Activities

After reading Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, create a matching game for the children to play. Using different color markers, trace a child's hand on paper plates.

Lay cards with pictures of the children's faces with different emotions face down. Each child takes a turn flipping over two at a time. If the child turns over two cards with the same expression, he/she keeps that pair of cards.

Use Hershey Kisses with numbers or letters written on them to create a matching game in the math center. Give each child eight kisses, ensuring that there are four matches in the set given to each child.

Collect a variety of plastic containers with lids. Include some screw-on lids and some snap-on lids. Clean them and put the lids in a pile that is separate from the containers. Have the children match the lids to the containers.

While in the dramatic play are draw a place setting on place mats for the children to match the dishes and silverware.

Print cards or pictures you have taken of classroom situations, such as the children not sharing, children playing alone or children attempting to enter play with others. Print solution cards and have the children match the pictures with a solution.

Create math cards using farm animals and the numerals zero to five. For example, create one cow in a barn, two ducks in a pond and so on. Then provide farm animal counters.

Have the children get their math hands ready. Ask them to show you three, using their fingers. Keep changing the numbers (zero to three). Ask them to show you three fingers by using both hands, to make it a little harder.

Provide logic and strategy games in the math center such as Tic-Tac- Toe, Tangrams, Jenga and Tapatan. Encourage the children to play the games and explain their strategies.

Create a variety of math mats and manipulatives for counting and place them in the math center.

Create math mats to resemble any object such as a gum ball machine, a bowl or a lily pad. Give each child manipulatives to use while you tell a story: There were four frogs on the lily pad. (Child places four frogs on the pad.) One frog jumped off .

Bring a pumpkin into the classroom and encourage the children to think of the many ways that it can be measured such as height, weight, circumference or number of seeds. Introduce appropriate vocabulary.

Set up a clothing store in dramatic play. Encourage the children to pretend to be shoppers and clerks in the store.

Create a play restaurant in the classroom. Encourage the children to take your order of what you would like to eat and drink. Provide toddler- friendly kitchen utensils and food props for the children to use to pretend to cook and serve.

Play the game “Mother, May I?” during outdoor time. Change “mother” to other people, such as “father,” “farmer” or “teacher.

Have the children make a large circle. Teach them the song and motions listed below before having them sing and perform together.

Read the book Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky. Afterward, ask each child to think of one thing that is special about him/her.

Encourage group discussion during routine times such as snack and lunch. Conversations can be about what food is being served or activities that occur throughout the day.

Read Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt to the children. Afterward, bring in a pot for pretend mean soup. Provide an opportunity for upset children to shout and stir words into it that tell how they feel until they feel better.

Choose a time each day and engage in a rich, meaningful conversation with a child. Make a list so you talk with every child every week.