Books of the Week

Your All My Favorites by Sam McBratney is a good book especially if you have multiple children. Even though the bear cubs are different, their mom and dad still love them. We read it to our four and five-year-olds. They sat quietly through the story and sometimes pointed out things in the pictures. It was a story they could relate to and they seemed to enjoy it. One of the parents brought it in from home and the boy said that it was one of his favorite books last year. It's worth reading at least once.

The Ugly Caterpillar by Carl Sommer is a book we've read to our younger group many times. First, they enjoy the illustrations and usually sit quietly for the story. It's sad at first when Katie the Caterpillar can't find a friend because she's too ugly. Eventually, she finds a best friend who stays with her through her transformation into a butterfly.
Here's the summary from Amazon.com.
"Speckles the spider and Crumbs the cricket think Katy the caterpillar is much to
Ugly to be their friend. But Annie the ant doesn't agree, and she and Katy become
best friends. As Katy the caterpillar begins her strange transformation into a beautiful
butterfly, her friend Annie is shocked and amazed. Speckles and Crumbs finally learn
that true meaning of Beauty and friendship-and caterpillars? This lively and original
story of respect for others by Carl Sommer is perfectly illustrated in full color
by Greg Budwine and is very highly recommended for young readers, grades K-4."

Bear and Ball Book Review

Today we read, Bear and Ball by Cliff Wright. It’s a short and simple book that babies and toddlers would enjoy. It introduces the concept of opposites, has nice simple illistrations and has only a few words on each page so that beginning readers can follow along. Our two and three-year-olds enjoyed the pictures and pointing out the ball on each page. It’s a cute book that would be great for reading to infants and toddlers with short attention spans.



Image from Amazon.com

Rhyming Memory

Here’s a quick and simple rhyming activity. Print off the pictures, cut them into cards and laminate them. You can either just have the kids match them up or play a game of memory. We used this with our preschoolers a couple of weeks ago when we introduced the rhyming concept. They had cards already made with other pictures, but for the purpose of the blog and having a set of my own, I found a different set of pictures. It didn’t take the kids long to do this activity and it’s a good time filler when there’s not much time left before clean up. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Telling Stories with Cats

In honor of National Cat Day on October, 29th. Yes, I’m three days late due to illness and trying to find the right pictures.
I originally thought of this as a matching activity with cards or a file folder game which you can still do by making two copies of each picture. However, I’ve also thought of telling stories with cats. They can use any or all of the pictures to tell a story of a cat’s day or they can use their imagination and go beyond a normal day for a cat. You can even find other pictures to expand and go in a totally different direction. Your children can learn some of the basics of cat care. Cats need food and water like humans. Cats also need a bath although not as often as humans. Cats can be friends with dogs, cats come in different shapes, sizes and colors and cats can be silly and playful like the rest of us. They need toys for fun and scratching posts for exercising their muscles and for getting rid of the dead layer that is on top of their claws. It’s like when we cut our nails. Mostly, they need to know that someone loves and cares for them. I’ve included some normal things that a cat would do as well as silly pictures to create a more eventful story. I’ve also included different breeds and colors of cats including ragdolls because I have two of them. Also, I obviously couldn’t find eighteen pictures of the same cat doing different things so they all had to be different, but you can still tell a story. I hope you enjoy this activity and later I’ll post others with different kinds of animals.

 

 

 

All pictures were found using Google Images and they are clip art.

Books of the Week

Here are the books I brought to read to the kids this week. I’ll try to post the books that we read every week especially when I buy new ones.
Bluebird's nest
This book is no longer available on Amazon, but I recently bought it off Ebay and the kids enjoyed it. It's a better read during spring, but the kids liked watching the nest get bigger and they enjoyed the 3d illistration of Bluebird at the end. We talked about how she builds her nest in the fall to keep warm through the winter.




Where Is Skipper's Bone?
It has nothing to do with fall, but the kids liked moving the slider up and down as we looked for Skipper's bone. This turned into a discussion about our own pets. Some of us had dogs, dogs and cats or just cats.



C is For Coco
The kids loved pointing out things in the pictures. When I asked who Coco was, one boy said, "She's a chick." Then another boy said, "Coco is like hot chocolate." It's a good book for introducing letters to toddlers. Some of the kids recognized the letters right away. When a letter came up that was the first letter of one of the kids names, they'd point it out. We also had little discussions about some of the pictures.



Very Hungry Caterpillar
We read this book often. The kids love it. Some of the kids pointed out some of the foods that they like or don't like. They love the pictures too. It's a favorite of our's at the center year round.

Families Theme Lesson Plan

Art:
Make family portraits.
Have the children draw with crayons or markers on paper or a paper plate.
If the portrait is on a paper plate, you can attach a piece of yarn to it to hang it on the wall.

Make a family collage:
Have the children cut out pictures of people and pets from magazines. Then glue them on to paper. Let the children tell you about their picture. They can tell you why they picked the pictures and who they resemble in their family. This would work better with children who are at least preschool age.

What I like about my family book:
Have the children bring in pictures of each member of their family. Make a book for each child or have the children make them by stapling pieces of construction paper together. Glue a picture on each page. Then you can ask the children what they like about each member of the family and write it for them.

Dramatic Play:
You can use doll houses with the different people figures. I’ve seen the figures that are made to look like grandparents, babies, bigger children, people of different races etc.

Have a corner set up like the home. You can use a kitchen play set or turn a sensory table into a dish washing center. The kids I work with loved that one. One boy said, “we’re being like grown-ups.” We put water, a tiny bit of dish soap, plastic dishes, sponges, dish rags and a scrub brush.

Last year, I also turned the sensory table into a baby washing center with babies, soap, brushes and wash cloths. The kids always love anything to do with water so there’s always a waiting line.
You could do cooking, cleaning, taking care of babies or get other ideas from the children. Ask them what sorts of things they help out with in the home or what they do with their families.

For some extra sensory play, let the children use baby powder, baby shampoo, baby oil, lotion and wipes to wash babies. It’s probably a better idea to only use one or two of those things at a time since it’d make a huge mess.

To include some science and sorting in your family theme, play a file folder matching game. I don’t have one made up so I can’t take a picture of it, but cut out pictures of mother and baby animals. Tape one picture to the folder and laminate the corresponding picture. Have the children match the mothers and babies. You could also have pictures of animal families and match it with pictures of the same single animal. That way it would be asking the children which family does this animal belong to.

To learn about social studies, you could also have families bring in photos of each member and have the children glue them to paper trees. You can compare families and discuss different types of families. Some families only have one parent, some have two parents, some families are living with grandparents, some families are big while others are small etc.

Literacy:

Are You My Mother?

I Like It When...


Just Like Mommy
They have a version for dads as well and you can find it through the link above.

Fall Theme Lesson Plan

Literacy:
The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle
A counting book, The Case of the Disappearing Acorns
Math: Sorting leaves, pinecones and acorns by color or type of object.
Sensory: Grab bag.
Contains fake apples, pumpkins, gourds, acorns and other fall related objects.
Children are to guess what’s in the bag before looking at it.

Apple Match
Cut out apples of green, yellow, and red. Put corresponding apples on a manilla folder.
Have your children match the apples.
You could also do this with pictures of food made from apples or make another matching game using pictures of different types of leaves.

Fine Motor:
Have two baskets.
Fill one with nuts and a set of tongs.
Have the children transfer the nuts from one basket to another using the tongs.
If some of the children are allergic to nuts, use fall colored pompoms or acorns.

For dramatic play, you could turn an area into a farmers market since they are selling fruits and vegetables through the fall.
You could include:
Cash register,
Fake money,
Fake fruits such as apples, peaches, pears, pomegranates,
Fake vegetables such as corn, gourds, pumpkins etc.
You could include boxes and or jars of foods that can be made with those fruits and vegetables.
For an extension of that area, you could set up a small tub of water where the children could pretend to wash the fruits and veggies.
I thought of this idea on the spot so if you can think of anything to add, feel free.

Movement:
Take a nature walk to collect leaves and other fall objects.

Art:
CRUSHED LEAF MOSAIC
Materials:
Dried leaves,
Construction paper,
Glue.


Steps:
1. Gather a small bag of fallen leaves.
2. Dry them out completely.
3. Crush the leaves.
4. Cut a piece of paper into a leaf shape and give it to the child
5. Cover the leaf shape with glue and sprinkle on the crushed leaves.

Discussions: Different types of leaves and the trees they come from. Also, discuss when seasons change and the cycle of how leaves fall off trees and new leaves grow next spring.


Leaf Wreath
What You Need:
Leaves (various colors preferred)
Paper Plate
Paste
What You Do:
Have your children collect interesting leaves.
Next, cut the center of the plate out and let your children attach their leaves.
Painting with Apples
Cut an apple in half and let the children stamp or paint with it.

Recipes:
Frozen Pumpkin Treats
For each child, mix 1 tsp. pumpkin-pie filling with 3
Tablespoons whipped topping. Spread on one graham cracker and top with another
Graham cracker
. Freeze.

Individual Pumpkin Pies
For each child: Measure 1/4 cup of vanilla pudding, 1
Tsp canned pumpkin and dash of pumpkin spice; mix together. Put mixture in single bowl. –serve with graham cracker crust and top with one candy pumpkin.

Reading, Math and Science Activities for an About Me Theme

Here are some more ideas for an about me theme.

For infants, have plenty of mirrors around so the children can study their faces and facial expressions. Infants and toddlers can try mimicking facial expressions while looking in the mirror. Mirrors are good for older children too. For preschoolers, they can try to draw what they see in the mirror.

For infants and toddlers, look at photos of the child and family members. See if they can pick out who’s who and talk about what they see in the picture. It can be a good labeling activity for infants and toddlers.
Preschoolers enjoy looking at photos too. You can take photos of them throughout the day doing normal things like playing, eating, getting ready to go outside etc. Make a picture schedule that you can add to and change. This can also be good for toddlers or any child getting used to a new routine.


For preschoolers, make a photo matching game.
Have two photos of each child in the class and have the kids try to match them up. To make it more challenging, you can do a memory game with it were all the photos are face down on the table and the kids have to remember where the photos are in order to match them up.

Look at fingerprints.
Fingerprint each child. Have the children look through magnifying glasses so that they can see the differences between fingerprints. You can talk about how everyone’s fingerprint is unique.

You can do a measuring activity. Have the children measure how tall they are against a piece of string. Cut the string to their height and then tape them to a large piece of paper. The children can see how tall they are and will be able to compare it to their friends.

For literacy, you can find or make picture books that have different people and faces for infants to look at. You can read books that go along with the theme to children of any age. There are a lot of books to choose from. I like It's Not Easy Being a Bunny. It’s a cute book and it’s about how Bunny tries being something he’s not, but in the end, he finds out that he likes being himself after all.

For preschoolers, you can have them draw pictures and decorate pages with things about themselves. They can use handprints, family photos, pictures of their favorite foods and things to do, pieces of paper or stickers that show their favorite colors etc. If they can write, they can write a sentence or two about each page or they can tell you what to write for them. You can keep these books on hand so the children can look at them later to learn about each other and enjoy their creations.

Ocean Theme Lesson Plan

Ocean Theme Lesson Plan

Literacy:
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
or
By the Seashore : A Natural Trail Book (A Touch and Feel Adventure)
or
Islands of Ice: The Story of a Harp Seal
Ocean theme word wall with pictures of sea creatures labeled.

Music and movement: Ocean finger plays:
Five Little Sea Creatures


Five little sea creatures
On the ocean floor;
The lobster walked away
Now there are four.
Four little sea creatures
Living in the sea;
The octopus crept away
Now there are three.
Three little sea creatures
Wondering what to do;
"Good-bye," said the starfish
Now there are two.
Two little sea creatures
Not having much fun;
Off swam the sea horse
Now there is one.
One little hermit crab
Sad and all alone,
Back came the starfish,
Back came the sea horse,
Back came the octopus,
Back came the lobster,
Then all five went home.


Five Cranky Crabs

Five cranky crabs were digging on the shore.
One swam into a net and then there were four.
Four cranky crabs were floating in the sea.
One got tangled up in seaweed then there were three.
Three Cranky crabs were wondering what to do.
One dug a deep, deep hole. Then there were two.
Two cranky crabs were warming in the sun.
One got scooped up in a cup. Then there was one.
One cranky crab was smarter than his friends.
He hid between the jagged rocks.
That's how the story ends.


Math:
Shell sorting,
Pouring water or sand in the sensory table,
Seashell Match Up
Sensory:
Sensory tub with sand and water: have kids dig for shells.
Water and fish in the sensory table with nets to catch the fish.

Science:

Ocean Bottle
Materials:
Plastic bottle,
water,
blue food coloring,
glitter,
pebbles,
sand,
shells,
plastic fish
and some hot glue.


Steps:
1. Clean out an empty plastic pop bottle.
2. Add water, blue food coloring, glitter, and maybe a few pebbles. Also, you can add sand, shells, or plastic fish.
3. Seal the bottle closed using a little hot glue and allow to completely dry before the children can play with it.


Note: Have the children tip or role the bottle to see what happens.

Discussion: What happens when you role or tip the bottle?
What happens in the actual ocean?
What kind of creatures live in the ocean?
How do those creatures get their food?
What do we get from the ocean?

Extension:
Listen to sounds of different fish, sea birds and the ocean atmosphere.
Make a guessing game out of different sea sounds.
Take a trip to the beach.


Fine motor:
Make shell or starfish imprints in play dough.

Art:
Sea shell rubbings with crayons.

Sand art in beach buckets that cover like the ones below.
Take small cups of sand and add food coloring.
Mix well.
Have the kids scoop the sand from the cups to the buckets in layers so they can create a cute beach bucket while practicing their pouring and scooping skills.


They came in packs of three and they had bubblegum inside.

Pasta Shell Painting
Use large pasta shells and paint.
Let the kids paint them any way they want and you can discuss how no two shells are alike.

Dramatic play:
OCEAN PLAY AREA


Directions:
Turn the space under a card table into an ocean hideout for your child.
1. First, hang some blue crepe paper streamers or twisty ribbon all around the table so that it hangs down to the floor.
2. Next, place some pillow "rocks" inside for your sea creatures.
3. Provide your child with some plastic or stuffed sea animals to place in the den.
4. Decorate with pictures of the sea and place books about the sea inside.
You can add plush animals like the ones below to any ocean themed dramatic play area or put them on display.