Children for years have enjoyed the traditional birthday
party game of dropping clothespins into a container. (Many
different types of containers work well--waste baskets,
coffee cans, quart jars, etc.) The children can take turns
kneeling on a chair and using the chair back to steady their
hand while dropping the clothespins into the container.
This game is very good for developing eye-hand coordination.
Your older children will enjoy doing this activity
blindfolded.
On Hat day we all wore hats from home and made hats here.
Just cut construction paper about 4 inches wide and long
enough to go around childs head. Then we glued multi
coloured construction paper strips about 1 inch wide to the
top of the Hat band so they stick up in all different
directions. Looks kind of like an upside down spider. We
also read the 500 hats of Bartholemew...something by Dr.
Suess. At circle time we all made up stories about our hats
and printed them on the computer.
Of coarse wear your pajamasand read bedtime stories like
'Good Night Moon'. Have breakfast for lunch and at snacktime
have a bedtime snack. We will all practice snoring too.
The children stand at arms' length apart in a circle. First
using a 10 in. playground ball, they pass it quickly from one
person to the next. They then move to a 8 1/2 in. playground
ball, then finally a 6 in. playground ball. Remember to
reverse the direction of the passes after each cycle is
completed. It is also fun to have the children sit close
together in a circle and use a real potato!
Jan 13 Rubber Duckies July 26 Bert
Jan 28 Ernie Aug 15 Bob
Feb 3 Elmo Aug 19 Snuffleupagus
Feb 24 Gordon Aug 31 Herry Monster
Mar 20 Big Bird Sept 3 Barkley the Dog
April 17 Sherlock Hemlock Sept 19 Slimey the Worm
May 4 Susan Sept 29 Telly Monster
May 24 Sam the Robot Oct 9 The Count
June 1 Oscar Oct 14 Grover
June 7 The Amazing Mumford Oct 24 Betty Lou
June 26 Maria Nov 2 Cookie Monster
July 1 Guy Smiley Nov 14 Luis
July 15 Forgetful Jones - Dec. 4 Miles - Dec. 17 Little Bird
On Wacky day everyone dressed in silly clothes - putting bib
overalls on backward and wearing silly slippers instead of
shoes, a dck came in a swimsuit over a sleeper style pajama!
One parent even got off work early and dressed as a clown to
pick up dck! Great fun. We read a lot of Dr. Suess like 'I'll
Teach My Dog 100 Words', 'To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry
Street' and 'I Can Read With My Eyes Shut'. We made up
another story (each child contributed two pages) and again
printed it on the computer....it was about a cow named Pop, a
dinosuar and a rabbit named Hopper. Of course it started
with 'Once apon a time...' Each child took a copy home. We
had breakfast for lunch and 'Cups of Dirt' for snack.
Contributed by Cathy (fulton.mark@mcleod.net)
At the curb before I cross,
I stop my feet running. (Point to feet)
And look both ways to left and right
Before I cross the street.
Lest autos running quietly might come as a surprise.
I don't just listen with my ears, (Point to ears)
But look with both my eyes. (Point to eyes)
Do you know what traffic lights say to you?
Do you know what traffic lights say to do?
Yellow says, 'Be careful.' (Hold arm straight out)
Green says, 'You may go.' (Lower arm)
But red is most important, (Raise arm up)
It says, 'Stop!' you know.
Twinkle twinkle traffic light
shining on the corner bright
red means stop
green means go!
Yellow means wait even if you're late.
Twinkle twinkle traffic light shining on the corner
bright.
After wee sing this song we make traffic light out of
construction paper. The children then become aware of the
rules of the rode, while traveling with grown-ups.
Contributed by Angela
(I have mainly 2 year olds, so they don't quite get blowing)
So I blew the bubbles outside, gave them a sheet of
construction paper (rougher, so they popped better) and told
them to catch the bubbles with their paper. It added
hand-eye coordination and gross motor movement to the art
project, and they had a blast!
Give children several objects to drop--feathers, marbles,
styrofoam packaging, small blocks, sponges, cotton, rocks,
etc.
After individual experimentation, help children draw
conclusions based on their observations--which items dropped
slowly and which items dropped quickly.
Ingrediants
Six 8 inch round baked cakes
Brown and green frosting
Aluminum foil
One small juice glass or 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter
DRY ICE METHOD BAKING SODA METHOD
One clean fresh egg One small box red
jello
4 drops of red food colouring One small bottle lemon
One and a half teas. sugar juice
One pound dry ice One tablespoon baking
One or two ounces hot tap water soda
Continue on next card.
Stack cakes pyramid style on a large platter. Trim the cakes
like a Volcano. Frost them like a mountain. The last two
should have a hole in the top like a volcano. Use the foil
to line the hole. Put the juice glass in the hole with the
foil under the glass. When you are ready to serve the
Volcano make the lava. Separate the egg and discard the
yolk. Put the egg white in a small mixing bowl with one and
a half teaspoons sugar and two or three drops of red food
colouring. Beat until the egg white starts to thicken. You
don't want stiff peaks to form, just a thick foamy
texture.
DRY ICE METHOD - Separate the egg and discard the yolk. Put
the egg white in a small mixing bowl with one and a half
teaspoons sugar and two or three drops of red food colouring.
Beat until the egg white starts to thicken. You don't want
stiff peaks to form, just a thick foamy texture. Now place
two or three hunks of dry ice into the foil-lined glass hole,
pour the red egg mixture in. NOTHING WILL HAPPEN UNTIL.....
pour one or two ounces of the hot water into the hole.
BAKING SODA METHOD - Make jello and let cool for 15 minutes.
While warm but not hot fill the juice glass half ful of
jello. Fill the glass the rest of the way with lemon juice.
NOTHING WILL HAPPEN UNTIL..... put the baking soda into the
glass and stir.Contributed from Vickie
Materials: *Alka Selzer Tablets (generic work fine and are
cheaper)*Empty Film Canisters (get from photo lab; some work
better than others, I have had best luck with the clear ones
if you can find them)*Hot Water Draw a line around bottom of
film canister about 1 cm from bottom. Fill up to that line
with warm water. I use tap water that is hot enough to be
steaming and fill a coffee mug with cover on it so the kids
can pour the water themselves. Place 1/4 of an alka selzer
tablet in the canister and immediately secure cover, turn
upside down and place in open area (BTW, this is an *outdoor*
activity!) Stand back and wait for 'explosion' as the gases
build up and the film canister bottom goes FLYING in the air
about 20 feet. Have lots of Alka Selzer for repeats.
Fill glass with oil. Place an ice cube in the glass - the
ice floats near the top. Observe your experiment for a
while. Notice that as the ice melts, water droplets sink to
the bottom. Why? As water freezes, it expands and takes up
more room. This makes it less dense and therefore it floats
on the oil. Once it has melted, the water is heaver that the
oil and it falls to the bottom.
Let each child put an ice cube in a sealed baggie.
Discuss how the ice feels hard and cold.
Place the bags on a table until the cubes have melted. Talk
about eh change that has taken place, using the terms solid
and liquid.
Place the bags in the school freezer (or let the children
freeze them at home).
On the following day, examine the bags again and discuss the
changes that have taken place.
III. Fill a small plastic bag with air and secure the end of
the bag in your hand. Place the mouthpiece of a party
streamer into the end of the bag and secure so no air leaks
out. Press on the bag and the streamer unfurls like magic.
(Air can be contained/managed)
IV. Read lots of books, such as 'The Wind Blew', the 'Huff
and Puff' series
(clouds that travel through various adventures), etc.
Pour clear carbonated soda water into a clear glass.
Drop four or five raisins into the glass.
After 40 to 60 seconds, children will observe raisins moving
up and down in the glass.
Teacher should help children draw the conclusion that the air
bobbles caused the upward movement.
Let children observe the glass later in the day when the
carbonation has ceased. This will reinforce the role of the
air bubbles in lifting the raisins.
Demonstrate the following activity: place a teaspoon of
baking soda into a deflated balloon. Into an empty soda
bottle (twelve ounce size) put a teaspoon of vinegar. Now
stretch the opening of the balloon over the mouth of the
bottle (this should cause the baking soda to fall into the
vinager. The two substances create a gas when they are
mixed. The baloon will expand from the gas. More of each
substance will expand the balloon even more. Allow each child
to mix the two substances. Provide a paper plate, a small
cup of vinegar and a small cup of baking soda. Each child
can use a spoon ;to put the baking soda on the plate and an
eyedropper to add the vinegar. The mixture will fizz.
Demonstrate this activity for the children. Use a clear
plastic bottle at least ten inches high. Fill the bottle
three-fourths full, using denatured alcohol.
Add blue food coloring (enough to make it deep blue). Fill
the bottle with cooking oil, leaving a small distance at the
top. Glue the top on for safety.
The substances will not mix and the water will move like a
wave over the oil when moved up and down.
Place the bottle on the table for the children's use,
observation and questions.
Fill five clear glasses with water.
Show children the following items: a rock, salt, a leaf,
sugar and pepper.
Ask children to predict whether or not the items will
dissolve in water.
Test each item with the children.
Verify predictions.
Adapt the problem solving steps described in the overview of
this chapter to test each item.
I. Wind Machines -- give each child/team a small plastic
ziploc baggie, a small damp sponge and a straw. Place the
sponge inside the bag and close the bag around the straw to
seal any air leakes. By pressing on the sponge, the
child can force air through the straw to 'blow' something
across the table top. Have races using feathers, cheerios,
whatever.
Contributed by Paula
This activity is great activity with pre-three year olds - we
use straws and ping pong balls. We've also put plastic sail
boats in a water tub for the children to blow across the
water.
Contributed by Elaine Rogers
'Military chant or 'jody''
Manatees are big and gray. (repeat)
Manatees eat plants all day. (repeat)
Manatees are very slow. (repeat)
Boats must watch out where they go. (repeat)
(ALL)
Manatees! One, two.
Manatees! Three, four.
Manatees! Five, six, seven, eight.
They're great!
We got bleached sandollars --the kids then took washable
markers and drew different patterns on them, let them
sit for a couple minutes then quickly dipped them in water
and pulled them out to discover a tye dye pattern when they
dried..it was pretty cool
Whale swims about
The sea of blue.
Whale dives down deep
Below our view.
Whale jumps up high
To breathe some air.
Whale sprays a water
Fountain there.
Whale flaps a fin
To and fro
Then goes diving down below.
A sailor went to sea, sea, sea,
To see what he could see, see, see,
But all that he could see, see, see,
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.
On sea and see clap your partners hands three times.
OR
Clap hands continuously but salute each other for sea or see
three times.
You can make a beautiful angelfish with a wire hanger and
some aluminum foil. Spread a wire hanger into a diamond
shape. Cut a big piece of aluminum foil into strips. Tape
the strips around the hanger. Then crisscross the strips in
the other direction. For the finishing touches, add three
strips for a tail and a white paper circle with a dot for an
eye. That beautiful angelfish is ready to hang up.
We make our own aquariums when we talk about the ocean. Just
get some clear plastic cups, put some oreo crumbs or 'sandy'
colored cookie crumbs on the bottom. Get some blue jello and
pour over the crumbs, add some gummy fish and when set this
makes a great snack! The kids love making them and of
course eating them!
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.
Sung to I've Been Working On the Railroad)
I went swimming in the ocean on a summer day.
I went swimming in the ocean and kicked, and splashed and
played.
Ofter lunch we looked for seashells - I found three or
four
You can hold one up to your ear and hear the ocean roar.
Hear the ocean roar, Hear the ocean roar,
You can hear the ocean roar, roar, roar,
Hear the ocean roar, Hear the ocean roar
Hear the ocean roar, roar, roar,
Contributed by Cheryl (C5Joy@aol.com)
Collect old plastic pop bottles. Have the children fill them
with water. Then let the children add blue food coloring to
make the water. Have glitter, shells, and other little
things to fill the ocean bottle. Put the cap back on and use
electical tape to secure the top. Children will enjoy
shaking up their ocean.
The good ship sails on the Ali Ali O,
The Ali Ali O,
The Ali Ali O,
The good ship sails on the Ali Ali O,
On the last day of September.
They all dipped their heads in the Ali Ali O,
The Ali Ali O,
The Ali Ali O,
They all dipped their heads in the Ali Ali O,
On the last day of September.
(tune of I'm A Little Teapot)
I'm a humpback whale,
I'm very strong
I leap about and sing this song.
I like to eat my fill in the Northern Sea.
But in the winter it's South I flee.
I am a beluga,
I'm all white.
From head to tail I'm quite a sight.
(Continue on next card)
Ages 2 and up
Materials - sand from the sandbox, white glue, small shells
(from craft store)
Mix sand and glue until sand is syrupy, pour into bowl,
plate, cup etc. push shells into mixture to form a sculpture.
Allow to dry, may take a couple of days. Looks really neat,
glue makes the sand like a plaster.
