Kindness Week

For this week's lesson we are going to talk about the reason for being kind to others. Preschool children have a hard time being kind to one another because they are still more concerned with their own happiness than with others. They feel as though it is perfectly acceptable to take another child's toy from them because it makes them happy, it doesn't much matter that it hurts the other child. If a child takes their toy away, oh man! The world has ended. So, in an effort to help them think about the other person's feelings, we are going to focus on kindness and the teachings of Jesus about being kind.

Matthew 7:12
¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

John 13:34-35
³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Kindness is contagious! Contagious means it passes quickly and easily from person to person. If you are kind to someone, it can inspire them to be kind to someone else. In this way, we can spread kindness around to everyone! This is an experiment you can try anytime! Be kind to someone and see how the kindness spreads.

CIRCLE TIME 

In your circle, have everyone hold hands. Sing the song "Peaceful Friends" and feel the love spread from person to person!

PEACEFUL FRIENDS
(to the tune of  “I’m a Little Teapot”)
We come to school and like to say,
“Care for one another every day.”
We learn together and we play
Peacefully, every day.  

(I found this song, as well as many other awesome Kindness Week ideas, on http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/school-activity-ideas/2064-activities-for-preschool)


SCIENCE

Optical Illusions

Sometimes we have disagreements because each of us see things in different ways. Something may seem understandable to you, but to your brother it seemed like you did something very mean! An interesting way to show that you can see things in different ways it to look at optical illusions! If you look at them one way you may see one thing, then look at it again and it will look completely different! Sometimes we need to try to see something the way our friend is seeing it in order to understand their feelings.

Check out ScienceBob.com to see some really neat optical illusions! http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/illusions.php

I especially like the one called "Mother, Father and Daughter". It really demonstrates how things can look different depending on how you look at it.

Do you see a musician or a girl?






ART/CRAFT

ART - Forgiveness Stones


Materials Needed:
Smooth stones suitable for painting (can be bought or found)
Paints (tempera work great)
Paintbrushes

The children will paint a stone that can be used to remember to “make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 (or forgive those who have wronged us as the Lord did).

CRAFT - Friendship Hands

Materials Needed:
Construction Paper
Pencil
Scissors
Glue

Allow the kids to choose their color of paper. Trace their hands on the paper and cut out. Make sure to write the child's name on their hands. Then make a circle with the kid's hands and allow everyone to help glue them together. This is your circle of friendship hands!

From DLTK.com

MATH

Pom Pom Number Toss

Materials Needed:
Ice cube tray or egg carton
Marker
Craft Poms

Write the numbers 1-12 in the bottom of each cup. Team the kids in 2's and give each team one color of pom poms. Each team will have 2 tries to toss the pom poms into the cups. The team will then need to count to the numbers they landed on. If you have older kids, they can also add the 2 numbers they landed on together. 

READING/BOOKS

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Heartprints-P-K-Hallinan/dp/0824954505/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373229488&sr=1-1&keywords=heartprints


 In this delightful and warm book, the author weaves a story of children helping others and leaving heartprints all along the way.

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Berenstain-Bears-Golden-Living-Lights/dp/0310712475/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373229829&sr=1-2&keywords=golden+rule


The Berenstain Bear series helps children learn how God wants them to live every day. When the Bear family practices going to church, praying, and being kind, plus remembering how much God loves them, their lives are much more joyful. Should Sister Bear ignore the new girl at school just because her friends do? The Berenstain Bears and the Golden Rule shows children how choosing to be kind may not always be the easy choice. But it is always the right one.


FINE MOTOR

Beads in an Egg Carton

Materials Needed:
Egg Cartons
Paint or Markers
Multi-Colored Beads
Bowls
Spoons

Prep the cartons by painting each cup in the cartons a different color to match the colors of beads you have. Depending on the size of your class, divide the kids into teams of 2-4. Each team will need 1 egg carton, 1 spoon and a bowl of different colored beads. As a team the kids will need to separate the beads in the bowl into like colors in the egg carton using only their spoons. They should take turns with the spoon so that each child has a chance to help. This is great for teamwork and fine motor skills, as well as sorting skills!


COOKING

Edible Necklaces

Ingredients:
Ring cereal, such as cheerios or fruit loops
Mini Pretzels
Yogurt or Chocolate covered Mini Pretzels
Mini Fudge Stripe Cookies
Whatever else you can think of!

Set out a bowl of each item. Give each child a length of yarn or twine that will fit loosely around their neck when tied together. The children should string whatever yummy treats they want onto the yarn until it is about 2 inches from each end. You have to have some room to tie it! They can wear these to watch the fun movie below!


MOVIE

The Berenstain Bears - Kindness, Caring & Sharing

A great movie, perfect for our lesson this week! You can find it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001KEHAEY

"I Can" Week! Confidence Building (April 1 - 5)

It is important for kids to have self-confidence and realistic, positive perceptions of themselves. Children who lack confidence tend to avoid risks, become socially awkward, and participate less in class and extracurricular activities. Parents and teachers can help instill self-confidence in young children by posing challenges and then stepping back to allow the children to achieve or fail and support and encourage their efforts.

To kick this week off, talk about "I Can" in circle time. Go around the circle and talk about something each child can do. Give them an example yourself first. Try to get them to come up with their own special answer, but offer assistance if needed. They should be very proud of their accomplishments! Just being able to put on their own shirt or brush their own teeth is a big deal at this age. Congratulate each other as you discuss each child's "I Can".


LETTER:  D d for "Do"

Being able to "Do" things on their own is this week's theme!

Trace the letter D and talk about words that begin with D http://bogglesworldesl.com/alphabet_worksheets/BigD.doc



SITE WORDS - NAME

The Name Game

For this activity, you will need alphabet stickers and paper.  I like to use the foam stickers so they are more substantial. Write the child's name on the paper. Place all the alphabet stickers in a big bowl. Make sure you have enough stickers so that each letter of each child's name is available.

Give each child their paper with their name. One by one the kids will search through the bowl and find letters. Each turn lasts until they find 1 letter that belongs in their name. When they find one of their letters, have them stick it on the paper below where you wrote it. Continue this process for each child until everyone has fully spelled their name.

This is all about letter recognition and spelling their name. Be very positive and give good praise when they are able to make correct matches. They CAN do it! As each child finishes their name, they should get a "prize" for completing the game!

SCIENCE

Ice Cube Painting

In keeping with the "I Can" theme, I wanted to pick something they can totally do on their own. Prep for this by making a couple of ice cube trays full of colored water. Just add a few drops of food coloring to the water in the trays. Try to make several different colors.

Give each child a piece of white paper or allow several children to color together on a piece of white butcher paper. This is a bit messy, but really fun! Use the ice to color the paper. You can provide napkins if they are having trouble holding the ice bare handed. If you feel comfortable, you could also freeze a toothpick in each ice cube (or maybe even a Q-tip) so they can use that to hold it.

While they are coloring, discuss what is happening to the ice. When water gets really cold, it turns hard and becomes ice. When it gets warmer it melts and becomes water again!  You can also discuss how the different colors are interacting with each other as they melt and mix together. Are they creating new colors?

"I Can" ACTIVITY

Following Directions



Completed Pyramid

 Following directions is a very important concept for kids. Trying to follow directions and failing can be very frustrating, especially for kids. In order to empower them, we are going to do a special "I Can" activity.

Use blocks, legos, or whatever other building material you wish. Give each child a specific direction to follow in the building of your item. It is best to have a definate end product you are trying to complete, so that they know when they have accomplished it. For example, build a basic building with Legos. Ask the first child to build a square base to start. Assist them, encourage them, but do not do it for them. Remember, they CAN! Then ask each child to take a turn and add to the building. Give them very specific directions. 

Once the building is complete, give great praise and talk about how great they did. Allow them to really feel proud of what they have accomplished. You could take a picture of it, print it out, and write on it that WE BUILT THIS! Post it in the room to remind them that they did it! It is also fun to knock down whatever they just built, so let them have at it.





MATH

Pom Pom Gripping, Sorting, Counting

You can use the same painted egg cartons from a couple of weeks ago. Each child will need a set of tongs. Put a bunch of pom poms in different colors in a bowl. The kids will need to pick up each pom pom with tongs and place it in the corresponding colored egg carton section. (This is also a fine motor activity)

Once all the pom poms have been sorted by color, they should count how many of each colored pom pom there are. Organize them by number. Put the largest pile of pom poms first, then the next largest, and so forth.


Pom Pom Math

Use a divided plate for this activity. The top 2 sections will be what you are adding and the answer will go in the big bottom section. Place 1 pom pom in a top section and 1 pom pom in the other top section. Discuss what you get when you add 1 pom pom to 1 pom pom. Physically take the pom poms from the top trays and place them together in the bottom tray and say "1 pom pom plus 1 pom pom equals 2 pom poms!" Try this with 2 in one section and 1 in the other. This is a great visual way to begin to understand adding items together. Do this with them several times this week and see if they can begin to do it on their own at some point! THEY CAN!



MOTOR SKILLS

Cutting Practice

Print the worksheet HERE and allow the kids to practice cutting straight lines using preschool safety scissors. (you guessed it, they can!)



CRAFT

Beading Bracelets

Provide colorful beads and pipe cleaners and direct them to create a beautiful bracelet!




BOOKS
Get it on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Can-Be-Anything-Jerry-Spinelli/dp/0316162264/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363802173&sr=1-1&keywords=i+can+be+anything#

Just like the title suggests, this book talks about how kids can be anything they want to be!!


Get it on Amazon!  http://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Ways-greatness-shine-through/dp/1401907822/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363802321&sr=1-1&keywords=incredible+you

A fantastic way to introduce the concept of being unique and powerful!



ART

Glue Painting

Materials Needed:

White school glue

Food coloring
Small paint brushes
Paper

Squirt some glue into a small bowl and add food coloring until it is the color you want. Create several different colors. Direct the kiddos to paint with this just as they normally would. The glue creates some really cool pictures that have texture! They CAN make cool art. Be sure to hang their masterpieces around the room. (if they have the manual dexterity to squeeze a glue bottle, they could paint that way also)

MUSIC

Create Homemade Instruments

This is a fun project! This way they CAN make their own music!

Castanets: make using poster board and buttons. Cut out rectangles of poster board (or cardboard), fold in half and glue a button to the inside edge of each side. Click them together for some great rhythm. (used bottle caps instead of buttons in the image)

Tambourines:  take 2 foam plates. Lay one down and place some beans, beads, rice, etc  on the plate. Lay the other plate on top with the edges together and tape the edges down. Depending on what you put inside is how the instrument will sound. You could make a couple of different versions of this.

Egg Shakers:  fill Easter eggs will rice and glue or tape shut. Shake, shake, shake!

Guitar:  Take a shoe box, cereal box, or tissue box. If you are using a cereal box or shoe box you will need to cut a hole in the center of one of the big flat sides. A tissue box is fine as-is. Wrap large rubber bands around the box longways to create the strings. Tape a paper towel tube to the top to act as the "neck". Strum away!

COOKING

Fruit Pizzas

They CAN do this all on their own!

Ingredients:

Sugar cookies or graham crackers

Vanilla frosting

Various fruit cut into small pieces

Give each child a cookie or graham cracker. Allow them to spread theirs with the frosting. Then they can add whatever fruit they want. Voila! Yummy fruit pizza they totally made themselves. :)

Little Detectives (Problem Solving)

Teaching little minds how to solve problems is a big deal. They often say "I can't" before they even try. Being a problem solver is a huge step towards independence! For preschoolers, solving mysteries sounds like a lot of fun, so we will use that term to help get them engaged in these lessons.

Circle Time Activity:  To begin this lesson, talk to the kids about solving mysteries. What is a mystery? A mystery is when you find something that you do not have an explanation for. To solve a mystery, you must investigate or find out about the mystery, ask questions, look for clues, and try to solve the problem. When they come across a problem and they aren't sure what to do, what next? Cry? Ask for help? Try to see what might work (investigate)? 

Mark 2 lines on the floor using masking tape. Make the lines about 1 foot apart. Crumple up a piece of paper and place it inside the lines. Tell the children to solve the mystery of how to make the paper move to the outside of the line without touching it. Let them investigate or try to think of ways to accomplish this. Before they try something, ask them to tell you about it or ask you questions. Guide them and give them some examples of your own, if necessary. If they try something and it does not work, make sure to encourage them to try another way. Once the task has been accomplished, discuss the process of solving the problem. They should feel proud that they were able to work through and solve the mystery!



LETTER: M m

M is for Mystery! Color the letter M coloring page. Trace the letter with your finger and then with a crayon. Also help them work through the letter M sound worksheet.

M Sounds                             Letter M Traceable

SCIENCE

Mystery Bag

Use a small bag which is thin but isn't see through. Collect some basic items that could be guessed by this age group pretty easily. These items could be a plate, diaper, toy car, duplo block, stuffed animal, hanger, etc.

Without them being able to see, place 1 item in the bag and close up the top. Pass it around to each child and ask them to feel it and try to guess what it is, but do not say it yet. Once each child has had a chance to feel it, see if anyone knows what it is. If they do, let them guess and show it to them if they are right. If they do not know what is in the Mystery Bag, discuss how they can figure it out without opening the bag. Ask questions: is it hard or soft, is it heavy or light, if you thump it does it make a sound, does it have a smell? Work through each item until all items have been guessed correctly.

MOTOR SKILLS

Size Sorting

Provide a large bowl with beans, rice and salt mixed together. Give the children a spoon, a strainer and a colander and ask them to figure out how to sort the items into 3 smaller bowls. Watch how they process through the mystery! If they need a hint, give them one. Once they have completed the task, talk about why and how the different sifters worked for the different sized items.

CRAFT

Puzzle Craft

You can use coloring book pictures, pictures from magazines, photographs of people, etc
Cut a picture into multiple pieces to make a puzzle.
In order to solve the mystery of what the picture is, they will have to solve the puzzle!
Give the pieces to a child and have them put it back together and glue it to a piece of construction paper. When they have figured out what the picture is, they need to tell you. They should get a sticker for solving their mystery!

 

 

MATH

Memory Game

If you have the game Memory, you can use that. Or you can make one of your own! DLTK has printable memory cards that you can customize! Since St. Patrick's Day is this weekend, you can use these:  http://dltk-cards.com/memory/memoryfinish.asp

If you want to create your own, use this link: http://dltk-cards.com/memory/memory1.asp

 

 

Same & Different

Use these worksheets to talk about things that are the same and things that are different:  http://www.kidslearningstation.com/same-different/worksheets/same-shapes-color.pdf

http://www.kidslearningstation.com/same-different/worksheets/different-shapes-color.pdf

 

 

COMMUNITY

Detectives

 

Detectives are special police officers who solve mysterious crimes. They find clues, like pieces of a puzzle, and put them all together to find out what happened. When they solve a crime, the person who did the crime will get punished.

 

 

GAMES

There are some really cool online problem solving games available on PBSkids.org. Check them out HERE.

 

 

MUSIC

Mystery Bag

Mystery Bag, Mystery Bag

What is inside the Mystery Bag?

Little Joe

Find this on Songdrops.com!  It is a really cute song about a little boy who comes home to find his caterpillar missing. Solve the mystery of where he went!  http://www.songdrops.com/funny-kids-songs-for-children/little-joe.html

 

 

BOOKS

 

A story about a boy who is afraid to go to the playground because of a bully. Find out how he solves this problem!

Available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/King-Playground-Phyllis-Reynolds-Naylor/dp/0689718020/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362166710&sr=1-1&keywords=king+of+the+playground

 

 

 

    Find out how this man solves his pesky problem!

Available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Caps-Sale-Peddler-Monkeys-Business/dp/B008Q3ID5W/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362166839&sr=1-2&keywords=caps+for+sale

COOKING

Mystery Snack

This one isn't really about cooking. Place any snack you wish into the Mystery Bag. Describe it to the kids and let them solve the mystery! When they figure it out, they can eat it.

 

 

 

BONUS!

St. Patrick's Day Craft

DLTK has a really easy and fun Shamrock Craft HERE. It comes with a fun song too!

5 Senses (Feb 18 - 22)

We are going to talk about our senses this week! Not only is it great to learn how each of them work, we can count them, too. Our senses are touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste. It is so fun to explore each of these and watch as they begin to notice them on their own.

In the first Circle Time of the week, discuss each of the senses, which part of their bodies are associated with those senses, and how each of them help us make our way through the world.

SIGHT: Our eyes help us see the world around us. We can see our friends and family, the colors of the trees, cars, buildings, and water, the words and pictures in books. Everyone close your eyes, what can you see now?

HEARING: Our ears help us hear the sounds around us. We can hear our mothers talk or sing to us, the birds chirping, wind blowing through the trees, traffic on the road. Everyone be completely quiet for a moment, can you still hear? What can you hear? Cover your ears with your hands. Can you still hear things?

TASTE:  Our tongues in our mouths help us taste things. We can taste many different flavors such as sweet, spicy, sour, or bitter. We should only place things we wish to eat into our mouths! Stick your tongue out of your mouth and look at your friend's tongue!

SMELL:  Our noses help us smell things in our world. We can smell coffee brewing, the sweetness of flowers, our lunch cooking, dirty laundry. If you squeeze your nose shut, you won't be able to smell very well. That is why it is difficult to smell when your nose is stuffed up! Squeeze your nose shut and talk, you will sound very funny!

TOUCH:  Our skin helps us to feel the things around us. We can feel the cold air outside, the fuzziness of our pajamas, the pokey-ness of our hairbrush, the smoothness of the window. Touch the carpet with your hand, it feels very soft!

We have each of these senses to help us understand our world. Use each of your senses when you are learning new things!


LETTER OF THE WEEK: K k

On a piece of craft foam, draw a letter K. Use a fuzzy pipe cleaner to create the letter and hot glue it to the foam, over the written letter. Get a shallow tray with sides, such as a plastic bin from a dollar store. You can put sand, flour, rice, or salt in the bottom. Allow the kids to trace the fuzzy letter to FEEL (one of our senses!) the letter. Then allow them to make the letter in the tray. This is a great way to introduce writing to them, it easily "erases", and it works well with our lesson this week! Make sure to talk about the letter, the sound it makes, and several words that begin with K such as Kite, Kitten, Kit, and Kick.



SCIENCE

Hearing - How Sound Is Made

Materials Needed:
Various sized containers
Chopsticks or wooden spoons for drumsticks
Cellophane paper and extra large balloons
Various materials to bounce on the drums (such as dried beans, rice, flour, marbles)
Rubber bands
Scissors


Cut the ends of the balloons off (the part you blow into) and pull the ends down over the open tops of the containers. Make sure to also place the cellophane paper over one of them to make a different sounding drum. Secure each with the rubber bands.

Place a pile of rice on one drum, some beans on another and so forth.  Tell the children that SOUND is made by vibrating (or shaking) the air. Bang on a drum with a drumstick and show them how the objects on top vibrate when you hit it. You also hear the sound! Show them how the sound changes when you use a larger or smaller drum, different objects on top, or the cellophane paper. Each will make a different sound. Ask them which drum makes the objects bounce higher? What happens if you bang the drum softly? Or hard? Allow the children to bang the drums and make a great big mess! Sound is made by vibrating the air and this is a great way to demonstrate that!





SENSE OF SMELL ACTIVITY

Materials Needed:
Small, plastic cups
Lids for cups or plastic wrap
Cotton Balls
Scented oils, food flavorings, vinegar, perfume, shaving cream, onion, coffee (anything you can have them smell)
Pictures of the items they will be smelling


Gather the different SMELLS. Any perfumes, oils, food flavorings, etc can be dripped onto the cotton balls. Place the items inside the cups and place the lid or plastic wrap on top. Poke a few holes in the lid.

Show the children the pictures of the things they will be smelling. Talk about their sense of smell! We smell things everyday. Some things smell good and some things don't. Ask them what kinds of things they like to smell. What kinds of things smell bad?

Allow them to smell one of the cups. What does it smell like? Give them a selection of 3 or 4 pictures to choose from. When they get it right, put the picture on top of the cup. Continue through your selections and discuss if the smell is good, bad, yummy, etc.



TOUCH ACTIVITY

Blocks in Socks

Materials Needed:
Several clean socks
Objects that you can feel through the socks and identify (marbles, blocks, puzzle pieces, toy cars, stuffed toys, spoon, sippy cup)
A soft blanket or other very soft item

We use our hands to TOUCH things and help us understand what they are. Even if you can't see a spoon, you should be able to tell it is a spoon by feeling it with your hands. Have the children close their eyes and ask them to feel the item in front of them. Allow them to feel a soft blanket or something like it. Ask them how it feels. Is it soft? Is it rough? Is it cold?

Now explain that there is something inside the sock you are holding. It is a good idea to tie the open end of the sock so they can't sneak a peak! They should feel the sock and try to guess what it is by how it feels. Allow the children to feel the object and make a guess. Once all guesses are in, open the sock and show them what it is! Let them each feel the item again so they can see how it feels now that they know what it is. Continue with a few more items.



CRAFT

Faces Craft

This one will help to show the different senses. Print the face template HERE. Cut out multiples of each face item (mouth, eyes, noses, ears) from magazines. Talk about each of the parts of the face and what sense goes with them. Allow the children to create their own faces using the cutouts and the face templates.

MATH

Egg Carton Color Sorter

 

Materials Needed:

Egg Carton

Multiple colors of paint or marker

Selection of single colored items that will fit in the egg carton compartments

Color the bottom of each egg compartment. Place the items in a big bowl and tell the children to use their eyes (sense of SIGHT) to separate the items by color by placing them in the compartment with the same color. Once all items are sorted, count how many of each item there are.

BOOKS

5 Senses Book 

Print out the FREE printable from Kidzone! http://www.kidzone.ws/science/me/ws-sensesbook.htm

Available on AMAZON! http://www.amazon.com/Five-Senses-Book-Lets-Read---Find-Out/dp/0060200502/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360175083&sr=1-3&keywords=childrens+books+five+senses#_

ART
Stained Glass

Materials Needed:
Construction Paper
Wax Paper
Tissue Paper
Stickers
Glue

Tear the tissue paper up into many different pieces. Cut a square out of the center of the construction paper, leaving 1" all the way around. This will be the "frame". Cut the wax paper to fit inside the frame and tape it down on the back so that it shows through the front.

Place the cut up tissue paper and stickers on the table for the children to choose. Give each child a framed wax paper and a glue stick and let them go! These always end up very pretty, especially when you hang them in the windows. We use our sense of SIGHT to see the pretty colors and make this art. Then we can LOOK at the art for many days and enjoy it.



MUSIC

5 Senses Song

5 senses, 5 senses
We have them, we have them
Seeing, hearing, touching,
Tasting and smelling
There are 5
There are 5


COOKING

Taste Testing!

We can't leave out the very important sense of TASTE! This will take some set up, but will be lots of fun. Choose several different flavors such as sweet, salty, bitter, sour. Tell the children that you are going to taste some different things and decide what flavor they are and if they like them or not. Just make sure that you choose things that they can't choke on and no one is allergic to! Other than that, it is a free-for-all! Have fun with this one.