Week of 6/22-6/23

Theme: Water (week 3)

Overall Essential Question: Where does water come from?

Overarching Vocabulary: puddle, stream, pond, lake, ocean, river

For this week, we are going to continue focusing on answering the essential question, "What can water do?".

The activities below will help you find that answer!

Vocabulary:

Tornado, Water, Scientist

Activities:

1. Homemade Tornado

-Materials: two plastic bottles (ex: 2 liter soda bottle), water, duct tape

optional: add food coloring, add glitter, small objects like rubber animals or Legos.

-How to Make it:

1. Fill one bottle 2/3 full of water.

2. Add food coloring and/or objects to the bottle. You can omit this step if you want.

3. Securely connect the empty bottle to the bottle with water using duct tape.

4. Flip the bottles over so the water-filled bottle is on top. Gently swirl the bottles in a clockwise direction to create a tornado.

2. Wash toys in a bucket

-Materials: Bucket or water table, water, soap

Optional: washcloth, sponge, and/or toothbrush

-Directions:

1. Pick some toys around the house that can go in water.

2. Fill a bucket with soap and water.

3. Let your child wash the toys using a sponge, toothbrush, and/or cloth.

3. Fill The Bucket Game

-Materials: water, 2 buckets, sponge

-To Play:

1. Fill 1 bucket with water and place the other empty bucket farther away.

2. Challenge your child to use the sponge ONLY to fill up the other bucket. (They need to soak the sponge, transfer the water to the empty bucket, and squeeze!) You can create lines on the inside of the empty bucket so your child can set a goal as the water fills. Fun variations include timing your child or adding a second sponge!

Week of 6/15-6/19

Theme: Water (week 2)

Overall Essential Question: Where does water come from?

Overarching Vocabulary: puddle, stream, pond, lake, ocean, river

For this week, we are going to focus on answering the essential question, "What can water do?".

The activities below will help you find that answer!

Vocabulary:

Move, Float, Sink, Sound, Experiment, Scientist, Same, Different

Activities:

1. Root Colors:

-Materials: water, cup/ jar, food coloring, white carnation (or celery or anything with a root)

-To Play: Fill clear cups with water and add food coloring to make various colors. Place one white carnation in each cup. Watch the carnations turn colors over a couple of days!

2. Water Xylophone

-Materials: water, glasses of the same size, metal spoon

-To Play: Fill glasses with different amounts of water. Gently, tap the spoon on the different glasses. What do you notice about the amount of water vs the sound created?

****Be aware this activity uses GLASS bottles so parents/children should be extra cautious and use it at their own discretion.****

3. Water Sound

-Materials: water, jars

-To Play: Wet your finger and run it around the top of the jar to make sound! If you use a glass bottle you can also blow over the top to make sound too!

-Watch this video for inspiration!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAEXH9DAH98

****Be aware this activity uses GLASS bottles so parents/children should be extra cautious and use it at their own discretion.****

4. Water Whistles Mybaba.com

-Materials: cup of water, straws, scissors

-To Play: Partially cut a straw a couple inches from the top. Place the long part of the straw into the cup of water (keeping the bend in the straw). Gently blow into the straw. Once you hear a whistle, try lifting the straw in and out of the water.

5. How Does Water Move?:

-Materials: water, bucket, different shaped items (ie: colander, funnel, tube...)

-To Play: Use the different resources to see how fast or slow water moves. Observe and talk about the force and pressure of water. How does the water change based on the utensil being used?

6. Tin Foil Boats

-Materials: water, tin foil, container

-To Play: Make some boats out of tin foil! Make different sizes and shapes and then float them in a sink, tub, or water table. Once you have one that floats well then you can experiment with seeing how many items it takes to sink it. Add coins or small toys that are not too heavy, one at a time. Count to see how many it took to make your boat sink. This activity can be repeated several times. You can redesign your boats to see if they can hold more items each time before it sinks.

**See Miss Dukas' page to watch Mrs. Hynes create some boats!

*Look at Ms. Gove's page to see Miss Campbell complete this activity*

7. Sink and float:

-Materials: water, bucket, items from around your house [that you are comfortable allowing your child to submerge in water :) ].

-To Play: Fill a bucket with water. One at a time, add them to the water. Which ones sink? Which ones float? Why? Put the ones that float in one pile and the ones that sink in another.

**With Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsACAYspm40&feature=youtu.be

8. Water Races

-Materials: water, dropper or straw, aluminum foil, wax paper, paper towel

-To Play: Watch the different ways water moves on various types of surfaces. Drop water onto aluminum foil (crinkled & smooth), wax paper, paper towel. What happens when you tilt it? Can you make a ramp? How far can you move the water? Try to race water droplets using the different surfaces!

9. STEAM Challenge: Social distancing watering plants:

-Materials: water, plant (or tree, flower, bush?), any materials you can find to help water move (no hose!)

-To Play: Your plant needs water to survive! However, you and your plant are social distancing. Using an engineering and design process, how can you water a plant that is 6 feet away?

10. Stop the flood:

-Materials: water, toy, container, anything you can find at home to build a barrier

-To Play: Put an object on the ground or in an empty container. Build a barrier/wall that could keep the object safe from moving water. Try it out by slowly pouring small amounts of water towards the item.

11. Play Doh Water Maze:

-Materials: water, playdoh, container, ball or marble

-To Play: Create a maze out of playdoh or clay in a plastic food container or tub. Add 1 tbsp of water and try to direct the water through the maze by moving the container.

*Look at Ms. Gove's page to see Miss Campbell complete this activity*

12. Waves:

-Materials: water, tub or container, toy, (optional: whisk, water bottle)

-To Play: Float your toy in the tub of water. Make waves or currents to move the item to a different location. Use a spoon, squirt with a water bottle or use a whisk to move the water. Can you make a whirlpool and make your toy move in circles!?

Week of 6/8-6/12

Theme: Water (week 1)

The focus for our last few weeks of school is going to be on water.

Overall Essential Question: Where does water come from?

Overarching Vocabulary: puddle, stream, pond, lake, ocean, river

For the first week, we are going to focus on answering the essential question, "how does water change?". The activities below will help you find that answer!

Vocabulary:

Melt, Freeze, Evaporate, Liquid, Solid, Steam/Gas, Change, Water, Ice, Dissolve, Empty, Full

Activities:

1. Alphabet Water Painting Activity:

This is a fun activity outdoors to learn letters.

Materials Required:

• Color chalk

• Bucket or bowl

• Water

• Paintbrush

Steps:

1. Write letters using colored chalk outside.

2. Fill a small bucket or bowl with water.

3. Have your child dip their paintbrush in water and trace the letters.

Other ways to play:

• You can write numbers instead of letters.

2. Dissolving in Water

• This is an opportunity to experiment with different solids (Salt, sugar cubes vs granulated, etc) and warm vs cold water . This activity will take place over time/a few days.

• Materials needed: small paper cups of water, salt, sugar (cubes or granulated)

• Steps:

1.Fill each cup with a small amount of water. With a marker, make a line on the cup at the top of the water. Have your child put a different item in each cup (i.e. salt in one, sugar cube in another, warm water/cold water, etc.).

2.Over a period of time/days, observe what happens to the water and compare it to the original line. Has the water gone below the line? Does one cup have less than another? Is the water "evaporating"?

3.When the water has evaporated see what remains in the cup.

3. Cornstarch Oobleck/Jello Slime

• Another way to experiment with adding a material to water is to make oobleck. Using a cornstarch to water ratio of 2:1, put cornstarch and water together on a tray or in a bowl. Be prepared...this can be messy. :) Have your child experiment with how the cornstarch changes the water.

• You can also try this jello slime recipe:

https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/brands/stemkitchen/recipe/585652/edible-jell-o-slime

4. Paint a W with water and an I with ice.

• Materials: homemade water colors (water and food coloring)

• Steps:

1. Make some homemade water colors by mixing together water and food coloring.

2. Freeze some of the colored water in ice cube trays and keep some at room temperature.

3. Once the colored water has frozen, you can use these for painting. You can paint on paper inside or outside on the driveway.

4. Paint a "W" with the Water and an "I" with the Ice.

5. Experiment with how different sizes of ice melt faster or slower.

• Materials: different sizes of ice cubes (small, medium, large.) You can do this by using different sized containers or by filling your ice cube tray with different amounts of water.

• Steps:

1. Place different sized ice cubes in water and have your child observe what happens. Do the small ones melt faster than the big ones?

2. You can also try this outside for perhaps faster results. Place different sized ice cubes on the ground and observe what happens.

6. Ice sculpture/ building

Materials: various containers for freezing water, water, and a freezer

Steps:

1. Freeze a variety of shaped containers full of water. You could add food coloring to the water for fun.

2. Have your child build with the ice blocks that he or she created.

3. Discuss freezing and melting.

4. Observe if the objects stick together easily or slide apart.

7. Does it absorb?

• This activity works on predicting and testing different materials to see which ones absorb water the best

• Materials: paper towel, dryer sheets, wax paper, aluminum foil, plastic baggie, toilet paper, cotton balls, cardboard, baby wipes, sponge, notebook paper, paper baggie

• Steps:

1. On a tray place one of the materials above. For example, place a paper towel on the tray.

2. Pour a small amount of water on the paper towel.

3. Ask your child what they notice about the water. Did the paper towel absorb it?

4. Try again with another material and compare the results.

5. Encourage your child to come up with materials you might try to see if the material absorbs water.

8. Comparing Volume:

Materials:

measuring cup, containers of different shapes and sizes, food coloring (if you would like to color the water)

Steps:

1. Fill various containers with exactly two cups of water.

2. Add a drop of food coloring to each container. This will just help to make the appearance of the water more vivid.

3. Ask your child which container has the most water. Most likely your child will guess the container with the water level closest to the top. This is a great way to introduce the concepts of empty and full.

4. Then pour each container of water into the measuring cup. Your child will be surprised to find that each container was holding exactly the same amount of water. You can then explain that water takes the shape of the container that is holding it.

9. Color mixing:

Clip a large piece of paper up in an outside area. Have your child draw a picture with markers. Have your child use a spray bottle to spray the picture and see how the colors mix together. What colors do they make when they mix?

10. Ice Cube in a Baggie:

This is a way to observe how water changes forms.

Materials: an ice cube and a plastic sandwich baggie

Steps:

1. Place an ice cube in a plastic sandwich baggie.

2. Tape the baggie to a window.

3. Ask your child what they observe happening to the ice over time. (melting)

4. Once the ice has melted, continue to have your child make observations about what is happening to the water in the bag.

11. Mystery Letter:

Materials:

white paper, white crayon, watercolor paints (or food coloring and water)

Steps:

1.Simply write some letters on a white piece of paper with a white crayon. Depending on your child's ability, you may want to write the letters in his or her name. For more difficulty, branch out to new or less familiar letters. :

2. Have your child paint the paper with watercolor paint. You can make watercolors by mixing food coloring and water.

3. Have your child identify the letters as he or she paints. If your child knows the letter names, have him or her identify the letter sounds instead.

Week of 6/1-6/5

Theme: Spring (Pond Life)

The focus for this week is activities based on the book In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming.

Vocabulary:

Pond, Tadpole, Goose, Dragonfly, Turtle, Fish, Bird, Raccoon, Crawfish, Muskrat

~Math Activities~

*Please look below for picture examples of some activities*

1. Sand Table - Turtle Eggs

-Materials: ping pong balls (or caps of containers) with numbers written on them, sand (or dirt outside)

-To Play: Hide the "turtle eggs" in the sand or dirt and have your child dig for eggs, by telling them a number and having them find the 'egg' with that number on it.

2. Animal Patterning:

-Materials: Printable of animal pictures. If you don't have a printer you can also draw pictures of each animal (an easy picture to represent fish, bird, lily pad)

-To Play: Practice patterning the images from In the Small, Small Pond. Depending on your child's developmental level you can create a pattern for them to match or copy (duck, frog, duck, frog). Be sure they start from the first picture and add second, third, etc. You can put out a pattern for your child to continue (duck, fish, turtle, duck, fish, turtle....). Can your child make a pattern for you to complete? What about an AABBAABB pattern (fish, fish, frog, frog, fish, fish,...).

SEE LINK BELOW for template:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/146QWEBPUbish0OsPh3DNlMnhh3YV39JAsS6XHmVdEt8/edit

3. Lily Pads:

-Materials: green paper, sticker or crayons, markers, scissors

-To Play: Cut out 12 lily pads from green paper. Write numbers 1-12 on them (1 number per lily pad). Using stickers, place that amount of stickers on each lily pad (Lily pad #9 will have 9 stickers). If you don't have stickers, cut small shapes out of paper to glue to the lily pads. Bring the lily pads outside and practice counting/ identifying numbers while hopping to each lily pad. Then count in reverse! Can you order the numbers 1-12 and then hop as you count? Can you count & hop backwards!? You can try this with numbers 1-5 or as a challenge write numbers 11-20 on the back and try again!

Printable lily pad template:

https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/55048171?access_key=key-18lm153k2vt0kn9ql84s

Other fun ways to play:

*Say a number from 1-12 and have your child (and you) run to that lily pad. Stand on the lily pad and then hop around the room that many times (For example, if the lily pad had a number 5 on it... hop around the room 5 times)

*Come up with different ways to hop/move. Pick a numbered lily pad and choose how everyone is going to hop when they are on that lily pad (giant steps, twirls, skip, gallop, jump backwards, blast off like a rocket when counting backwards)

Other ways you could use the lily pads:

*Write alphabet letters on them instead, spread them around the room and then hop to the different letters.

*Draw rhyming word picture pairs on the lily pads (picture not word). Draw one rhyming word on each lily pad. Have them hop from one picture to the other picture that rhymes with that word (ex. hop... and stop, star and car)

4. Duck/Animal Race:

Materials: Magnatiles (or Lego pieces or draw 12 square spaces on paper or cardboard), dice (or slips of paper with dots on it from 1-6), 2 rubber ducks (or other small toy animals)

How to play: Lay out 12 magnatiles or draw a board with 12 square spaces. (You can have as many rows as needed for your family to play together) Take turns rolling the dice and moving your duck (or other animal) that many spaces until everyone has reached the end.

The rules of this math game are simple but you can play it two ways.

Version 1: First person to have their rubber duck reach 10 wins and it does not matter if you roll a number that gives you a number greater than 10. For example, your rubber duck is on the 6th magnetic tile and you roll a six. You would still win because your duck will be on (and past) the 10th magnetic tile.

Version 2: First person to have their rubber duck reach 10 wins but to win you have to roll the exact number needed to add up to 10. You can’t move your rubber duck if you roll a number that would take you past 10. For example, your rubber duck is on the 6th magnetic tile and you roll a four. You would win! If you roll a three you can move your rubber duck three magnetic tiles and roll again when it’s your turn. But if you roll a five your rubber duck has to stay put and wait to roll again when it’s your turn.

5. Egg Carton Shell Counting

-Materials: Egg cartons or cupcake liners, green paint (or markers)

-To Play: Paint the top of an egg carton green and paint a number on each shell. Separate each piece when dry (you should have 12 "shells" if you use a dozen egg carton). Have children count out small items to place under the shell to correspond with the number. You can use items such as buttons, M&Ms, or miniature turtle counting manipulatives.

~ELA Activities~

*Please look below for picture examples of some activities*

6. Animal Recall/Action Words:

Materials: None

After reading the story, see if your child can recall some of the animals from the story and make a list. Then ask them if they can move like that animal (i.e. wiggle like a tadpole, waddle like a duck).

7. In the Small, Small Pond Retell

-Materials: crayons, paper (big preferred), (printed images from the story)

-To Play: Have your child draw a pond. Practice retelling the story by drawing the things that are living in the pond. You can also do this by gluing the pieces from the story into the pond. You can talk about placement, would you place the fish close to the geese? Why? Why not!?

Colored: http://www.kizclub.com/storypatterns/smallpond(C).pdf

Black and White: http://www.kizclub.com/storypatterns/smallpond.pdf

8. Beginning Sound - Pond Activity

-Materials: Blue paper (you can also use a blue towel, sheet or blanket)

-To Play: Cut out the blue paper in the shape of a pond. Talk about what sound the word “pond” starts with.../p/. Then go and look for things in your house that start with the /p/ sound and put or place them in the pond!

-Extension/Initial sound quack: (no materials needed). Say a word. Kids will quack like a duck for each word that starts with /d/. Pick other words/sounds and the children can make sounds or act out motions that that animal makes.

With Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZTaZyg1sHQ&feature=youtu.be

9. Living VS Nonliving Sort

-Materials: 2 bowls or boxes, small variety of objects/ toys gathered ahead of time (pretend animals, toy people, cars, inanimate objects)

-To Play: Talk with your child about how living things need 3 things: food, air & water to stay alive and grow!

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWBrusrCmX4. Then sort the objects into 2 categories: living and nonliving.

10. Water Play Pond

-Materials: water, bucket (small pool or large Tupperware container work best), ladle or spoon, various things to place in the water

-To Play: Pour water inside a large bucket to create a "pond". Place random objects inside. Have your child "fish" for the objects you describe! You can describe them by: *color "Find all the things that are yellow!", *sound "Find something that begins with the sound /p/", *rhyme "Find something that rhyme with 'log'" or *description vocabulary "Find the thing that you use to eat soup with!".

~Science Activities~

11. Pond Life Water Observations

-Materials: Collect water from different sources: pond, ocean, collected rainwater, your kitchen sink, small containers with lids

-To Play: Place each type of water in a clear, plastic container with a lid. Look at the differences in the water. Discuss the different colors and items that are or are not floating in the water etc. What happens when you hold them under a light or sunlight? Does the water move the same way? How do they smell? If you have magnifying glasses, look at samples of water under it!

12. Nectar Relay Race:

-Materials: Dropper, Bowl, yellow liquid to be your nectar (pineapple juice, water with yellow food coloring), ice cube tray or egg carton to be a honeycomb), a flower bigger than your bowl decorated by your child.

-How to Play: Pretend you are a bee collecting nectar from flowers! Make a large flower with your child and let them decorate it. Then, put pineapple juice or yellow food coloring mixed in water into a bowl. Take your flower, bowl of nectar, and an ice cube tray (honeycomb) outside. Place the flower at least five feet away from the ice cube tray (honeycomb). Have a fun relay race by sucking up the nectar with your dropper, and then racing it over to the honeycomb and back. Then, the next person can take a turn! Cheer each other on while you play! (Fun Tip: Leave the left over "nectar" outside and observe if any bees or insects come to drink!)

~Songs~

I’m a Little Raccoon

Tune: I’m a Little Teapot

I’m a little raccoon, prowling around,

(use your hands like little paws and make a cautious prowling motion)

I hunt for food without a sound.

(look left and then right exaggerating the movement of your head and then make a

shhhh motion with your finger to your lips)

A mask on my face and a bushy tail,

(point to your eyes and then swish one arm behind you like a tail)

Let’s see if you can spot my trail!

(point at someone and then put hand on forehead like a salute and gaze at the floor like you are looking for pawprints)

With Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqRX6vVtb1g&feature=youtu.be

Turtles

One baby turtle alone and new,

Finds a friend, and then there are two.

Two baby turtles crawl down to the sea.

They find another, and then there are three.

Three baby turtles crawl along the shore.

They find another, and then there are four.

Four baby turtles go for a dive.

Up swims another, and then there are five.

With Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYGVAcOQ2So&feature=youtu.be

I’m a Little Turtle:

Tune: Make your own

I’m a little turtle with a shell,

I have four legs, a head, and a tail,

When I get so scared, I want to hide.

I pull my head and legs inside!

With Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YC7OCd94rA&feature=youtu.be

Super Simple “Five Little Ducks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZw9veQ76fo&feature=youtu.be

“There Was A Little Turtle”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gScCxYHc7Bk&feature=youtu.be

Super Simple “Five Green Speckled Frogs”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtX8yVEF0-w&feature=youtu.be

Week of 5/26-5/29

No School 5/25: Memorial Day

Theme: Spring (Insects/Bugs)

The focus for this week is Insects and Bugs!

Vocabulary:

Insect, bug, fly, hop, crawl, caterpillar, butterfly, spider, cricket, worm, ants, bee, dragonfly, fly, grasshopper, ladybug, firefly, spots, stripes, wings, legs, antenna

~Math Activities~

*Please look below for picture examples of some math activities*

1. Five Little Ladybugs:

*Look on Ms. Gove's page for a video of Miss Campbell completing this activity*

-Materials: Cut out five red circles. Draw numbers 1-5 on each. Add black dots for ladybugs.

-To Play: Have your child help you line up the numbers in order 1-5. Say the poem together. After each line, take away one number (5, 4, 3….)

5 little ladybugs climbing up a door

One flew away then there were four

4 little ladybugs sitting on a tree

One flew away then there were 3

3 Little ladybugs landed on a shoe

One flew away then there were two

2 little ladybugs looking for fun

One flew away and then there was 1

One little ladybug sitting in the sun

1 flew away and then there was none

Note: If you would rather print out ladybugs instead of drawing them, you can use this optional printable:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19YQqXeq4gXO2zTBNjERLd2gwnmH2NxMb/view?usp=sharing

2. Shape Bugs:

-Materials: paper, shapes cut out of construction paper, glue

-To Play: Cut out different sized shapes out of construction paper. Have your child use the shapes to create their own insect. Talk about how insects have 6 legs, 3 body parts, and 2 antennae. They can have wings too! Does your bug crawl, hop, fly? For a challenge, you can have your child cut out their own shapes. If your child is having difficulty assembling a bug independently, you could make an outline for them to match the shapes to.

***Shape Bugs with Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WoWgMOC0uI&feature=youtu.be

3. Swat a Bug:

-Materials: bug print out (link below or make your own bugs), fly swatter or one made out of paper/cardboard (recycled cereal/pasta box, etc), dice or number cards.

-To Play: Print out or make bugs. Roll the die or flip over a number card and have your child swat the insect with that number. For an extra challenge use 2 dice and add the dots together.

Link to print out: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OkelQvbdtoBQPGIUpayiYfVIzfavOaTu4mDnfKl9ZCk/edit?usp=sharing

***Swat a Bug with Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ6HDBTcVfI&feature=youtu.be

4. Number Bug Spray:

-See “alphabet bug spray” in the literacy section and try the same activity with numbers! This is also a great activity for developing hand strength as a prerequisite for writing!

***Number Bug Spray with Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2wKdzTbg1I&feature=youtu.be

5. Bug Number Cards:

-Materials: Print out the link below (or make your own bugs and numbers)

-To Play: Cut out squares and have your child match the number of bugs to the number of dots. When finished, can you order them? Which one has the most? Fewest? Choose 2 groups and ask "Which group has more? Less?".

Link to print out: https://www.playdoughtoplato.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Bug-Number-Cards-for-Kids.pdf

~ELA Activities~

*Please look below for picture examples of some activities*

6. Beginning Sounds Movement Game:

-Materials: None

-To Play: Ask your child to move like different bugs/insects by giving them the initial sound. For example you can say, “Move like a bug that starts with the /l/ sound (ladybug), Move like a bug that starts with the /b/ sound (bee)”. As a reference for your child you can google different kinds of bugs so they have a visual to help guide their guesses.

7. A is for Ant:

*Look on Ms. Gove's page for a video of Miss Campbell completing this activity*

-Materials: brown paper, black paint (if you don't have paint you can use black crayons, black pom poms, or cut out small black circles and have your child glue them.)

-To Play: Cut out a letter “A” for your child. Have them make “ants” with their finger and black paint. They can pretend the “A” is an “anthill” and make the ants march up and down the anthill. You can sing "The Ants Go Marching" while crafting!

8. Ladybug Name Headband:

-Materials: 2 Large pieces of paper for headband (if you do not have red, you can color a white piece of paper red), small circles for the ladybug’s spots, bigger circles for your child’s name (one letter per circle), two big eyes, paper or pipe cleaners to make antennae

-How to Create: cut out two long strips of paper to make your child’s headband. If you do not have red paper, have them color the headband red. Next, they will write the letters of their name using a white crayon onto black circles (one letter per circle). Once they have written their name, they will glue them onto the front of their headband. Then, give them the large eyes you created together to glue to the top of the headband. Next, you can give them the smaller black circles and antennae to finish decorating their ladybug. Finally, measure their head and staple, glue or tape their headband together.

Modification: If your child is learning to identify their name, write the letters of their name onto the headband first and have them match their letter circles to the letters you wrote. If your child is learning to write their name, write the letters in a light color like yellow, and have your child trace the letters with a white crayon.

9. Alphabet Bug Spray:

-Materials: chalk, spray bottle filled with water

-To Play: Draw a bunch of bugs using chalk and write a letter in each bug. Call out a letter or letter sound, and your child can spray it with "alphabet bug spray". To make it simpler, use only letters in your child’s name. For an added challenge write simple words in the bugs.

***Alphabet Bug Spray with Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4tctYnKQes&feature=youtu.be

10. Insect writing letter tray:

-Materials: 1. sand (or salt, sugar, shaving cream, rice... etc) *See Mrs O'Leary/Miss Howard's page for demonstration of this activity* (Room #2)

2. Print out bug/insect vocabulary from Miss Parks' page

-To Play: Make letters/shapes/lines on a tray. Start by seeing if your child can imate lines (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, cross and X). Then move on to imitating shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle). If your child has mastered these, you can move on to letters. Try some letters that start with Miss Parks' vocabulary list for this week. Check out Mrs. O'Leary's demonstration on her page! Meet your child where he/she is developmentally :)

~Science Activities~

11. Go on a Bug Hunt:

-Materials: None

-To Play: Go outside for a bug hunt. See how many different bugs you can find. You can take a picture of them or when you go inside, your child can draw a picture of the bugs they saw. Practice “observing” and not “interacting” with the bugs. From the “Grow Network” Website:

• Count the legs and talk about how all true bugs have six legs.

• Identify the parts of the insect: head, abdomen, and thorax.

• Discuss how bees and butterflies help plants grow and fruit ripen.

• Ask them to sketch the bug they found or build it out of Legos®.

• Give them a journal to write down a few interesting facts about the bug.

12. Painting Rocks:

-Materials: Rocks (smooth ones work best), paint

-To Play: Use different color paints to create bugs.

~Songs~

Youtube: “Here is the Beehive”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Bs9xydba0

The Buggy Wuggy

***Buggy Wuggy with Ms. Mogana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNK270m3XwI&feature=youtu.be

Tune: Hokey Pokey

(right arm bent)

You put your right wing in,

You put your right wing out,

You put your right wing in,

Then you shake it all about.

You do the Buggy Wuggy

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

(left arm bent)

You put your left wing in,

You put your left wing out,

You put your left wing in,

Then you shake it all about.

You do the Buggy Wuggy

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

(head)

You put your head in,

You put your head out,

You put your head in,

Then you shake it all about.

You do the Buggy Wuggy

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

(two fingers on top of head)

You put your antennae in,

You put your antennae out,

You put your antennae in,

Then you shake them all about.

You do the Buggy Wuggy

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

I'm a Firefly

Tune: I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a little firefly

Look at me!

I'm as happy as I can be.

See my light flicker and shine so bright

Now watch me fly into the night!

Insect Song

Tune: The Wheels on the Bus

The firefly at night goes blink, blink, blink,

Blink, blink, blink... blink, blink, blink.

The firefly at night goes blink, blink, blink,

All around the town!

(Other Verses)

The bees in the flowers go buzz, buzz, buzz...

The ants in the grass go march, march, march...

The crickets in the leaves go chirp, chirp, chirp...

The caterpillar in the field goes creep, creep, creep…

Week of 5/18-5/22

Theme: Spring (Caterpillars & Butterflies)

The focus for this week is Caterpillars and Butterflies!

We will be focusing on the life cycle of a butterfly: 1. Egg 2. Caterpillar 3. Cocoon/Chrysalis 4. Butterfly

Vocabulary:

Caterpillar, Butterfly, Cocoon, Egg, Leaf, Chrysalis, Color Words, Size Vocabulary (Large, Medium, Small), Sequential Vocabulary (First, Next, Then, Last)

~Math Activities~

*Please look below for picture examples of all math activities*

1. Create a Caterpillar!

-Materials: egg carton (or tongue depressor, clothespin), paint (or markers), glue, any other materials for decorating (pom poms, tissue paper, googly eyes, pipe cleaners)

-To Play: Using 1/2 of an egg carton (cut horizontally) and have your child decorate it to make a caterpillar. You can create a pattern, count the parts of the caterpillar. When finished, see #2!

2. Feed the Caterpillar!

-Materials: pom poms (or bits of leaves), dice. *Using the caterpillar from #1 OR create your own with a paper towel roll, green paint or marker, glue, scissors

-To Play: Roll the dice and feed the caterpillar that many pieces of food (leaves or pom poms). To make it more challenging, your child can choose to roll 2 dice at a time.

3. Smallest to Biggest Seriation

-Materials: paper, scissors, glue, materials for decorating (markers, googly eyes, etc), pre-cut circles (4 or 5 different sized circles).

-To Play: Have your child order the circles from smallest (caterpillar head) to largest. Depending on your child's level, they can draw and cut out the shapes independently. Also, you can add or remove as many circles as necessary. Decorate it as a caterpillar!

4. Caterpillar Egg Counting

*Look at Ms. Gove's page for a video of this activity being completed by Miss Campbell*

-Materials: paper cut in the shape of a leaf (10), small objects for counting (pom poms, beans, small rolled up tissue papers)

-To Play: Prepare 10 leaves with one number per leaf. Give your child 1 leaf at a time and have them identify the number on it. Have your child count that many small objects "caterpillar eggs" and place them on the leaf while counting. To modify this, if your child is still learning to count and identify numbers, focus on numbers 1-3 or 1-5. You can also draw small dots on the leaf for your child to match. For example, for leaf #3 draw 3 small dots and your child places 3 pom poms on those dots. As a challenge, give your child all the leaves at once and have them order them from 1-10. Also, give them leaves with teen numbers!

Note: If you would rather print out the leaves instead of drawing them, you can find a copy below.

5. Color Matching

-Materials: butterfly (or flower or anything spring related) paper cut outs, crayons or markers, mix of small colored items (Stickers, beads, buttons, pom poms)

-To Play: Practice color matching, fine motor, and counting! Begin by writing the color names on your butterflies. Next, color each butterfly together. Take out the small mixture of different colored items and have your child start matching colors to the corresponding butterfly. Listen to and talk with your child as they match colors. Once all items have been matched, count them and see which color butterfly has more? Which has fewer?

~ELA Activities~

*Please look below for picture examples of activities 6-8*

6. C is for Caterpillar

-Materials: different colored paper, scissors, glue

-To Play: Cut out a large letter "C" and have your child decorate it as a caterpillar. Add eyes and antennae. Observe caterpillars, what patterns can you add? Lines, zigzags?

7. Caterpillar/Butterfly Snack

-Materials: Your child's favorite snack items (small fruits, cereal pieces)

-To Play: Turn snack time into a creative time and help develop your child’s language skills. Pick out some of your child’s favorite snacks and lay them out. Have your child make a caterpillar or a butterfly with the snack foods. You can make small caterpillars with cereal or bigger ones with crackers. Ask your child different questions about their creations when they are done. Throughout the week, mix up the snack choices you give so they can make different ones each day. To modify this, you can cut an outline of a butterfly out of a napkin to help your child create their butterfly. They can use their power fingers (thumb and pointer fingers) to pick up small snacks to go around the outline. As an extension, see if your child wants to create a life cycle of a butterfly with their snack foods. (Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly). Send us pictures of your favorite ones!

8. Caterpillar Name

*Look at Ms. Gove's page for a video of this activity being completed by Miss Campbell*

-Materials: paper (different colors if you have it), markers or crayons, black construction paper for legs (or color paper black), glue, scissors (if your child is going to cut out the circles)

-To Play: Draw circles on small pieces of paper. If your child is able, have them cut them out. If they are still working on cutting, pre-cut half of the circle for them and have them cut out the other half. Have your child draw a face on one of the circles for the caterpillar's head. Have your child write one letter of their name on each circle. If your child needs support writing their name, write the letters in light yellow marker and have them trace the letters. Once all the pieces of the caterpillar are done, glue it onto a piece of paper. You can have a model of their name if they need more support, or you can write the letters on the page and have them match. For an added challenge, have them make caterpillars with different family member’s names.

9. Butterfly Letter/Sound Match

*Look at Mrs. O'Leary's page for a video of this activity completed by Miss Howard*

-Materials: paper, markers, letters cutout on small pieces of paper

-To Play: Draw a large butterfly and have your child cut it out. On the left wing, place a letter. On the right wing of the butterfly, have your child find objects that start with that letter sound. You can also give your child small slips of paper to draw objects that start with that letter sound if you do not have the items.

**For example, if you write the letter S, have them find objects such as a sun, star, square, six, seven, sock, etc. Letter B (ball, banana, bag, barn, bed, bird, bike, box, bus, butterfly). Letter C (cup, cow, car, caterpillar, carrot, cat, clown, coat). Letter M (magnet, milk, mitten, moon, mop, mouse, mouth)

-Modifications: If your child is just starting to recognize the beginning sound in a word, focus on only making two sound butterflies with two consonants from their name. For example, if their name is Kelly, only focus on the letters K and L when doing your sound butterfly.

Note: If you would rather print out the butterflies instead of drawing them, you can find a copy below.

10. Two Little Butterflies Song with Movements by Jolanda Garcia, KidsSoup Inc.

Two little butterflies flying left and right (Flap hands, moving them to the left and to the right.)

Two little butterflies are quite a sight.

Two little butterflies flying up to the sun (Flap hands while stretching up.)

Two little butterflies flying down. (Flap hands children while bending down.)

Two little butterflies are flying to the back (Flap hands behind back.)

Two little butterflies are coming back. (Flap hands to the front.)

Two little butterflies are flying all around (Flap hands any movement.)

Two little butterflies are sitting on the ground. (Sit down with hands on legs).

11. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Sequencing

To Play: Read or watch The Very Hungry Caterpillar story then print out the sequencing page from the link below. Have your child put the pictures in order.

Modification: If your child is having a hard time sequencing the 4 pictures from the story, have them focus on only 3 pictures instead.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75NQK-Sm1YY

Sequencing printout: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WRcS-pl5T0gVViKtVFN9hd1Y1jl1EGWf

~Science Activities~

1. Butterfly Food Sensory Challenge:

-Materials: 2-4 different liquid foods and straws. (I used orange juice, lime juice, strawberry/mango juice, and water, but you can use any edible liquids you want!) It's easiest to pour a small cup of each liquid for your child in advance.

-To Play: Ask your kids how they know how something tastes. Discuss how you have taste sensors on your tongues that send a message to your brain about how food tastes. Butterflies have similar taste sensors on their feet!

Ask your kids if they have ever seen teeth on a butterfly. Discuss how butterflies do not chew or cut their food--they only drink it. They have a proboscis, or straw-like mouth that sucks up nectar, juice, or even muddy water!

When a butterfly first crawls out of its chrysalis it has to assemble its proboscis. It sort of looks like a straw cut in half: The pieces fit together and get "zipped" up shortly after the butterfly emerges. A few hours later, it will "drink" through its new proboscis!

Can you "eat" like a butterfly? Explain to your child that they have 3 (or however many you have!) different liquids in the cups in front of them. Their challenge is to drink each liquid like a butterfly and see if they can guess what each "butterfly food" is!

2. Act out the Life Cycle of a Caterpillar to Butterfly! (See picture below)

~Videos~

Life Cycle of a Butterfly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4PgljcarTA

Timelapse of a Caterpillar to a Butterfly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocWgSgMGxOc

Elmo’s Butterfly Friend Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g99MjixGoFo

Printable Caterpillar Egg Counting #4 and Butterfly Letter/Sound Match #9 (Optional)

Week of 5/11-5/15

Theme: Spring (Spring Activities)

The focus for this week is Spring Activities! What do you do during the springtime? Ride bikes/scooters, have picnics, fly kites, jump/play in puddles.

Vocabulary:

Kite, Picnic, Wheels, Umbrella, Shadow (dark, light), Blow

1. Spring Soup

-Materials: Bowl, stirring stick, plastic measuring cups, have your child gather signs of spring from outside (grass, dirt, bird seed, rocks, petals, sticks, etc).

-To Play: Have your child use measuring cups to place items into their bowls. They should have a variety of measuring tools (tablespoon, ¼ cup, etc). Observe and discuss the differences in amounts of items. Add water if you choose. Use language like “more, less, same”. Have fun with this! It’s meant to be silly and is a great way for your child to pretend to cook. After, have your child put scoops of their “spring soup” outside to see if birds or insects come along.

2. Have a Picnic

-Materials: blanket, food, (optional: book, teddy bear)

-To Play: Plan a picnic! Have your child take the lead and place items to bring in a basket or bag. How many people are joining? So, how many of each food will be needed? You could always make a list together to plan what to pack. To ensure you are social distancing, you can take this picnic in your own backyard or do it right inside your home! Children appreciate anything new and exciting!

3. Puddle Jump

*Look at Ms. Gove's page for a video of this activity being completed by Miss Campbell*

-Materials: Puddles (cut from blue construction paper)

-To Play: Write 1 letter per puddle. Securely tape them to the floor. You can also do this with chalk outside. Have your child put on their rain boots (optional!) and jump onto the puddles of the letters you call out! Depending on your child’s skill level with this you can make several of the same letter and they can search for them. A more difficult challenge, call out a word and they have to jump to the letter that the word begins with. For example “Rain” and your child jumps to the “R” puddle.

4. Under the Umbrella Estimation Game

-Materials: Umbrella

-To Play: Hang the umbrella somewhere in your home or outside. Have your child stand away from the umbrella and estimate how many steps it will take them to get directly under it! Make sure they count out loud with each step they take. This activity works on estimation skills and executive function planning!

5. Spring Kites

-Materials: paper, crayons

-To play: Draw a diamond on a piece of paper. Have your child look out the window or go outside to observe signs of spring. Talk about the changes they can see and have them draw their observations on the kite to decorate it. Add a tail with your child’s name on it to practice name recognition when you are done.

Modifications: Have your child orally tell you their observations and draw an outline of the objects for them to color on their kite.

Extensions: Have your child listen to the sounds in the words they have chosen and have them label their pictures. Spelling does not have to be perfect, they can just write the letters they hear and recognize. Example: Brs for Birds

6. Kitetail Patterns:

*Look at Ms. Gove's page for a video of this activity being completed by Miss Campbell*

-Materials: paper (colored if you have it), markers/crayons/colored pencils, glue

-To Play:

1. Cut a big diamond shape out of one of the pieces of paper. Have your child decorate it however they want.

2. Cut small strips of paper. If you have colored paper cut 2 different colors. If you don’t you can color strips of white paper.

3. Glue the kite onto a bigger piece of paper.

4. Draw a sting from the bottom of the kite to the bottom of the paper, This is where the pattern will go.

5. Have your child match, extend or create an ABAB pattern.

For an added challenge you can use 3 different colors of paper.

7. Spring Scavenger Hunt

Do another scavenger hunt! This time, use your 5 senses to describe what you see, smell, feel, taste, & hear!:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1WKqKqOwPm9YAHubMcXkVHNQ2pDhE4M-O

8. Make a Slide

-Materials: Whatever you have at hand. Some ideas include: paper towel rolls (cut from top to bottom or whole), straws, container lids, broken up cardboard boxes, etc

-To Play: Use the materials you have to create a slide/ramp! Can you find any toy people or animals to slide down? Can a car go down your slide? How far can they go? Which goes faster down the ramp: a ball or a small box?

9. Compare Wheels

-Materials: None! Just your eyes to observe

-To Play: Have your child count and compare the different amounts of wheels that bikes, tricycles, scooters, and cars have. Use the words more, less, and equal to discuss the wheels on different objects you can ride. You can look at pictures from a magazine or computer. You can also go outside to count any wheels you may have or see people riding around. Ask your child, “Which has more wheels- a tricycle or a bike?”. Compare items that have the same amount of wheels such as two different bikes. As an extension, have your child add together the wheels on two different objects and see if they can figure out how many wheels there are all together!

10. Mud Pies

-Materials: Various measuring cups, baking pan, things found in nature (sticks, flowers, etc), dirt, water

-To Play: Using the measuring cups have your child create mud pies! What happens when you add more water or more dirt? Practice pretend play skills like imagining your mud pie is a cake and share it with others around you! Pretend flower petals are sprinkles! When finished, see activity #11 :)

11. Spring Cleaning Sensory Bin

-Materials: Sponge, dishwashing soap, big container, toys to clean

-To Play: Have your child do their own “Spring Cleaning” by combining all materials in a large container outside! Talk about your 5 senses: How does the soap smell, feel, look? What do you hear as you clean your toys?

SCIENCE:

12. Shadow Drawing

-Materials: Chalk (if outside), (paper, crayons if inside), toys of choice.

-To Play: Go outside (or near a window) and observe how the sun casts shadows! Can you make the shadows bigger? Smaller? On the ground (with chalk) or paper trace the border of the shadows! Can you trace a shadow of someone in your family?

13. Bubble Recipe:

-Materials: 2 cups liquid dish washing detergent, 6 cups water, 1 cup Karo light corn syrup

-To Create: Combine the three ingredients into a large container with a lid. Shake well and let sit for several hours. Store covered in the refrigerator to extend shelf life. Allow liquid to warm before using

Week of 5/4-5/8

Theme: Spring (Flowers/Planting/Growing)

Dear Families,

This week our spring theme is going to focus on “flowers, planting, and growing”. Use this time to observe growth and the different parts of a flower (stem, petals, leaves). Activities 1-3 are ones we feel best encompass this concept and can be reinforced many times per week. If you are seeking additional activities, please utilize activities 4-10! We love to see what activities you are doing! Please send along any photos you take :)

Vocabulary:

Flower, stem, petal, leaves, color words (red, orange, yellow, green, blue), grow, size, small, medium, large

1. Measure Nature Growth

Materials: A ruler (or tape measure, or anything to measure units), pencil, paper.

Have your child go outside and find something that is growing! They can measure it and document it by drawing a picture or taking a picture. Check back in a week or two to see if the item got taller. Document again! Compare the lengths!

2. Spring Word Guessing Game

*This activity requires no preparation and can be played quickly! * Visit Miss Dukas's page to watch Mrs. Hynes demonstrate *

To play: Say the separated parts of a word and your child has to guess what word it is. For example, say “FLOW __ ER” and your child try to put the sounds together to guess the word. Some spring words to choose from include: “RAIN___BOW, SUN____SHINE, GR___OW, IN_____SECT, PL_____ANTS, etc”. This is a tricky skill! You can also practice this skill by having your child imitate the words you say. For example, say “kite” and your child repeats “kite”. This can be reinforced with a picture of a kite!

3. Spring Tree

*See photo below

Materials: Construction paper – brown for the tree, colored paper for the birds and flowers, White paper, Glue or tape, Scissors.

Label your key poster with the following items. Add an illustration with each step.

1 tree trunk

2 nests

3 birds

4 bird eggs

5 branches

6 flower blossoms

7 green leaves

Build a tree while working on fine motor, counting, reasoning, and problem solving.

On a blank paper, help kids to glue the brown tree trunk (or draw one). Glue the tree branches while counting along. Glue the birds while using positional words like in, on, between. Count the bird nests, eggs, flower blossoms and leaves and glue on the tree branches.

Extensions, Variations, and Modifications:

Talk about where items are placed–the bird beside the leaf, above the branch, in the tree.

Kids may also draw items, especially the birds, if cutting pieces becomes too cumbersome. Check outside your window for some more creative ideas of things that may be in trees!

4. Spring Math Flowers

*See photo below *Video of Activity on Ms. Gove's Page*

Materials needed: paper, scissors, glue

Draw a few circles on a piece of paper and make sure they are spread out. In each circle, write a different number. Cut out some pieces of paper to make flower petals. Have your child glue the number of flower petals that matches the number written in the center.

5. Letter Match:

*See photo below *Video of Activity on Ms. Gove's Page*

Materials: legos/duplos/mega blocks, paper, tape, scissors.

How to play: Cut paper into small pieces that will fit on the side of the blocks. Write letters on the paper (depending on where your child is at, either write all uppercase or upper and lower case) and tape them to blocks. Scatter them on the table and have your child match the letters. If you don’t have Legos, you can use any two things that go together, like tupperware containers/lids, or bowls/plates.

6. Toast Painting

Materials: Toast, clean Qtips or clean paint brushes, milk, food coloring dye.

Place some milk in 6 small containers or cups. Have your child mix one color dye per cup. Use the colors to paint a pretty spring scene! Can you make a rainbow? Can you make a flower bloom?

7. Cutting Nature

[SAFELY!] Grab a pair of scissors and head outside! Let your child snip signs of spring: grass, flowers, petals, sticks, bushes, etc. Collect them!

8. Nature Collage

Using the items from #7 Cutting Nature, have your child arrange their items however they want! You can do this by gluing them on a piece of paper. Another option is to do it outside (sidewalk, out on a walk) and check back the next day to see if your creation is still there. Use your planning skills to see if you can make an image (flower, tree, sun) with your items or maybe arrange them in the shape of a circle, square or triangle!

9. Check out Ms Parks’s Spring Speech Book!

https://read.bookcreator.com/AmpX92nZt4aRKm1rfa4CrSYuNqJ3/CXfXgwl7ShucKSPsV6Kyrw

This nonfiction book is great for recall and vocabulary! Ask your child: What do living things need to grow? What colors can flowers be?

10. Flower Growing Sequence

Materials: pieces of paper, drawing utensils.

To play: Draw one image per paper on the sequence of a flower growing. For example, paper 1 has a seed, paper 2 has a sprout, paper 3 has a flower. See if your child can put the images in order from first to last. Add an extra challenge with more papers! You can also try this sequencing with: Trees growing, birds hatching out of an egg, etc. Check out Ms. Parks page a printable sequencing option.

Week of 4/27-5/1

Theme: Spring (weather)

Dear Families,

The Rodman Staff appreciate all the ways you are keeping your children engaged at home! Based on some family feedback, we have decided to provide fewer activities for the week with the hopes that you are able to repeat these activities each day. The reason for this is to cut down on parent planning and allow more time for your child to be engaged! At school, a lot of the learning that takes place is repeated and practiced many times throughout the week. Think: process of the activity rather than the final product. Encourage sharing materials, using vocabulary, requesting items, and exploring the essential questions during the activities!

All the activities for this week are related to weather during the springtime.

Vocabulary Words:

Spring, Weather, Rain, Cloud, Grow, Water, Rainbow

Ongoing Essential Questions:

-How do we know it is Spring in our community?

-How do things in our community change in the Spring?

-What does it mean to be alive?

-How do plants and animals use each other?

Clouds & Rain

Go outside and look at the clouds. What shape do they make? Are they moving? How fast?

Read It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G Shaw (video below).

Rip up some paper to make a cloud. What shape is your cloud?

Make a shaving cream cloud:

https://www.kidspot.com.au/things-to-do/activity-articles/rain-cloud-in-a-jar-science-experiment/news-story/15c6693d124b82a9b0a968efa4d76a03

On a rainy day this week place various size containers outside to gather rain. Measure the amount of rain fall and record your observations.

Make a Name Rain Cloud

**Look at Ms. Gove's page to see a video of Ms. Campbell doing this activity!**

Materials Needed: paper, scissors, glue, crayon/markers/colored pencils, string (optional)

How to Play: Have your child draw and cut out a cloud from white paper (modification - draw the cloud for your child or draw it in light yellow and have them trace in a darker color, partially or fully cut out the cloud for your child). Do the same thing for the raindrops (one raindrop per letter in their name. Depending on your child’s fine motor you can make these as large or small as needed). Next, have your child glue the cloud to the top of the page and write their name inside it. Next have them glue the letters of their name underneath (to modify, write the letters on the page and have them match). You can attach them by string if you have it. For an added challenge have your child work on their last name.

To continue repetition of this activity, have your child complete the same process the following days with more raindrops below- like a rainstorm! You can also have them create one for each person in their family, or a friend.

Raining Snacks

**Look at Ms. Gove's page to see a video of Ms. Campbell doing this activity!**

Make a cloud out of crumpled up napkins or paper towels and add it to the top of a plate. Have your child pick out a favorite small snack to be the raindrops and put it in a small bowl. Roll the dice or write numbers on small pieces of paper your child can choose from. Once they have their number, have them add the correct pieces of the snack under the cloud. Have them point to each piece when they are done to count it. Once they have the correct number have them eat up the raindrops and pick a new number to match.

Modifications: You can point to each piece of snack and have them count along with you if they need help with one to one correspondence. You can also help them line up the pieces to make it easier to count.

Extension: Add more dice or numbers for a challenge when your child becomes comfortable with the numbers 1-10.

Rainbows:

What is a rainbow and where might we find one?

https://preschoolinspirations.com/super-fun-rainbow-science-activities-just-kids/

Make a rainbow in your house. What will you use? Send us a picture for the newsletter.

Creating a Climbing Rainbow:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/95771929563834501/sent/?invite_code=4900f70746e840f581d3b60d50af4aea&sender=556124391394510662&sfo=1

Spring Scavenger Hunt

Use the below list to search for some spring items! You can go for a walk or take a look out your windows! How many of these things can you collect? Can you make a spring collage with them? Try to save ONE of these spring items to show your teacher on Zoom!

Week of 4/21-4/24

Spring has Sprung!

We are advancing our curriculum. We are now embarking on a Study of Spring!

Some key things we would like the children to understand include:

• Living things are both similar and different and grow and change over time.

• Living things have specific characteristics that enable them to interact with their environment.

• Plants and animals need things from their environment to live.

Help your child use their 5 senses to observe the new season. Each season has changes and certain things that occur during it. Have your child look out the window or take a walk outside to see the changes occurring all around.

• Do they see things starting to grow?

• Is there a bud ready to bloom? What is a bud? Can you touch it? Pull it apart?

• Can they feel the wind blowing? Can you see the wind? How do we know it's there?

• Do they hear the birds chirping? Do they all sound the same? Where are they? Can you find them? Discriminating sounds is a very important early literacy skill.

• Can they smell the flowers? Feel them? see them?

Talk about the weather changing. Is it starting to get warmer? We may need an umbrella because spring has a lot of rainy days. This rain helps our living things like plants grow and bloom. Enjoy discovering what makes spring special together!

~Early Literacy Activities~

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

**See photo below**

Materials: The Very Hungry Caterpillar book or watch it here by clicking this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75NQK-Sm1YY

plastic bottle caps (applesauce/pouch tops, milk, water, etc) or blocks/playdough, and a ruler or tape measure.

How to play: Read or watch the story. Give your child the building materials and ask how they can build a caterpillar using the materials provided. Give them time to experiment and play with the materials. After they finish building their caterpillar, measure it.

Modification: Have circles previously drawn so children can match the circles.

Extension : For an added challenge, they can try to build it even taller/longer. When done, draw or take a picture and share it with us!

2. Georgia O’Keeffe Flower Creation:

What you’ll need: Coffee Filter or paper, Red and Orange water colors or washable markers, cup of water, and a black marker. (If you do not have coffee filters at home, try using a paper towel to paint!)

Suggested Activity: Create a poppy just like Georgia’s artwork out of the coffee filter or paper. First, add water to blend the colors together. Then, when dry, draw the center of the poppy.

Modification: Use a water bottle or any circle shaped object to stamp the paint on.

Extension: Compare this style to Vincent Van Gogh and his flower art. How are their styles different?

3.Spring Songs for Friends who Engage Better with Music: (Click links below)

“Spring is Here” with Lyrics – Kids Songs by The Learning Station (signs of spring with movement)

Extension: Ask your child- How do you know it’s spring? What is their favorite sign of spring? Draw your favorite sign of spring. Send a picture of your drawing to your teacher.

Brain Breaks | Springtime Dance | Jack Hartmann

4. Earth Day Activity:

Keep our earth clean by “picking up trash”. Write the alphabet on slips of paper, crumple them up (you can even cut out magazines/pictures instead to recycle!) and spread them out. Have your child pick up the "trash", read the letter, and put it in the bin. Continue until our earth is all clean!

• • Modification: Use letters in your child’s name.

  • Extension: Have your child say the sounds when they identify the letters!

5. Spring Flower Beginning Sound:

**See photo below**

This Spring flower beginning sounds sort activity is a hands-on way to practice identifying the beginning letter sound in a word.

Draw or create a construction paper flower. Decide which animal toys or objects will be used and depending on that, write the beginning letter (upper case) of each object on one of the petals. Lay the flowers out on the work surface and place the objects to be sorted next to them.

Kids can sort the objects to the appropriate flower petal. To help them along, the name of the animal or object can be said aloud emphasizing the beginning sound. As they are saying the letter sound, help them decide what letter makes that sound. Once the kids identify what letter makes that sound, they can then look for a flower petal with that letter written on it and place the object on it.

Modification: Have the objects already placed on the flower petals. Name the letter, model the sound, and see if your child can repeat the sound. Then say for example, " Pig begins with P" and make the sound together.

Extension: Have your child go on a hunt for their own objects around the house that match the flower petal letters!

~Math Activities~

1. Raindrop Counting:

**Look at Ms. Gove's page to see a video of Ms. Campbell doing this activity!**

Draw a cloud on a piece of paper and put a number in each cloud. Have your child paint on their finger, or draw to stamp the correct number of rain drops, or use stickers.

Extension: Have your child write their own number in the cloud and count.

Modification: Draw raindrops underneath each cloud and have your child stamp or color over them and count.

2. Caterpillar Patterns:

**See photo below**

(skills: shape identification, patterning, fine motor- cutting/gluing)

Materials- colored paper (4 different colors- 3 colors for the shapes and one piece to glue it onto), scissors, glue, black marker or crayon (any color is fine!)

*Draw three shapes your child knows or is learning onto the colored paper.

*Cut out the shapes (this is great skill for them to be practicing if possible. To assist-- draw shapes with big thick lines for their scissors to cut along.)

*Create a pattern with the shapes and glue them onto the 4th piece of paper. Use a black marker/crayon to draw the caterpillar’s eyes, mouth, antennae, and legs.

Modification- For young learners, it is often helpful to use different colors for different shapes, for example: orange circles, green triangles, and blue squares. Changes in color are easier to notice and you may want to practice patterning with your child by simply using two or three different colors (blue, yellow, blue yellow; or blue, blue, yellow, blue, blue, yellow).

Extension- Students cut out the shapes as part of their fine motor development and can practice drawing the shapes. For a shape identification/pattern challenge, try using just one color of paper or mixing up the colors and shapes. This will increase your child’s attention to detail and encourages them to focus on the specific attributes of each shape in the pattern, rather than relying on color.

Variation - Parents can cut out shapes and shapes can be drawn on paper instead of cut/glued.

3. Counting Songs: (Click links below)

COUNTING SONG FOR SPRING | learn to count 1-10 number

The Bees Go Buzzing | Kids Songs | Super Simple Songs

Extension - Look out of the window, or go outside if you can. What can you see? Practice counting flowers or any other signs of spring.

4. Comparing Items- More, Less, Equal:

** See video below**

Comparing Items: Use the terms more, less, and equal to compare objects your child has collected. Go outside and have your child collect a pile of sticks, small rocks, pine cones or anything else. This can also be done inside with toys, silverware, or crayons. Have your child then make two different piles with the items and then count the items. Help them practice using the different terms to describe which pile has more, less, or the same amount.

Modification: After your child has collected the items sort them into two clear piles with numbers written on paper, such as 8 and 2, so they can clearly see which pile is bigger.

Extension: Have your child count out 2 equal piles of different objects and discuss why they are equal.

5. Imaginative Play:

Create an indoor spring scene in your house! Use any objects to pretend to garden, and help your child dictate their play by asking for a specific number of objects from their garden.

Some questions you can ask:

What kind of vegetables do you have in your garden? Do you have tomatoes in your garden? Will you bring me 5 tomatoes?

How do you plant your garden? Use sequence words: First, Second, Then, Last/Finally and include these in your play! (i.e. First, you dig a hole in the soil. Then you plant a seed. Finally, you water your seed.)

Modification: Look at pictures of gardens or your own garden and talk about it! You could also print picture cards of the sequence of planting a garden, to help your child describe how they would plant their garden. (i.e. soil, seed, plant, water, sun) Another modification is to use as many or as little of these sequencing cards depending on your child's skill level.

Extension: Have your child draw a garden and add all the fruits and vegetables they would grow!

~Science Activities~

This week’s activities will be about parts of Spring plants.

1. Spring Plant Scavenger Hunt

Go outside in your yard or neighborhood and search for the following parts of plants:

Flowers--

--yellow flowers, pink flowers, white flowers

--flowers that haven’t fully opened/bloomed yet

--flowers on trees

Leaves

--new leaves growing on bushes/trees

--leaves of different shape or size

Stems

--stems that are smooth

--stems that are fuzzy

Roots

--roots of a tree

2. Grow a Plant--There is no better way to learn parts of a plant than to grow one!

Option 1-Growing from seeds

1. Add dirt to a small pot or the indentations of an egg carton.

2. Add a bean or other seed and cover with a thin layer of dirt. Keep the dirt moist.

3. Observe every few days for stems and leaves!

Option 2--Growing from vegetable scraps

1. Place the top of a carrot in an inch of water. (see picture below)

2. Change water daily and place in a sunny area.

3. Observe growth of stem and leaves every few days.

4. Plant in dirt after 1-2 weeks.

Week of 4/13-4/17

~Early Literacy Activities~

1. Newspaper Letter Hunt:

One of the many exciting early learning moments is when your child randomly points at a letter on your t-shirt or a cereal box and calls it out with joyous excitement, like they just found a treasure: “O!”. This letter activity for preschool takes that excitement to a whole new level by having your child go on a letter hunt in real big people texts, like supermarket flyers, magazines and newspapers.

Modification: Focus on the initial letter in their name and search and circle that one letter.

Extension: Cut out the letters and use them to spell their own name or a name of someone in their family. You can also make a collage of letters. For an extra challenge, see if you can find every letter from the alphabet and put them in order!

2. Special Box activity:

Have your child decorate a shoebox or any small box you have. Then cut out a hole big enough for them to fit their hand in. This box can be used for multiple activities.

**See example of this activity on Miss Dukas's page**

**See photo below**

Write a few letters of the alphabet on small pieces of paper and put them inside the box. Have your child put their hand in and pull out a letter. Talk about what sound it makes and then see if they can find something around the house that begins with that sound. When you are done you can then save the box and fill it with numbers, colors, or shapes. Your child can then practice finding something in the house that matches whatever they pulled out. On nice days, bring it outside for some outdoor learning!

Modifications : Have items already selected and help your child listen to the beginning sounds of 2 objects and see which one sounds the same as the letter they chose.

Extension: You can also fill it with recycled items or left over craft pieces. Have your child pull some items out of the box and see what art they can create that day.

3. Body/Air Writing:

Using your finger, "draw" different prewriting shapes like a line, horizontal shape, then harder shapes like a cross, heart, square, etc.

Modification: Have your child trace in the air, on your back, on different surfaces (rug, table).

Extension: Have your child trace a letter on your back and try to guess what letter it is.

4. Kick the Cups or Bowl the Cup:

Write letters on cups and have your child "bowl" or kick a ball to see which cups they can knock down!

Modification: If your child is practicing shapes, you can draw shapes on the cups instead of letters. Another modification is to only choose 2 or 3 letters per several cups.

Extension: See if your child can "toss" a small ball into the cups! Try to call out a letter for them to aim for.

5. RHYMING TOSS:

**See video below**

To set up the game you’ll need to gather some small toys or objects from around the house. Try to grab items that are easy to rhyme with. We chose a bug, train, cake, keys, ball, pot, block, and car. Next, make a grid using chalk or paper and place your objects into the squares.

Next, you’ll need something to toss. You can grab a bean bag, small rocks, ball. To play, have your child stand back and toss the ball to an object. Kids generate a word or words that rhyme with the object in the square where the ball lands Accept any rhyming words, real or nonsense (nonsense: bug/sug, cat/zat)!

Modification: Toss to a letter card or different colored paper.

Extension: Challenge your child to think of new rhyme words if they land on the same object twice. You can also have them draw a picture of their rhyme pairs!

~Math Activities~

1. Ordering Objects by Size:

*See photo below*

Find similar objects around the house and line them up in order by smallest to biggest. Let your child place the objects close together to see which one is bigger.

Modification: Start small with 2 objects and determine which one is bigger. Add objects and help them put them in order as they become more comfortable.

Extension: When you are done you can then use small blocks or try using a ruler together to measure some of the items you chose. See how many more blocks you needed to measure the taller object.

2. Number Path Game:

Draw a number pathway 1-10 on the sidewalk….the number 1 in a box, the number 2 in a box, the number 3 in a box, through 10. Roll a die or draw a number card and hop that many times down the pathway. This can be played on a tabletop with the pathway drawn on paper while using a small object to move along the pathway.

Modification: Shorten the pathway as needed. Be sure that your child counts out loud as they hop to feel the 1 to 1 correspondence!

Extension: Have your child write the numbers in the boxes. How high can they go? 20 boxes? 30 boxes?!

3. Number Thinking Games:

Make up number problems with items in your house and see if your child can solve them (i.e. “How many feet does the cat have? How many doors are in our home?).

Modification: Use only things that are in eye distance and you can choose the number depending on how high your child can count. If your child needs assistance, go up to the objects and model counting with 1 to 1 correspondence for them!

Extension: Choose items that are NOT in eye view for them so they need to do a search. Can they find something else that has the same amount of something you just asked?

4. Laundry Math:

Sort laundry by color or category (i.e. shirts in one pile, pants in another).

Modification: Start small, have your child match only the socks to create pairs.

Extension: Sort clothing by people in family (all Mom's clothes in one pile, etc.), then you can have them sort each person's clothing.

5. Shape Collage:

Cut out a variety of shapes in different colors. Give your child a blank piece of paper and let them be creative in what they decide to make with their shapes. Examples: car, person, flower, patterns, etc.

Modification: Limit the amount of shapes given at one time.

Extension: Draw shapes on newspaper or magazines and have your child cut them out to create their own shapes to use.

~Science Activities~

This week’s activities will involve motion and stability.

How do things move?

1. Go for a walk. Look for at least 5 things that move. (ex: dog, bird, bicycle, etc.)

2. Which ones move in the same way? Which ones move in a different way?

3. Some examples might be: cars and bikes have wheels; dogs and squirrels have 4 legs; birds can use their legs or their wings; leaves and branches move because the wind blows them; etc

4. Think of different ways that humans can move. (ex: walking , swimming, crawling, hopping, different types of transportation, etc.)

5. Try moving in as many ways as you can!

Building Challenges

1. Build 2 houses/structures out of blocks or materials around the house One with a large base/foundation and one with a smaller base.

   1. Which one is the most stable? Least stable? Why?

   2. How can you make the least stable structure stronger? Try it!

2. Build 2 houses out of different materials. (example: one out of blocks, one out of crayons)

   1. Which one is the most table? Least stable? Why?

   2. How can you make the least stable structure stronger? Try it!

3. Design a building that is strong/stable enough to hold up a stuffed animal on top.

   1. What materials should you use?

   2. What will your design be?

   3. Build it and try it out!

Week of 4/6-4/10

~Early Literacy Activities~

1. Nature Letters:

*See Picture Below for Example*

Collect twigs, leaves, etc from outside. See what letters you can create using your materials! Can you make your name?

2. Go on a sound hunt:

Give your child a basket or bag and have them gather or just find and point to objects that begin with a particular sound. Example: Find things that begin with the sound /t/ …… child finds toy, toothbrush, toilet paper, telephone, TV. Record the different sounds you hear on a device. As an extension, if your child is ready, they can draw a picture and group the items. They can also find pictures in magazines of the items and paste them on a piece of paper.

*Have them start with the letters in their name because they are familiar and meaningful to them.

3. Rhyme by singing “Down By the Bay”

Down by the bay

Where the watermelons grow

Back to my home

I dare not go

For if I do

My mother will say

Have you ever seen a duck driving a truck

Down by the bay

Have fun substituting duck through truck for multiple verses

-Act out the different verses for some fun movement-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CSxGHve60E

4. Hop out sentences:

Have your child hop out the words to short sentences.

Example: I like ice cream…… child hops four times

You could mark the floor with tape. Use sidewalk chalk outside. Use hula hoops….. to correspond with the number of jumps. You could even use a tiled floor.

*Go to Miss Dukas' page to see this activity modeled by Mrs. Hynes.

5. Preschool Pictionary:

Materials: Paper, writing utensils

How to Play: Adult slowly draws an image one line at a time and your child has to guess what the drawing is! You can trade and take turns drawing and guessing. To provide guessing choices draw three pictures first (airplane, flower, spoon) and then choose one of the three to draw.

~Math Activities~

1. Find Up to 10 of something (i.e. leaves, sticks, rocks etc) outside and play a matching quantity to numeral object hunt:

Make numbers 1-10 cards.

How to play:

Pick a number card.

Search for that number of objects…… child draws a five from the number card pile and then they find five of something. For example, bring me five pillows, crayons,stuffed animals, apples…. whatever is available. Go outside and do the same.

2. Play counting Simon Says: Simon says jump five times. Simon says tap your head four times. Simon says spin around three times, etc.

3. Shape Memory: Draw different shapes on small pieces of paper (i.e. circle, rectangle, triangle, square, diamond, octagon-make sure to use shapes your child knows). You will want two sets of each shape and to make sure the papers are similar in size. Each player gets a turn to flip over two pieces of paper. Work on shape identification by naming the shape as you flip each piece of paper over. If the two shapes match, the player is congratulated for getting a match. Continue to play until all pairs are found. Challenge could be to add cards that have numbers and/or letters on them.

4. Homemade Recipes: This is a great time to include your child/children in the kitchen. Talk about the numbers you see while looking at a recipe, how many cups of an ingredient you need, and identify the numbers on the measuring spoons and cups.

file:///Users/patriciaparks/Desktop/benefits-of-cooking-with-preschoolers.pdf

5. Patterning with silverware/dishware: Take out spoons, forks, plastic bowls, plastic cups, and/or paper plates, etc. and have your child make a pattern with them. For example, fork, spoon, fork, spoon, fork, spoon…

Modifications: Make a pattern yourself and have your child match the objects below your pattern.

Extension: Make a more challenging pattern and have your child finish it. For example, paper plate, bowl, spoon, paper plate, bowl, spoon, paper plate….

~Science Activities~

This week's activities will involve making observations.

1. Take a science walk and use your senses to observe the world around you.

Hearing: Close your eyes for 30 seconds. What do you hear? Point in the direction of what you hear and guess what the sound is.

Smell: Spring brings lots of smells! Smell some flowers. What do they smell like? Do they all smell the same? What other spring smells do you notice?

Sight: What colors can you find? How many birds do see see? What other animals do you see?

Touch: Feel different textures outside. What is smooth? Rough? Sticky? Fuzzy?

Taste: Let’s play it safe...go inside and have a snack. :)

2. “Food Dissection” of a fruit or vegetable.

*See Picture Below for Example*

Some fun examples: strawberry, pomegranate, green bean, kiwi, tomato, cantaloupe (or anything you have!)

--Look closely at the fruit or vegetable.

--What do you see? (Seeds? Leaves? Colors? Stems? Fuzz ? “Strings”? etc.)

--What do you predict the inside will look like?

--An adult cuts the fruit or vegetable.

--Look closely. What do you see? (Seeds? Different colors? Liquid? Shapes? “Strings”? Textures? etc)

--Is it the same as you predicted?

Week of 3/30-4/4

~Early Literacy Activities~

-QTIP Painting:

Materials needed: Q-tips, paint, paper

Write your child’s name on a piece of paper, remember only the first letter is capitalized. Have them trace the letters using a QTIP and paint.

Dip q-tip in paint and trace letters on paper. To modify, you can have the kids make dots inside of letters.

-ABC Sequencing:

Materials: pieces of paper and writing utensil

How to play: write letters on individual pieces of paper. Hide them around your house. Once your child(ren) has found them all, put them in order. You could also identify the letter sounds.

-Letter Memory:

Materials: pieces of paper all the same size.

How to play: write a letter on one side of the paper (you can write all upper case letters for children who are beginning to recognize letters - maybe start with only the letters in their name, or upper and lower for children needing a challenge). Once you have two sets of each letter written on different pieces of paper, flip the pieces of paper over and have fun looking for matches!

-What’s Missing?:

Choose a few items in your house and place them on the floor. Play a hiding game by having your child close his/her eyes and take one away. See if your child can figure out what is missing. This is good for vocabulary, recalling information and memory. You can also choose items in your house that all start with the same sound (i.e. pot, paper, pillow, etc.)

-Alphabet Hopscotch:

Use sidewalk chalk to draw the alphabet “hopscotch style”. Have the kids jump or hop on the letters and identify what they have landed on.

~Math Activities~

-Build with Canned Food/Goods:

Materials: canned goods

Activity: Build all different structures out of cans, how high can you build it, count the cans, sort the cans. What can you use to measure the height?

-Qtip Painting:

Materials: Q-tips, paint, paper. Modifications: have kids make dots with q-tips inside shapes and numbers.

Draw different shapes or numbers on a piece of paper and have your child trace them using a Qtip and paint.

-Numeral to Quantity:

Use a cupcake/muffin pan and put numbers in each section using tape or a piece of paper. Have your child practice counting objects and placing them in each corresponding section of the cupcake/muffin pan. We work on numbers 1-10 as that is the standard for preschool. If your child is secure with those numbers feel free to continue on!

Write a number on a piece of paper and have your child place that many objects on the paper.

Modifications: put dots to correspond with numbers

-Pattern Building:

Materials: large paper, marker, small items to pattern (beads, coins, bottle caps-e aware of choking hazards).

How to Play: Draw a straight or squiggly line. Begin making a pattern and invite your child to continue it until the end. Take turns beginning and completing the pattern.

*See Picture Below for Example*

-Pattern Fun During Snack:

Check out the smile. Do you see the pattern? (picture below)

Use different finger foods at home to make fun patterns. See if you can guess each other's patterns. I see three circles in my pattern. Try counting one of the foods in your pattern. Then enjoy a tasty snack.

Modification: Have children point to a pattern or copy the pattern that you make.

*See Picture Below for Example*

~Science Activities~

-Paper Towel Tube Ramps:

Use empty paper towel tubes and tape to create a ramp for small cars, balls, or anything else you might have in your home.

*See Picture Below for Example*

-Sink and Float:

Materials: waterproof materials from around the house (make sure some are heavy so they will sink), water, bucket/sink/tub

How to play: Add items to the water one at a time and observe what happens. Have your child predict what will happen, draw their results, graph how many float/sink. Add some dish soap and see how it affects the water.