cards and name the logos on the cards.

Create poster-sized copies of familiar logos such as Target, McDonalds and Kroger. Place them in various places on the playspace. During outdoor time, encourage the children to pretend the playground is a community or town.

Play the song “Here We Go, Looby Loo” and have the children follow the given movements in the song.

Tune: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
Look, look, look around,

Look at everyone.

I see someone wearing (name a color)

He may go have fun.

Provide large paper, crayons and markers for the children to create a self-portrait. Provide a mirror for the children to see themselves in as they draw. Model a simple self-portrait for the children.

Laminate pictures of family members and familiar objects from home using card stock or construction paper for mounting. Punch holes in the corner of each picture and use a small book ring to hold the pictures together.

Have the children gather in a circle. One at a time, each child goes to the middle of the circle and does an action for the other children to follow (such as clap, jump or hop). Add a chant, for example, “Everybody do it, do it, do it.

Place photos of the infants on magnetic board under one of two columns: “I'm Here” or “I'm Not Here.” As the infants arrive, invite a classmate to help you move the child's photo to the “I'm Here” column.

Place photos of the infants on magnetic board under one of two columns: "I'm Here" or "I'm Not Here." As the infants arrive, invite a classmate to help you move the child's photo to the "I'm Here" column.

While looking in a mirror, have the child hold an empty picture frame or a cardboard cutout resembling a picture frame around his/her face. Have the child describe what he/she sees and talk about his/her features.

Provide the children with a variety of containers with lids. Remove the lids and have the children match the lids to the correct container.