Nothing But Monkey Business: Safety & Law Enforcement (2nd week January)

January is Safety and Law Enforcement month! We will use this week to learn about what Law Enforcement's jobs are and how we can stay safe.

LETTER: Pp Color page!

COLOR: Blue

COMMUNITY

Police Officers:

Police Officers are the people who we go to when we need help, if our parents or teachers are not around. They can help you find your mom or dad if you are lost! They help direct traffic (tell cars and trucks where to go) and people when they aren't sure which way to go or when to stop and go. Police Officers will drive or walk around an area to watch out for people who are not following the laws or rules. They help to fight crime and keep the cities safe.

SCIENCE

Fingerprint Activity:

Police Officers can use a person's fingerprints to tell if that person was at a place. Every person's fingerprints are different! If a person touches something, their fingerprint will stay on that thing. A couple of ways to see fingerprints are: breathe on some cold glass and press your finger into the steam on the glass. They disappear quickly but aren't messy. You can also use paint or ink. Press your finger into the paint or inkpad and then onto a clean white sheet of paper. These last longer and can be looked at and studied. Another way to see fingerprints (and the way that police officers will look at them) is to press your finger onto a flat surface. Don't use any paint or ink. Then use a blusher brush to "dust" the fingerprints with powdered tempura paint. This has a really cool effect. Compare each child's fingerprint to see that each are different. Use a magnifying glass to see the detail.

More Law Enforcement Information:

If you want a really cool website to visit, go to http://www.fbi.gov/fun-games/kids/kids. They have many fun activities and information to expand on this subject!

MATH

Rescue Game!

Chose a number of dolls and/or stuffed animals that the children are able to count to and recognize the written numbers. Tape numbers to them, do not duplicate any numbers. Place them in "dangerous" places around the room. For instance, place one on a window sill, one close to an outlet, one sitting on a table, etc. Tell the children there are ____ number of animals that need to be rescued! While they sit still, go around the room and count the number of animals out loud. Talk about how they are each in danger. One at a time, ask the children to go rescue animal number ____ and return to the place they are sitting. Once completed, count the animals again.

Lego Counting & Matching

Use the printable cards from AllOurDays.com for the patterns HERE!. You can use Duplos or Legos, whichever you have! Give the kiddos a card and some square bricks. Have them count out the number of bricks that their card says on it, also make sure they get the correct colors. Have them copy the pattern on the card also.

SHAPES

Police Car Shapes

Print the police car picture above. Ask the children: How many squares do they see? How many circles? How many rectangles? Allow them to trace the shapes with their fingers.

Additional Activity: print out the above police car and cut it into shape pieces. Allow the children to put the "puzzle" back together.

CRAFT

Police Badge and Hat

Print the template HERE from first-school.com and allow the children to color them. Then cut them out, making sure to include long strips of paper on either end of the hat for attaching to their heads or provide string or ribbon. Tape the badges to their chests and allow them to wear the hats. You could do this craft BEFORE the Math Rescue Game to make it more fun!

Fingerprint Craft:

Print out a picture of a tree or flower or anything else you like or this letter P worksheet. Allow the children to press their finger into a dish with paint and use their fingerprints to color in the paper.

GROSS MOTOR

Find the Clues Game (like a treasure hunt!)

Prepare by choosing a selection of toys that they can find. If you have police cars, police badges, or anything else Law Enforcement related use them! (You could also just print the pictures and have the children find those instead) Choose enough for each child to be able to find 2 or more, but do not have so many that it will be overwhelming for them. Also choose a final treasure to find. A good idea for this would be a packet of police stickers. Next, take a picture of each toy or find a comparable picture on the internet for each toy. You will need to make a checklist type card for the children to use to find the treasures. Here is my example:

Hide the objects around the room. Make sure they are not in plain sight, but are not too hard to find or they could get frustrated! Place the final treasure in a really tricky place, somewhere that you will have to explain where to look for it so that they will not accidentally find it before the end.

Give each child a treasure card. You could also give them a crayon to mark off the objects as they find them. Allow the kids to search the room for the objects on the card. Once everything has been found, give them special clues as to where the final treasure is located. For instance, if the final treasure is in the bathroom sink, give clues such as, "the final treasure is a place that can be full of water, it is in a place where we wash the germs from our hands, etc". Once they have found the treasure, talk about how they found the objects. Talk about how they had to search and look. This is how police officers find clues to solve crimes!

STORY TIME