Table of Contents

Unit 1 Save the Planet Page 3

Unit 2 Olympics Page 16

Unit 3 Under the Sea Page 34

Unit 4 Shapes Page 41

Unit 5 Colors Page 54

Unit 6 Social Skills Page 67

Unit 7 Apples & Fall Ideas Page 80

Unit 8 Community Helpers Page 92

Unit 9 Insects Page 104

Unit 10 Circus Page 116

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 Save the Planet
Good to be Green

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 Materials
Supplies -

Coffee Filters
Eye droppers
Food Coloring
Giant map
Paint
Pictures of different animals
Small containers or bags for each child
Paper Towel Tubes
Tape
Glue
Paint
Uncooked Rice
Toothpicks
bongo drums
feathers
turquoise or blue colored items
100 feet of rope
Recyclable materials (plastic, Paper, Etc.)
Tape
Broken Crayons(either from the classroom or have kids bring them in)
Candy Molds
Empty Cans (only with smooth edges)
Bottles
Packing foam
Pipe Cleaners
Pom Poms
Construction Paper
Scissors
stickers
string
buttons
Markers
Assorted Craft supplies
Rubber Gloves
Trash Bags
Paper Bags
Poster Board
Seed's
Small Boxes or Plastic Bags
Potting soil
Paper Towels
Cotton Balls
Shallow Pan

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Wax Paper
Glue Sticks

Books-

"Lets Take Care of the Earth" Rozanne Lanczak Williams

"Water Water Everywhere" Mark J. Rauzon
"the Great Trash Bash" Loreen Leedy
"Too Much Garbage" F. Testa
"Why Should I save Water" Jen Green

Food

Rice Krispies
Margarine
Marshmallows
Vanilla extract
Chocolate pudding
Gummy Worms
marshmallows
chocolate chips
pieces of oreo cookie
Jelly beans
Donut holes
Bottled water
Tap Water
Salt
Chocolate Chips
Raisins
Pretzels
Corn Chips
M&M's
Nuts (only if no one has allergy's)

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Save the Planet – Good to Be Green
Monday- Introduction to the Planet

Circle Time- tell about one fun activity or event from the past week that took place
outside. This serves as an introduction for the theme of the environment and outside.

Craft- Coffee Filter Earth

Materials- coffee filters, eye droppers, green and blue food coloring

1- Give each child a coffee filter and two eyedroppers, one filled with blue water and one
filled with green water. Prepare the colored water at home the night before by mixing
water with food coloring.

2- Tell the children to drop the blue and green colored water on the filter one drop at a
time. As the filter absorbs the water, it will begin to look like the Earth.

Theme Activities-
1- Introduction to the planet: show a giant world map to the children, show them where
they live, tell them the name of their country, neighboring countries, and the names of the
continents of the world. Include pictures from magazines of different places (such as
African safari or Amazon jungles) to introduce some of the different ecosystems of the
world.

2- Earth painting- cut out a large map of the world and draw an outline for each of the
continents. (Also display a real world map as a reference.) As a group, the children paint
the map of the Earth together, using green and brown for the land and blue for the water.
If any children have visited other cities or countries, they can mark those places with a
colored star sticker.

3- Hunting- reassemble in the circle, introduce idea of how animals get their food by
hunting. Speak about predators and prey, carnivores and herbivores. Show pictures of
different animals and ask what type of animal they are, what they eat, how they get their
food. Speak about humans and how they get their food, ways of hunting responsibly, as
in not killing all the creatures. This activity serves as preparation for the “trail mix hunt”
snack.

Snack Time- Trail Mix Hunt

Before the children arrive, hide the parts of the trail mix around the classroom or along
the daily walk path. Give each child a small container or plastic bag and tell them to look
for the parts of the trail mix, and each time they find one to put some of the ingredients
into their container or bag. Once all the parts have been found, shake up the container or
bag and the trail mix is made.

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Ideas for trail mix include chocolate chips, raisins, pretzels, corn chips, M&Ms, and nuts,
though nuts should only be included if none of the children in the class have an allergy.

Music- singing of song “If you love our world”. Sung to the tune of “if you’re happy and
you know it”. The lyrics are as follows with the action in parenthesis after specific lines:

“If you love our world, clap your hands (clap clap),
If you love our world, clap your hands (clap clap),
If you love our world, really love our great big world,
If you love our world, clap your hands (clap clap).

If you love our world, plant new trees (new trees!) (mime digging a hole)
If you love our world, plant new trees (new trees!) (mime digging a hole)
If you love our world, really love our great big world,
If you love our world, plant new trees (new trees!) (mime digging a hole)

If you love our world, recycle (recycle!) (roll hands together, arms up overhead)
If you love our world, recycle (recycle!) (roll hands together, arms up overhead)
If you love our world, really love our great big world,
If you love our world, recycle (recycle!) (roll hands together, arms up overhead)

If you love our world, do your part (do your part) (points outwards)
If you love our world, do your part (do your part) (points outwards)
If you love our world, really love our great big world,
If you love our world, do your part (do you part) (points outwards)”

Stories- An excellent book to read is “Let’s take care of the Earth” by Rozanne Lanczak
Williams, which shows children how to take care of both their own habitat and the habitat
of the animals around them.

Reasoning Skills- children imagine a vacation to any place in the world, and why they
would choose to go there, and what they might see there. This teaches them to expand
their minds beyond their current environment and imagine what far away places look like
based on pictures, movies, or any other information they may have gathered.

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Tuesday- Water, Water Everywhere

Circle Time- talking about the weather- looking at weather from previous day, forecast
for the day and coming days, highs and lows. Ask each child to tell about their favorite
type of weather and why, and the importance of different kinds of weather.

Craft- Rain Sticks

Materials- paper towel rolls, tape, glue, paint, uncooked rice, toothpicks

1- Before the class, poke a number of staggered holes in the side of the paper towel rolls
with the pins or toothpick.

2- Allow the children to paint or decorate their paper towel rolls as they desire. Try to
include water imagery, if possible.

3- Once the paint has dried, have the children poke toothpicks through the holes, and dab
a small amount of glue on each end. Tape one end of the roll shut.

4- Pour a small amount of uncooked rice into the paper towel roll, and tape the other end
shut.

5- Cut off the ends of the toothpicks that are sticking out, and the rain stick is completed.

Theme Activities-
1- Rain Dance- Speak about the rain dance traditions in ancient culture including Native
American populations. Bring in some bongo drums, feathers (to represent the wind) and
turquoise colored items (to represent the rain) and let some children play the drums while
others use their rain sticks to perform a “rain dance”.

2- Ocean versus freshwater- ask if any children have been to the ocean, what it was like,
ocean water is salty and fresh water is not. Introduction to marine life, some animals that
live only in the ocean. The world’s largest animal lives in the ocean, the blue whale.
Ask the kids how large they think it is, and then once they have guessed, unroll a piece of
rope that is 100 feet long to demonstrate the actual length of an average blue whale.

3- Conservation of water- explain how the world’s water supply isn’t necessarily always
guaranteed. Ask for suggestions on how to conserve or use less water, such as not
running the tap when brushing your teeth, taking shorter showers, sharing bathwater with
family members, etc.

Snack Time- Water Taste Test

Buy some different kinds of bottled water, and have children bring water from their own
home taps. Blindfold the children and see if they can guess which is bottled water and

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which is from the tap. Lightly salted water can also be included to simulate the taste of
ocean water versus fresh water.

Music- Water- sung to the tune of “the more we get together”. They lyrics are as
follows:

“Water's what we bathe in,

We bathe in,
We bathe in,
Water’s what we bathe in,
And it's what we drink,
It keeps plants alive,
Without it fish would dry.
Water’s what we bathe in,
And it’s what we drink.

Water comes from rivers,

From rivers,
From rivers,
Water comes from rivers,
And it comes from rain.
Every drop wasted
Is water down the drain,
Water comes from rivers,
And it comes from rain.”

Stories- A great book for learning about the importance water plays on Earth is “Water
Water Everywhere” by Mark J. Rauzon and Cynthia Overbeck Bix. This book covers the
vital role water plays in our lives, and introduces the concept of the water cycle.

Reasoning Skills- take a walk around the room and have the kids point out things that are
made of water, or contain some part of water such as paint, juice, plants, and fruit.
Remember to include humans, since we are mostly water.

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Wednesday- Reduce, reuse and recycle

Circle Time- Show and tell of recyclable materials that will be used in the day’s craft.
Each child brings in some recyclable materials from their houses, tells of what the
materials were used for originally. Introduce the concepts of reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Craft- Recycled Materials Craft- children use the recycled materials they brought in for
show and tell to create a collage of something new. They can only use the recycled
materials plus glue, scissors, etc.

Theme Activities-
1- Visit from a recycling plant worker or field trip to a recycling plant. If possible,
arrange for the children to visit a local recycling plant to witness recycling at work. If
this is not possible, invite a worker from a local recycling plant to visit the classroom to
tell about their job, the process and importance recycling.

2- Crayon recycling- have each child bring in some old broken crayon pieces. Melt the
pieces together that are the same color in a microwavable-safe dish. Pour the melted
crayon into a candy mold, and once the molds are dry, new, fun-shaped crayons are
formed.

3- Recycling practice- bring in a large number of cans(only those with smooth edges),
bottles, packing foam and other recyclable materials. Have the children sort the
recyclables by size, color, material, etc. Make sure everything is clean and ask for ideas
on how to re-use the things that they are sorting. Give suggestions to encourage them to
challenge their imaginations.

Snack Time- Donut Holes

Show the children a “donut hole” and ask if they can identify it and where it came from.
Explain how those pieces went to waste before someone figured out that they could be
sold. Try to think of other things that used to go to waste but are now use again. Serve
“donut holes” as a snack.

Music- singing of song “Working on the Trash”. This song is sung to the tune of “I’ve
been working on the railroad”. The lyrics are:

“We’ve been working on recycling all the trash we can,

We’ve been working on recycling, it’s a very simple plan,
Separate your glass and paper, separate your plastic and tin.
Take the trash that you’ve recycled to your recycling bin.

We’ve been working on reducing all the trash we can,

We’ve been working on reducing, it’s a very simple plan,
Don’t go wasting any products. Use exactly what you need.
Don’t buy things in extra wrapping, reduce and you’ll succeed.

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We’ve been working on reusing all the trash we can,
We’ve been working on reusing, it’s a very simple plan.
If it’s a paper you’re using, don’t use it once, use it twice.
Give old clothes and toys to someone, to reuse them would be nice.”

Stories- Try reading “The Great Trash Bash” by Loreen Leedy. It’s the story of a town
with an overflowing garbage problem that decides to throw a “trash bash” in an attempt
to clean up and introduce recycling to their fellow townspeople.

Reasoning Skills- Tell each child to think about their toys at home, and to find at least
one toy that they don’t really play with much anymore. When they get home, they should
put the toy aside and bring it in the next day so that they can be collected and given to an
organization or shelter that is requesting these items-- a clear demonstration of the
meaning of recycling and sharing.

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Thursday- Don’t be a Litter Bug!

Circle Time- Go around the circle and ask each child to think of something that people
do that they aren’t supposed to do, like jaywalk or drive faster than the speed limit.
Introduce the concept of littering if one of the children doesn’t think of it first.

Craft- Litter Bug

Materials- paper towel rolls, pipe cleaners, pom poms, construction paper, scissors, glue,
stickers, string, buttons, markers, assorted craft supplies

1- Give each child one paper towel roll, and let them make their own ugly little litter bug
with the assorted craft supplies. Use pipe cleaners for the antenna, pom poms for the
head, and paint or construction paper on the body. Decorate the bugs with any other
random supplies in the craft supply cupboard. Remind them to make the bugs look as
ugly as possible, since littering is an ugly thing to do.

Theme Activities-
1- Litter Clean Up- divide the children into groups of 3 or 4. Give each group a few pairs
of rubber gloves and one trash bag. Assign each group an area outside and have the
children walk around picking up the litter that they find. Make sure that the children are
wearing the gloves for touching the litter, and to come and find an adult if they find
something they aren’t sure if they should be picking up or not.

2- Pick Up Litter song- gather together in the circle. The song is called “Pick up litter”
and is sung to the tune of “if you’re happy and you know it”. The lyrics for the first verse
are:
“If you see a piece of litter pick it up,
If you see a piece of litter pick it up,
You’ll make the world look better
If you pick up all the litter.
If you see a piece of little pick it up.”

Every time the words “pick it up” are said, the children bend down and pick up an
imaginary piece of litter.
For each subsequent verse, instead of “piece of litter”, go around the circle and have each
child name a specific piece of litter that hasn’t been said yet for the first line, with
everyone else echoing back in the next lines. For example, they could say “an empty pop
can” or “a piece of paper” or “chocolate bar wrapper”.

3- Introduction to the dump- learning about what happens to garbage after it goes into the
can. If possible, invite a sanitation worker to the class to speak about the process, or show
pictures of the various steps that garbage takes along the way to the dump.

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Snack Time- Garbage Mud Pies
Serve chocolate pudding with various treats hidden inside to simulate pieces of garbage
at the dump. The treats include gummy worms, marshmallows, chocolate chips, pieces
of Oreo cookies, and jelly beans.

Music- singing of song “I’m a piece of litter”. Sung to the tune of “I’m a little teapot”.
The lyrics are as follows:

“I’m a piece of litter,

Pick me up, (bend over and pick up piece of litter)
Put me in the garbage, (drop it in the imaginary garbage can)
Or recycle me. (drop it in the imaginary recycling bin)
When you do this,
You’ll make the earth, (make a sphere with hands)
Much more beautiful,
For you and me. (point towards others for you, point towards self for me)

See the pond all grimy,

Help clean up, (mime shoveling dirt)
You’ll see more happy faces, (trace smile on lips)
Where ever you go,
You’ll make the earth more beautiful (make a sphere with hands)
Than ever before,
You’ll be able to hear it say ‘thank you’.” (put hand to ear to simulate hearing)

Stories- A popular story with preschoolers is “Too Much Garbage” by F. Testa. It tells
the story of two boys that spot mountains of garbage all over their city with simple prose
and accompanied by beautiful illustrations of a world nearing crisis.

Reasoning Skills- Put a recycling bin in the classroom and begin implementing recycling
in the class of paper, plastic, and glass when possible.

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Friday- Review of the week’s activities

Circle Time- Each child discusses their favorite activity of the week, and why.

Craft- Nature Walk and Collage

Materials- nature materials gathered on walk, paper bags, glue, scissors, paper

1- A major part of this unit was exploring the world we live in and how we affect nature
and it affects us. Take a nature walk around the neighborhood and observe the different
things that are growing in different places. Give each child a paper bag and encourage
them to collect things for a nature collage.

2- Once the walk is finished, return to the classroom and give each child a piece of
construction paper for their nature collage. Use glue to stick the collected items to the
construction paper.

Theme Activities-
1- 3 R’s poster collage (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)- draw a giant letter ‘R’ on a piece of
paper. Instruct the children to paint the exterior of the ‘R’ with colored paint together.
Decorate the ‘R’ with recyclable and reused materials like newspaper, magazines, junk
mail, and old T-shirts. Also consider adding materials from outside like pinecones and
grass to simulate the environment that we are working to save.

2- Watching Things Grow- a big part of this unit is learning about the planet and how it
works, and there’s no better way to emphasize that than to watch it in action. There are
many ways to demonstrate how seeds grow, and here are two simple ones.

First try planting seeds in plastic baggies. To begin, wet a paper towel and place it in a
plastic baggie. Place 4-6 white beans onto the paper towel, seal the baggie tightly, and
put it in the classroom window. After a few days, the beans will sprout towards the top
of the baggie.

Or try showing children how to grow their name in soil. Gather a number of small boxes
and line them with plastic before the class. Fill the boxes with potting soil, and give one
to each child. Have them trace their name with their finger in the dirt, and sprinkle the
path with grass seeds. Gently sprinkle more soil to cover the seeds. Water the seeds
every few days and watch the names grow!

3- The Water Cycle- this activity illustrates the water cycle in action simplified with
cotton balls. Give each child a cotton ball and tell them to think of it as a cloud. Ask
them to say how the cloud feels- heavy or light, soft or hard.

Next, place the cotton balls overtop of shallow pans filled with about a half inch of water.
Watch as water soaks into the cotton ball, which is similar to how water evaporates back

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up into the sky. Next, pick up the cotton balls and ask if they feel heavy or light, soft or
hard. Now watch the water drip from the cotton ball, which is what it is like when a
cloud rains, and how the rain rejoins the water in the pan.

Snack Time- Rice Krispie Earth

For this delicious snack, add a dash of food coloring to Rice Krispies to form an edible
Earth. Melt 1/4 cup of margarine and 40 regular marshmallows in the microwave or on a
stove over medium heat. Once they have completely melted, add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
and 6 cups of Rice Krispies, stirring well.

Divide the mixture into two bowls, and color one with green food coloring and one with
blue food coloring. Allow the children to pick up one handful of the green mixture and
one handful of the blue mixture and combine them to make their own Earth. Let the
Earths dry on wax paper before eating.

Music- singing of song “Down at the Dump”. Sung to the tune of “down by the station”.
The lyrics are as follows:

“Down at the dump early in the morning

See the dump trucks standing in a row
See them dump the garbage
In a great big pile.
Dump, dump, dump, dump
Watch them go.

Pretty soon our dumps will all be full

We had better figure out something to do
We could all recycle
Some of our garbage
Recycle, recycle
Watch us go.”

Stories- To really emphasize the point of water conservation, read Jen Green’s book
“Why Should I Save Water” in the “Why Should I” series. It gives dozens of ways for
the children and their families to save water around the home as well as answers some
questions they may have about our natural environment.

Reasoning Skills- Go back to the map of the world that opened this unit. Have each
child identify something new they learned about the Earth and how we interact with it
during the week. Also have them say one thing they will do at home to implement the
changes they learned during the “Save the Planet” unit.

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OLYMPICS

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 Materials
Supplies

White paper
blue, black, red, yellow, and green paint
potatoes, round cookie cutters, or paper towel tubes
Box of blocks
glue
old sports Magazines
Large white poster bored
Paper Towel Rolls
Tissue Paper
Glue
Markers
Foil
Wrapping Paper
Cookie sheet
wax paper
Tape (masking tape works best)
Paint
Paper
Crayons
"snow" (glitter, mashed potato flakes, Cotton Balls, Laundry soap,
Eggshells, etc.)
Gold Paint or foil
frozen juice can lids
cardboard circles
small paper plates
red, White, Blue Ribbon

Food
vanilla wafers
frosting in different colors
Jellybeans or gummy bears
Ice Cream or multi color sorbet
Food Dye
Red orange and yellow sprinkles
Cup cakes
frosting (different colors)
Hot Chocolate
Marshmallows
Fruit juice
cheese
crackers

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Books
"Olympics" B.G. Hennessy
"hour of the Olympics" May Pope Osborne
"Elympics" X.J. Kennedy's
"Tacky and the Winter Games" Helen Lester's
"Koala Lou" Australian Mem Fox

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 Olympics
Monday- Introduction to the Olympics

Circle Time- Ask each child if they, or anyone in their family, play any sports and what
is their favorite sport and why. This serves as an introduction to the world of sports, and
leads into an introduction to the Olympics. Additionally ask them to name all of the
sports that they have heard of. This leads to you naming some of the more obscure sports
which are included in the games.

Craft- Making Olympic Flags

Materials- white paper, blue, black, red, yellow, and green paint, potatoes or paper towel
rolls

1- Show children a picture of the Olympic flag. Explain that this is a Flag of
Friendship. The circles represent the five parts of the world and each one has a
different color. Using potato stamps cut in the shape of a ring, or ends of paper
towel rolls, have the children recreate the flag using the different colored paint.
To create potato stamps wash and cut potatoes in half, then carve a ring in the
white part of the potato. Dip in paint then stamp on paper to create images. (You
can also use round cookie cutters…whatever you may have on hand.)

Theme Activities

1- Introduction to the Olympics- explain the history of the Olympics, how they started in
ancient Greece and how they’ve been adapted to modern times. Show pictures from
previous Olympic games including pictures of the symbols of the Games such as the flag,
torch, medals etc. Explain that there are Summer Games and Winter Games held two
years apart from each other and that people from all countries compete with each other in
sports that they love. You should also point out that they are held in different countries
each time.

2- Teamwork Exercise - Explain how some sports like hockey and basketball are team
sports where everyone must work together to achieve a common goal. Divide the class
into equal size teams. Each team has to work together to fill a bin with blocks, take it to a
new place, and empty the bin. One person in the team will fill the bin. Next person will
move the bin to the end spot and the next person will empty the bin and stack the blocks.

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This may be the first time your preschoolers have been part of a “team” effort. The
Olympics is an excellent topic to introduce this concept.

3- Sports Collage Mural- have everyone look through old newspapers and magazines for
pictures of people playing sports. Cut out the pictures and glue them to a large piece of
white paper to make a mural depicting all different types of sports.

Snack Time- Olympic Flag Cookies

1- Give each child 5 circular vanilla wafers. Have them ice their cookies with red, black,
blue, yellow, and green frosting to match their Olympic flags. Also consider adding
colored jellybeans or gummy bears for additional decoration.

Music- singing of song “Wish I could be the in Olympics”. Sung to the tune of the Oscar
Mayer hotdogs theme song. The lyrics are as follows with some actions in parenthesis:

“Oh, I wish that I could be in the Olympics,

I wish that I could run and have some fun. (running on spot)
For if I could run in the Olympics,
I'm sure that I'd be number one!

Oh, I wish that I could be in the Olympics,

I wish that I could swim and have some fun. (pretending to swim)
For if I could swim in the Olympics,
I'm sure that I'd be number one!

Oh, I wish that I could be in the Olympics,

I wish that I could throw and have some fun. (miming throwing)
For if I could throw in the Olympics,
I'm sure that I'd be number one!

Oh, I wish that I could be in the Olympics,

I wish that I could jump and have some fun. (jumping on spot)
For if I could jump in the Olympics,
I'm sure that I'd be number one!”

Stories- B.G. Hennessy’s book “Olympics” is a great way to introduce the process of the
Games to the children, including the opening and closing ceremonies, the events
themselves, and what life is like in the Olympic village for the athletes.

Reasoning Skills- reflect on the teamwork exercise for building the Olympic flag from
the “Theme Activities” section. Ask the children what they thought was easy about
working in teams and what was hard. Ask about what tasks are easier to complete alone
and what tasks require a team.

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Tuesday- Opening Ceremonies

Circle Time- Ask if anyone has ever been to a parade or seen one on TV. Get them to
tell about what they saw at the parade as an introduction to the opening ceremonies
parade of the Olympic Games.

Craft- Making Torches

Materials- paper towel rolls, tissue paper (red, yellow and orange), paint, glue, markers,
foil, wrapping paper

1- Give each child one paper towel roll and a few pieces of tissue paper. Have them rip
or cut the tissue paper into long strips and glue the strips inside one edge of the paper
towel roll. Decorate the tube by either painting it or covering it with foil or wrapping
paper.

Theme Activities-

1- Introduction to Flags- Explain how different countries have different flags, and show
some pictures of flags from around the world. Point out the similarities between
countries like France and Russia or Japan and South Korea. Have each child design their
own flag to be carried with them during the opening ceremonies parade from construction
paper and glue.

2- Teach about the Torch- introduce the concept of the Olympic torch, the importance of
the torch run, how it always starts in Greece, etc. Show videos from previous Olympic
opening ceremonies including the lighting of the torch.

3- Opening Ceremonies- using the torches from the craft perform a torch relay run
throughout the school or schoolyard. Put all the torches together in the same place to
mark the opening of the Games.

Snack- Tasty Torches

1- The night before at home, mix together red, orange and yellow ice cream or sorbet to
create a rippled effect. Scoop one scoop of the mixture into each sugar cone and place
the cones ice cream side down on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil. Place in the
freezer overnight.

2- Right before snack time sprinkle a liberal amount of red, orange, and yellow sprinkles
in a low baking dish or paper plate. Have each child lightly roll their ice cream torch in
sprinkles before eating for a nice fiery torch-like effect.

Music- Parade of Athletes- have the children participate in a parade of athletes, one is the
flag bearer carrying the class flag while everyone else claps or plays percussion
instruments for the parade.

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Stories- “Hour of the Olympics” by Mary Pope Osborne is a fantastic story about two
kids named Jack and Annie who travel back in time to the first Olympic games in ancient
Greece and learn about what women were and weren’t allowed to participate in.

Reasoning Skills- Speak about the book “Hour of the Olympics” and find out what
children think about how women couldn’t participate. Ask if they think that’s fair, and
bring up other aspects of the world where women are just starting to participate.

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Wednesday- Summer Olympics

Circle Time- Summer show and tell- have each child bring something from home for
show and tell that reminds them of summer, specifically of a summer sport if possible.
Have them explain what about their object reminds them of summer, and if it could be
used in the winter or not.

Craft- Hammer Throw Painting

Materials- old knee high panty hose, sand and/or cat litter, different colors of paint, large
pieces of paper like butchers paper or newsprint.

1- Fill the panty hose with ¼ cup of sand. You can also fill another with cat litter for
varying effects. Tie off the stockings.

2 – Tape the paper to the table, or if outside, to the sidewalk.

3- Have the children roll dip the socks in the paint and then bounce the sock on the paper
to make prints. Use the different socks of sand and litter to make different prints and use
lots of colors. This gives unique patterns of color bursts.

Theme Activities

1- World’s Fastest Man- using tape on the floor, show children the distances of some of
the shorter sprinting events such as the 100m, 200m, and 400m. Have each child run the
100m sprint as fast as they can, and record their times with a stopwatch just like in a real
race. Explain how the 100m sprint is used to determine the world’s fastest person, and
show how long it takes them to run the race using 2 whistle blasts or claps. The current
world record time for the 100m sprint is 9.72 seconds for men and 10.49 seconds for
women.

2- Invite a gymnast, swimmer, synchronized swimmer, diver, sprinter, or other summer

sport athlete to speak to the class about their sport, what it’s like to compete, and heroes
in their sport’s history. Encourage them to bring pictures or props such as trophies or
medals they’ve won in competition or any equipment used for their sport.

3- Summer Sports Charades- divide the class into two teams. A player from the first
team is told the name of a summer sport in private, and they have to act out that sport
while their team tries to guess what sport it is to earn a point. If they can’t guess it in 30
seconds, the other team has a chance to guess to earn two points for the steal.

Snack Time- Ball Cupcakes

1- Prepare cupcakes the night before class. Seal them in an air-tight container and bring
them to class the next day. Frost the cupcakes in different colors including white for
baseballs, yellow for tennis balls, orange for basketballs, etc.

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2- Show the kids different types of balls and have them decorate their cupcake to match
the balls using licorice, icing, and sprinkles.

Music- Here’s a variation on the Australian song “Kookaburra” with words modified to
suit the Olympic theme. The lyrics are as follows:

“Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Watching the Olympics on TV.
Cheer, kookaburra cheer,
Kookaburra cheer the <nationality> team.”

Continue singing and replace the <nationality> with different sports like swim, running,
basketball, and gymnastics, which can be accompanied with actions.

Stories- X.J. Kennedy’s short poems in the book “Elympics” are a great way of teaching
the children about the basics of the major events from both the Summer and Winter
Olympics. The thematic focus of the poems is on teamwork, practice, sportsmanship,
and perseverance.

Reasoning Skills- Reflect on the “World’s Fastest Man” activity, and ask the children
what they think it might take to become an Olympian. This includes the amount of time
spent training, traveling, practicing, and determination.

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Thursday- Winter Olympics

Circle Time- Winter show and tell- have each child bring something from home for
show and tell that reminds them of winter, specifically of a winter sport if possible. Have
them explain what about their object reminds them of winter, and if it could be used in
the summer or not.

Craft- Suddenly Snowy

Materials- paint, paper, markers or crayons, snow (glitter, mashed potato flakes, cotton
balls, laundry soap, eggshells, etc)

1- Have the children draw a picture of themselves playing a winter sport with markers or
crayons.

2- Once the picture is completed, turn the scene into a winter scene by sprinkling and
gluing snow all over the picture. Snow can be replicated by using a variety of household
objects including glitter, mashed potato flakes, cotton balls, laundry soap, or eggshells.
Offer a number of different types of snow and let the children choose which ones they
like most.

Theme Activities-

1- Field Trip to a local indoor or (weather permitting) outdoor skating rink. If

supervision is adequate, take the children skating. If not, have the children walk around
the rink in their boots or shoes to demonstrate how slippery and hard the ice is, and how
this increases the difficulty of skating sports.

2- Invite a figure skater, speed skater, skier, or other winter athlete to come and speak to
the class about their sport, what it’s like to compete, and heroes in their sport’s history.
Encourage them to bring pictures or props such as trophies or medals they’ve won in
competition or any equipment used for their sport.

3- Indoor Skating- turn a corner of the classroom into a mini “skating rink”. To do this
you can use quilt batting and a plastic table cloth. First, lay the batting on the floor, and
then cover with the table cloth and tape it securely in place to the floor. Or you can use
large cardboard boxes that you flatten out and tape to the floor. Make sure the children
take off their shoes first before “sliding on the ice”. Explain the importance of safety
before allowing anyone on the rink.

Snack- Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows

1- Everyone’s favorite drink to warm up on a cold day is hot chocolate. Serve hot
chocolate with marshmallows to the children along with some cookies to celebrate winter
and the Winter Olympics.

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Music- Play the Olympic theme song and let children demonstrate their winter sports
skills like skating, snowboarding, or skiing in tune to the music.

Stories- Try reading Helen Lester’s “Tacky and the Winter Games” from her series about
Tacky the penguin. In this outing, Tacky learns the importance of preparing for the
games when he nearly jeopardizes his team’s chances for victory by goofing off when he
should be training.

Reasoning Skills- Reflect on the Indoor skating activity and emphasize safety when
playing sports. Ask about what type of protective equipment must be worn, and ways to
stay safe when training alone and training with others.

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Friday- Games Day

Circle Time- have each child describe their favorite Olympic sport that they learned
about this week and why.

Craft- Making Medals

Materials- gold paint or foil, frozen juice can lids, cardboard circles or small paper plates,
red, white and blue striped ribbon, glue,

1- Have the children create their own medals that will be used later in the day. To make
medals, take a circular object such as a frozen juice can lid or small cardboard circle or
paper plate and paint it gold or cover it with gold foil.

2- If using paper or cardboard, punch a small hole in the medal and thread a short length
of ribbon through the hole. If using juice can lids, tape or glue the ribbon to the back of
the medal.

Theme Activities

1- Before starting the Games, sing the “Friendship Flame Song” to the tune of “The
Mulberry Bush”. The lyrics are as follows:

“Here we go round the friendship flame,

The friendship flame, the friendship flame,
Here we go round the friendship flame,
Let’s get ready for games!

We will have fun and run some races,

Run some races, run some races,
We will have fun and run some races
At our Olympics today!”

2- For today’s theme activities, choose from this list of possible Games. Perform many
of the games at the same time and have children rotate through the activities. Record the
children’s performances on a large chart on the wall. Here are some of the types of
Games you can hold:

Basketball Toss- let each child have 4 tries to throw a nerf basketball into a trash can.
You can vary the distance depending on the age and ability of your kids.

Backwards Walk- This is one even your youngest preschooler can do. Mark a starting
line and a finishing line and then have them walk backwards without falling. Note the
time and see who can do it fastest, in the straightest line, etc.

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Gymnastics – Place a balance beam on the floor, or if you don’t have one use wide tape
on the floor. Have each child try to walk along the beam or tape without “falling off” the
beam.

Obstacle Course- set up an obstacle course involving crawling under things, jumping
over things, and have each child run the course and measure the time it takes for them to
complete the course.

Soccer- Mark a start and a finish line. Have each child take turns rolling the ball from
start to finish. It is important for them to control the ball and not just kick it. Rolling the
ball is the way to do this especially if you are indoors.

Volleyball- have the children play volleyball over a piece of string set up as a net. They
can use a balloon to hit over the net. Divide into 2 teams to see who can keep the ball
going longest.

Relay Races- Divide the children into teams of 4 and have them run a relay race using a
paper towel tube or rolled up piece of paper as the baton to be handed off to the next
member of their team.

Snack- Fruit juice and cheese and crackers which are healthy foods the players need to
eat to restore their energy.

Music- listen to national anthem during the medal presentation ceremony just like at the
real Olympic Games.

Stories- A great book to wrap up the Olympics unit is Australian Mem Fox’s “Koala
Lou”, where a young Koala enters into the Bush Olympics to win an event and win her
busy mother’s love.

Reasoning Skills- Speak about the differences between being a good winner and a poor
winner, and being a fair loser and a poor loser. Part of the Olympic Creed is to stress that
a player has taken part and tried his or her best. Winning is not the most important thing
but doing one’s best is the key.

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Under the Sea

29
Monday- Introduction to Sea Life

Circle Time- ask children to name one thing that lives in the sea or the ocean. Try to
encourage everyone to say something different. Ask if anyone has been to the sea or the
ocean and seen any of the creatures in person. Use this as an introduction to undersea
life.

Craft- Paper Plate Fishbowl

Materials- paper plates, paint, yarn, markers, construction paper, yarn, glitter, glue,
plastic wrap, tissue paper

1- Cut the top curving inwards off the paper plates to make them resemble fishbowls.
Paint the bottom three-quarters of the fishbowl with blue paint.

2- Have the children decorate their fishbowls with a sea scene using the construction
paper, yarn, and glitter. Glue the fish shapes to the painted part of the fishbowl to
complete the underwater scene.

Theme Activities

1- Introduction to the Sea- Show the children a map of the world, and show them
pictures of some of the creatures and where they are found. Explain the difference
between ocean and sea and how some creatures need saltwater to survive while others
can only live in freshwater. Give each child a small taste of freshwater and saltwater for
them to understand the difference. Show how things float better in saltwater than
freshwater.

2- Sea Life Backdrop- bring in an old white sheet for the children to decorate as a large
under the sea backdrop. Fill a number of spray bottles with water dyed with food
coloring including green, blue and purple. Spray the sheet with the colored water to
create a tie-dye underwater effect.

3- Create-Your-Own-Sea-Creature- have the children use their imaginations to invent a

sea create out of construction paper, markers, paint, and other supplies from the craft
supply closet. Once all the sea creatures are finished, tape them to the backdrop and have
each child give their creature a name and introduce it to the class.

Snack Time- Fish in a Cup

1- Make blue Jell-O at home the night before. Spoon the Jell-O into plastic cups, and add
gummy fish before the Jell-O sets. Place in the refrigerator overnight to settle.

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Music- singing of the song “I’m a Little Fishy”. Sung to the tune of “I’m a Little
Teapot”. The lyrics are as follows with some actions in parenthesis:

“I'm a little fishy (make a fish face by sucking in cheeks)

watch me swim (pinch nose and wiggle downwards)
Here is my tail (turn around and wiggle bum)
Here is my fin (put hands together like a fin and wiggle them)
When I want to have fun with my friends (point at other kids in class)
I wiggle my tail and dive right in (turn around and wiggle bum, put hands overhead and
mime diving into the water)”

Stories- Try reading Suse Macdonald’s book “Sea Shapes” which introduces children to
some of the different shapes that can be found undersea with bright, clear illustrations
and simple text.

Reasoning Activity- Continue a discussion on the Introduction to the Sea exercise--

asking about where they think the ocean and sea is warm and where it is cold. Ask where
they would prefer to live, and why. Can they name animals or fish that live in the warm
waters and/or the cold waters of the world?

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Tuesday- Go Fish!

Circle Time- ask each child to name one thing they would like about living under the
sea, and one thing they wouldn’t like. Also consider asking if they could be any type of
fish or sea creature, what they would like to be and why.

Craft- Confetti Fish

Materials- magazines, paper, glue

1- Have the children rip up colorful pieces of magazine paper and construction paper into
small pieces. Put all the ripped paper pieces into a garbage bag.

2- Cut out a number of fish shapes and give one to each child. Have them cover one side
of the shape with glue and drop it in the garbage bag. Shake the garbage bag to cover the
fish with the confetti. Allow the glue to dry completely before displaying the fish on the
wall.

Theme Activities

1- Aquarium Field Trip- take a field trip to a local aquarium to look at the fish and other
sea creatures in their habitat. Many universities have smaller aquariums available for
touring, or visit the aquarium section of the local zoo. If a field trip is impossible, set up
a small aquarium in the classroom and let the children take turns feeding the fish.

2- Go Fish memory game- make a set of memory cards with pairs of pictures of fish on
them. Play memory with the cards by flipping them all over with the back sides up and
letting the children select the cards two at a time to try and find the matching pairs of
fish.

3- Paper Bag Fish- give each child a small brown paper bag and have them decorate the
bottom part of the bag to their liking with markers, paint, and stickers. Fold the bottom
of the bag to a point to make the fish’s tail and tape or staple it together. Next, tie the
open part of the paper bag together with a piece of yarn to make the fish face, and allow
the children to decorate that part as well.

Snack Time- Goldfish Crackers and Fish Taste Test

1- Purchase the small orange Goldfish crackers and a number of different types of fish
and seafood.

2- Put a small piece of fish or seafood on each of the Goldfish crackers and see if the
children can guess which type of fish is which. Always make sure to consult with parents
before this snack to ensure no one has any allergies or religious beliefs that prevent them
from eating fish or seafood. In that case, they can just eat the Goldfish crackers.

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Music- sing the song “Five Little Fishies in the Sea”. The lyrics are as follows:

“Five little fishes in the sea (hold up 5 fingers)

teasing Mr. Sharky
you can't catch me
you can't catch me
Well along came Mr. Sharky (softly) as quiet as can be
He snapped a fish up
right out of the sea.

Four little fishes in the sea (hold up 4 fingers)

teasing Mr. Sharky
you can't catch me
you can't catch me
Well along came Mr. Sharky (softly) as quiet as can be
He snapped a fish up
right out of the sea.

Three little fishes in the sea (hold up 3 fingers)

teasing Mr. Sharky
you can't catch me
you can't catch me
Well along came Mr. Sharky (softly) as quiet as can be
He snapped a fish up
right out of the sea.

Two little fishes in the sea (hold up 2 fingers)

teasing Mr. Sharky
you can't catch me
you can't catch me
Well along came Mr. Sharky (softly) as quiet as can be
He snapped a fish up
right out of the sea.

One little fishy in the sea (hold up 1 finger)

teasing Mr. Sharky
you can't catch me
you can't catch me
Well along came Mr. Sharky (softly) as quiet as can be
He snapped that fish up
right out of the sea
Now Mr. Sharky is lonely can't you see.”

Stories- Read Dr. Seuss’ classic “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” to the
children as a way of introducing rhyme and rhythm in an entertaining and educational
way.

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Reasoning Skills- ask the children to name their favorite sea creature that they saw at the
aquarium and why it was their favorite.

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Wednesday- Creatures Under the Sea

Circle Time- ask each child to mime the actions of one sea creature and have everyone
else try and guess what the creature is. This includes walking like a crab, fluttering
tentacles like an octopus or jellyfish, and snapping claws like a lobster.

Craft- Hand Octopus

Materials- paper, finger paint, googly eyes

1- Give each child a white piece of paper. Let them dip their hand in a shallow tray of
finger paint, and have them make a hand print on the paper. For a multi-colored octopus,
let the children apply the finger paint to their hand with a brush.

2- Have everyone paint their hand again. The second handprint overlaps the last digit to
create an octopus-like shape where the palm prints are the body and the fingers are the
tentacles. Glue googly eyes on the octopus’ head.

Theme Activities

1- Sea Creature Stained Glass- give each child a contact paper or wax paper cut out in
the shape of a sea creature. Have them decorate the cut out with tissue paper or
construction paper. Glue a pair of googly eyes on if desired. After the glue dries, punch
a small hole in the top of the sea creature and string through a short length of yarn. Hang
the sea creatures in the window for a stained glass effect,

2- Octopus Tag- This game should be played outdoors or in a large open area. Select 4
people to link arms and be the octopus who is “it” for the game of tag. The octopus
chases after the other and tries to tag them. If they are tagged, they become seaweed and
must stand still. If the octopus tags everyone, the 4 last people to be tagged become the
new octopus.

3- Seafood Restaurant- set up a seafood restaurant in the dramatic play area using
illustrated menus, plastic food and play money. Have some children pretend to be
customers while others are the waiters and waitresses. Use this to encourage children to
make healthy food choices.

Snack Time- Beach Cups

1- Prepare packaged vanilla pudding with a few drops of blue food coloring at home the
night before the class. Spoon some pudding into the bottom of a clear plastic cup.

2- Crush up graham crackers or vanilla wafers to make “sand”. Spoon a layer of sand
into each cup on top of the pudding.

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3- Spoon another layer of pudding, followed by another layer of wafers. Add an
umbrella stick to the top of the cup.

Music- singing of the song “Take me out to the Ocean”, which is sung to the tune of
“Take me out to the Ballgame”. The lyrics are as follows:

“Take me out to the ocean

Take me out to the sea
There goes a starfish and sand dollar
I’m having such fun, I’ve just got to holler.
Oh, it’s swim, swim swim underwater
Catch a ride on a whale, don’t fear
For the sea animals are our friends
Let’s give a great big cheer!”

Stories- Read “Good Thing you’re not an Octopus” by Julie Markes, which teaches
children about how much more difficult their life and daily routines could be if they were
members of the animal kingdom. The title comes from the notion of an octopus getting
dressed in the morning and how much more difficult it would be getting 8 legs into pants
than just 2.

Reasoning Skills- talk about life under the sea and how certain creatures have special
features that help make that life possible, like octopuses that shoot ink or puffer fish. Ask
why they might need these special features, and how undersea life would be difficult
without them.

36
Thursday- The Little Mermaid

Circle Time- ask everyone to name a creature that is not real that they can think of such
as leprechauns, unicorns, or trolls. If they’re having trouble thinking of creatures, show
pictures and ask if anyone knows the name of the creatures. Use this to introduce
mermaids.

Craft- Mermaid Me

Materials- photo, markers, paint, yarn, glue

1- Have the children bring a small photo of themselves that include a thumbprint sized
face. A sticker camera or digital camera can be used to take a quick photo if children
forgot to bring theirs.

2- Draw a mermaid on a piece of paper and decorate it with markers or paint. Use yarn
for the hair. Encourage the children to make their mermaids and mermen look like
themselves.

3- Cut out the face pictures and glue them to the faces of the mermaids and mermen.

Theme Activities

1- Under the Sea Room- create an undersea area in the room by attaching blue and green
crepe paper streamers to the ceiling with fishing line. Turn on the classroom fan or air
conditioner to make a streamers wave like water. Hang some of the week’s undersea
decorations including the mermaids from the “Mermaid Me” craft in the under the sea
room, and mime swimming around the area. Add other decorations like spongers, sea
shells, and seaweed.

2- Fish, Fish, Mermaid- play a variant on the game “Duck, Duck, Goose” by replacing
the words with “Fish, Fish, Mermaid”. For the game, the players sit in a large circle, and
one player is “it”. They walk around on the outside of the circle and tap each player on
the head saying either “fish” or “mermaid”. When they say “mermaid”, that person must
leap to their feet and run around the circle in one direction while the player who is “it”
runs in the other direction, and the player who reaches the vacant spot in the circle last
becomes “it” for the next round.

3- Ocean in a Bottle- give each child a small plastic bottle such as a peanut butter jar,
baby food jar or have them bring one from home. Fill each jar with a small amount of
sand, grass, and plastic sea creatures. Add some water and salt, and super glue the lids of
the jars shut. Now each child has an ocean in a bottle that they can take home with them.

37
Snack Time- Rice Krispie Mermaids

1- For this a fun and tasty mermaid-themed snack, add a dash of green food coloring to
Rice Krispy squares. Melt 1/4 cup of margarine and 40 regular marshmallows in the
microwave or on a stove over medium heat. Once they have completely melted, add 1/2
teaspoon of vanilla and 6 cups of Rice Krispies, stirring well.

2- Divide the mixture into two parts, and color one green with food coloring. Use the
green Rice Krispies to form the tail part, and use the regular colored Rice Krispies to
form the body and the head. Use red licorice for the hair and chocolate chips for the
eyes.

Music- play the songs from the Disney film “The Little Mermaid” and allow the children
to dance around like undersea creatures and add their own percussion sounds to the
songs.

Stories- Many children will already be familiar with the story of the Little Mermaid from
the Disney movie. Stephanie Calmunson has written an excellent adaptation of the film
“The Little Mermaid” which covers the story from the film. Also reading a version of
Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairy tale “The Little Mermaid”.

Reasoning Activity- Talk about the 2 versions of the “Little Mermaid” story. Inquire as
to why there might be different versions of the same story, and how stories change over
time.

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Friday- Beach Party Day

Circle Time- ask everyone if they’ve ever been to the beach. If so, ask what their
favorite part was of the experience, and if not, ask what they would look forward to most
about the beach. (This sets the stage for one of your activities—Beach Party!)

Craft- Shell Decoration

Materials- large pasta shells, paint, glitter

1- Give each child a large pasta shell and allow them to paint and decorate it however
they like. This is a great opportunity to tell the children about how no two shells are
identical, just like their shells started off looking the same but turned out different.

Theme Activities

1- Beach Party- tell everyone to bring their bathing suits and other beach gear (towels,
sun glasses, sand toys), and allow them to change into their beach ware for the party.
Play Frisbee and volleyball with a beach ball.

2- Pirate Treasure Hunt- split the class into teams of 4. Give each team a map to where
their treasure is hidden in the classroom, and the team just work together to find the
treasure. Optional costume pieces for this activity are pirate hats and eye patches. For
treasure, use gold coins wrapped in foil or plastic jewelry.

3- Sand Castle Building Contest- divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 and give each
group 10 minutes in the sand area to build their sandcastle using plastic buckets and small
shovels. The sand may need to be wetted a little bit to make it stick together. After all
the castles are completed, give each castle an award.

Snack Time- Watermelon and Lemonade

1- Slice watermelon into small cubes, and serve it with lemonade. To make fresh
lemonade, mix the juice of 6 lemons (approximately one cup) with 6 cups of cold water.
Add 1 cup of sugar and stir well. Chill until serving.

Music- singing of the song “Waves at the Beach”, which is set to the tune of “Wheels on
the Bus”. They lyrics are as follows:

“The waves at the beach go up and down, up and down, up and down (move hands like
waves)
The waves at the beach go up and down all day long.

The crabs at the beach crawl back and forth, back and forth, back and forth (bend down
and crawl like a crab)
The crabs at the beach crawl back and forth all day long.

39
The lobsters at the beach go snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap (snap
hands together like lobster claws)
The lobsters at the beach go snap, snap, snap all day long.

The clams at the beach will open and shut, open and shut, open and shut (place palms
together and snap them open and shut)
The clams at the beach will open and shut all day long.

The jellyfish at the beach go wibble and wobble, wibble and wobble, wibble and wobble
(place the backs of hands together leaving fingers like tentacles wobbling)
The jellyfish at the beach go wibble and wobble all day long.”

Stories- Children love the adventures of Curious George. For the beach day party, read
“Curious George goes to the Beach” by H.A. Ray, where everyone’s favorite curious
little monkey helps a friend overcome their fear of the water and saves the day by finding
a lost picnic basket.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children to think about what negative impacts people might
have on the environment of the beach, such as leaving their garbage when they visit and
dumping things into the water, and what can be done to help out.

40
SHAPES

41
 Materials
Supplies

Construction Paper
Different sized Circles
Box
Round Objects (small paper plates, ball, ring, coins, buttons, orange etc.)
Paper Towel rolls
plastic cups
corks
empty flower pots
water bottles
coasters
white paper
paint
Old Magazines
glue
glue sticks
Circle cookie cutters
8" square of black construction paper
Scissors
googly eyes
Different sized squares of different material
Crayons
Pipe cleaners
Brown Paper
Triangle shape template or cookie cutter
Large cut outs of circles squares triangles
Triangle (musical instrument)
Cardboard
Colored Cellophane

Food

Sandwiches
Crackers (square and round shaped)
Cheese (square and round shaped)
Bread
Cheese (american squarers)
Lunch meat
Circular pickles
Graham Crackers
Frosting
Sprinkles

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Books

"The Shape of Me" Dr. Seuss

"When a Line Bends... A Shape Begins" Rhonda Gowler Greene
"Greedy Triangle" Marilyn Burns
"So many circles, so many squares" Tana Hoban's
"A Circle Here, A Square There" David Diehl

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 Shapes
Monday- Circle

Circle time- ask the children if they know what a circle is. Ask each one to point out a
different circle somewhere in the classroom. Use this to introduce the concept of the
circle. Emphasize that this is a

Craft- Circle Critters

Materials- construction paper, glue, cut outs of different sized circles

1- The night before the craft, cut out a number of different sized circles in a variety of
colors.

2- For the craft, let the children make an animal of their design using the different sized
circle cut-outs. Use one or two big circles for the body, and smaller circles for the head
and legs. Show an example first and let the children use their imaginations to make their
own Circle Critter.

(For younger children, you may want to give them an example such as a pretend bug.
Use a large circle for the body and smaller one for the head.) The key here is to let them
use their imagination to create any kind of creature.

Theme Activities

1- Things that are Round- Fill a box with a variety of round objects. These could be a
small paper plate, ball, ring, coin (be sure if your children are young that none of the
objects are small), buttons, orange, etc. Ask your children to think of something that is
round to see if they understand what the shape looks like. Next show them how many
different things are in the box that are round. Let them feel them and see that there are no
edges. Next go on a tour of the classroom or even outside and look for things that are
round.

2- Circle Stamps- use regular household items as circle-shaped stamps. This can include
paper towel rolls, plastic cups, corks, empty flower pots, empty water bottles, coasters,
etc. Dip one end of the stamp in paint, and press down lightly on a piece of white paper
to make a circle-shaped stamp. It is best to have different colors of paint for this project.
Even your youngest can do the stamping.

3- Circle Collage- have the children look through pictures of magazines and cut out the
objects that are circles the find. Glue the circles on a big piece of white paper to make a

44
circle collage. Use this as a way of pointing out some of the circles we see in everyday
life.

Snack Time- Circle Sandwiches

1- Make everyone’s favorite sandwiches and cut them into circles using a cookie cutter.
Cut the sandwiches in half to show how both sides of a circle are exactly the same.

Music- show the children how a tambourine is a circle-shaped musical instrument. Sing
the song “The Rolling Circle Song”, set to the tune of “Have you ever seen a Lassie?”
and use the tambourine as musical accompaniment each time the word “circle” is sung.
The lyrics are as follows:

“Have you ever seen a circle, a circle, a circle?

Have you ever seen a circle, which goes round and round?
It rolls this way and that way, and that way and this way.
Have you ever seen a circle, which goes round and round?”

Stories- Try reading a book like “A Circle Here, A Square There” by David Diehl as an
introduction to the other shapes that will be the focus of the coming days. With its simple
prose and engaging designs, children will enjoy searching for everyday shapes in
everyday life.

Reasoning Skills- show the children a picture of a perfect circle, and then have
volunteers try and draw a perfect circle of their own. See if they can guess what about
the circle makes it so hard to perfect as a shape. Let them see that the circle is the most
harmonious of all shapes since it lacks angles.

45
Tuesday- Square

Circle Time- playing of “I Spy” where all of the items spied are squares. Show the
children what a square is first. Have a square shape to hold up and point out that each
side is exactly the same size. One at a time let them secretly pick something that’s a
square and let the others try to guess what it is. This serves as an introduction to the
concept of the square.
(HINT: For Wednesday Circle time show them a TRIANGLE and ask them to bring
something for show & tell that is shaped like a triangle.)

Craft- Guess My Square—the children will make their own Square character and then
get a chance to tell their classmates all about their creation—is it a boy or girl, a friendly
monster, etc. Imaginations are key with this project!

Materials- black construction paper trimmed to a large square shape about 8 inches
square, other assorted colors of construction paper, scissors, glue, paint, googly eyes. If
your children are not capable of cutting yet,

1- Have each child cut out 2 small white squares, 1 small brown square, 1 larger red
square. Have them arrange the squares on the larger square body where the white squares
are the eyes, the brown square is the nose, and the red square is the mouth.

MODIFICATION: If measuring is too difficult then have templates of the sizes

needed and help them trace around the templates. You may have to help with
cutting also if they are not able to do so. **If unable to trace and cut, you can
have the squares cut out ahead of time.

2- Next, give the children four long yellow strips about 3 inches in length to be used for
arms and legs. Show them how to fold them back and forth for a zigzag effect. Glue
these in place as well. Use paint to decorate their creation, and glue googly eyes over top
of the white squares for a final touch.

Theme Activities

1- Making a Shape Book- Children make a shape book using 6 pieces of paper stapled
together. Each page is dedicated to one shape. Depending on the skill level of your
children they can trace the shape, use paint to fill in the shape, try to draw it or cut out the
shape they find in magazines. To reinforce the previous lesson on Circles, have them
also make a page for circles. (They will be adding to their book all week.)

2- Square Rubbings- cut out a number of different sized squares in different materials
such as sandpaper, corrugated cardboard, foam, and oak tag. Show the children how to
make rubbings of these shapes by placing them underneath a piece of paper and rubbing a
crayon overtop of where the shape is. It will create a nice pattern, given the material of
the square.

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3- Circle or Square- have the children lay down on the ground. Arrange them in either a
circle or square and have them try and guess which shape they are forming with their
bodies. Take a picture with a digital camera to show them what they look like from
above. Afterwards, give each child a pipe cleaner that’s been bent to resemble a square
and see if they can bend it into a circle shape. Use this to emphasize that circles are
round, and squares have corners.

Snack Time- Crackers and Cheese

1- Give the children a few circular shaped crackers and a few square shaped crackers.
Now give them circle-shaped pieces of cheese and square-shaped pieces of cheese and let
them mix-and-match with the crackers before eating.

Music- Singing of “Square Shape Song”, which is set to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star”. For this song, each child is given a small square that they use for the actions
in the song. The lyrics are as follows:

“Put your square shape in the air,

Hold it high and keep it there.
Put your square shape on your back,
Now please lay it on your lap.
Put your square shape on your toes,
Now please hold it by your nose.
Hold your square shape in your hand,
Now will everyone please stand.
Wave your square shape at the door,
Now please lay it on the floor.
Hold your square shape and jump, jump, jump,
Now throw your square shape way, way up!”

Stories- Tana Hoban’s “So many circles, so many squares” is a perfect read for Day Two
of the shapes unit, since it contains many appealing and colorful photographs of the two
shapes in daily life. This book contains no text, which allows for a fluid discussion of the
shapes as opposed to reading of words, allowing children to extrapolate and think about
where they’ve seen the shapes in their lives.

Reasoning Skills- reflection on the “Circle or Square” exercise, and the similarity
between circles and squares. Show how if you bend the edges of the square you get a
circle, and vice versa.

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Wednesday- Triangle

Circle Time- For today’s circle time, let the children show their triangle show and tell
objects, and give a few interesting facts about what they like about the item. Compare
the sizes and shapes of the triangles.

Craft- Triangle Ice Cream

Materials- construction paper, brown paper, scissors, glue, triangle shape template or
cookie cutter

1- Show the children an ice cream cone. Let them cut out triangles in the shape of a cone
from brown paper. To modify, have a Triangle template or cookie cutter for them to
trace around Glue the cone in the center of a piece of paper.

2- Next, have the children cut out a circle for a scoop of ice cream out of their favorite
flavor- white for vanilla, brown for chocolate, pink for strawberry, light green for
pistachio or mint, etc. Glue the scoop of ice cream at the top of the cone.

This craft is also a reminder for the circle lesson which they had earlier. The more they
can make the association between shapes and things around them the easier it is for
preschoolers to learn.

Theme Activities-

1- Adding to Shape Book-. Let the children glue or draw green triangles in the middle of
the page. They can also look for pictures in magazine for triangle shapes to glue on the
page.

2- Shape Walk- go for a walk through the school and playground and have children point
out the shapes that they see, like the round hole at the top of the slide or triangle posts
that form the swing set.

3- Musical Shapes- tape large cut-outs of the three different shapes on the floor- circle,
square, and triangle. Play music and have the children step or jump from shape to shape.
When the music stops, the children must yell out the name of the shape they are standing
on.

Snack Time- Shape House

1- Give each child a piece of bread for the base of the house. Next, give them a slice of
processed cheese cut diagonally to form a triangle for the roof.

2- Next, give the children a piece of lunchmeat, and have them roll it up into a tube for
the door. Finally, give each child two circular pickles for windows, and have them
assemble the pieces to form a cute and edible house.

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Music- show the children the triangle musical instrument. Sing this song about triangles,
which is set to the tune of “Are you Sleeping”. The lyrics are as follows, with optional
triangle chimes. Let the children take turns chiming the triangle while singing the song:

“Here is a triangle (chime), here is a triangle (chime)

How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has three sides, it has three sides
1-2-3 (three chimes), 1-2-3 (three chimes).”

Stories- For a little more of a challenging read, try Marilyn Burns’ “Greedy Triangle”.
This book serves as an introduction to basic geometry when a bored triangle is guided
through different shapes it could be by a “shapeshifter”, all the while coming to the
conclusion that it enjoys the 3-sided life of a triangle and its unending possibilities.

Reasoning Skills- ask children why they think a triangle is called a triangle. Teach them
that the beginning of the word “tri” means three and show them what an angle is, and
how a triangle has three of them.

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Thursday- Rectangle

Circle Time- show the children a picture of a rectangle. Ask if they can spot other
rectangles in the classroom or if they can think of any that they see in their daily lives.
Use this to introduce the concept of the rectangle. Explain that this looks similar to a
square since it has 4 sides but the difference is that 2 sides are longer than the other 2.

Craft- Shape Train

Materials- construction paper, glue, paint, scissors

(for younger children, cut out the shapes ahead of time)

1- Have each child cut two circles, one triangle, one large square and one rectangle from
construction paper. Trace outlines on construction paper to make it easier for the
children to cut the shapes properly, if desired.

Modification: With younger children, have the shapes pre-cut and allow them to
assemble a train. If possible let them use their memory skills of what a train looks
like to place the shapes correctly. If they are not sure, you could have a drawing
or sample for them to see.

2- Glue the square in the center of the page. Arrange the circles at the bottom of the
square for the wheels of the train, and glue in place.

3- Place the rectangle standing up on top of the square and the triangle on the right side of
the square with the pointy end facing outwards. Glue these in place as well, and let the
children paint and decorate their trains with paint, markers, or crayons. Emphasize how
the different shapes go together to form a train shape.

Theme Activities-

1- Adding to Shape Book- Next, let the children glue or draw yellow rectangle in the
middle of the page. They can also paint, draw or glue rectangular shapes to this page as
well.

2- Game- You’ll need several cutouts of the 4 shapes they have learned. Give each child
a shape to hold. Call out directions using the shape names such as “anyone holding a
square touch your toes”. This is easy to do for all ages and the directions can be made
easier or more difficult to fit your class.

3- Lost Shape Song- have the children sit in a circle, and disperse a variety of cut outs of
shapes in the center of the circle. Select one child to run around the circle while everyone
sings “lost my (shape), what do I do? Lost my (shape), what do I do? Lost my (shape)
what do I do? Skip to the Lou my darling”. Once the song is finished, the child who is
running must go to the center of the circle and find the shape they were singing about.

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Snack Time- Graham Crackers, frosting and sprinkles

1- Give each child graham crackers and some frosting to make their own graham cracker
sandwiches. Next show them that they can break the cracker in half and then they have a
square—Fun and tasty way to show the difference between a rectangle and a square.

Music- Singing of “Shape Song”, which is set to the tune of “Frere Jacques”. The lyrics
are as follows:

“This is a square, this is a square,

How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has four sides, all the same size.
It’s a square, it’s a square.

This is a circle, this is a circle

How can you tell? How can you tell?
It goes round and round, no end can be found.
It’s a circle, it’s a circle.

This is a triangle, this is a triangle.

How can you tell? How can you tell?
It only has three sides that join to make three points.
It’s a triangle, it’s a triangle.

This is a rectangle, this is a rectangle.

How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has two short sides and it has two long sides.
It’s a rectangle, it’s a rectangle.”

Stories- Rhonda Gowler Greene’s “When a Line Bends… A Shape Begins” is a great
introduction to basic and more complex shapes. Clear and colorful watercolor
illustrations are paired with fun rhyming prose which makes this a great read-aloud book
for preschoolers.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children if they can think of how to make a rectangle from two
other shapes (two squares). Ask if they can make any other shapes by putting two or
more shapes together (two triangles makes a diamond, one triangle and one rectangle
makes an arrow, etc). Use building blocks to help reinforce their concept.

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Friday- Miscellaneous Shapes (Star, Heart)

Circle Time- ask the children if they can think of any other shapes excluding the ones
covered already during the week (circle, square, triangle, and rectangle). Ask where they
have seen these shapes before.

Craft- Stained Glass Shapes

Materials- cardboard, colored cellophane, paint, glue

1- Give each child a piece of cardboard and have them cut it into their favorite
shape. Next, make several smaller cut outs in the big cardboard shape.

Modification: If they are not able to cut cardboard, use black construction paper
and have templates for them to trace around. To make cut-outs inside the large
shape use hole punches of varying sizes and shapes or help them to draw where
they want a cutout and cut for them.

2- Paint the cardboard black on both sides. Allow the paint to dry completely.

3- Place colored cellophane over the cutouts on one side of the shape and glue in place.
Hang the cutouts in the window for a pretty stained glass look.

Theme Activities-

1- Finishing of Shape Book- Have children use all of the shapes they have learned over
the week. They can make their own Mural of shapes here by drawing, tracing or gluing
any of the shapes to make a picture.

2- Road Signs- show children pictures of different road signs and explain what shapes
they are and what they mean, such as the rectangle for Speed Limit, triangle for yield,
arrow for one-way, etc. Make small road signs and place them up at different places in
the room. Let the children play with toys cars and trucks making sure to obey the road
signs.

3- Shape Throw- take a piece of poster board and divide it into nine sections- circle,
square, triangle, rectangle, octagon, heart, star, diamond, oval. Place a picture of each
shape on each corresponding section. Have each child throw a beanbag at the board, and
name the shape that the beanbag lands on, or call out the name of a shape and have the
child try and throw the beanbag at that particular shape.

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Snack Time- Create your own sandwich, bread, butter, cheese slices, cookie cutters of all
shapes.

1- Each child gets to decide what shape their snack sandwich will be. Give them 2 slices
of bread and let them pick the cookie cutter design they want to use.

2- There are 2 ways to do this depending on the age and skill level. They can put the
sandwich together and then cut it out with the cookie cutter, OR, they can cut out the
bread first and then put them together--whatever is easiest for them to do.

3- Some children may only want bread with butter, some with cheese; others may want to
use jam if it is available. The goal here is to let them make their own.

Music- here’s a fun shape guessing game song called “Do you know this shape?” It’s
sung to the tune of “The Muffin Man”, and the lyrics are as follows:

“Do you know what shape this is?

What shape this is? What shape this is?
Do you know what shape this is I’m holding in my hand?
(Hold up the name of a shape and have the children yell out the name of the shape)

Stories- Children love the fun and wacky prose and pictures of Dr. Seuss’ fantastic
books, so try reading “The Shape of Me” during Shapes week. This particular book has
children contemplating their own shapes and the shapes of creatures around them with
illustrated silhouettes and Seuss’ classic silly rhyming style.

Reasoning Skills- reflect on “The Shape of Me” by asking children to look at their own
bodies and see what shapes they can find- hands and heads are like circles, feet, arms and
legs are like rectangles, torsos are like squares, etc. Draw a basic form for a person on
the board using these shapes as a way of reinforcing the lesson.

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Colors

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 Materials
Supplies-

Light colored paper

Paint
Small red color coding labels (or bingo dabber)
Construction paper
Hole Punch
White paper
Twist ties
yarn or string
Yellow paper baking cups
green pipe cleaners
tape
apples
lemons
tempera paint
meat trays (clean) or shallow trays
sponge
Washable Markers
Coffee Filters
Spray bottle(s)
Blue tissue paper or cellophane
glue
Crayons or Oil Pastels
Paper
Large white sheet
Thick paper (cardstock)
Shaving Cream
Small Rocks
egg carton
Cotton Balls
Crape Paper Streamers(rainbow colors)

Food

Jell-o
Fruit loops
Milk
Food Coloring
Bread
Cookie Cutters
Paint Brushes
Orange Wedges
Blueberries
Kiwis

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Green apples
Grapes
Strawberries
cherries
Raspberries
Bananas
fruit punch or apple juice

Books-

"A Color of his own." Leo Lionni

"Mr Brown can Moo, Can You?" - Dr.Seuss
"Purple, Green, and Yellow" Robert Munsch
"Little Blue and Little Yellow" Leo Lionni
"Red is Best" Kathy Stinson

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Monday- Red and Yellow

Circle Time- introduction of the colors red and yellow- ask half the class to run and get
something red while the other half runs and gets something yellow.

Craft- Cheery Cherry Tree

Materials- light colored paper, green paint, brown paint, small red stickers or red Bingo
dabber

1- Have the child place their arm on the light colored paper so that their hand is in the
middle of the page with their fingers spread wide. Trace the outline of the arm and hand
with a pencil.

2- Using the green paint, paint the top part of the tree. Paint the trunk brown. Allow the
paint to dry completely.

3- Use the red dot stickers or the Bingo dabber to make cherries in the tree.

Theme Activities-

1- Making of Color Collage Book- similar to the shapes unit, children will make and
add to a color collage book every day this week. To make the color collage book, fold a
large piece of construction paper in half and write the words “My Color Collage Book”
on the cover. Using a hole punch, punch three small holes in the left side. To make the
pages for the inside of the book, fold some white paper in half, and punch holes to match
the ones on the cover. Use twist ties, yarn, or small pieces of string to attach the pages to
the cover. On the first page, print the word “RED” at the top of page. Let the children go
through pictures in old books and magazines for red things to paste into their collage
book. Repeat for the second page for “YELLOW”.

2- Yellow Friendship Flowers- tell the children that giving someone yellow flowers,
especially roses, means friendship. Give each child a yellow paper baking cup and a
green pipe cleaner. Have them draw a smiley face inside the baking cup with markers or
crayons. Using tape, attach the head of the flower to the pipe cleaner stem. Tell the
children to take their flowers home and share them with family member or neighborhood
friends.

3- Apple and Lemon Prints- show the children how to use fruit as a print stamp to
create interesting patterns. Cut apples and lemons in half. The children can either brush
tempera paint on the apples and yellow paint on the lemons with a sponge or dip them in
meat trays filled with paint and stamp them on a piece of white paper.

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Snack Time- Strawberries, Cherries, Raspberries, and Bananas

1- Slice strawberries and bananas. Arrange with cherries and raspberries for a healthy
and delicious red and yellow snack. For a drink, serve red fruit punch or apple juice.

Music- try singing this fun song about the color red set to the tune of “Three Blind
Mice”. Here are the lyrics:

“R-E-D
R-E-D
Red is the word.
Red is the word.
Apples and strawberries both are red,
Tomatoes and cherries are also red.
R-E-D
R-E-D”

Stories- A great book for children who love the color red is “Red is Best” by Kathy
Stinson. The main character is a little girl who cannot really explain why it feels best
when she’s wearing her red raincoat or drinking from her red cup, which is a sentiment
most children should be able to agree with regarding their favorite color.

Reasoning Skills- reflection on the book “Red is Best”. Ask each child what their
favorite color is, and what things they have at home and in the classroom that depict and
embody what their favorite color means to them.

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Tuesday- Blue and Green

Circle time- introduction of the colors blue and green by playing “I spy”. Let one child
see and think of something blue, and say “I spy with my little eye something that is blue”.
One at a time, the children try to guess what the mysterious blue object is. Have the next
child see and think of something green, and continue alternating until everyone has had a
chance.

Craft- Coffee Filter Tie-Dye

Materials- washable markers, coffee filters, spray bottles

1- Have the children draw on the coffee filters with the washable markers.

2- Lightly spray the coffee filters with water and watch the colors bleed together. Point
out the number of different colors that make up shades of green or purple.

Theme Activities-

1- Color Collage Book- on the next page print the word “BLUE” at the top of page. Let
the children go through pictures in old books and magazines for blue things to paste into
their collage book. Repeat for the next page for “GREEN”.

2- Yellow + Blue = Green- begin a lesson on how certain colors can be combined to
make other colors, such as yellow and blue to make green. Take a piece of white paper
and paint a blue circle. Paint over top of the blue circle with yellow paint and let
everyone watch it turn into green. Next, give everyone yellow construction paper and
blue tissue paper. Have them cut out shapes from the blue tissue paper and glue them
onto the construction paper to make the shapes look green.

3- Green Magic Ink- give everyone a piece of green construction paper and a green
crayon or green oil pastel. Have them draw a picture with their crayon or pastel. Make
sure they press really hard so that the lines are thick. Once they are finished with their
designs, lightly paint over the paper with white tempera paint and watch the drawings
magically pop out from the page.

Snack Time- Blueberries, Kiwis, Green Apples and Grapes

1- Slice the kiwis and the apples, and arrange them with the blueberries and grapes.
Serve with grape juice for a refreshing blue and green midday snack.

Music- sing the song “Blue”, which is set to the tune of “Frere Jacques”. The lyrics are
as follows:

“B-L-U-E
B-L-U-E

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That spells blue.
That spells blue.
Buttons are blue
Eyes are too.
Blue, blue, blue
Blue, blue, blue.”

Stories- Leo Lionni has written and illustrated many wonderful children’s books,
including “Little Blue and Little Yellow”. With simple, sweet prose and watercolor
illustrations, the book tells the story of two best friends, blue and yellow, who one day
hug to become green, reinforcing the day’s lesson of making colors from other colors.

Reasoning Skills- try to see if the children can guess what other colors can be made by
mixing colors, like red and yellow to make orange, red and blue to make purple or all the
colors together to make black.

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Wednesday- Orange and Purple

Circle Time- ask the children if they can name any other colors that haven’t been
discussed in the past 2 days (red, yellow, blue, green). Prompt them with questions like
“what color is a pumpkin?” or “what color is Julie’s shirt?” Use this to introduce the
day’s colors of orange and purple.

Craft- Color Wheel

Materials- paint, paper, shallow trays

This can be messy and take longer than some of the other activities but is worth the time
and effort. The kids are really amazed and pleased with their creation.

1- Give each child a piece of paper. Pour red, yellow and blue paint into shallow trays.
Have the children dip their left hand in the red paint, and place a red handprint at the top
of the page with the fingers pointing towards the edge of the page.

2- Have the children dip their right hand in yellow paint, and place a yellow handprint in
the bottom right corner of the page, also with the fingers pointing towards the edge of the
page. Next, have the children rub their paint-covered hands together to make orange.
Place an orange handprint in between the red and yellow prints. Make sure everyone
washes their hands before proceeding.

3- Have the children dip their left hand in blue paint, and place a blue handprint in the
bottom left corner. Next, dip their right hands in yellow, and rub them together to create
green paint. Place a green handprint between the yellow and blue prints, and wash their
hands again.

4- Finally, have the children dip their left hands in red and their right hands in blue. Rub
them together to make purple, and place a purple handprint between the red and blue
handprints to create a color wheel.

Theme Activities

1- Color Collage Book- on the next page print the word “ORANGE” at the top of page.
Let the children go through pictures in old books and magazines for orange things to
paste into their collage book. Repeat for the next page for “PURPLE”.

2- Color Nature Walk- go for a walk around the school and the schoolyard, pointing out
the colors of both natural and man-made objects along the way. Note the difference in
color and intensity of naturally occurring colors versus man-made ones. Pay special
attention to flowers, trees, grass for natural colors.

3- Tie Dye Mural- take a large white sheet and hang it up outside following the nature
walk. Fill a number of plastic spray bottles with water colored with food coloring or

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diluted store-bought dye. Have the children spray the sheet with the colored water to
create a nice tie-dyed effect. Note the places where the colors bleed together to form new
colors. Use the sheet as a blanket for a picnic or a tablecloth in the classroom.

Snack Time- Colored Toasty Snacks

1- Make colored milk by adding food coloring to small bowls of milk. Give each child a
piece of bread and a selection of cookie cutters.

2- Have the children paint their pieces of bread with paint brushes dipped in the colored
milk. Once they are finished painting, use the cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes from
the painted bread. Toast the bread as usual and serve with orange wedges for a fun and
colorful snack.

Music- try singing this song called “Orange, Orange, Orange”, which is set to the tune of
“Three Blind Mice”. Here are the lyrics:

“Orange, Orange, Orange,

Orange, Orange, Orange,
What is orange?
What is orange?
An orange, a cantaloupe, and a peach,
A pumpkin, a goldfish, and cheddar cheese,
The carrot that my little rabbit eats,
They are orange.”

Stories- Robert Munsch has written many fine books for children, including this member
of his “Annikins” series titled “Purple, Green and Yellow”. It tells the story of a young
girl named Brigid who loves all 500 of her markers, and must think creatively to avoid
getting into trouble when uses them in a creative manner by drawing all over herself.

Reasoning Skills- certain colors are associated with certain feelings. Ask the children
what feelings they have associated with particular colors like red with anger or blue with
sadness.

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Thursday- Pink and Brown

Circle Time- go around the circle and ask if the children can name something that is
pink. Next, go around the circle again and see if they can name something that is brown.
Use this to introduce the colors of pink and brown.

Craft- Pigs in the Mud

Materials- pink construction paper, thick paper such as cardstock, crayons, markers,
shaving cream, brown paint, paintbrushes

1- Make a template shaped like a pig from thick paper, and trace it onto pieces of pink
construction paper. Cut out enough for everyone.

2- Give each child their pig cutout to decorate with crayons or markers.

3- Next, give everyone a small cup with white shaving cream or child approved foamy
soap. Add a few drops of brown paint to the shaving cream and stir to mix to make mud.
Let the children paint the “mud” onto their pigs with paintbrushes.

Theme Activities-

1- Color Collage Book- on the next page print the word “PINK” at the top of page. Let
the children go through pictures in old books and magazines for pink things to paste into
their collage book. Repeat for the next page for “BROWN”.

2- Mix-My-Own-Color- give a short review on how mixing different colors together

forms new colors. Then show how mixing white paint with a bright color forms a pastel
shade, like mixing white with red to get pink. Also show how mixing all the colors
together forms a dark brown. Let the children create their favorite colors of paint and
paint pictures of themselves with them.

3- Colored Rock Match- get a number of small rocks and paint them the various colored
learned this week- red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, pink and brown. Paint the
sections of an egg carton with the same colors so that there’s one section per color. Hide
the rocks in the sandbox and instruct the children to go digging for rocks. Once they’ve
found a few rocks, they bring them to the egg carton to drop them in the appropriately
colored sections.

Snack Time- Fruit Loop Necklaces

1- Give everyone a small bowl of Fruit Loops and a piece of yarn long enough to go
around their necks. Have them arrange the Fruit Loops by color or in a pattern and string
them onto the yarn.

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2- Tie a small knot with the ends of the yarn, and let the children wear their Fruit Loop
necklaces all day. Show them how to bite off an individual piece or two at a time.

Music- Here’s a version of “If You’re Happy and you Know it” that has actions for
different colors called “If you are Wearing Red…” Here are the lyrics:

“If you are wearing red, shake your head,

If you are wearing red, shake your head,
If you are wearing red
Then please shake your head.

Yellow = shake like Jell-O

Green = bow like a queen
Blue = touch your shoe
Brown = turn around
Pink = give us a wink
Black = pat your back
White = fly a kite”

Stories- For today, read Dr. Seuss’ interactive “Mr. Brown can Moo, can you?” As Mr.
Brown makes the sounds that come up in his daily life, he encourages everyone to “pop
pop pop” or “sizzle sizzle” along with him.

Reasoning Skills- ask if anyone knows how to refer to different shades of the same color,
encouraging guessing and speculative reasoning. Teach them that different shades
sometimes have different names, such as “light blue, blue, dark blue”.

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Friday- Rainbow

Circle Time- favorite color show and tell- have the children wear their favorite color and
bring something from home that is their favorite color and show it for show and tell

Craft- Rainbows in the Clouds

Materials- white paper, cotton balls, crepe paper streamers in rainbow colors

1- Cut out a cloud shape from white paper. Glue cotton balls on the cloud.

2- Cut out 10-15 inch strips from the crepe paper in rainbow colors. Glue the rainbow
strips to the bottom of the cloud. Hang the clouds from the ceiling and watch the
rainbows dangle from the clouds.

Theme Activities-

1- Finishing of Color Collage Book- on the next page print the word “RAINBOW” at
the top of page. Let the children go through pictures in old books and magazines for
rainbow-striped things to paste into their collage book or have them draw a rainbow on
the last page.

2- Rainbow of Fruit Loops- Fruit Loops cereal can be used to make a rainbow mural to
display in the classroom. Have the children sort the cereal into different colored piles.
Take a large piece of white poster board, and draw the outline of a large rainbow on it.
Make colored glue to match the Fruit Loops cereal by adding food coloring or paint to
white glue. Lightly paint the colored glue on the poster board, and cover each area with
the corresponding colored Fruit Loops.

3- Classroom rainbow- Have the children lay down on the ground outside in their
favorite colored shirts and arrange them in a rainbow formation. Take a picture with a
digital camera and show it to everyone afterwards. Copies of the picture can be printed
for each child and pasted at the back of the “Color Collage Book” if desired.

Snack Time- Jell-O Rainbow

1- The night before this snack is served, make Jell-O in six rainbow colors-
cherry/strawberry/raspberry, orange, lemon, lime, blueberry, and grape. Once the Jell-O
has set, spoon some of each flavor into clear plastic cups maintaining the rainbow
formation. Keep refrigerated until serving, and eat with plastic spoons.

Music- the perfect song to close out the unit on colors is the traditional “Sing a
Rainbow”. The tune can be heard at http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-songs-
rainbow.htm. The lyrics are as follows:

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“Red and yellow and pink and green,
Purple and orange and blue.
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too.
Listen with your eyes, listen with your eyes, and sing everything you see.
You can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing along with me.
Red and yellow and pink and green,
Purple and orange and blue.
Now, we can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too.

Stories- Leo Lionni’s books are classics for teaching children about colors, especially his
tale of a color-changing chameleon “A Color of his Own”. Discontent with lacking a
color of his own, a chameleon decides to rest on the greenest leaf so that he can be green
forever. However, as the seasons change, so does the chameleon’s coloring. The story
ends with the chameleon finding another of his own kind, reinforcing the importance of
friendship.

Reasoning Skills- ask if anyone has seen a real rainbow in the sky. If so, ask about what
happened right before the rainbow appeared. Give a simple scientific explanation for the
rainbow- light reflected from the droplets of water in the sky, which is why rainbows
appear when the sun comes out right after a rain shower.

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Social Skills

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Monday- Cooperation

Circle Time- Use this circle time to point out that each and every person there has their
own special qualities, abilities and experiences that make them unique. Start by asking
them, one at a time, to name one special thing about themselves. Any answer is okay.
Teach them to be proud of their abilities, and help them practice and learn a few new
ones.

Craft- Group Tower

Materials- blocks, boards, trays, cylinders and any other building objects you may have.

1- This will be a group project where all the children will work together to build a tower
as wide or as tall as they wish. The goal is that they all work together to get this to stand
tall and proud and that it took their team effort to accomplish.

Theme Activities-

1- Decorate your Friend- have each child lay down on a large piece of white paper.
Trace the outline of each child on the paper, and cut out the outlines. Pair up the children
and have each child decorate the cutout of their partner using crayons, markers, paint,
yarn, and any other art supplies in the art cupboard. Once all the cutouts have been
decorated, display them one at a time and have the children guess which person the
cutout is depicting.

2- Someone’s Hiding- with everyone sitting in a circle, select one child to leave the
room. Once that child is gone, pick someone to hide underneath a blanket in the center of
the circle. Bring the child back from outside the room and have them try and guess
who’s missing, giving hints about gender, hair color, etc until they guess correctly.
Continue until everyone has had a chance to hide and to guess who’s hiding.

3- Musical Hula Hoops- This is like musical chairs but it is a game of cooperation
instead of getting people “out” of the game. Use 4 hula hoops and lay them on the floor
making a square. If you don’t have hula hoops, you can use tape and mark off four large
circles of squares. The class will stand in a circle around the hoops. Start by playing
music. When the music stops, everyone needs to get into one of the hoops. Start the
music again but remove a hoop. When the music stops, the children need to help
everyone get into the remaining hoops. Continue until you are down to one hoop and see
how well they can help each other get into the one hoop.

Snack Time- Gingerbread Me decoration

1- The night before this activity, make gingerbread cookies shaped like people. Give
each child a cookie and a small amount of icing. Let them decorate the cookies with
chocolate chips, raisins, sprinkles, and other edible goodies.

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Gingerbread cookie recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1- Cream together the butter and sugar. Slowly add the molasses until it is fully blended.
Mix in egg and vanilla.

2- Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, salt and cinnamon. Add in 3 parts to the
creamed ingredients. Form into a ball, cover with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator
for at least an hour.

3- Roll out the dough using a rolling pin until it measures approximately ¼-1/2 inch
thick. Use flour on the rolling surface to prevent stickiness. Cut out person shapes using
a cookie cutter. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool warm cookies on wire
racks.

Icing recipe:

Ingredients:

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup butter or shortening
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring (optional)

1- Cream together the icing sugar and butter or shortening until smooth. Use an electric
mixer to gradually blend in the milk and vanilla. Blend at medium speed until stiff,
approximately 5 minutes. Add food coloring if desired.

Music- one important aspect of the “All about Me” unit is teaching each child that they
are special. This song in two verses called “I am Special” is sung to the tune of “Frere
Jacques”. Here are the lyrics:

“I am special, I am special,

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Look at me, look at me.
A very special person, a very special person.
That is me. That is me.

I am special, I am special,
Yes I am, yes I am.
I’m a really neat kid and a very sweet kid,
Yes I am, yes I am.”

Stories- Karen Beaumont’s loveable book “I like Myself” is a wonderful way for
children to learn about self-acceptance and boost their self-confidence. It reinforces the
message that wherever they go or whatever others think of them, the most important
thing is to like one’s self, as told through sharp rhyming prose and illustrated in
watercolor and pencil drawings.

Reasoning Skills- ask everyone to name one thing that they learned about someone else
in the classroom during today’s lesson. Teach them how to respect others and give them
the same treatment that they would want themselves.

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Tuesday- Introduction to Emotions and Feelings

Circle time- make faces relating to different emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised,
excited), and see if the children can guess which emotion you are depicting. Ask if they
have ever felt the same emotion and if they remember when or why. Use this as an
introduction to emotions. We all have them and are always learning how to deal with
them. Also talk about ways to show emotions with other parts of the body than the face.

Craft- Smiley Face Necklaces

Materials- thick yellow paper, crayons, markers, googly eyes, yarn, glue

1- Cut out a number of circles from the thick yellow paper. Punch a hole in the top of
each circle, and distribute them to each child.

2- Allow them to decorate their circles to look like smiley face using crayons, markers,
googly eyes, and yarn, if desired. Give each child a length of yarn and have them string
it through the hole in the circle and tie a knot in the top. Let them wear their smiley face
necklaces all day.

Theme Activities-

1- Making Faces- cut out pictures of children making different expressions such as
laughing, crying, smiling, surprised, angry, etc. Set up the pictures next to a mirror and
let the children copy the faces in the mirror. Children love watching themselves and
others in the mirrors. (They often initiate their own guessing games with each other to
name that emotion!)

2- Feelings Collage- give the children magazines and let them cut out pictures of people
making different facial expressions or portraying different feelings. Put all the pictures
together and let them go through the pictures as a group and separate them based on the
emotion. Glue the pictures to a big piece of paper with different corners of the paper
representing different emotions.

3- Feet Tell the Feeling- Ask the children to take off their shoes. Talk about the ways
our feet can let other people know how we are feeling. Play follow the leader with them
and ask them to imitate feelings with their feet: walking fast and quickly across the room
means eager, can’t wait, in a hurry; walking slowly and dragging your feet means tired or
sad; stomping your feet or jumping means you are mad or frustrated; dancing on toes or
skipping means happy or excited; walking on tiptoes or small steps could mean being
careful or quiet.

Snack Time- Rice Cake Faces

1- Give each child a circular rice cake and assign them a basic emotion- happy, sad,
angry, or scared. Have them decorate their rice cakes to look like faces using M&Ms,

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chocolate chips, raisins, cherries, raspberries, pretzels, stringed licorice, and cheese. Use
peanut butter or cream cheese to stick the decorations to the rice cake.

Music- The classic children’s song “If you’re happy and you know it” suits today’s
lesson perfectly. Some sing the song cumulatively by starting with clapping and adding
each action to the list as the song progresses, while others choose to sing each verse on its
own. Here are the lyrics:

“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands (clap clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands (clap clap)
If you’re happy and you know then your face should really show it,
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands (clap clap)

Stomp your feet (stomp stomp)

Jump up and down (jump jump)
Spin around (whoosh whoosh)
Shout hooray (hooray!)”

Stories- Actress Jamie Lee Curtis has written a series of children’s books, including
“Today I Feel Silly: And other Moods that make my Day”. This book follows the 13
different moods of the main character including silly, grumpy, excited and confused with
sprightly prose, leading to the moral that whatever mood a child is feeling inside is okay
since moods happen and change almost every day.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children how they think their emotions affect others, such as
their family and friends. Also, ask them what advice they have for cheering someone up
who is sad.

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Wednesday- Sharing and Helping Others

Circle time- Ask if anyone knows what the word “sharing” means. See if anyone can
give an example of what it means to share. They can act it out, if they wish. Next, ask if
anyone can give an example of being nice and helping others.

Craft- Puppets

Materials- paper plates, styrofoam balls, paper bags (lunch bag size), yarn, markers or
crayons, scraps of material.

1- Make a sample puppet from each of the materials above:

a) Paper plates—draw a face on the plate and glue or tape a stick on the bottom for a
handle,
b) Styrofoam balls—make an indentation in the bottom of the ball large enough for your
finger to fit in up to the knuckle, draw a face on the ball, add yarn for hair. Cover your
pointer finger with a piece of fabric and then insert into the bottom of the ball and create
a puppet,
c) Paper bags--show the children how to insert their hands into the bag and using their
thumb below the fold and fingers above the fold they can create a puppet.

2- Each child can decide which kind of puppet they want to make and then gather the
materials they need and create their own.

3- They will use these puppets for some of the activities today and throughout the week.

Theme Activities-

1- Sharing Puppet Play- using the puppets made earlier or puppets from the class
supply, put on a puppet play about the importance of sharing. Make sure to teach the
children that if they want to use something that belongs to someone else, they must ask
first. Have them act this out with the puppets. Also teach children to respect everyone
else’s toys and treat them with the same care that they treat their own toys. Teach them
about cooperation, by showing them how to take turns with toys.

2- Cooperation Challenge—Start this activity by giving each child 3 or 4 blocks at the

most. Tell them they can build anything they want with these blocks. Make suggestions
to build a house, a zoo, bridge, etc and suggest that they all work together using what
each of them have to build a fun project together. Point out that they couldn’t build much
alone with just the blocks they have but working together gave them more opportunities
to create more things.

3- Piece by Piece- give each child a piece to a big floor-sized puzzle. Have them work
together to assemble the puzzle by showing their pieces to everyone else and looking for

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pieces that match. This teaches them about sharing duties and working together towards
a common goal.

Snack Time- Friendship Fruit Salad and Friendship Cookies

1- The day or two before this activity write the names of many different types of fruit and
place them in a hat. Have each child select a piece of paper from the hat to bring from
home. Cut up each of the pieces of fruit to make the Friendship Fruit Salad.

2- The night before this activity, make sugar cookies shaped like hearts. Cut each heart
in half and give each child both sides of the heart. One side is for them to eat and the
other is to share with a special friend from class or member of their family.

Sugar Cookie Recipe:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1- Cream together the softened butter and white sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and blend
until smooth.

2- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into the creamed mixture. Roll into a ball
and chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

3- Roll the dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin until it measures 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out heart shapes using cookie cutter. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Remove
from cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Music- One of the best ways to help others is by helping to clean up when you’ve made a
mess. Teach children this song to sing while they pick up the toys in the classroom. It is
sung to the tune of “Twinkle, twinkle little star”:

“Twinkle, twinkle little star,

Time to clean up where you are.
Put your toy back in its place,
Keep a smile upon your face.
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
Time to clean up where you are.”

Stories- Cheri J. Meiners has written an excellent series of books entitled “Learning to
Get Along”. Among this series is “Share and Take Turns”, which uses a practical and

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purposeful tone to reinforce the importance of sharing by showing how a young girl
shares and how this new skills makes her feel good about herself.

Reasoning skills- ask everyone to think of one way they can help out at home tonight or
in the coming days. Suggest things like cleaning up their toys, helping with the dishes, or
sharing with their siblings. Encourage them to go home and surprise their parents at how
well they can help out.

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Thursday- Manners

Circle Time- Propose a number of situations for role playing that involve using proper
manners. These situations can include asking for a crayon that another child is using to
color with, standing in line for the drinking fountain when someone cuts ahead, having to
ask a question when someone is talking, or what to say after sneezing or burping.
Encourage the other children to comment on the actions the role players, and say what
they would do differently.

Craft- Ahhhh-Chooo, get the tissue

Materials- paper plates, Popsicle sticks, construction paper, facial tissues, markers, yarn

1- Have the children trace their hands on construction paper. Cut out the hand shapes.

2- Give each child a paper plate and have them draw a face on the paper plate. Glue a
tissue over the mouth, and glue the hand to the tissue. This craft helps to teach the
children the importance of covering their mouth with a tissue when they sneeze.

Theme Activities-

1- Manners Puppet Play- using the puppets made earlier in the week or puppets from
the class, put on a puppet play about the importance of good manners, including saying
“please” when asking for something, “thank you” when receiving it, “excuse me” when
bumping into someone, and “I’m sorry” when did something they shouldn’t have by
accident. Have the children repeat the phrases after the puppets as a way of reinforcing
them.

2- This is the way we wash our hands- teach the children the proper way to wash your
hands, by running your hands under the water, applying soap, gently scrubbing, and
washing all the soap off. Tell them the appropriate times to wash hands, such as after
using the toilet or before eating. Use this song to help them remember, sung to the tune
of “Row, row, row your boat”:

“Wash, wash, wash your hands

Play our handy game.
Rub and scrub and scrub and rub.
Germs go down the drain, hey!”

3- Sneeze Simulation- Fill several balloons (one for each child) with confetti. Blow up
the balloons but do not put a knot in them. Ask each child to hold their balloon tightly
until you say “Sneeze”. At that time they will let the balloons go and see all them fly
around the room, dumping the confetti everywhere. Tell them this is similar to what
happens when they sneeze! Next have them help to sweep up the confetti. Messy but it
does get the message across that they need to cover their mouths when they sneeze.

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Snack Time- Manners Trail Mix

1- Give each child a different type of raisin, nut, dried fruit, chocolate chip, or small
candy. Have them politely ask everyone else to share their snacks so that they can
combine them to make trail mix.

Music- Here’s a song called “Politeness” in three verses that reinforces some of the polite
phrases to use to demonstrate good manners. It is sung to the tune of “If you’re happy
when you know it”, and the lyrics are as follows:

“When my mommy gives me something I say “thank you” (thank you)

When my daddy gives me something I say “thank you” (thank you)
I can see it makes them happy
When I say it so politely
Yes, good manners mean to always say “thank you” (thank you)

If I spill my drink at lunch I say “I’m sorry” (I’m sorry)

When I break something of yours I say “I’m sorry” (I’m sorry)
I can see it makes them happy
When I say it so politely
Yes, good manners mean to always say “I’m sorry” (I’m sorry)

If I bump into someone I say “excuse me” (excuse me)

If I need to interrupt I say “excuse me” (excuse me)
I can see it makes them happy
When I say it so politely
Yes, good manners mean to always say “excuse me” (excuse me)”

Stories- Even though it was originally published in 1936, Munro Leaf’s “Manners can be
Fun” is just as relevant for today’s preschoolers. Children learn to listen, cooperate,
share, and speak politely through reading Leaf’s wholesome text and looking at simple
stick-figure style illustrations.

Reasoning Skills- ask everyone to name a situation where they would want to use proper
manners, like when eating with their family or receiving a gift from someone. If they
can’t think of any situations, propose situations and see if they can think of the proper
manners phrases to use.

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Friday- Manners Mean Consideration and Respect

Circle Time- Try an experiment which involves the children. Ask them to think of the
names of their friends. Then tell them when you say “Go” to tell you the names all at the
same time. Ask if anyone heard anyone else. Then ask them to raise their hands and wait
for their turn to give their answers and see if they all can hear and listen better. Letting
them experience this works much better than talking about how important it is to respect
each others time, and waiting their turn.

Craft- My Placemat

Materials- construction paper, paint, markers, stickers,

1- Give everyone a piece of construction paper in their favorite color. Have them trace
their hand on the center of the page using a marker. Let them decorate the placemat with
paint, markers, or stickers.

2- Print the child’s name at the top of the placemat, or see if they can print it themselves.
Laminate the placemats before using.

Theme Activities-

1- Waiting and Taking Turns- Ask each child about times when they have had to wait.
Have them name those times such as waiting for a grown-up to do something, waiting for
a holiday or birthday, waiting their turn to play with a toy, etc. Also ask how they feel
when they have to wait. Tell them about times you have had to wait and how you felt.
The best part is to come up with ideas to do when they have to wait. Play the game “I
spy”, draw a picture, name their favorite foods, describe or talk about a previous holiday
or event.

2- Toy Exchange- have everyone bring a toy from home that they would be willing to
share. Next place the toys in a bin and let each person pick out a toy to use. Preschoolers
do best with a way to keep track of turn-taking. I suggest using a timer. Let everyone
know that they can play with the new toy for a specific amount of time and when the
timer rings they must put the toy back. Encourage them to thank each other for bringing
in new things to play with and for sharing. Often they will create group play using the
some of the items together in a cooperative way.

3- Dinner party with proper manners- Show the children how to set the table
correctly with their placemats, wash their hands before eating, and pass the food around
the table before serving themselves. Explain that manners are simply being courteous to
others at the table. If they need anything like salt or pepper, make sure they ask using
polite phrases like “could you please pass the salt?” or “thanks for passing the pepper”.
Remind them not to chew with their mouths open and to say “please” and “thank you”.

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Snack Time- Dinner Party

1- For the dinner party, serve rolls or crackers, cheese cubes, small meatballs or Vienna
sausages, carrot sticks, apple slices, and grape juice. It is important to offer a few things
so that they can decide if they want to try something or learn a polite way of saying “no
thank you”. Point here is to have fun while being courteous of everyone around—the
main reason for manners in any culture.

Music- Before the dinner party, sing this song called “Oh, Before I eat my Meals”. It is
sung to the tune of “If you’re happy and you know it”, and the lyrics are as follows:

“Oh, before I eat my meals, I wash my hands (scrub scrub)

Oh, before I eat my meals, I wash my hands (scrub scrub)
Oh, it’s very smart I think,
Sends those germs right down the sink.
Oh, before I eat my meals, I wash my hands (scrub scrub)

Oh, before I eat my meals, I set my place (set set)

Oh, before I eat my meals, I set my place (set set)
I set everything I need,
I feel very proud indeed.
Oh, before I eat my meals, I set my place (set set)

Oh, before I eat my meals, I pass the food (pass the plate)
Oh, before I eat my meals, I pass the food (pass the plate)
‘Cause we know it’s only fair
For us all to have our share.
Oh, before I eat my meals, I pass the food (pass the plate)”

Stories- Children will love reading the book “Little Whistles’ Dinner Party” by Cynthia
Ryland after their own dinner party. The main character is Little Whistle, an adorable
stuffed guinea pig living in a department store that comes to life at night. He decides to
put on a dinner party for all his friends at the store, all relayed in exciting prose and
colorful, inspired illustrations by Tim Bowers.

Reasoning Skills- tell each child to become a member of the “Politeness Police”, and to
kindly remind their family and friends to speak politely when asking for things or
remembering to wash their hands before they eat.

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 Apples
and Fall Ideas

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Materials for FALL Unit

Paint -- red, orange, yellow, green, and brown

White Paper
Fallen leaves, or fake leaves
Construction Paper
Apples for the whole class
Paper Plates
Staples and stapler
Paint brushes
Red Poster board
Poster board
Pipe Cleaners
Tissue paper
Pipe cleaners (all colors and brown)
2 Medium Sized pumpkins
Yarn
Picture’s of each child
Contact Paper
Rice, pebbles, dried beans (for noise maker)
Small pumpkins for the whole class
string
Googly eyes
Index cards
Yogurt
Contact paper
Apple sauce
Hamburg buns or English muffins
Cream cheese
Cinnamon
Vanilla instant pudding or pudding cups
Canned pumpkin pie mix
Food coloring
Large shoe box
Pine cones
Acorns
Markers
Mr. Potatoes head pieces

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Monday- Introduction to Fall

Circle Time- ask everyone to name one thing that changes in the fall, or something about
fall that they always look forward to.

Craft- Fall Tree Painting

Materials- red, orange, yellow, and brown paint, white paper

1- Give each child a piece of white paper. To make the base of the tree, use a paintbrush
to cover one arm and hand including the fingers with brown paint. Press the painted arm
and hand down on the page to make the base of the tree and the branches. Have the
children wash their arms and hands before continuing.

2- To make the leaves, paint the tips of the fingers red, orange or yellow. Press the
fingerprints in the trees for leaves.

Theme Activities-

1- Fall Book of Leaves- show the children different sizes and shapes of leaves. Show
pictures of the trees that the leaves came from, and explain how different trees have
different leaves. Reinforce these differences by making the “Fall Book of Leaves”. Let
each child select their favorite fall color construction paper to make the cover of the
book. Fold the piece of construction paper in half and write the words “My Fall Book of
Leaves” on the cover. Fold two pieces of white paper in half and place them inside the
book. Staple the pages in place. Let each child select 4 different leaves, and make a
rubbing in green, red, orange, and yellow on the pages in the book.

2- Fallen Leaf Garland- bring in fallen leaves and string them along on pieces of string
to make garlands to decorate the room with. This craft requires a lot of leaves, and could
be preceded by a nature walk with the purpose of collecting leaves.

3- Leaf Memory Game- collect a number of pairs of matching leaves from different
trees. Glue the leaves to index cards. Flip over the cards so that the leaves are not
visible, and let the children select two cards at a time to try and find a set of matching
leaves. Continue playing until all the leaves have been matched up.

Snack Time- Edible Apple Designs

This is a snack and art project all rolled into one! Need: apples, yogurt of different
colors (you could buy the kind that is already different colors or add food coloring to
vanilla yogurt), & paper plates.

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Slice the apples in different shapes. Pour a few kinds of yogurt that is different colors or
use vanilla yogurt and add food coloring to it, onto a plate for each child. Give each
child a paper plate to create an edible masterpiece. Show them how to dip the apple into
the yogurt and create prints on their plate. They can eat the yogurt and apple work of art!

Music- here’s a song about the changing leaves on the trees set to the tune of “Wheels on
the Bus” called “Leaves on the Tree”. Here are the lyrics:

“The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown,

Orange and brown, orange and brown
The leaves on the tree turn orange and brown,
All around town.

The leaves on the trees turn yellow and red,

Yellow and red, yellow and red,
The leaves on the tree turn yellow and red,
All around town.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish,

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish,
The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish
All around town.

The leaves on the trees come tumbling down,

Tumbling down, tumbling down,
The leaves on the trees come tumbling down
Down to the ground.

Stories- Lois Ehrlet’s book “Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf” is a perfect companion to the fall
lesson. Using a young child’s perspective, the book traces the life of a sugar maple from
seedling to towering tree with stunning autumn-themed collages.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children what they think makes the leaves turn different colors.
Explain briefly about the changing seasons, and how everything will grow again in the
spring.

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Tuesday- Leaves/Trees

Circle Time- circulate the “Touch and Feel Fall Box” and ask the children to describe
what they feel inside. To make the box, fill a large shoe box with fall items like leaves,
pine cones, acorns, apples, small pumpkins, etc. Cut a small hole in the top of the box for
the children to stick their hands through. After everyone has described an item, take the
items out of the box and show them to the children, naming each as it is presented.

Craft- Leaf Person

Materials- fallen leaves, construction paper, pipe cleaners, markers, googly eyes
(optional)

1- Glue a leaf to the center of a piece of construction paper. Have the children turn that
leaf into a person by adding arms, legs and a neck out of pipe cleaners.

2- Draw a head atop the leaf person. Use googly eyes, if desired.

Theme Activities-

1- Nature Walk- go for a short nature walk around the school or to a nearby park to look
for signs of the changing colors in the trees. Let children gather fallen leaves, flowers,
and other small pieces of nature for use in crafts later in the week.

2- Fall Wreaths- give each child a paper plate and have them paint them brown. After
the paint dries, cut a 3-inch hole in the center of each paper plate. Glue the collected
items from the nature walk to the paper plates. These items can include leaves, pine
cones, acorns, flower petals, grass, etc. Decorate each wreath with a colorful bow and
display in the classroom for the rest of the week.

3- Family Tree- explain how family histories are often charted on trees called the
“Family Tree”. Draw a picture of a tree on a piece of poster board, or let the children
draw their own trees. Have the children bring in pictures of their family members to
attach to the family trees. At the top of the tree, write the child’s last name. Glue the
pictures of the family on the tree in the appropriate places- grandparents at the top,
parents in the middle, children and their siblings at the bottom.

Snack Time- Leaf Sandwiches

1- Using cookie cutters, make leaf shaped sandwiches. Fill the sandwiches with peanut
butter and jam, cream cheese or lettuce with egg salad or cheese.

Music- When singing this song called “Five Leaves”, use real leaves or pictures of leaves
to help children learn counting skills. Here are the lyrics:

“Five little leaves so bright and gay

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Were dancing about on a tree one day (move leaves from side to side)
The wind came blowing through the town (puff out cheeks and blow loudly)
And one little leaf came tumbling down (drop one of the leaves)

(Continue for 4, 3, 2, and 1 leaf)

Stories- Linda Glaser has written a wonderful series of books outlining each of the
seasons, including this one called “It’s Fall”. The young narrator looks at some of the
changes that fall brings to the plant and animal kingdoms though rhythmic text and cut
paper collage-like illustrations.

Reasoning Skills- ask if anyone knows the names of the other 3 seasons, and what makes
them different from fall.

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Wednesday- Apples

Circle Time- go around the circle and ask everyone to name a type of fruit. Use this as
an introduction to apples.

Craft- Stained Glass Apples

Materials- contact paper, tissue paper, leaves or green construction paper, brown pipe
cleaners, yarn,

1- Give each child a piece of contact paper cut out in the shape of an apple. Let the
children decorate the contact paper with tissue paper to form the base color of their
apples.

2- Allow the children to adorn their apples with leaves (real or cut out from green
construction paper) and brown pipe cleaners for the stem. Children can use yarn to create
worms in their apples, if desired. Hang the apples in the window for a stained-glass
effect.

Theme Activities-

1- Apple Taste Test- cut up a number of different types of apples. Blindfold the children
and let them taste the different types of apples, and try to guess which is which.

2- Pass the Apple- play a variation on the game “Hot Potato” with an apple in place of
the potato. To play the game, have the children sit in a circle and pass an apple around
clockwise from person to person while the music is playing. When the music stops, the
person holding the apple is sent to the “apple patch”, which is the area in the center of the
circle. Continue playing until only one child remains.

3- How Many Apples Tall am I- teach children about different ways of measuring
people- inches, centimeters, etc. Get each child to lay down on the ground and measure
how many apples tall they are. Compare everyone’s results on a chart, tallest, shortest,
most common, etc.

Snack Time- Homemade Applesauce

1- Turn a crock pot on to high heat. Peel and core 10-12 apples, and then cut them into
slices. Place the sliced apples in the crock pot.

2- Once the apples have softened, mash them with a potato masher. Add 1 cup sugar and
¼ cup cinnamon hearts or red hot candies. Stir well.

3- Cook for at least 3 hours on high heat. This recipe yields approximately 5 cups of
applesauce. Serve warm in small bowls.

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Music- Here’s a song called “Applesauce” that goes nicely in conjunction with today’s
snack of Homemade Applesauce. It is sung to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”, and the
lyrics are as follows. It can also be done as a chant with appropriate actions:

“Peel an apple, cut it up,

Cook it in a pot, when you taste it,
You will find, it’s applesauce you’ve got!”

Stories- Michelle Knudsen’s “Autumn is for Apples” works well to correlate the fall
theme with the apple theme. She uses cute rhyming verse with simple, clear illustrations
to describe a child’s experience apple picking in the fall, and shows the ways the apple
find themselves into the child’s daily life thereafter.

Reasoning Skills- ask children where they think apples come from. Find out how they
believe apples form new apples, and if no one answers correctly, tell them you’ll teach
them more about apples and where they come from tomorrow.

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Thursday- Apples continued

Circle Time- tell everyone to bring an apple for show and tell. Have everyone present
their apples to the circle, and note the different colors, sizes, and shapes of the apples.
Make a chart on the wall of how many apples are red versus green versus yellow, small
versus big, round versus oval, stem versus no stems, etc.

Craft- Apple Frame

Materials- red poster board or construction paper, brown pipe cleaners, leaves or green
construction paper, pictures of each child (brought from home or taken with a Polaroid
camera), marker

1- Give each child a piece of red poster board or construction paper cut out in the shape
of an apple. Let them decorate the apples with the leaves and pipe cleaners.

2- Glue the photo of the child in the middle of the apple. Write the child’s name in
marker at the bottom of each apple and display on the classroom bulletin board.

Theme Activities-

1- Pretend to be a Leaf – have the children use their imaginations for this one. Have
them imagine that they are a leaf on a tree enjoying a sunny day. Then tell them to
imagine that the wind starts to blow and that they are falling. Ask what and how the leaf
will fall before it hits the grass. They really enjoy this one and it is great for using their
boundless energy.

2- Apple Shakers- give each child two paper plates to paint red. Once the paint has
dried, place the plates white sides facing each other and glue the rims together, leaving a
small hole at the top, and staple around the edges of the plates. Insert a small amount of
noise makers into the hole between the two plates. Noise makers can include dried
beans, rice, small pebbles, etc. Using staples, close up the small hole between the plates,
and attach a green ribbon to the top of the shaker, also using staples. Use the shakers
during the day’s music activity.

3- Apple Seed Guess- teach children about the growth of an apple tree from seed to tree.
Tell them about how the new seeds are inside the apple. Have them guess how many
seeds are in some of the apples they brought for circle time, and cut the apples open to
see if anyone guessed correctly.

Snack Time- Apple Pizza

1- Give each child half a toasted hamburger bun or English muffin. Have them put apple
sauce for the sauce, cream cheese for the cheese, and cinnamon on top for the spice.
Toast the apple pizzas in the oven for one or two minutes to warm the applesauce and to
melt the cheese.

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Music- Here’s a song called “Have you even seen an Apple” that is sung to the tune of
“Have your ever seen a Lassie”. Have the children shake their apple shakers each time
the word “apple” is uttered in the song:

“Have you ever seen an apple, an apple, an apple,

Have you ever seen an apple that grows on a tree?
A red one, a yellow one, a red one, a yellow one,
Have you ever seen an apple that grows on a tree?”

Stories- Zoe Hall’s book “The Apple Pie Tree” is another excellent story to read during
the apple and fall lesson. Two sisters follows the changes of the season via the apple tree
in their backyard, from barren in winter to fruitful in spring with colorful illustrations and
concise text.

Reasoning Skills- ask children if they can think of anything else in their kitchens or
grocery stores that contains apples, like apple juice, apple pie, apple crisp, or apple-
flavored candies.

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Friday- Pumpkins

Circle Time- ask children to name one thing they think of when they hear the word
“pumpkin”. This is like the word association game, and it’ll be interesting to see the
associations children come up with. If they are having trouble, try gently prodding them
for answers, such as “what color is a pumpkin” or “what holiday to pumpkins remind you
of”, etc.

Craft- Painted Pumpkin Patch

Materials- construction paper, orange and green paint, paint brushes, green marker or
cotton swabs

1- Give each child a piece of construction paper. Have them make a fist with one hand
and paint the top of their fist including the fingers and knuckles with orange paint. Press
the painted fist down on the construction paper to make a pumpkin shape. Repeat for as
many pumpkins as desired. Thoroughly wash all the orange paint off before proceeding.

2- Paint one finger green and place a green fingerprint at the top of each pumpkin for the
stem. Thoroughly wash all the green paint off. Once the paint has dried use a green
marker to make a vine connecting the pumpkins. A cotton swab dipped in green paint
may be substituted for the marker, if desired.

Theme Activities-

1- Magic Pumpkin Seeds- cut open a pumpkin and show how the seeds grow inside, like
an apple. Teach the children that’s how new pumpkins grow. Take some pumpkin seeds
outside and scatter them on the ground. They can even say a few magic words if they
like. During the class, sneak out at some point and place miniature pumpkins in place of
the seeds. At the end of the class, take the children back out to the pumpkin patch to
show the magical growth. Let each child take a miniature pumpkin home with them.

2- Paper Pumpkins – Give each child a paper with an outline of a pumpkin shape.
Provide them with orange, black and green crepe paper or tissue paper. Ask them to tear
these into small pieces and crumple them up. Next have them glue the orange pieces into
the outline shape of the pumpkin and the green pieces into the stem outline. They can use
the black pieces of crumpled paper to make a face on their pumpkin to create a jack-o-
lantern.

3- Pumpkin Village – you will need enough mini pumpkins so that each child can have
their own. Tell them they can make a pumpkin village or class and they will make the
people who live there. Provide them with pipe cleaners, yarn to make hairdo’s for their
pumpkin, then provide markers or paint and let them create the face. Once they are
done, have a table cleared for them to display their town pumpkin people. Be sure to put
their names on the bottom and when it is time to take down the display, they can take it
home for a fall decoration.

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Snack Time- Pumpkin Pudding

1- Give each child 1 cup of vanilla instant pudding in a small bowl. Pre-packaged snack
packs of pudding can be substituted, if desired.

2- Next, give each child 2 teaspoons of canned pumpkin pie mix. Have them mix the
pumpkin pie mix with the vanilla pudding using a spoon until it is completely mixed.
(Hint: Pumpkin Pie Spice is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg)

Music- Here’s a song about pumpkins set to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell” called
“The Pumpkins are Here”. Here are the lyrics:

“The pumpkins are here, the pumpkins are there,

The pumpkins, the pumpkins are everywhere.

The pumpkins are up, the pumpkins are down,

The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all around.

The pumpkins are in, the pumpkins are out,

The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all about.

The pumpkins are low, the pumpkins are high,

The pumpkins, the pumpkins all say goodbye.”

Stories- “Apples and Pumpkins” by Anne Rockwell is a great way to connect the
previous day’s lesson on apples with today’s lesson on pumpkins. The story tells of a
young girl searching for the reddest apple and the best pumpkin with her family at
Comstock farm.

Reasoning Skills- ask everyone to name one thing they learned about fall, trees, apples,
or pumpkins during the week.

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Community
Helpers

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Monday- Police Officer

Circle Time- ask anyone if they can name one of the jobs that a police office does- walk
the streets, make sure no one is committing a crime, make sure that people drive
carefully, give tickets for speeding and parking, etc. Use this as an introduction to the
role of the police officer in the community.

Craft- Police Badge

Materials- cardboard, silver aluminum foil, alphabet stickers, glue or tape, safety pins

1- Cut a police badge shape from cardboard. The bottom comes to a point, rounds out
towards the top, and has three points- one on the left, one in the middle, and one at the
right. Give each child a police badge shape.

2- Give each child a small piece of aluminum foil. Have them cover their police badges
with the foil, and fold it over the edges. Use a small amount of glue or tape to affix the
foil to the cardboard.

3- Have each child spell the word “POLICE” with alphabet shaped stickers on the front
of the badge. Glue a safety pin to the back of each badge with hot glue, or thread the
safety pin gently through the cardboard to hold it in place.

Theme Activities-

1- Officer Visit- call your local police station and arrange for the visitor to come to the
classroom and talk to the kids about what it’s like to be a police officer and give basic
safety tips. Let the kids ask questions to the office. This is an excellent exercise for
gaining the children’s trust of the police force.

2- Traffic Light Game—make three traffic lights. (Cut 3 strips of paper about 4 x 12
inches. Draw 3 large circles on them lengthwise to resemble a traffic light. Glue a Green
Circle on one, a Yellow Circle on another and finally a Red circle on the last one. Mount
these 3 lights on their own stick or ruler.)

Have music available to play. Start the music and hold up the Green light. Have the
children march along to the music. Change the “light” to Yellow so they know to slow
down. When you switch to the Red light, they have to FREEZE in place. They really
enjoy this game and the yellow light gives them a little time to settle down which can be
hard at this age.)

3- Police Station -- Set up an activity center to resemble a police station. You will need
props for this such as hat, uniform, badges, pretend cell phones or walkie-talkies, toy car
seat, dolls, paper pads and pencils. Children can take turns performing the duties of
people who work in the Police Station—officers, dispatchers, traffic director, motorcycle

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officer, etc. They can take calls, direct traffic, show parents safe ways for children to ride
in cars, write warning tickets for rule violations (could use manners here such as talking
with mouth full of food).

Snack Time- Traffic Light Crackers

1- Give each child a rectangle-shaped graham cracker. Give them a small amount of
cream cheese or icing to spread on the cracker. Give each child one red M&M, one
yellow M&M, and one green M&M to set up on the graham cracker like a traffic light.
Explain what the three colors of the traffic light mean while decorating the crackers.

Music- Here’s a song called “I’m a Police Officer” sung to the tune of “I’m a Little
Teapot”. Encourage the children to perform actions during the song using the police
badges they made during today’s craft. The lyrics are as follows:

“I’m a police officer,

With my star,
I help people
Near and far.
If you have a problem,
Call on me,
And I will be there
One, two, three!”

Stories- New Yorker illustrator Christoph Niemann has penned an entertaining children’s
book called “The Police Cloud”, which follows the efforts of one young cloud to gain
respect as a new police officer on the force. By pairing simple prose with striking and
charming illustrations, Niemann is able to convey the message that while everyone isn’t
great at everyone, everyone is good at something.

Reasoning Skills- ask if anyone would like to be a police officer when they grow up.
Ask the children what type of training they think it takes to become a police officer, and
what type of person would make the best police officer.

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Tuesday- Firefighters

Circle Time- ask if anyone knows what happens when there’s a fire, who puts it out, and
how they do it. Use this as an introduction to firefighters.

Craft- Fire Painting

Materials- red, yellow, and orange paint, plastic wrap, white paper, black construction
paper

1- Give each child a piece of white paper. Squirt some red, orange and yellow paint on
the paper, and add a few drops of black paint sparingly around the page.

2- Give each child a length of plastic wrap, and have them press the plastic wrap onto the
painted paper. Have them squeeze the paint around to make the colors blend to look like
fire. Pull the plastic wrap off quickly using a vertical pulling motion.

3- Once the paint has dried, decorate the fire scene with a black construction paper cut
out of a house or a fire truck.

Theme Activities-

1- Put the Flames Out- using red, yellow, and orange sidewalk chalk, draw flames on
the sidewalk. Have the children put the flames out by squirting them with a spray bottle
or garden hose or by pouring water bottles on them.

2- Fire Safety Activities- this is an excellent time to introduce some of the basics of fire
safety. This includes teach children how to stop, drop, and roll if they ever find their
clothes on fire, and crawling very low to the ground if they are in a room full of smoke.
Also, perform a fire drill in the class so that everyone knows the procedure in case of fire.
If possible, have a fire fighter visit the class to teach these important safety tips.

3- Fire Fighter dramatic play- let the children dress up as firefighters by wearing big
black boots, old yellow rain jackets and yellow plastic fire fighters hats. Also, make a
fire truck from an old cardboard box. Spray paint the box red, add lights at the front, a
ladder on the side, and an old garden hose at the top.

Snack Time- Fire Truck Cake

1- Make a rectangular-shaped cake and decorate it like a fire truck. Let the children help
ice the cake with red icing, and create wheels from cookies. Make a ladder from black
string licorice or pretzel sticks. Serve the cake with a glass of milk for snack time.

Music- It’s always important for children to learn to dial 9-1-1 if they ever need the help
of the police or fire fighters. Many toddlers have saved the lives of their parents simply

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by remembering this 3-number sequence. Here’s a song called “9-1-1” that is sung to the
tune of “3 Blind Mice”. The lyrics are as follows:

“9-1-1, 9-1-1,
Help is on the way, help is on the way.
If I need help, I know what to do,
I can call the police and the firehouse too.
It makes me feel safe to know what to do,
Dial 9-1-1.”

Stories- “Fire! Fire!” by Gail Gibbons is a more in-depth look at some of the tasks a fire
fighter faces in their daily routine. Gibbons uses concise text and clean, simple
illustrations to detail 4 different areas of firefighting: city, country, forest, and harbor,
while conveying the underlying importance of teamwork on a firefighting squad.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children if they can think of any other ways that the fire
fighters help out in the community other than putting out building fires. This includes
rescuing cats from trees, breaking into places that might be dangerous, putting out forest
fires, and administering first aid.

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Wednesday- Doctor, Nurse, Dentist, Veterinarian

Circle Time- Have everyone bring something from home for show and tell that might be
found in a doctor or dentist’s office or hospital. Have each child explain what their item
is used for, or suggest things it could be used for if they’re not sure. Use this to introduce
doctors, nurses and dentists.

Craft- Fix my Wound

Materials- white paper, paint, markers, Band-aids

1- Have the child place their arm and hand on the piece of paper. Trace an outline of the
hand and arm using a marker. Let the children paint their arms with peach or brown
paint.

2- Instruct the children to paint a wound with red paint somewhere on the arm. After the
paint has dried, cover the wound with Band-aid. Have the children present their pictures
to the rest of the class with a story about how their arm was hurt.

Theme Activities-

1- Good Food, Bad Food- cut out two big teeth from thick white paper. Draw a smiley
face on one of the teeth and a frowning face on the other. Go through magazines to look
for pictures of food, and let the children decide whether food they find is good food or
bad food, and let them place it with the according tooth.

2- Stuffed Animal Hospital- let the children pretend to be doctors and veterinarians by
setting up a stuffed animal hospital in the dramatic play area. Have some students come
in with their stuffed animals and explain the problems to the doctors. Use real medical
supplies like Band-aids, gauze, tensor bandages, and stethoscopes. Let the children
pretend to examine the stuffed animals, and comfort the animals and their owners.

3- Checkup at the Doctor’s Office- Set up a pretend doctor’s office area in the
classroom. Mark off a waiting room where you put books, magazines, toys and chairs.
Next make up a doctor’s kit with toy pretend thermometers, stethoscopes, bandaids, etc.
You can have a man’s white shirt to use for the doctor to wear and another child can
pretend to be sick. Let them take turns being the patients waiting in the waiting room, the
doctor and the patient. Let their imaginations go, watch and listen.

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Snack Time- Apple Mouths with Marshmallow Teeth

1- Slice red apples into wedges. Give each child two apple wedges of similar sizes.

2- Have the children spread peanut butter or cream cheese on one side of each apple
wedge. Give each child a few miniature marshmallows. Set up the marshmallows in a
row on one of the apple wedges.

3- Place the other apple wedge on top of the marshmallows to resemble a mouth with
apple lips and marshmallow teeth.

Music- Here’s a song called “I’m happy I’m a doctor”, sung to the tune of “My bonnie
lies over the ocean”. There are three additional verses for nurse, dentist, and vet. The
lyrics are as follows:

“I’m happy I’m a doctor,

I help to make people well.
I’m happy I’m a doctor,
It makes me feel just swell.
I’m a doctor,
I help to make people well, well, well,
I’m a doctor,
I’m happy, can’t you tell?

I’m happy I’m a nurse,

I help to make people well.
I’m happy I’m a nurse,
It makes me feel just swell.
I’m a nurse,
I help doctors make people well, well, well,
I’m a nurse,
I’m happy, can’t you tell?

I’m happy I’m a dentist,

I help to make people well.
I’m happy I’m a dentist,
It makes me feel just swell.
I’m a dentist,
I help make people’s teeth well, well, well,
I’m a dentist,
I’m happy, can’t you tell?

I’m happy I’m a vet,

I help to make animals well.
I’m happy I’m a vet,

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It makes me feel just swell.
I’m a vet,
I help make animals well, well, well,
I’m a vet,
I’m happy, can’t you tell?”

Stories- Stan and Jan Berenstain created some of the most popular children’s book
characters of all time in their Berenstain bears series. In “The Berenstain Bears go to the
Doctor” they explore and dispel the feelings of fear and anxiety that young children face
when visiting the doctor’s office for the first time with their light-hearted prose and
straightforward, honest tone.

Reasoning Skills- ask about times when they have been to the dentist, doctor visit or
even a hospital. Can they use any of the ideas they learned today to help them on their
next visits?

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Thursday- Letter Carrier

Circle Time- Ask everyone to bring in a piece of mail from home. Make sure they ask if
it’s okay with their mother or father first before bringing the piece of mail, to ensure it’s
not something important. Show the children where the sender and receiver’s address is
listed, and show them the stamp.

Craft- Stamp Card

Materials- white paper, rubber stamps, markers, ink (store-bought or made from recipe
below)

1- Give each child a piece of white paper and instruct them to fold it in half. On the
front, have the children draw a picture of a letter carrier delivering mail to their house.

2- On the inside of the card, have the children use the rubber stamps to create an
interesting and fun design. Also let them use markers or stickers to decorate the card.
Have the child try and write the words “to mommy and daddy, love (child’s name)”. If
they are unable to write themselves, write the words for them.

3- After the cards have dried, place them in an envelope, and write the child’s address on
the outside of the card.

Theme Activities-

1- Post Office Visit- have each child bring their Stamp Card craft to the post office to be
mailed. Take a tour of the local post office, and mail the card at the end of the tour. This
is a great way to teach children about how letters are sorted and how the mail is
delivered. If a tour is not possible, invite a letter carrier to the classroom to discuss their
job, and have them take the Stamp Cards back to the post office to be mailed after the
visit.

2- Deliver the Letters- make a number of small mailboxes from paper each with a
different shape or symbol on it like triangle, circle, square, heart, star, etc. Give each
child a number of shape cutouts or shapes drawn on pieces of paper. Have them deliver
the shapes to their corresponding mailboxes.

3- Post Office Dramatic Play- set up a post office in the dramatic play area by painting a
large cardboard box blue. Cut away the back side of the box, and cut a window in the
front side of the box. Paint the words “Post Office” atop the window. Place a table in
front of the window. Choose one child to the be post office worker, and have them stand
inside the box while the others come to them for envelopes, stamps or stickers, pens,
paper, and ink pads. Consider adding a scale or postal carrier uniform for great
believability.

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Snack Time- Stamp Sugar Cookies

1- Make sugar cookies the night before class. Buy a stamp-shaped cookie cutter from a
local craft supply store, or make your own stamp shapes by using a sharp knife to scallop
the edges of square-shaped cookies.

2- Show children pictures of stamps and how each bears a special picture. Let them
decorate their own stamp cookies with chocolate chips, raisins, small candies, etc. Use a
small amount of cream cheese or icing to affix the candies to the cookie.

Music- Here’s a variant on “London Bridge” that changes the lyrics to suit the task of
writing a letter. Consider adding appropriate actions to each verse and mime them out as
the song continues. The lyrics are as follows:

“Take a pencil, write a letter, write a letter, write a letter

Take a pencil, write a letter, write, write, write, write.

Take the paper, fold it up, fold it up, fold it up

Take the paper, fold it up, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold.

Take the envelope, stuff it in, stuff it in, stuff it in

Take the envelope, stuff it in, stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff.

Lick the envelope, close it up, close it up, close it up

Like the envelope, close it up, close, close, close, close, close.

Write the address on the front, on the front, on the front

Write the address on the front, front, front, front, front, front.

Put the stamp on at the top, at the top, at the top

Put the stamp on at the top, top, top, top, top, top.

Drop the letter in the box, in the box, in the box

Drop the letter in the box, box, box, box, box, box.

Stories- One of Jan Kottke’s additions to the Welcome Books series is called “A Day
with a Mail Carrier”. It is filled with photographs of mail carriers and post offices to give
children a practical introduction to the world of mail delivery.

Reasoning Skills- ask if anyone can think of why we would send a letter or package.
Bring up the idea of communication with others in different cities and countries. Also,
ask if anyone can think of anything that is faster than mailing a letter, electronic mail or
email.

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Friday- Construction worker

Circle Time- Hide a number of construction tools around the classroom before the
children arrive. At the beginning of circle time, give everyone a few minutes to go
around the room and look for the hidden tools. Once everyone has found something,
bring them back to the circle and have them present their tools to the class with an
explanation of what they think the tool is used for.

Craft- Make your own Blueprints

Materials- blue paper, white crayons or pencil crayons, rulers

1- First show the children what a real blueprint looks like. Give everyone a piece of blue
paper and white crayons or pencil crayons. Talk about the shapes that they know and
how to draw these on their paper to make a “blueprint” sketch of the classroom or maybe
their own bedroom. Using rulers can be difficult for younger children but it is an
excellent start to learning how to hold and draw the line. Try having them in teams of
two so that one can hold it steady and the other draw the lines.

Theme Activities-

1- Construction Site Visit- if there is a construction site near the classroom schedule a
visit. Ask the foreman if there are any safe places on the site where the children can
observe the workers. Also, have the workers show the children their tools and some of
the machinery they use to do their job. If a construction site visit is not possible, have a
construction work visit the classroom to speak about their job and show the children their
tools. Have them bring pictures of some of the buildings they’ve worked on.

2- Construction Zone dramatic play- set up a construction zone in the dramatic play
area. Use yellow caution tape to block off the area, and make orange signs that say
“CONSTRUCTION ZONE”. Fill the area with blocks and toy vehicles for the children
to construct with. Let the children wear yellow plastic hard hat and safety goggles when
playing in the construction zone.

3- Community helpers matching game- find a picture of each of the week’s community
helpers in their uniform. Post each picture on the bulletin board. Have the children go
through magazines or through a pre-selected series of pictures to find the objects or
pictures that correspond with the community helpers. Once they find pictures that match,
they can place them with the corresponding community helper on the board.

Snack Time- Cheese Hammers

1- Give each child a small number of pretzel sticks and a few small square-sized chunks
of different varieties of cheese. Let them poke one end of the pretzel through the middle
of the chunk of cheese to create a cheese hammer.

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Music- Here’s a song called “What is my job?” that contains many of the community
helpers and their tasks that were covered throughout the week. It is sung to the tune of
“Are you Sleeping”, and the lyrics are as follows:

“What is my job?
What is my job?
Can you guess?
Can you guess?
I help people get well.
I help people get well.
Who am I?
Who am I?
(have children shout out the answer)

Suggestions for other verses:

I arrest the bad guys.
I put out fires.
I keep your pets healthy.
I deliver letters.
I build new buildings.

Stories- “Machines at Work” by Byron Barton is full of bright, colorful depictions of a

group of male and female multiracial construction workers using a variety of on-site
machines such as dump trucks, bulldozers, cement trucks, and cranes, just to name a few.
The bold illustrations are matched with clear and concise dialogue which proves to be
engaging and interesting for the whole group.

Reasoning Skills- ask everyone what they want to be when they grow up and why. Ask
if anyone wants the jobs covered during the week, or if someone wants to be something
else. If they had to choose one job from the week, what would they choose and why?

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Insects

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Insects

Monday- Caterpillar

Circle time- ask if anyone can name a type of insect or bug. Ask the children their
opinions on these bugs, if anyone likes or dislikes them. Use this to introduce the general
idea of insects, and specifically the caterpillar.

Craft- Caterpillar magnets.

Materials: Pipe cleaners, magic markers, googly eyes, Brown construction paper,
Glitter, mini pompom’s, magnetic strips , glue,

Before you start this attach the brown construction paper to the magnet to make a branch.
First have the kids pick what color they want their caterpillar to be. Then show them how
to wrap the pipe cleaner around the magic marker (this will form the body of their
caterpillar.) Next take each kids caterpillar and tighten the spiral on each end to close the
coil. Next give the kids the glitter, pompoms, and glue to decorate their caterpillars.
Once they are done help them glue on the googly eyes and small pieces of pipe cleaner
for the antenna. Once the eyes and antenna are dry, glue the caterpillars to the magnets on
the side with brown paper. Now the kids have their very own home made caterpillar
magnet.

Theme Activities-

1- Popsicle Stick Caterpillars- after reading today’s story (“The Very Hungry
Caterpillar”), let the children make their own caterpillar. Provide each child with a
popsicle stick and pompoms (green ones are perfect if you can find them). Let them glue
the pompoms to the stick, add googly eyes and a pipe cleaner antennae. Easy for all ages
to do. **Alternatively, you can use an old fashioned wooden one piece clothespin that
has the slit at one end. Let them paint these with bright colors. After the paint dries, give
them a piece of tissue paper that they can squeeze into the slot to make the wings. Give
them a pipe cleaner to tie at the fat end to make antennae. Either of these are fun
activities for all ages in your preschool from 3-5.

2- Healthy Eating with the Very Hungry Caterpillar- use today’s book “The Very Hungry
Caterpillar” to talk to the children about healthy and unhealthy food. Ask what happened
to the caterpillar when he ate the healthy food versus the unhealthy food, and see if
anyone has experienced the same thing themselves. Teach the children to make healthy
food choices more often, like strawberries, plums, oranges, or apples, instead of cakes,
cookies, and chocolate.

3- From caterpillar to butterfly- give every child a paper tube to decorate any way they
please. Once they have finished glue on 2 black dots for eyes, attach a pipe cleaner
antenna. Also have the eyes facing you and glue a small loop to the opposite side of the
tube so they can be hung in a window. Have the children place the tubes into plastic

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grocery bags to represent the chrysalis. Next cut out wings from clear contact paper and
give each child a pair. Have them attach glitter and pieces of tissue paper to decorate the
wings leaving a small piece of the protective paper still on the contact paper so you can
peel later to attach to the tube. Peel the piece of protective paper off of the wings and
attach them to the paper tubes in the bags while kids are enjoying their snacks. After
snack time give each child their chrysalis and have them open them up and see what is
inside they now have a lovely sun catcher to give to mom and dad.

Snack Time- Melon Caterpillars

1- Using a melon baller, make small balls of pink and yellow watermelon, honeydew
melon and cantaloupe. Give each child a toothpick or wooden skewer and have them
make caterpillars using the balls of melon by gently pushing the balls of melon onto the
wooden sticks. Try to establish patterns in the colors, if possible. Use this as a counting
exercise. Be very careful when eating the melon caterpillars as the ends of the wooden
skewers can be quite pointy.

Music- Here’s a song about caterpillars called “The Little Caterpillar” set to the tune of
another famous insect song, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”. The lyrics are as follows:

“The little caterpillar crawled up into a tree,

Spun his cocoon and slept so quietly.
All through the winter he didn’t make a sound,
Dreaming of his new life when he would fly around.
While he was sleeping the snow did gently fall,
Winter came and went then he heard the robin’s call.
Come on little butterfly, out of your cocoon
Spread your wings and fly for me while I sing this tune.”

Stories- No unit on insects would be complete without reading Eric Carle’s much-loved
book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. Filled with lovely colorful illustrations and simple,
reassuringly repetitive prose, Carle’s book follows a caterpillar that eats and eats his way
through the week, with holes appearing in the thick pages as he steadily munches.

Reasoning Skills- based on today’s story, we learned that caterpillars like to eat leaves.
Ask the children what they think insects eat, and if there are any creatures they can think
of that eat insects.

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Tuesday- Butterfly

Circle Time- ask the children what they think has happened to their caterpillars from
yesterday’s “Magical Transformation” activity. Let them open the paper bags and
witness the magical transformation for themselves. Explain the basics of the transition
from caterpillar to butterfly.

Craft- Crape paper butterflys.

Materials- Crape paper, clothespins, markers, spray bottle, pipe cleaners white paper, and
glue.

1- Give each child a piece of white paper with the outline of a pair of wings.. Let them
lay crape paper on any way they please to cover the whole outline of the wings. Next
spray the paper with water and watch as the color leaves the crape paper and transfers to
the white paper. And hang to dry.

2- Next, give each child a clothespin. Have them draw a face on one of the flat sides of
the clothespin. Glue on the pipe cleaners for antenna. Cut out the wings and attach the
cloths pin to the center using a small amount of glue. They now have a butterfly chip
clip.

Theme Activities-

1- Butterfly Wing Match- before the class, create and cut out many large sets of
different colored butterfly wings. Cut each butterfly in half lengthwise, and have the
children match the sets of wings. You can also use this exercise to name the colors found
on the butterfly wings.

2- Butterfly footprints and hands mural- let the children dip their feet in shallow
dishes of washable paint, and have them place footprints on a big white piece of paper
and have the hand prints go the other way. Leave a bit of space between the left and right
foot for the body of the butterfly. After the paint has dried, let the children decorate the
footprints and hand prints to resemble butterflies with paint and markers, and display the
mural in the classroom for the remainder of the week.

3- Where's The Bug--For this activity you will need index cards, poster board and two
sets of matching stickers of butterflies and of caterpillars. Glue one set of stickers all
around the poster board. Use the matching set of stickers and put each sticker on its own
card. Next let the children choose an index card and then find the matching one of the
construction paper.

Snack Time- Orange Butterflies

1- Peel some oranges and divide each into halves. Take two pieces at a time from each

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orange half being careful not to separate the pair of orange slices. Gently pull each pair
of orange slices apart without breaking the seam in the middle so that they can sit flat on
a plate and resemble a butterfly’s wings.

2- Give each child a pair of orange slices and some string licorice to make the body and
antennae. Let them decorate the butterfly wings with raisins, chocolate chips, sprinkles,
or M&Ms.

Music- Here’s a rewrite of the classic children’s tune “Skip to my Lou” called “I’m a
butterfly”. Here are the lyrics with corresponding actions written in parenthesis:

“I’m a butterfly, come fly with me (flap imaginary butterfly wings)

I’m a butterfly, come fly with me
I’m a butterfly, come fly with me
Come fly with me, my darling.

A butterfly, come drink nectar with me (mime drinking nectar from a flower overhead)
A butterfly, come drink nectar with me
A butterfly, come drink nectar with me
Drink nectar with me, my darling.

A butterfly, now sleep with me (place palms together and tilt the head to one side, resting
on the hands)
A butterfly, now sleep with me
A butterfly, now sleep with me
Come sleep with me, my darling.”

Stories- “Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors” by Petr Horacek is beautifully

illustrated picture book that teaches children about colors via one girl’s adoration of a
brightly colored butterfly. While the story may be a simple one, the true gift here are
Horacek’s layered painting techniques in bold acrylics.

Reasoning Skills- talk about the magical transformation of the caterpillar to the butterfly.
Find out where they think the wings come from. Ask if there are any other magical
transformations they can think of in nature, like acorn to tree or egg to chicken.

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Wednesday- Ladybug

Circle time- play "I Spy" with the children by proposing that you spy something that is.

Craft- Paper Plate Ladybug

Materials- paper plates, black construction paper, black and white paint, brass fasteners,
hole punch

1- Have each child paint one paper plate red. While the paint it drying, have them cut out
a circle of black construction paper, and cut that circle in half to form two wings. After
the paint has dried, paint black spots on the red paper plate, allowing those to dry before
proceeding.

2- Punch holes in the top corners of the wings and the red paper plate using a hole punch.
Punch corrosponding holes in the top corners of the wings, and fasten the two together
using the brass fasteners. Now the wings can flap in and out to expose the shell and body
beneath!

Theme Activities-

1- Ladybug rocks paint and count- ladybugs provide an excellent opportunity for
practicing basic counting skills by counting their spots. Give each child a small rock and
some red paint. After painting the rocks red, assign each person a number between one
and five. Give them black spots, and make sure everyone puts the right number of spots
on their ladybugs. Show the children two different ladybugs and ask which has more
spots and which has less, and so on.

2- Ladybug finger puppets- collect as many red milk jug lids as possible, and bring
them to class. Give each child a milk jug lid and a black pom pom. Have them glue
googly eyes to the pom pom, and the pom pom to the edge of the lid. Use markers to
make the details on the shell including one, two, or three spots. Place a small ball of play
dough or clay on the back side of the lid. Let the children put on a puppet play with the
ladybugs by pushing their thumbs into the dough or clay.

3- Potato print ladybug mural- slice potatoes in half and dip them in red paint to make red
ovals on a large piece of white paper. After the paint has dried allow the children to add
black detailing to the ladybugs with a black marker. Use paint to add other garden details
like grass or flowers to the mural.

Snack Time- Ladybug Cupcakes

1- Make vanilla cupcakes and white frosting. Add red food coloring to the frosting, and
spread it on the cupcakes. Give the children a slice of black licorice and chocolate chips
or brown M&Ms to decorate their ladybugs.

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Music- Here's a cute little ditty called "Ladybug" set to the tune of "This Old Man".
Have the children sing this song while playing with the Ladybug finger pupper from the
"Theme Activities" section. Here are the lyrics:

"Ladybug, show your spots

You have so many black dots
We will count all the spots
On your shiny shell.
ONE (have everyone with one spot wiggle their puppet)
Lady, your spots are swell."

Repeat for two and three spots.

Stories- In continuing with the idea of using ladybugs to improve counting skills, try
reading Melanie Girth's popular children's book "Ten Little Ladybugs". By reading the
rhyming text about the ladybugs that disappear one by one, children will have another
opportunity to practice basic counting in a fun, hands-on manner while taking in the
delightful illustrations.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children if they can think of any other animals that can teach
them counting lessons, such as the octopus for its arms or spider for its legs. Ask if they
can think of any other animals that have spots, and if those animals would be easier or
harder to practice counting on than ladybugs.

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Thursday- Bees

Circle Time- tell the children about the different types of bee dances, and show videos of
the dances from nature documentaries if possible. Play some music and let the children
make up their own bee dances.

Craft- Honeycomb Hive

Materials- honeycomb cereal, bee stamp, ink, construction paper, markers

1- Give each child a piece of construction paper and a small amount of honeycomb
cereal. Glue one piece of cereal in the middle of the page, and glue others around it in a
honeycomb shape. Show children pictures of real hives for inspiration.

2- After the glue has dried, decorate the honeycomb hive with bees by either using a bee
stamp or fingerprints decorated with markers to resemble bees.

Theme Activities-

1- Flight of the Bumblebee drawing- give each child a piece of white paper with a small
drawing or sticker of a bumblebee in one of the top corners. Let everyone choose a
crayon in their favorite color. Play a recording of Rimsky-Kosavok’s “Flight of the
Bumblebee” and have the children draw the flight paths of their bees throughout the
duration of the song without lifting the crayon from the page.

2- "Bee" like the bees in the hive- show the children pictures of video footages of bees
surrounding a bee hive. Explain a bit about the social rankings of bees from queen to
worker, and how every bee contributes to the greater whole by doing their small task.
Appoint someone to be the Queen Bee (there can even be a costume consisting of
antennae or wings) and have them use their worker bees to accomplish a task together
such as cleaning up one of the Play areas.

3- Outdoor Bug Hunt- take the children on a bug hunt outside. Carefully trap the bugs
using jars or plastic cups with lids. Make sure to avoid trapping bugs like bees, wasps, or
hornets that will sting when angered. Place the bugs inside an aquarium in the classroom
to observe their flight patterns, behavior, and interaction with other bugs. Set them free
at the end of the week.

Snack Time- English Muffins Bumblebees

1- Give each child half a toasted English muffin. Let them spread a thin layer of honey
and peanut butter, if desired. Be very careful when using peanut butter, and avoid it
altogether if anyone has a severe allergy.

2- Color some sweetened shredded coconut yellow and black with food coloring. Let the
children sprinkle the coconut on their English muffins to resemble the stripes on the back

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of a bumblebee. Black licorice or pretzels can be used for antennae.

Music- Here’s a song to sing on the outdoor bug hunt called “We’re going on a bug
hunt”, sung to the tune of “We’re going on a bear hunt”. The lyrics are as follows:

“(chorus) We’re going on a bug hunt!

We’re going to catch some big ones.
What a sunny day.
Are you ready? Ok!

Oh my! A bee!
A black and yellow bee,
Flying over the flowers,
Buzzzzzzzz….

(repeat chorus)

Oh my! An ant!
A tiny black ant,
Crawling through the grass,
Shhhhhh……

(repeat chorus)

Oh, my! A grasshopper!

A big green grasshopper,
Hopping around the tree,
Boing, boing……

(repeat chorus)

Oh, my! A butterfly!

A pretty orange butterfly,
Floating in the sky,
Whooshhhhhh….

(repeat chorus)

Oh my! A spider!
A big black spider,
Creeping on the tree,
Creep, creep……

(repeat chorus)”

Stories- Denise Brennan-Nelson's "Buzzy the Bumblebee" follows the story of Buzzy, a

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young and impressionable bumblebee who must relearn to fly after abruptly forgetting
one day. This charming message of overcoming obstacles and thinking positively told
through sharp rhyming prose is illusrated in a vibrant, charming way by Michael G.
Monroe.

Reasoning Skills- inform the children that they'll be letting the bugs go at the end of the
week. Ask why they think the bugs can't survive forever in the aquarium. Let the
children guess and see what they think the bugs they've trapped will need to eat. Feed
ants drops of honey or apples, grasshoppers fruit and vegetables, ladybugs fruit and
boiled potato, crickets vegetables and crackers. Don't forget to add a few drops of water
to a leaf every day and place it in the aquarium so the bugs have something to drink.

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Friday- Ants

Circle time- show the children pictures of various types of bugs including all the bugs
covered during the week and others like cricket, grasshopper, spider, etc. Let the children
play a variation on “20 questions” by choosing one type of bug and having them ask
questions until they guess what bug you’re thinking of. Try questions like “what color
am I?” or “what noise do I make?”

Craft- Make your Own Bug

Materials- cardboard egg cartons, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, construction paper, tissue
paper, cotton balls, various other craft supplies from the craft supply cupboard

1- Cut the cardboard egg cartons into sections of three. Give each child a section of egg
carton and let them design their own bug using the craft supplies of their choosing. After
everyone has finished their bugs, have them present their new bug to the class, including
the bug’s name and special abilities.

Theme Activities-

1- Ant Farm observation- display an ant farm in the classroom to display the behavior
and tunneling of the ants. Let the children play in the sandbox and pretend to dig tunnels
like the ants.

2- Ants at a Picnic- paint a giant piece of white paper with a red and white checkerboard
pattern to resemble a classic picnic tablecloth. After the paint has dried, let the children
decorate the tablecloth with fingerprint ants. To make fingerprint ants, have the children
dip their fingers in black paint or ink and place three prints in a horizontal line. After the
paint or ink has dried, the children can add legs and antennas to their ants with a black
marker.

3- Ant Hill- ask if anyone has seen an ant hill. Show the children pictures of ant hills,
and explain that’s how ants live. Let the children create their own ant hills with paper
cups and paper plates. Paint the paper cups brown, and paint the paper plates green.
Once the paint has dried, glue the paper cups rim side down onto the paper plates, and
decorate with raisins or plastic ants purchased from a toy store.

Snack Time- Lemonade, Watermelon and Ants in the Sand picnic

1- Have a picnic the in classroom or outside on the grass by throwing down an old
tablecloth or bed sheet. Serve lemonade and watermelon sliced into small wedges and
“ants in the sand”. To make ants in the sand, place a few graham crackers in a plastic
Ziploc bag and let the children crush the crackers with their hands. Add some raisins to
make the ants in the graham cracker sand.

Music- the classic children’s song “The Ants go Marching” is perfectly suited to the

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lesson on ants. At the beginning of the song, have two sets of two children march
together, and with each successive verse, add another child to the marching. The lyrics
are as follows:

“The ants go marching two by two

Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching two by two
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching two by two
The little one stopped to tie his shoe
They all go marching down to the town,
Boom, boom, boom.

Other verses:
The ants go marching three by three
The little one stopped to climb a tree.
The ants go marching four by four
The little one stopped to shut the door.
The ants go marching five by five
The little one stopped to take a dive.
The ants go marching six by six
The little one stopped to pick up sticks.
The ants go marching seven by seven
The little one stopped to go to heaven.
The ants go marching eight by eight
The little one stopped to shut the gate.
The ants go marching nine by nine
The little one stopped to scratch his spine.
The ants go marching ten by ten
The little one stopped to say “the end”.”

Stories- Judy Allen and Tudor Humpries have written a number of paperbacks in the
"Backyard Books" series, including "Are you an Ant?" It features bold text set against
vivid watercolor illustrations of details of daily life of an ant, addressing the reader
directly in way that makes the children feel very involved and engaged in the material.

Reasoning Skills- ask everyone if they could be a bug what type of bug they would like
to be and why. See if they can cite specific examples like "I would like to look at flowers
all day and make honey" or "I would like to fly around and eat grass". Look at some of
the good things insects do for us, like making honey.

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Circus

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 Materials
Supplies

Coloring pictures of carousel horse's and animals

hat box
removable glue sticks (the kind to make sticky notes with)
blanket
crayons
play dough (different colors)
paper bags
panty hose
packing peanuts
paper plates
glue
glitter
yarn or string
construction paper
large sheets of paper
clown nose
double stick tape
balloons for creating balloon animals
Shoe boxes of different sizes from kids to adults
Paint
markers
crayons
cut out pictures of circus themes (clowns, animals, jugglers, etc.)
glue
pompoms
pipe cleaners
Bean bags
Poster board
clown hat
balloon's (regular and helium.)

Food-

Rice cakes
cream cheese or frosting
food coloring
licorice
ice cream
ice cream cones
m&m's
sprinkles
animal crackers

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popcorn
lemonade
Animal cookie cutters
chocolate-hazelnut spread
cream cheese
marshmallows

Books-

"If I ran the Circus" Dr. Seuss

"Tree Ring Circus" Adam Rex's
"Clifford at the Circus" Norman Bridwell
"Circus" Lois Ehlert
"Harold and the Purple Crayon" also in "Harold's Circus"

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Monday-

Introduction to the circus –I like to decorate the circle time area or reading area to
look like a circus tent. If you have a parachute that you use for other activities, you
can use that and hang it from the ceiling to look like the dome of a circus tent. Or,
you can use multicolored crepe paper strips, group them together in the center of
the ceiling and then pull them out randomly across the ceiling and fix them to the
walls or ceiling edges.

Circle time- ask if anyone has been to the circus. Ask what things they think of when
they think of the word "circus", and what kinds of animals and performers they would
expect to find there. Be sure to include Ringmaster, clowns, trapeze artists, jugglers,
elephants and any others that the children may not mention. Some may have never seen a
circus so if you can find pictures, it would be helpful also.

Craft- Circus Cars and Trucks

Supplies- Shoe boxes of different sizes from kids to adults. Paint markers, crayons, cut
out pictures of circus themes, glue, pompoms, pipe cleaners.

1- Break the kids into small groups of 2 -4.

2- Give each group different sized shoe boxes some large, some small (the larger
boxes work better for big groups and the small sizes for the pairs and small
groups).
3- Tell each group a theme for their car or truck--some ideas: a clown car, magician
car, an animal truck (for larger classes break down the animals into groups such
as lions, tigers, elephants, monkeys, horses, etc.).
4- Have them work together to decorate the cars and trucks to match their theme.
Supply each group with materials; if low on markers explain the idea of asking
nicely to use one from another table and waiting their turn for it.
5- When all the groups have finished and the trains have dried, place them on a table
in a row and explain how when the circus comes to town the ringmaster leads the
cars and trucks in a row to their next town.

Theme Activities-

1- Bean Bag Toss- the children will love this fun game where they throw bean bags at a
clown face aiming for the mouth. Draw or paint a clown face on a piece of poster board,
and cut out a large hole in the clown's mouth at least twice the size of the bean bag used
for the bean bag toss. Tape the poster board clown to something sturdy, such as a chair.
Have the children stand a few feet away from the clown and let them try and throw the
bean bag through his mouth. To increase the difficulty, have the children stand further
back from the clown.

2- Circus Matching Game- cut out a number of pairs of circus shapes like clowns,

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elephants, ringmasters, striped tents, popcorn, etc. Place all the cutouts in a clown hat
and let the children match and sort them in a number of different ways, like by color, by
size, by animal/human/object, etc. You can also remove one thing from the hat and let
the children sift through the remaining cutouts to see which one is missing. You can give
clues to which one is missing like "an animal that's gray" or "something tasty we eat at
the circus", etc.

3- The Air in there- this is an activity to teach children the basics of air and how it's used
to blow up balloons. Show the children a deflated balloon and ask if anyone knows what
it is. Show them how it's inflated using air, and slowly let the air out of the balloon.
Place a noisemaker over the end of the balloon to show what air can do. Also, if
possible, obtain a few helium balloons to demonstrate the different weights of air verses
helium, and how the balloons float in the air compared with the regular balloons which
sink back to the ground.

Snack Time- Rice Cake Balloon Treats

1- Give each a rice cake and a small amount of colored frosting or cream cheese colored
with food coloring. Have them frost their rice cakes the color of their choosing. Use a
piece of licorice string for the balloon's string.

Music- Here's a song that will help build the anticipation for the circus field trip that will
occur later in the week. Sung to the tune of the "Farmer in the Dell", it's called "We're
going to the Circus", and the lyrics are as follows:

"We're going to the circus,

We're going to the circus,
On Friday afternoon
We're going to the circus.

Additional verses:
We'll see the horses trot,
We'll hear the lions roar,
We'll see the elephants march,
We'll watch the acrobats,
We'll eat some popcorn."

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Stories- Dr. Seuss' classic "If I ran the Circus" is a perfect book for the Circus unit, as it
uses the traditional Seuss humor and wit to teach the children to dream big. It follows the
hopes of young Morris McGurk and his elaborate dreams and expectations for creating a
world-class circus.

Reasoning Skills- as a reflection on the Dr. Seuss book "If I ran the Circus", ask the
children what they would do if they ran their own circuses.

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Tuesday- Clowns

Circle Time- tell the class a couple of jokes. Ask if anyone else knows a funny joke or
story they'd like to share. This introduces the idea of making people laugh, which is the
job of the clown. How do they like to make people laugh? (Some children are also
frightened of clowns so this could be discussed also.)

Crafts - Clown Mask and Hat

Materials – paper plates, markers, paint, glue, glitter, yarn or string, and construction
paper (any colors)

Let each child pick out a piece of construction paper. If using white paper give each
child a piece. Spread out the markers, paints, glue and glitter. Tell all the children to
decorate the paper any way they want but to make sure it is colorful. Allow to dry.

Hand out the paper plates or the material chosen for the masks. While handing out the
masks mark roughly where the children’s eyes are on the masks to give them a reference-
- black dots from a marker work best to give them the idea. Now ask them to decorate
the masks like clown faces (make sure to have pictures for ideas as some kids may not
know what a clown looks like), allow time to dry.

Once the mask and paper are done drying roll the paper into a cone or tube letting the
child choose their shape and tape the paper to make a hat. Add a piece of yarn from
above each ear and tie under their chin. Next cut the holes for the eyes and make sure the
children can see out of them add 2 pieces of string by each ear to tie at the back of the
head to secure the mask. (Placing this string just above the ears so it rests like glasses
makes it easier for them to keep on.) have them do their best clown impressions for the
class.

Theme Activities-

1- I am a Clown --Make life size clowns by having the kids lay on large sheets of paper
and tracing their outlines with crayons.(make sure to write the students name on the back
somewhere to they can each take theirs home) Have the kids work in pairs to decorate
the clowns working together to accomplish the goal of making it as silly and bright as
possible. This helps build their social skills and group problem solving skills. Another
ways to add some fun is have the pairs work on one clown for 5 minutes and have them
freeze and move to the next clown. You will have a classroom of clowns that have been
decorated by all the students. Have the kids point out what spot they worked on, on each
clown.

2- Pin the Nose on the Clown- this is a variation on the classic children's activity "pin
the tail on the donkey". Place a large picture of a clown face missing the nose on the

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wall. Give each child a red pom pom with a piece of double-sided tape on it. One at a
time, blindfold the children, spin them around a few times, and point them in the right
direction of the clown face to see if they can pin the noses in place.

3- Clown Visit- invite a clown to the class to entertain the children and make animal
shapes from balloons. They can even teach the children how to make a basic animal.
Often parent volunteers enjoy doing this and offer creative ideas of their own.

Snack Time- Ice Cream Clowns

1- Place a scoop of colored ice cream on a paper plate. Stick an ice cream cone to the top
of the scoop for the clown's hat. Give the children M&Ms, sprinkles, and candies to
make clown faces on their ice cream.

Music- Here's a fun song that lets children show off their silly clown sides. To begin,
have them stand in a circle. They can wear their clown hats and masks from today's craft
while singing the song, which is called "Did you ever see a clown?". It's sung to the tune
of "Did you ever see a Lassie?", and the lyrics are as follows:

"Did you ever see a clown,

A clown, a clown?
Did you ever see a clown
Move this way and that?
Did you ever see a clown
Move this way and that?
Move this way and that way,
Move this way and that way.
Did you ever see a clown
Move this way and that?"

One at a time have the children move into the center of the circle and demonstrate their
silly clown dances. Repeat the chorus between each child's clown dance.

Stories- Adam Rex's "Tree Ring Circus" features a silly cast of circus characters that live
within a tree. The book follows a cumulative structure pattern and features outstanding,
detailed illustrations with oil paints and mixed medias that the kids will enjoy looking at
up close.

Reasoning Skills- ask if anyone can think of any examples of clowns at places other than
the circus, like in movies or on television.

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Wednesday- Circus Animals

Circle time- one at a time, let the child act pretend to be a circus animal and have the
others try and guess what the animal is. This can also be played with animal crackers, by
giving each child a cracker and having them act out that animal. The person who
correctly guesses the animal gets to be the next recipient of a cracker, and the next to act
out an animal to the group.

Craft- Paper Bag Elephant Puppet

materials- paper bags, gray paint, gray construction paper

1- Give each child a paper bag and have them paint it gray. While the paint is drying, let
the children cut ears and a trunk from gray construction paper.

2- Attach the trunk and ears to the paper bag with glue, tape, or staples. To finish off the
puppet, draw eyes and a smiling mouth.

Theme Activities-

1- Animal Trot Game- Pick one child to be the Ringmaster. That child will announce
which animal is going to parade. Have the other children get on all fours and go around
the circle the way the Ringmaster announces. (For example, he/she may saying galloping
ponies, slow elephants, roaring tigers, etc.) Play a game similar to musical chairs on
carpet squares instead of chairs. Play music and the Ringmaster takes away one square
while the children gallop fast or slow. When the music stops, the children must sit
down in the circle on carpet squares. Make sure there is one less square than children
playing. The one who isn't sitting on a carpet square becomes the new ringmaster and the
current Ringmaster joins the circle. Do this until each child has had a turn being the
Ringmaster.

2- Circus Parade mural- draw a large "Big Top" style tent on the far right of long piece
of white paper. Let the children glue animal crackers to the white paper as if they were a
parade on their way to the "Big Top". After the glue has dried, let the children add
additional detailing to the mural with markers, crayons, paint, etc. Display the mural in
the class for Circus week.

3- Elephant Masks- give each child a paper plate with a hole cut out of the middle.
Have them paint the plates gray. While the paint is drying, give everyone a piece of
panty hose stockings, and show them how to fill the stockings with packing peanuts to
form the trunk. Pull the opening of the trunk through the hole in the center of the paper
plate and tape in place. Let the children decorate their masks to their liking, and add a
piece of elastic to the back so that it stays on their face.

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Snack Time- Popcorn and Lemonade

1- Serve traditional circus foods like popcorn. For a beverage, serve fresh lemonade.

Music- Let the children wear their elephant masks while they sing "One Elephant Went
out today". To begin the song, have everyone sit in a circle on the floor. Select one child
to enter the middle of the circle and act like an elephant. As they dance around the circle,
everyone sings:

"One elephant went out one day,

Upon a spider's web to play,
He/She had such enormous fun
That he/she called for another elephant to come."

The child in the center of the circle selects another child to come and join them. They
skip and dance around together while everyone sings:

"Two elephants went out one day,

Upon a spider's web to play,
They had such enormous fun
That they called for another elephant to come."

Continue until everyone is in the center of the circle. After everyone has joined in the
fun, end the verse with this line:

"But the web it broke and they all fell down."

And everyone carefully falls to the floor.

Stories- Norman Bridwell created one of the most popular characters in children's
literature with Clifford, the Big Red Dog. "Clifford at the Circus" shows how Clifford
uses his size to his advantage and saves the day when the circus comes to town, with the
underlying message that teaches to help out when they are needed.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children some of the reasons they think animals would like
living with the circus, and some of the reasons they might not.

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Thursday- More animals

Circle Time- for a warm-up, let the children pretend they are tigers and lions. Pretend to
be the ringmaster and hold up hula hoops for the children to jump through. Attach some
red and orange ribbon to the edge of the hoop as flames.

Craft- Paper Plate Lion Masks

materials- paper plates, orange, yellow, red, and brown yarn, markers, crayons, glue,
construction paper

1- Give each child a paper plate to be painted yellow. After the paint has dried, instruct
the children to glue the strips of colored yarn around the outside edge of the paper plate
to make the lion's mane.

2- Using markers or paint, have the children draw lion's eyes, nose, and mouth. Cut out a
small hole in each of the eyes so that the children can wear their lion faces as masks.

Theme Activities-

1- Play Dough Animals- purchase cookie cutters in the shape of circus animals. Give
each child a small amount of different colors of Play Dough and have them make cut outs
of their favorite animal shapes. Use this to teach the children about different colors and
animals.

2- Class Carousel- Give each child a print out of a blank horse or carousel creature.
Have each child decorate the picture however they please, making sure that they know
what ever is out side the lines will be cut away when the picture is done. Using the hat
box (either already decorated or by the class as a whole) show the kids how they will
attach the creatures. Moving around the table turn each child’s creature over and cover in
glue (removable glue sticks work well then each child can take home their creation at the
end of the week if not have the parents come view the classroom creation) attach one
horse below and the other above this mimics the way a carousel looks when in motion the
outside is down when the inside is up slightly staggering the top and bottom rows helps
as well. When all the creatures have been attached and the glue has dried spin the box so
they can see their creation at work.

3- Circus Parade- have children bring stuffed animals from home to have a circus
parade. Set up the toys in a line, and play circus music while the jump march the animals
along. They can even let the animals jump through hoops along the way, with the parade
ending in the dramatic play area. Use a blanket to tent off the corner of the area and call
it "The Big Top".

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Snack Time- Animal Cracker Train

1- Give each child one large piece of graham cracker. Have them spread cream cheese or
chocolate-hazelnut spread on one side of the graham cracker. Slice a thin slit in each
marshmallow for the children to slip them onto their graham crackers to form the wheels
of the train.

2- Have the children stick the animal crackers in the cream cheese or chocolate-hazelnut
spread.

Music- Have the children stand in a circle to sing this song, "Leaping Lions". While
singing, encourage them to act like the animal they're singing about. Set to the tune of
"10 Little Indians", here are the lyrics:

"Leaping, leaping, leaping lions,

Leaping, leaping, leaping lions,
Leaping, leaping, leaping lions,
Leaping, leaping, leaping lions,
All around the ring.

Other verses:
Prancing horses
Dancing elephants
Silly monkeys

Stories- Lois Ehlert has brought her traditional cut paper collage style to dazzling new
heights with "Circus". Featuring such amazing creatures as the world's biggest elephant,
lizards, lions, snakes and an acrobat team that perform the human pyrmaid, Ehlert
entertains with ringing prose and bold, colorful shapes featured against a dramatic black
backdrop.

Reasoning Skills- ask the children why they think they have animals in the circus.
Answers can include to do the work that people aren't able to do, to show animals off at a
time when they didn't have zoos. Use this to introduce a bit of the history of a traveling
circus and the functions it used to serve in society.

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Friday- Circus People

Circle Time- Play "20 Questions" using circus people as the subjects. Think of a circus
performer, and let the children ask questions about who it is. The children to correctly
guess it get to think of the next circus performer for everyone else to guess. Make sure
they whisper their choice in your ear first so you can help them if they get stuck
answering a question.

Craft- Circus Mix Snack Bag

materials- paper bags, stickers, paint, markers, crayons

1- Give each child a paper bag and let them decorate them with the various art supplies.
Use these bags later in the day when the "Circus Mix" is served.

Theme Activities-

1- Ring Master Megaphone- tell the children about the role the ringmaster plays at the
circus. Give each child a piece of colored paper and have them decorate it with stickers,
glitter, and markers. Show them how to roll their pieces of paper into a cone shape, using
tape to keep it in place. Have each child think of a special circus phrase and call it
through their megaphones.

2- Circus Performer Dramatic play- simulate the jobs of some of the people at the
walker, have the children walk on a piece of rope on the floor by putting one foot directly
in front of another. They can even use their arms for balance. For the juggler, give the
children soft small beanbags or lightweight balls and have them practice their juggling.
For the lion tamer, have one child pretend to the tamer and one child the lion. Have the
tamer instruct the lion to perform different tricks, including jumping through the hoop.
The children can wear their lion masks from earlier in the week, if desired.

3- Circus Day - This is the day that the children put on their own circus. Use the area
that was set up on the first day with the parachute or streamers. Teacher will be
Ringmaster (the teacher will have index cards with a number on each card from one to
ten as well as the same number of corresponding dots.) The children can choose what
they want to be and the Ringmaster will give each one time to perform! The performer
will draw a card from the Ringmaster’s basket and will have to do their performance as
many times as is on the card. (An alternative is to show children video footage of some
famous circuses.

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Snack Time- Circus Mix

1- Combine 4 cups popped popcorn, 1 cup animal crackers, 1 cup pretzels, and 1 cup
chocolate chips or M&Ms. Give everyone a small amount in their snack bags.

Music- The song "Let's all go to the Circus today" is set a very familiar tune to children's
ears- "Mary had a little lamb". The lyrics are as follow:

"Let's all go to the circus today,

The circus today, the circus today,
Let's all go to the circus today
and watch the animals play.

See the lions jump through the hoops,

jump through the hoops, jump through the hoops,
See the lions jump through the hoops
at the circus today.

Other verses:
See the monkey jump up and down....
See the seals spinning balls....
See the bears ride bicycles.....
See the elephants stomp around...."

Stories- Curious little Harold of the book "Harold and the Purple Crayon" also in
"Harold's Circus". One night with his favorite coloring instrument in hand, Harold
begins drawing a tightrope on the wall wehich leads to a circus-themed adventure for the
resourceful young lad.

Reasoning Skills- ask everyone who they would want to be at the circus and why.

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