Independence Day & America!

This is one of my favorite holidays because I love my country! America's founders were free thinkers and knew that the key to a great country was to provide as much freedom as possible to their citizens. The result of their commitment to freedom and liberty has been the greatest country this world has ever known. It is important to begin to teach our kids to have pride and love for our country.

CIRCLE TIME

We celebrate Independence Day on July 4th because that is the day that America's "fathers" said that we would be an independent nation. In other words, no other countries could rule us. It is kind of like America's birthday! Our country is different from all other countries because we were promised freedom by the people who started this country. We are also different because our laws are based on Christian principles. We follow God's word as a country.

**There is a LOT you can talk about here! Please follow this LINK to several short stories and learning materials that you can use to fit the lessons to the kids in your care.

**Christian based lesson - Freedom Isn't Free - http://www.sermons4kids.com/freedom-isnt-free.html


VIDEO

Provide small flags for the kids. Play this "School House Rock" video about the Fourth of July.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmSVnP-oDRs

Encourage the kids to wave their flags around proudly! (This is most likely a little over their heads, but kids love music and cartoons, so maybe they will learn something without even realizing it!)

MUSIC

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Wave (Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Wave, wave, wave the flag,
Hold it very high.
Watch the colors gently wave,
Way up in the sky.

March, march, march around,
Hold the flag up high.
Wave, wave, wave the flag,
Way up in the sky.



BOOKS


On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Story-Americas-Birthday-Patricia-Pingry/dp/0824941705/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_5

Very well written for toddlers and preschoolers! Really helps them understand what we are celebrating.





On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/America-Devin-Scillian/dp/1585360155/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371577473&sr=1-1&keywords=a+is+for+america

A wonderful book which doubles as Alphabet practice and learning about our amazing country!



COLORING

July 4th Page
http://www.dltk-kids.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-kids.com/usa/posters/bposter-usa1.gif






MATH

Star Counting

Star Counting Worksheet

Print the worksheet. Provide the kiddos with those cheap little foil star stickers. They should place the number of star stickers to the paper that is listed in each box. This helps with counting skills and number recognition.


Duplo Number Cards

http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/09/printable-duplo-number-cards-plus-5-fun.html

Go to this site and print out their FREE cards! Use them how you wish. This week we will be using them for counting and patterning! Have the kids match each card. Count out the correct number of Duplos and also match the patterns.





SCIENCE

Making a "safe" explosion!

The Fourth of July means many things, and everyone's favorite (especially kids!) is the fireworks! It is important to know why we shoot fireworks on Independance Day. They represent the cannon fire and shooting that Francis Scott Key was witnessing as he was held in a British ship during the bombardment of Fort McHenry. A very large flag was sewn to fly over the fort so that all the British could see it. During the night, Mr. Key could see the bombing taking place. He knew that if the giant flag still flew over the fort in the morning, that the Americans had won the battle! Sure enough, when daylight broke, the flag was tattered and torn but still flying proudly! This event caused Mr. Key to write the poem that became our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner (song lyrics above in the music section).

Fireworks can be dangerous, so we are going to make a much safer explosion!

Materials Needed:

Mentos mint candies

Diet Coca Cola, 2 liter bottle (diet is important!)

(**This is a very messy experiment and is best done outside!)

When these 2 substances mix together they cause a BUNCH of bubbles to form really quickly! If the bubbles are squished together inside a container, such as the Coke bottle, they will find the quickest way out. Since the opening in the bottle is small, it causes the bubbles to shoot out of the opening like a rocket!

Ask the kids, what do you think will happen when I put the candies into the bottle?

Drop 2 or 3 of the Mentos into the opening of the Coke bottle and RUN! The reaction happens really quickly. It is not dangerous, only messy.




ART/CRAFT

Art - Blow Paint Fireworks!

Materials Needed:
Large pieces of construction paper. Dark colors work best
Many different colors of tempera paint
Glitter in a sprinkle container
Straws
Shallow bowls

This is super fun but can also be pretty messy! If the kids in your care are likely to suck paint up the straw, poke a pin hole in the straw near the top to prevent paint from being able to be sucked up very far.

Show them how to dip their straw into a bowl of paint and then blow the paint onto their paper. It makes really cool splatters that look like fireworks! Once they have the paint on the paper, allow them to sprinkle some glitter onto the paper to complete the look.

Craft - Sponge Paint Flags

Print the coloring sheet from ColoringCastle.com. This flag has big sections to color in. http://www.coloringcastle.com/pdfs/flags/flag-usa-simplified.pdf

Materials Needed:
Flag coloring sheet
Shallow bowls
Red and Blue tempera paints
Sponges, cut into 1" x 1" squares

The children should dip their sponges into the paint to paint the flag. Painting using a new "brush" makes the activity so much more interesting!



Gross Motor

A Twist on "Simon Says"

Cut out large circles in red, white and blue. Set them out on the lawn or in the house where you have a large space. Line the kids up and say "Hop to a Red circle!" All the kids should hop to a red circle. Next, say "Crawl to a Blue circle!" And so on. This game is excellent for color recognition, following directions and getting some of their endless energy out! In order to make it more challenging, remove some of the circles after each turn.

COOKING

Graham Cracker Flags

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker rectangles

White frosting
Red Frosting
Blue Frosting

Provide plastic butter knives and allow the kids to create flags from the frosting! Really fun and yumm-my!

PS-I put some frosting in little plastic baggies and cut the corner off so I could easily squirt the frosting in the lovely straight lines in the picture! You could also put the frosting in these squirt bottles that you can get for pretty cheap at a dollar store or Wal-Mart. Whichever way would be easiest for your kiddos!







Here is what my 3-year-old did before he decided to just eat the frosting!

Feelings & Emotions

Preschool is a tough time for kids. They have all of these feelings and emotions that they don't have much control over and are difficult to understand. They often find themselves getting into trouble because of these feelings and emotions that they can't control and it can be very frustrating. My hope is to help them understand them a little bit more, which could help them control them better. Maybe...we will give it a shot!

CIRCLE TIME

What are feelings?

Feelings are what we experience as humans. We feel sad when a friend moves far away. We feel happy when we get a new friend. We feel mad when our friend takes our favorite toy. We feel love for our Mommy and Daddy. Each of these are emotions or feelings.

In order to demonstrate these feelings, provide a mirror for the kids and ask them to act happy while looking in the mirror. Smile and laugh and watch your face. Now act sad. Frown, wrinkle your brow. See the difference? Each of our emotions show on our face as we are feeling them. Try a few more, just for fun!

Activity

Print the packet I found on TeachersPayTeachers.com and use them to discuss the different emotions David is feeling. Cut out the first page of emotion cards and lay them face down on the table. Ask each child to chose a card and then guess the emotion portrayed on that card. You can then read them the scenarios on the next pages and have the kids guess which emotion David is feeling.
What is David Feeling?

LETTER: N  n for Noisy

http://www.easy-preschool-activities.com/support-files/colourn.pdf

The letter N starts the words Noisy, Necklace, Nose, No and Nice. Print the worksheet. Trace the letter with your finger then with a crayon. Color the picture.






READING

 This week we will continue on our Long Vowel lessons and begin Long E.

On Starfall.com: Work on lesson 7 (Pete's Sheep)  http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/play.htm?f

On ReadingBear.org:  Long E lesson

Our Long E activity will be to print the puzzle worksheet and out out the puzzle pieces. Sound out the word with the children and see if they can find the matching puzzle pieces. As they make a match, explain the long E sound.  It works best to print these out on cardstock.
http://www.havefunteaching.com/fun-activities/kids-puzzles/long-vowel-e-puzzle.pdf




SCIENCE

Feelings In Color

Colors can show how you feel. To begin this experiment, play some happy music and then ask the children to pick a color and draw a picture of how they feel. It doesn't always work, as many children will always pick their favorite color first. Just see what happens. Then give them a fresh piece of paper and play some sorrowful music. Ask them to draw another picture of how they feel now.

Once you are done with this, compare the pictures the children drew. Talk to them about how different colors can show their emotions. Ask them about the colors they chose and why!

People will use different colors to bring about certain feelings in others. For example, if you are feeling angry, you can look at a soothing color like blue and it might help to calm you down. Looking at the color yellow can make you feel happy and excited.



MATH

Happy & Sad Sorting

Cut out pictures from magazines of people who look happy and people who look sad. Make a Happy Face and a Sad Face. Shuffle all the people in a pile and place the happy face on one spot and the sad face on another. Ask the children to pick a picture from the pile and look at their face to decide if they look happy or sad. Sort all the pictures and discuss what makes the people look happy or sad.








Paper Plate Numbers

Materials Needed:
10 Clothespins

Paper Plate
Markers

Write the numbers 1 - 10 on the clothespins. Divide the paper plate into 10 segments and draw 1 - 10 dots in each segment. Place the numbered clothespins in a bowl. (you can color code the numbers and dots, if you feel like it may help)

Ask each child to pick a clothespin and read the number that is on it. They will then find the correct place on the paper plate to place their number.





ART/CRAFT

ART - Faces 

Provide the children with paper and colors. Ask them to draw a happy face and a sad face. Once they are done, ask them what made their faces happy and sad.


CRAFT - Emotional Faces 

Check out this craft on DLTK's website! It is pretty simple and can be used for demonstrating many of the feelings you will be talking about this week.

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/memotions.html




BOOKS

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose-How-Are-Feeling/dp/0375846298/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369752262&sr=1-1&keywords=duck+and+goose%2C+how+are+you+feeling

A sweet book which will simply describe some feelings such as happy, sad, scared and proud.



            On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Way-I-Feel-Janan-Cain/dp/1884734715/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369752363&sr=1-1&keywords=the+way+i+feel

This is a great book for helping preschool kids to learn to express their feelings with words.




MUSIC (and Gross Motor)

If You're Happy and You Know It

What a fantastic song for this week! Use this variation in order to incorporate many emotions into the song:

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands, "Clap clap"
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands, "Clap clap"
If you're happy and you know it, and you really wanna show it
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands. "Clap clap"

If you're mad and you know it stomp your feet, "Stomp stomp"
If you're mad and you know it stomp your feet,  "Stomp stomp"
If you're mad and you know it, and you really wanna show it
If you're mad and you know it stomp your feet.  "Stomp stomp"

If you're sad and you know it cry out loud BOO HOO,
If you're sad and you know it cry out loud BOO HOO,
If you're sad and you know it, and you really wanna show it
If you're sad and you know it cry out loud BOO HOO

If you're scared and you know it give a shiver "BRRRR"
If you're scared and you know it give a shiver "BRRRR"
If you're scared and you know it, and you really wanna show it
If you're scared and you know it, give a shiver "BRRRR"

If you're silly and you know it laugh out loud "HAHA"
If you're silly and you know it laugh out loud "HAHA"
If you're silly and you know it, and you really wanna show it
If you're silly and you know it laugh out loud "HAHA"

If you're friendly and you know it wave hello "Hi There"
If you're friendly and you know it wave hello "Hi There"
If you're friendly and you know, and you really wanna show it,
If you're friendly and you know it wave hello "Hi There"

If you're excited and you know it shout hurray "Hurr-ay"
If you're excited and you know it shout hurray "Hurr-ay"
If you're excited and you know it, and you really wanna show it,
If you're excited and you know it shout hurray "Hurr-ay"

Dance to the Music

Another fun way to express feelings is to dance to music. Put on some lively music and just let the kids cut loose!


COOKING

English Muffin Faces

Ingredients:
English Muffins
Peanut Butter (or apple butter)
Raisins or Blueberries for eyes
Apples, sliced into different mouth shapes
Raspberries or Strawberries, cut to make noses
Any other items, be creative!

Toast the muffins. Provide spoons and easy access to the peanut butter and allow the kids to "paint" theirs. Then give them the other ingredients and have them make any face they wish.




**BONUS - FATHER'S DAY CRAFT!

Keychains!

SO fun and easy. You can find that "shrinky dink" plastic stuff at craft stores. You can use pre-printed ones or even better get the blank ones. Have the kids color them for Dad. Punch a hole in it for the key chain. Make sure to write their name and the year on them BEFORE you bake them.

Once baked, have the kids string some beads onto some yarn. Attach the beads to a keychain ring and the art on the other end. These are so fun because now Dad can carry their original artwork with him wherever he goes!

Dinosaur Week!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! This is going to be a fun week! Dinosaurs seem to captivate all children. Maybe because of their immense size, that they look like huge lizards, or maybe because they no longer exist. Whatever the reason, incorporating dinosaurs into our lesson this week is going to be so much fun!

In order to alleviate any fear of these violent, meat eating creatures, begin by explaining that the dinosaurs have been extinct, or that none live anymore, for a very long time. The dinosaurs were on our Earth long before any people were here! The only parts of them left for us to see are their bones. Their bones are called fossils. Special scientists, called Paleontologists, have dug up their different bones and put them together like a puzzle! Once they have the body of the dinosaur put together, they can make guesses about what their skin looked like. Many museums, which are places you can visit to see dinosaur fossils up close, have added the skin to the skeletons so you can see what they may have looked like.

CIRCLE TIME

Dinosaur Charting
Talk about how many different kinds of dinosaurs there were. There were all different kinds! Meat eaters, plant eaters, omnivores (eat plants & meat), ones that fly, ones that swim, ones that walk very slowly and some that run very fast!
Make a chart to hang on the wall for the discussion. Label down the left side things like: runs fast, walks slowly, eats meat, eats fish, eats plants, eats both, swims, and flies. Talk about some of the different dinosaurs. Ask them if they know the names of any. Talk about the dinosaurs they suggest. Ask them what they know about them and place them on the chart in the correct categories. Give them some examples yourself and chart them. Review the chart when you have it filled in. The chart will help them see that there were lots of dinosaurs, all with their own special characteristics. Just like the animals of today!

Visit http://www.kidsdinos.com/dinosaurs-for-children.php?category=Animals (Contemporary With Dinosaurs) for information to help you with this activity.

I have also created some dinosaur flashcards to help with this week's lessons: Dino Flashcards




LETTER: B b for Big

Dinosaurs (a lot of them) were BIG!
http://www.first-school.ws/t/cp_dinoalpha/b.htm

Print the B is for Brachiosaurus color page. Brachiosaurus was certainly BIG! Talk about the sound that B makes, trace the letters with your finger and then with a crayon. Color the page!



READING

Short I, ig and ip

This week's reading activity will require some spring clothespins. It doesn't matter if they are plastic or wood, as long as you can write a letter on it. This activity has the same premise as the magic spoon activity last week. You will also need some free paintsticks from Walmart or a hardware store. Write ig on one paintstick and ip on another. Draw a star or a happy face just before the letters to show where they should attach the clothespin. Write the letters B, D, H, L, P, R, S, T, W, and Z individually on the clothespins.

Talk about the sounds that ig and ip make. Say them out loud a few times. Then review the clothespin letter's sounds. Show them how placing the B on the ig stick makes the word Big! B-ig. Continue to work through the letters with the sticks to make new words. Sound each one out several times as you go.

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f
Work on ig and ip on Starfall this week.

http://www.readingbear.org/
Work on the Short I section on Readingbear.





COMMUNITY

Paleontologists
Paleontologists are dinosaur scientists! They are the people who dig up dinosaur bones, or fossils, and learn everything they can about the dinosaurs. They will put the bones together like a puzzle to figure out what the different dinosaurs looked like when they were alive. Since the dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth before people were around, no one has ever seen a real, live dinosaur. Many of the images and ideas about dinosaurs are guesses that Paleontologists have made. By studying the fossils, they are able to make pretty good guesses!

ACTIVITY

Dinosaur Dig!

Super fun activity! This is great if you have a sand table or box, but you can put sand or dirt (or even rice, beans and quinoa) into any container and it will work! You can get a bunch of little plastic dinosaurs at dollar stores usually, or sometimes at Wal-Mart. You can even find some little dinosaur bones sometimes! Stick a bunch of the dinosaurs under the sand in various places.
Tell the kids that they are going to act as Paleontologists today and dig for dinosaurs! Provide them with little plastic shovels, sifters and some paint brushes and allow them to CAREFULLY dig for the dinosaurs. Remind them that they must be very careful so they do not hurt the fossils. You can also provide a few small boxes or baskets for them to place their finds. To make it more challenging, place a picture on the front of the basket or box and ask them to sort their finds into the correct boxes.

MATH

Big & Small Activity

This is another sorting game. Choose various objects of different sizes. These objects can be whatever you want, legos, balls, books, stuffed animals, or even crackers! You will need a box for BIG objects and a box for SMALL objects. Show the kiddos one of the big items and 1 of the small items. Talk about how one is big and one is small. See if they can guess which is which. Next, place the items all jumbled up on the table and allow the kids to take turns deciding which box their object should go into. As they place items into the correct boxes, talk about why each item is big or small. 

Dino Sticker Counting

Print the counting grid we have used in the past lessons HERE.  This time we will count BACKWARDS from 5 to 1. Write the numbers 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 along the left side of the paper. Provide the kids with some dinosaur stickers and ask them to place the correct number of stickers on the grid next to their corresponding number.


This is using erasers and is counting forward, but you get the idea!

SCIENCE

Making Fossils

Not all fossils are of bones! Many fossils are impressions of something left in the dirt that then hardened over a long time. Scientists have found fossils of plants, feathers, insects, foot prints, and seashells. Today we are going to make our own fossils!

Materials Needed:
Air Dry Modeling Clay
Items to make impressions such as shells, leaves, sticks, something to make footprints with, etc
Paper plates

Give each child a plate and a ball of the clay. Help them smoosh their clay flat onto the plate. You could use rolling pins if you wish. You want the clay to be about ¼" thick so that it is thick enough to hold the impressions but not so thick that it takes a long time to dry. When their clay is ready, provide them with choices of items that they would like to make a fossil of. Help them to make an impression of the items they have chosen. These will need to dry for about 24 hours.
Tomorrow you can come back to them and paint them! When they are all done, allow them to really explore their fossils and remind them this is how the Paleontologists have found many fossils of things that are no longer around!

You can see some fossils by looking at this link: http://www.kids-dinosaurs.com/pictures-of-dinosaur-fossils.html



BOOKS


Available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/How-Were-Dinosaurs-Bernard-Most/dp/0152008527



This book is very helpful when trying to help young children understand how BIG a lot of the dinosaurs were!




Available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Digging-Dinosaurs-Lets-Read-Find-Out-Science/dp/0064450783/ref=pd_sim_b_2




This book will help children understand what happened to the dinosaurs and why and how their bones are now found buried in the ground.





ART/CRAFT

Art

Dino Skeletons!
(from pre-kinders.com)

Materials Needed:
Construction Paper
Several kinds of dry pasta
Glue (white school glue is best for this one)
Printable dinosaur (http://www.prekinders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/dinoskeleton.jpg)

Print the dinosaur for each child. Provide the dinosaur puzzle and a piece of construction paper for each child. Help them to put the dinosaur together and glue to the paper. Next offer a selection of dry pasta for them to glue to the picture in order to make it look like a dinosaur skeleton!



Craft

Dino Feet!

Materials Needed:
Craft Foam Rectangles in various colors
Glue


TEMPLATE

Cut triangles out of the toe side of the feet. Use the leftover triangles from another color as the "claws". Cut the leg holes as pictured. VERY IMPORTANT!! You must place a sturdy tape on the bottom side around the holes or the holes will get torn to pieces really quickly! These are not made to last long, but to keep them usable for longer than a couple minutes, you have to reinforce the leg holes!!

Allow the kids to pick the colors they want and glue the claws to the toes. Once dry, put them on and stomp around like dinosaurs!


MUSIC

Dinosaurs of Long Ago

The Dinosaurs lived long ago,
And walked like this, and that. (Walk heavy like Dino's)
Some were large (Stretch arms apart.)
And some were small. (Squat down.) Some liked water (Swimming motion)
And some liked land (Stomp feet.)
Some had wings that flapped and flapped. (Flap arms)
Some had long necks that stretched and stretched (Put hand above head)
The meanest, rudest one of all was ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex
These were the Dinosaurs of long ago.
Goodness gracious! Where did they go?

COOKING

Fossil Crackers with Dino Topping

Ingredients:
Ritz crackers
Laughing Cow cheese
Items for making impressions in the cheese such as goldfish crackers, celery leaves, pretzel sticks, etc

Allow the kids to spread some of the cheese on some crackers. Provide them with the other items and tell them you are going to make some fossil crackers! Press a goldfish into the cheese to make a fish fossil! Make as many different types as your imagination allows.