Fairy Tales & Legends

CIRCLE TIME

Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes and Legends are stories which generally feature magical creatures. Often they hold life lessons and reinforce various skills while allowing you to visit other places and people. It is very important to talk about the lesson that the Fairy Tale is trying to teach after you read the story. There are many very interesting and wonderful Fairy Tales to choose from and I chose a few that I loved as a child.

The idea of all the lessons is to read the story that is represented in each lesson before doing the activity. There will be lots of reading this week so I am not suggesting any books other than the stories in the lessons. Have fun!

To get started, read the Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme and then have the kids color the page from Education.com. http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/color-picture-humpty-dumpty/

Talk about what the lesson is.

BIBLE

"David & Goliath"   1 Samuel 17:2-11, 16, 40, 45-50

Print the FREE lesson from ministrytochildren.com! This is a bible story that has the same sort of feel and lesson as Fairy Tales often do.
http://ministry-to-children.com/david-and-goliath-preschool-lesson/ 

LETTER/READING

Letter U and Short U Sound

Letter U Activity - U is for Underwater Craft

You Need:
A blue piece of construction paper
White typing paper
Fish and Sea creature stickers
Blue Crayons

Draw waves on the white paper and have the kids cut them out. You also need a big letter U out of the white paper, it is up to you whether you have the kids cut them or do them yourself. Glue the waves to the top of the blue paper and glue the U to the middle of the paper. Write "U is for Underwater" at the top of the white portion of the paper in blue crayon. 

Talk about the letter U and the sound it makes. U is for Underwater. Trace the edges of the letter U with blue crayon. Talk about what swims around underwater. Give the kids the stickers and allow them to decorate their Underwater scene.

Letter U Reading Practice:

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/play.htm?f
Practice the ug lesson. Then read the "Gus the Duck" story and work on the short U words

http://www.readingbear.org/Presentation.aspx?PresentationID=6
Practice the short U lesson.




SCIENCE

Goldilocks & the 3 Bears - Hard and Soft Activity
 http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/goldilocks_story.htm
DLTK-teach has a printable version of this story!

You Need:
A large box
A selection of items that are soft
A selection of items that are hard
A bandana or other blind fold



http://www.giftofcuriosity.com/learning-about-hard-vs-soft/

Talk to the kids about hard and soft. A thing that is hard is a thing that does not move when you push on it. It is always the same shape, unless you break it. It feels like a rock. A thing that is soft is a thing that will bend and change shape as you push on it. It feels like a kitty.

Explain that you are going to put the blindfold on the kids so they can't see the item in your hand. They will use their hands to feel the item and determine if it is hard or soft.

This is a great way to really help the kids understand hard and soft by feel and definition.

MOTOR SKILLS

Fine - Elves & the Shoemaker Lacing Activity

Print the shoe template from Therapy Fun Zone.com HERE.  Cut out the shoes and laminate them. Punch holes through the black dots. Provide the kids with shoes laces and allow them to lace the shoes.

Here is a link to the story: http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-39.html

 

Gross - Jack Be Nimble Candlestick Jumping

 Read the nursery rhyme. Play some kid music OR  you can play this fun version from dailymotion.com http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12j4ck_jack-be-nimble-mother-goose-club-nursery-rhymes_music!

Place a plastic candlestick on the floor of a large empty area or on the ground in a field.While music is playing, put the kids in a line and let them go around and around jumping over the candlestick! Excellent exercise and really fun.

MATH

The Gingerbread Man - Story Sequencing

Print the story HERE from DLTK Teach. You can ignore all the instructions and just go to the bottom and print all of the pages from there. Cut each page apart so only one page is on the paper. Write a small number at the bottom corner of each page to help with the sequencing. Read the story to the kids. Then place the papers out on the table out of order. Talk about the order that things happened in the story and also show them the page numbers. By using the numbers and the story itself, they should be able to place the pages in the proper order.

Jack & the Beanstalk - Bean Counting

Provide a bowl of dried beans. Write the numbers 1-12, out of order, in the bottoms of an egg carton. The kids should count the beans and place the same number as is listed in the bottom of each cup.

Read the story of Jack and the Beanstalk or you can go to the below link and show them an animated version.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/misc/stories/misc-jackandthebeanstalk/

ART/CRAFT

Art - Hansel & Gretel Gingerbread House

Read the story. You can read this version (http://www.childrenstory.info/children-stories/folklore/hansel-and-gretel/) or you can read another version. Now you are ready to build a gingerbread house! This is a really great time of year for that because you can easily find kits in the grocery stores. You can also make a non-edible version using craft foam, paint and stickers!

Either way, this is a really fun project! The kids will need a lot of help, so it involves the group!


Craft - Three Little Pigs House Building

You Need:
Tan colored "Raffia" ribbon (it is ribbon that looks like straw, available at craft stores)
Popsicle stix
Red foam, cut into little rectangles
Glue
Paper (white, yellow, blue)
Markers or crayons

Cut out 1 white square for each house, 1 yellow triangle for each roof, 1 blue rectangle for each door. Provide pre-cut lengths of raffia, pre-cut lengths of stick, and red bricks.

Read "The Three Little Pigs"  http://www.familybooksandcds.com/the-three-little-pigs.html

Paste 3 white houses to a piece of paper. Attach the roofs and doors.
Glue the raffia to the "Straw" house for pig #1.
Glue the sticks to the stick house for pig #2.
Glue the bricks to the brick house for pig #3.

You can add pig stickers if you wish!

MUSIC

"Mother of the Fairy Tale"
Mother of the fairytale, take me by your silver hand.
Sail me in your silver boat. Sail me silently afloat.
Mother of the fairytale, take me to your shining land.

Have a Thank-FULL Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a great time of year. Friends and family come together from across the country (and even the world) to share the holiday. We get a chance to think about all the things we are thankful for in our lives. And we get to eat some great food! Enjoy the fun Thanksgiving lessons!

CIRCLE TIME:

 Thanksgiving is a special holiday when we can all take time to be thankful for the people we love and what we have. The first Thanksgiving was when the Pilgrims first came to this country. In 1621, these people and some Native American Indians became friends and were thankful for their harvest. They decided to have a party and enjoy the great food they harvested. They served deer, corn, cranberries and other roasted meat. They also had pumpkins! The people played games, sang songs and danced. Now we Americans continue to celebrate and remember what we are thankful for. We eat Turkey, ham, cranberries, yams, and many other yummy treats. What kinds of things does your family do on Thanksgiving?

ACTIVITY * Cut out a large selection of magazine pictures depicting the kinds of things the kids could be thankful for. Place the pictures in the center of the table and give the kids a piece of paper and a glue stick. Allow the kids to pick a few of the things they are thankful for and glue their items to their paper. Once they have their Thankful Pictures done, discuss what they chose as a class.

ACTIVITY* Listen to a turkey gobbling!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uifiqanNoM

 

 

SCIENCE

Fall Feast Taste Testing & Charting

This should be fun! I chose things that could be easily purchased to make it easy. Print the chart HERE.

You Will Need:

Cranberry Sauce

Canned Yams

Gravy

Stuffing

Pumpkin Pie

Plastic forks & spoons

You could do this all at once or you could do 1 taste test per day. Allow the kids to taste test the foods. Make sure to check for allergies first! They should decide whether they liked the food or not. If they do, circle the smiley face on the chart. If they don't, circle the frowny face. Once the chart is complete, chart the whole classes' results to review as a class. Discuss the differences and similarities.

BIBLE

Thanksgiving Lesson

From Ministrytochildren.com

"Jesus and the Ten Lepers"   http://ministry-to-children.com/preschool-thanksgiving-lesson/

Memory Verse: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”  Psalm 107:1 (NIV)

MATH

Turkey Feather Math Mats

Print out the math mats HERE.  The idea is to have the kids make turkey feathers for the turkeys out of playdough. Each turkey has a number on his tummy and that is the number of feathers the kids should put on him. 

It is best to laminate these mats or you can put them inside sheet protectors.

Thanksgiving Symbol Patterning

Print out the worksheets HERE.  There are a few rows of Thanksgiving symbols in differing patterns. At the end of each row of symbols there is a choice of 2 symbols that could be next. The kids should circle the symbol that they think should be next.

Math is really the science of patterns. Identifying patterns is a great first step in understanding math!

MOTOR SKILLS

Fine - Coloring

Coloring is a perfect fine motor skill activity. It promotes control and grip. Click on the link below and choose a Thanksgiving themed picture to color.

http://www.free-coloring-pages.com/thanksgiving.html

Gross - Turkey Run Game

You Will Need:
Individual pictures of Thanksgiving feast items
Posterboard
Large space

Choose the items for the Thanksgiving feast. Print pictures of each individual item. Place 1 of each item on the poster board at the "finish line". This will be where the kids end the run and make sure they have collected all the components by matching their pictures to the ones on the poster board. Place 1 of each item on the wall in various places around the room. You will need a stack of the same picture placed below where the picture is hung for the kids to collect as they run around the room. The idea is for the kids to complete the Thanksgiving feast by locating and collecting all of the feast components and then be the first to the finish line where the full feast is waiting. (By the way, they should be gobbling and wobbling the whole time they are looking for the pictures!) They will then check that they have all components. The first one back with all the feast wins!



LETTER/READING

Letter U 

The next letter for us to study is the letter U. U for Up, Umbrella, Umpire, and Under.

Print the worksheet HERE: http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/learning-letters/u2.htm  Talk about the letter and the sound it makes in the words on the sheet. Practice writing the U.

Reading Short U

Review the ug lesson on Starfall.com  http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

Review the short U sound on Readingbear.org  http://www.readingbear.org/Presentation.aspx?PresentationID=6

*BONUS!

Read this Thanksgiving Rebus story with your class!

http://www.bry-backmanor.org/holidayfun/story.html

ART/CRAFT

Art - Thanksgiving Wreaths

Materials Needed:

Paper plates

Glue

Fall leaves, sticks, pine needles, etc (collect on a nature walk!)

Glitter, sequins, craft poms, etc

Cut the middles out of the paper plates to make a circle. Have the kids glue whatever items to the wreath that they think looks pretty. The result will be a room full of beautiful Thanksgiving wreaths!

Craft - Turkey Hand Print & Poem

Materials Needed:

Paper

Brown, orange, yellow tempura paints

Paint rollers or brushes

The Poem below...

Pre-print the below poem on the paper. You will want to make sure there is room for the kid's hand print so it does not cover up the poem. Paint each child's hand brown for the palm, then every other finger paint orange and yellow. Have the child firmly press their painted hand onto the paper. Make sure you guide their hand to the spot you planned! Once dry, Draw an eye, a beak, a waddle, and a pilgrim hat on the thumb or head! Draw little feet coming out the bottom. These turkeys are a super cute gift for their parents!

POEM - This isn't just a turkey, as you can plainly see.

I made it with my hand, which is a part of me.

It comes with lots of love, especially to say...

I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

BOOKS

http://www.amazon.com/Thanksgiving-Giving-Thanks-Reading-Railroad/dp/0448422867

Sure, Thanksgiving is about pilgrims and history--and turkey, of course!--but most importantly, it's a holiday all about everything that we are thankful for. Cheerful, colorful illustrations accompany the simple text in this celebration of family, friends, and the holiday that brings them all together.

http://www.amazon.com/Twas-Night-Before-Thanksgiving-Bookshelf/dp/0439669375

The incomparable Dav Pilkey adapts Clement Moore's classic Christmas poem to tell his wacky Thanksgiving tale. The day before Thanksgiving, eight boys and girls take a field trip to a turkey farm. They have fun playing with eight exuberant turkeys but are shocked to learn that Farmer Mack Nuggett plans to kill all the turkeys for Thanksgiving dinners. So the children decide to smuggle all the turkeys home, and all their Thanksgiving dinners become vegetarian this year. The turkeys' lives are saved!

MUSIC

5 Little Turkeys

(from DLTK's site)

5 little turkeys standing at the door,

1 waddled off and then there were 4

4 little turkeys standing near a tree,

1 waddled off and then there were 3

3 little turkeys with nothing to do, 

1 waddled off and then there were 2

2 little turkeys in the morning sun,

1 waddled off and then there was 1

1 little turkey better run away,

For soon it will be Thanksgiving Day!

COOKING

Sugar Cone Cornucopias

A cornucopia is a cone-shaped basket that is usually shown stuffed full of bountiful harvest foods. They are a symbol of Thanksgiving and the harvest. 

Ingredients:

Sugar cones

Mini pretzels

Circle shaped cereal

Dried fruits

Seeds or peanuts

Baby Goldfish crackers

Each item in our cornucopia represents something important. The Sugar Cone represents the cornucopia. The pretzels symbolize arms folded in thanks and praying. The circle cereal symbolizes the circle of unity. The dried fruits represent the fruits available at the first Thanksgiving. The seeds represent planting the new crops. The Goldfish symbolize the fish that the first Thanksgiving participants ate. 

 

 

 

Place each item in a large bowl and mix. Scoop a portion out and fill each sugar cone. You can place them into a plastic bag and attach a note that explains what each item represents.

 

I have made some you can print HERE!

Clouds! Incredible Weather

"April showers bring May flowers!" This is a fairly realistic saying here in the States. During the first part of spring it rains and storms quite frequently which helps to bring all the pretty flowers to life. Rain and storms go hand in hand with clouds. What are clouds? Clouds are made of tiny (smaller than you can see) water droplets. When they all come together they make a cloud. When these clouds become big they get heavy. The water begins to fall out of the cloud and that is what we call rain! Clouds don't always make rain, though. Sometimes they are just fun to look at! They can make all kinds of shapes.

CIRCLE TIME:
Talk about clouds! Ask some questions to see what they know and think about clouds.
1. Do you think you could walk on clouds?
2. How do you think they get there?
3. Are there different kinds of clouds?
4. What colors of clouds have you seen?

Talk about their answers. For a fun display, draw a large fluffy cloud on paper that you can put up on the wall in your Circle Time area. Write some of their answers on the cloud. Also print out some different pictures of clouds and post them on the cloud you drew.

You can visit the NOAA http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pa/forkids.php wesite for some interesting pictures and coloring pages.



LETTER: U u for Umbrella

When it rains we will use an Umbrella to keep us dry.
U for Umbrella coloring page



READING:

We will begin our phonetic reading this week! I feel that the easiest and most efficient way for preschool kids to begin the reading process is to sound out the letters that make up words. We have been working all year on the sounds letters make, singing the ABC song, coloring worksheets, and so forth. Now it is time to use all that knowledge to try to read some small words.

It is helpful to spend around 5-10 minutes per day on reading. Yup! That's all you need. Too much and they will lose interest. So it is important to integrate a reading activity into each day and only for a few minutes.

Begin this week with "A". It is a word, after all. Find some sentences in their favorite books which have "a" in them. Read the sentences aloud and pause at the "a". Ask them "What word is that?" Each time you get to an "a" in the story, pause and let them "read" it themselves! Great start that will make them feel very proud.

There are a couple of FREE websites that I will refer you to for all our reading lessons. Generally I will provide 1 or 2 reading activities each week and then supplement with these great activities on the sites.

On starfall.com we will use the reading games. BEGIN HERE! This week we will work on "an" and "at".

On readingbear.org we will use their "sounding out" techniques. Begin this week with the "short a" sounds. BEGIN HERE

By incorporating the letter a into many different reading activities, it will help young children begin to understand the concept of reading.

STORY

Drippy The Raindrop

Read this story from First-School.com before doing the science activity! It will help to explain exactly what happens to water from the river to the cloud and back. (the story isn't complete, but it tells enough of it to work. there is an option to purchase the rest of the story if you wish)

http://www.drippytheraindrop.com/DrippysWorldTrialStories/ToMountainsAndBack/Entry.htm

SCIENCE:

Making our own Clouds

Materials Needed:

Cotton Balls

Flat pans or flat containers

Water

Put about a half inch of water in the pan(s). Give each child a cotton ball. Explain that this will act as their cloud. How does the cloud feel? Light and soft? Talk about how water will "evaporate" or become tiny droplets and will rise up into the sky. Ask them to place their cotton over the water. Can you see the water traveling up into their cotton? How does the cloud feel now? Heavy? As they lift the cotton ball up from the water some "rain" will begin to drip from the clouds. This is exactly how a cloud acts when it is full of water! The water comes back down as rain and ends up in lakes, streams and the ocean (represented by the pan of water). Once their cloud in empty of water, the process can begin again.

MATH

Cloud Number Toss

Print numbers 1 - 12 inside an egg carton. Have the kids toss a cotton ball (or craft poms) at the carton and say the number they land on out loud. Then count out that many cotton balls.

 

Umbrella Grid Game

Print out the umbrella grid from Prekinders.com. Make sure you have clear glass beads (like for fish tanks) and a numbered dice. You can make your own dice by purchasing a wooden block in whatever size you choose from a hobby store. Simply print the numbers on each side with a marker.

http://www.prekinders.com/gridgames/umbrella10.pdf

The kids will roll the dice one by one and place a bead on each umbrella for the number they rolled. This is great for number recognition, counting, and taking turns.

CLOUD ACTIVITY

Cloud Watching

Cloud Watching Window

 

Print the window on heavy cardstock. You will need craft popsicle sticks or paint stirrers as well. Cut the center of the paper out so that you can see through it. Glue or tape the stick to the bottom and backside of the paper so you can hold it up and look through it easily.

On a nice day with clouds in the sky, take the windows outside to use to look at the different kinds of clouds. It is not really important what each type of cloud is called, it is just fun to try to match up the clouds in the sky with the clouds on the window! You can also begin to find funny shapes that clouds can make. Maybe you can find a bunny, a flower, or even your Mom!

CRAFT

Fluffy Cloud

Materials Needed:

White Construction Paper

Several Colors of Blue Tissue Paper, cut in squares

Glue

Freehand a fluffy cloud onto the paper. Provide tissue paper squares and glue for the kids to use to make their cloud.

Cut them out and tape them to windows for a cool effect!

STORY

 

 

 

Sweet story about a little cloud who changes into all kinds of shapes before joining up with another cloud to make rain.

MUSIC

Black Clouds

Black clouds gather in the sky
Soon its going to storm
Lightning, thunder, run inside
And we'll be safe and warm!

COOKING

Cloud Cookies

Ingredients:

Graham Crackers

Vanilla Frosting

Mini Marshmallows

Allow the children to paint their crackers with some frosting and then stick marshmallows to them. Simple as that!