Jungle Theme

CIRCLE TIME

Fun Jungle Facts -

• Jungles are overgrown with wild tangles of vegetation and dense forest.
• The thin canopy (or "roof) and plenty of rain creates dense areas of plants and vegetation that can be difficult to navigate.
• Jungles are home to a wide range of plants and animals.
• Jungles are usually in warm places with high rainfall.

Jungle Animal Facts -

1. Question: What is the smallest jungle animal?
   Answer: Ant.
   
2. Question: Where are jungles located? Answer: In the tropics  
   

   

   from enchantedlearning.com



3. Question: What is the fastest animal? Answer: The cheetah is the fastest animal on land. The cheetahs top speed can go up to 73mph.
   
4. Question: Can black bear climb trees? Answer: Yes. Black bears have great tree-climbing abilities because they have short, non-retractable claws.
   
5. Question: What are the two countries on earth that have alligators? Answer: the United States and China.
   
6. Interesting facts about elephant Elephants spend 16 hours a day eating plant food. The large tusks of African elephants can be over 10 ft (3 m) in length and weigh over 200 lb (90 kg).

Interesting facts about jungle animals

• Elephants spend 16 hours a day eating plant food.
• The large tusks of African elephants can be over 10 ft (3 m) in length and weigh over 200 lb (90 kg).
• Some antelope horns can grow to almost 5 ft (1.5 m) long.
• Apes and humans are so closely related that they share a large amount of same DNA.
• Coyotes are actually more scared of a human.
• giraffes’ fur darkens when they grow older. A giraffe tongue can be 18 inches long
• Tigers are the biggest cat. They can eat 60 pounds of meat in one day.
• Raccoons are actually close to the bear family. They like to live in urban areas.
• Wolves usually live in packs. They also fight in packs.
• Giant pandas are good tree-climbers and swimmers. They have lived on earth for about 3 million years.
• Armadillos eat fire ants as food. Armadillos are good diggers and swimmers.
• Hummingbird is one of the smallest bird and fastest flying birds.
• Not any two zebras have exactly the same stripes.

READING

 

This is a great rhyming book with references to some awesome jungle creatures!




A sweet story about a girl who goes on a magical adventure to the Amazon jungle and meets some new people and animals!



Rainforest Word Cards

Awesome cards from prekinders.com! Print these and post in the room near the circle time area so you can talk about them each day!

http://www.prekinders.com/rainforest-word-cards/

MATH

Giraffe Math Mats

Print the Math Mats from prekinders.com and use play dough to "feed the giraffe". This is a great counting activity and good for fine motor skills as well!

http://www.prekinders.com/feed-the-giraffe-mats/

SCIENCE

Animal Trax

http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/assets/PDF/Animal_Tracks.pdf

Have fun with these animal trax cards! Print and cut them out. See if the kids can match the prints to the animal! Talk about why each animal has the kind of feet they have. How do their feet help them?

ART

Rainforest Kool-Aid Art


Fill a spray bottle with water. Sprinkle different colors of Kool-Aid onto a white piece of paper. Allow the kids to spray the paper with the water and see what crazy art they can make!



CRAFT

Paper Plate Lion Masks

Materials Needed:
Large Craft Sticks
White Paper Plates
Yellow & Orange Construction Paper
Brown Construction Paper
Scissors
Glue

**Depending on the age of the children, you can pre-cut out the center of the plate and the strips of mane and the ears for them.

Begin by showing the kids how to cut the center of the plate out so their faces will show through. Then they should cut varying lengths of rectangle pieces of the orange and yellow paper for the mane. Cut ears out of the brown paper.

Glue the mane all around the edge of the plate and allow to dry. Glue the ears to the top portion of the lion's head. Glue the craft stick to the BACK of the bottom of the face to use as a handle.

Put the mask over your face and roar as loud as you can!!

(I will post images of ours soon, this is an example!)



FINE MOTOR

Play Dough Bugs and Snakes!

This is an easy one. Give the kids some playdough and let them get to it! You can make them a few examples yourself. It's a great way to play with the play dough too!!

MUSIC & GROSS MOTOR

(Make sure the kids are up and doing all the things the song talks about, it is very silly!)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

The monkey stomp, stomps, stomps his feet
The monkey stomp, stomps, stomps his feet
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!
The monkey claps, claps, claps his hands
The monkey claps, claps, claps his hands
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!
The monkey covers, covers, covers his eyes
The monkey covers, covers, covers his eyes
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!
The monkey jumps, jumps, jumps up and down
The monkey jumps, jumps, jumps up and down
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!

Note: Add additional verses (sits down, stands up, turns around, etc)

(from everythingpreschool.com)

COLORING

I have linked to firstschool.com because they have a whole list of great FREE coloring sheets to choose from!

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/coloring-pages/rainforest.htm

Rainbows! Incredible Weather

Rainbows are so cool! And you feel so lucky when you see one that you feel like God himself is reminding you how wonderful life can be. Let's learn all about them, how they are formed, how we can make them ourselves, and even create some amazing rainbow art!


CIRCLE TIME

"A Rainbow is an arch of colors formed by the refraction and dispersion of the sun's light by rain or other water droplets in the atmosphere."

What does that mean? It means that when water droplets (tiny water drops) are in the air and sunlight shines on them just right, a rainbow will appear.

We call them rainbows because they form after (or sometimes during) rain showers. But we can see them at many other times as well. You can see them in the spray at the bottom of a waterfall, in ocean spray, in special types of clouds and even in your sprinkler in your yard!



When have YOU seen a rainbow? What kind was it?




SCIENCE

Making Rainbows

Materials Needed:
A Glass of Water (glass is important!)
White Paper
Sunshine (no artificial light)

Stand close to a sunny window or outside. Hold the glass of water above the paper and aim it so that the sunshine will pass through the glass and onto the paper. As the sunshine passes through the glass of water, the light will refract or bend and separate the colors onto your paper.

What colors do you see?

What do you think will happen if you hold the glass farther above the paper? Test your theory. What if you hold it closer to the paper? Will this work the same way if you use a clear plastic cup? Why? Will it work the same way if you use a flashlight instead of sunlight? Test out all your ideas to see what happens!

MATH

Color Counting

Materials Needed:
Box of Fruit Loops or other rainbow colored circle cereal
Glue
Rainbow Template (HERE)
Chalkboard, Whiteboard or other Large Surface to Write On


The idea of this is to work with colors, counting and following directions. Write on the board so the children can see:

RED = 16
ORANGE = 13
YELLOW = 10
GREEN = 7
BLUE = 3
PURPLE = 1

Explain that they should count out the amount of each color and then glue them to the correct rows. This will require that they
1.  follow directions well
2.  count well
3.  understand colors well

They will need to be able to figure out which row should be red (the row with 16 circles in it), and so forth. Be available to help, but don't give them the answers! Help them to work out which color goes where on their own.

**For younger kiddos - use markers to outline the circles in the proper colors and provide only the correct number of cereal per color. Once they have glued all their pieces you can all count them together as practice!

BIBLE

Why Did God Make Rainbows?

Print out and make the booklet from Ministry to Children HERE. This is an abbreviated version of the story of Noah. You can also read Genesis 6:9-11,14,17-19, 21-22 & 7:1,4-5 & 8:6-12,15-17,20 & 9:17.

Rainbows are God's promise that he will never again flood the earth.

There is a whole lesson you can do on this topic at Ministry to Children http://ministry-to-children.com/noah-preschool-bible-lesson/

ART / CRAFT

Craft

Torn Tissue Paper Rainbows

Materials Needed:
Rainbow of colors tissue paper
Glue
Rainbow Template  Use the first one with the colors on it!


Allow the kids to tear the tissue paper into small pieces. Then glue them onto the template. If you use the one with the colors printed on it, this will be a reading lesson as well!

Hang these around the room and brighten it up!

Art

Milk Rainbows

(This is really a science experiment, but I think the result is so pretty that I am calling it art)

Materials Needed:
Red, blue and yellow food color
Milk
Dish soap (dawn works well)
Shallow bowls (you can use small aluminum pie tins)
Q-tips


Pour 1 cup of milk in each bowl. Squeeze 1 drop of each color of food color on the edge of the bowl in the milk. Squeeze a drop of dish soap in the center of the milk. Watch what happens! You can use the Q-tips to swirl it around and make a unique piece of artwork.

You can't keep this art, but the same can be said for people who make sand castles and ice sculptures, right?

READING

"A small boy imagines what it would be like to have his own rainbow to play with."

"Everyone knows rainbows look magical, but how do they work?
You'll find out when you join the Rainbow Patrol. Rainbow expert Roy G. Biv will guide you back in time to learn the importance of rainbows in ancient cultures. You'll go inside a raindrop to discover how light bends to create the rainbow's dazzling colors. Finally, you'll return home and learn how to make your own rainbow!
You'll become a real rainbow expert as noted astronomer E.C. Krupp and artist Robin Rector Krupp combine fascinating facts with dazzling illustrations to reveal the secrets of the rainbow. The creators of The Big Dipper and You bring their celestial know-how a little closer to earth in this entertaining introduction to our most colorful natural wonder."






MOTOR SKILLS

Fine:

Rainbow Playdough

This is as simple as it sounds! Let them make rainbows using rainbow colored playdough. You could also provide a template. You could even use a rainbow cookie cutter! Have fun with this.

Gross:

Target Practice

Let's get them moving, shall we? Get some balloons in a rainbow of colors. Dollar stores are a great place to get cheap balloons. You can get them filled with helium OR you can hang them from the ceiling. This will work either way! You will also need some small bean bags (which you can make using old socks and beans) and a LOT of room.

Try to spread out the colors of balloons around the room. Give each kid 1 bean bag and tell them they need to listen to directions. You are going to call out a color and they should try to hit a balloon in that color.

Be prepared! This is going to be crazy. But it will be super fun!




MUSIC

Rainbow Song
(from preschooleducation.com)
Sung to "Mary Had A Little Lamb"

Rainbow over the waterfall,
waterfall, waterfall,
Rainbow over the waterfall,
Rainbow over the tree.

Rainbow over the mountain
mountain, mountain,
Rainbow over them mountain,
Rainbow over the sea.

Rainbow over the flowers,
flowers, flowers,
Rainbow over the flowers,
rainbow over the bee

Rainbow over the dancers
dancers, dancers,
Rainbow over the dancers,
Rainbow over me!!

COOKING

Rainbow Skewers

Ingredients:
(depending on where you are and what season it is, it can be tough finding all the fruit. you can try to use frozen fruits if necessary)

Red fruit (strawberries, cherries, watermelon)
Orange fruit (oranges, mangos, apricots)
Yellow fruits (lemons, pineapple, yellow apple)
Green fruits (grapes, limes, kiwis)
Blue fruits (blueberries, ??)
Purple fruits (plumbs, blackberries, purple grapes)


Pick 1 or 2 from each color. Wash and cut into small pieces. Provide a long skewer for the kids. Have them create their own fruit rainbow using the fruits!

You can dip them in vanilla Greek yogurt too!

American Heart Month - February

It seems very appropriate to celebrate the heart this month! Our heart health is very important. Let's do some fun activities that will help kids learn how to take care of their hearts. This lesson plan is a great way to break away from the Valentine's Day norm while keeping with the heart theme!


CIRCLE TIME

Begin by talking about your heart. Our heart is the strongest muscle in our body! This is the organ that pumps our blood through our bodies. In order for our heart to pump blood correctly, it must be a healthy heart! We can take steps to make sure our heart stays healthy.

1. Get lots of exercise. When we exercise, it makes our heart work harder. This is good for our heart and keeps it healthy.

2. Eat heart healthy foods. Usually, the brighter in color the better! Foods that are great for your heart include salmon, oatmeal, black beans, almonds & walnuts, tuna, blueberries, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes, asparagus, oranges, tomatoes and papaya. Try to include as many of these types of foods in your daily diet. Only eat "junk food", such as cookies, candy, cheeseburgers, and chips, occasionally. I like to call the healthy foods "all the time foods" and the junk foods "sometimes foods".

You can review more information on the American Heart Association's website. Click HERE to check it out.

Wear Red Day is the first Friday in February. Everyone should wear something red on this day to promote heart healthy habits!

Circle Time Activity:

Find pictures of heart healthy foods such as brightly colored fruits and vegetables, salmon and tuna, oatmeal, yogurt, almond and walnuts, etc. Also find pictures of junk foods, particularly things like greasy fried chicken, cheeseburgers, French fries, etc.

Draw a big red heart with a smiley face on one paper and a big black heart with a frown on another paper. Post those on the wall near your circle time place.

After you discuss the good and bad foods, ask the kids if the food you are showing them is heart healthy or bad for your heart. Go through each item and talk about it.

SCIENCE/CRAFT

Make your own stethoscope and listen to each other's heart!

You can make a simple stethoscope! You will need:
Paper towel tubes
Small funnels
Duct tape
Medium balloons
Scissors

Duct tape the funnel as tightly as you can to the paper towel tube with the big end facing out. Cut the balloon's end off and pull tightly over the top of the big end of the funnel. This creates a "tympanic membrane" which will help to amplify or make the sound louder.

Place the balloon end against the chest of one of the kids and place the open end of the paper towel tube to your ear and listen for their heartbeat. Of course, you can do this activity without using your home made stethoscope if you want!

What do you hear? How does the heart sound? How many beats do you hear? Have the kids reproduce the sound the are hearing. What do they think the heart is doing? Why are there 2 beats?

Now have the kids do some jumping around. Get those heart rates up a bit. Now listen to the hearts again. What changed? Why do they think that happened?

Discuss what is happening inside their bodies.

Watch this video for a great explanation: http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/CSmovie.html




GROSS MOTOR

Happy Heart Says:

Just like "Simon Says". Line the kids up. Tell them they need to listen closely to the directions. You will say "Happy Heart Says" and then give them an exercise such as jumping up and down. Make sure they listen, if you don't say "Happy Heart Says" then they will have to sit out. You may want to make it to where they sit out for 2 turns and then get back in the game. Get them moving!

 

 

 

FINE MOTOR

 

Find the Hearts

 

Get some heart stickers. Pour rice (you can use colored rice if you wish) into a large tub. Place stickers in the rice. Have the kids use tongs or tweezers to pull the stickers out of the rice. Let them keep what they find!

 

 



MATH

Math Scavenger Hunt

You Will Need:
Index Cards
Sheets of Paper
Markers
Prizes

The index cards will be the clues. The sheets of paper will be the markers for the next clue. The idea is to make them do some simple addition in order to get to the next clue marker.

Draw some simple addition problems (also do some subtraction if the kids are ready for that) on index cards. I like to write out the number problem and then also include a representation of the problem in dots. For example I would write 5 + 2 = at the top in big print. Then I would draw 5 dots + 2 dots = at the bottom in smaller print. This helps them to work the problem. Write the answers on the papers. So the sheet of paper that would correspond to the above index card would have a big 7 written on it.

Place the papers with the answers in random places around the room. Place the next index card with that answer sheet. Once they have found that correct answer, they can solve the next index card problem and move on to the next answer sheet. For completing the hunt, there should be some kind of prize. Examples of prizes are valentine pencils, heart sunglasses from the dollar store, a little baggie of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal...

ART

Torn Paper Hearts

You Will Need:
Red, Pink, White, Purple Construction Paper
Glue (best is school glue, put some in a little bowl for the younger kids)


Cut the white paper into a large heart. Provide the other colors of paper and glue to the kids. Allow the kids to tear the paper into pieces, which they will then glue all over the white heart. The end results are pretty!

These look awesome hanging on the walls!

READING

"Night and day, whether you're asleep or awake, your heart is always beating. Read and find out how your heart works and how to keep it healthy."

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064451399/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0R618EZPR799PMP0DQMQ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970559082&pf_rd_i=desktop

"Ms. Frizzle's class is learning about the heart. They get in the Magic School Bus because they are going to see a movie. But they find themselves on a heart-pounding adventure!"

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Magic-School-Heart-Scholastic-Reader/dp/0439684021



MUSIC

My Heart - by Jennifer Fixman

Follow the link for the lyrics and tune!  http://www.songsforteaching.com/jennyfixmanedutunes/myheart.htm

COOKING

Heart Muffins

These muffins are tasty and heart healthy! They are high in protein and low in sugar.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

6 Tablespoons Butter, melted and cooled

1/2 Cup Chunky Peanut Butter (you can use smooth, that's fine)

2 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

3/4 Cup Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, peanut butter, eggs, and milk until smooth. (if the peanut butter is in clumps within the liquid that is fine, it will all work out in the end) Pour liquid mixture into flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. In a paper lined muffin tin, scoop 3 tablespoon size scoops into each muffin cup (I used my cookie scoop). Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

**To make them heart shaped, place a marble between the muffin cup and the paper liner before baking.