Reptiles!

Reptiles are a great subject for children of this age! This is a great time to learn to appreciate these ancient animals!

CIRCLE TIME

Reptiles are animals that lay eggs, have scales, and must use sunshine and water to help maintain their temperature. Some examples are turtles, lizards, snakes and crocodiles. You will often see these animals laying in the sun. They do this to make their bodies warm. When they get too hot, they will go under a rock or into some water to cool down.

Let's play a game! Print out these FLASHCARDS to get started:  Animal Classification Game

Make a box or a folder for the categories. Make a category for Reptiles, Fish, and Mammals. We have already discussed what a reptile is. A fish is an animal which lives its whole life in the water. They breathe through gills. Mammals are animals which have live babies and feed them milk produced from their bodies. They are also warm blooded, like people. This means they can keep themselves warm or cool and the outside temperature does not determine if they are cold or hot.

Cut out the flashcards and mix them up. Show the kids each animal and talk about which pile it should go into. Talk about why each animal has been classified the way it has.

READING

Name Recognition
In order to continue in learning how to recognize their own names, we will do this fun art activity. Prior to class, use wax crayons to write the children's names on a sheet of paper. Provide the kiddos with water color paints and allow them to paint over the picture however they wish! Their names in wax will resist the water color and show through no matter how much they paint. They will be amazed how their name cannot be covered up by their painting! Once dry, talk about their names and how they are spelled. Post these in the room!

SCIENCE

Cold Blooded

For this we are going to use thermometers to show how temperatures can differ from place to place and how reptiles use the different places to warm and cool their bodies!

If you need to purchase some thermometers for your class, this is a great deal and you can buy as many or as few as you need:  http://www.k12schoolsupplies.net/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=LER0380&click=2128&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=Free&utm_campaign=Bing_Learning_Resources&gdftrk=gdfV2544_a_7c642_a_7c6518_a_7cLER0380

Humans (people) and other mammals are able to regulate their body temperature. That means that people stay at a constant 98.6 degrees all the time. It doesn't matter if it is really hot or really cold outside, we can keep out temperature the same. The air may feel cold or warm to us, but our body temperature will stay the same.

Reptiles are very different! They are "cold blooded". That means that their bodies will be the same temperature as the air around them. So if they are laying in some snow, they will be just as cold as the snow is. It is hard for these animals to be comfortable because they are always trying to find a place to lay where they can be just warm enough, but not too warm, and just cool enough, but not too cool.

In order to see just how different the temperature can be from place to place, we are going to test some areas with our thermometers. Lay the thermometers on the table and check the temperature. The room temperature will likely be in the 72º to 75º range. This is likely too cold for most reptiles! Take your thermometers outside and check the temperature in the shade. Then check in the sun. There is likely a difference of several degrees (especially here in Houston).  You can then place the thermometer in the freezer and find out how cold it is in there. The temperature changes from place to place and this is why all reptiles must actively find a place to hang out where they will be comfortable!

MATH

Alligator Teeth Math Mats

Print the mats. You can laminate them or place them in a sheet protector. Provide the kids with playdough and have them give the alligator the number of teeth listed on the page. This is a "counting in 2's" lesson!

Alligator Math Mats

Snake Pattern Matching

Print out the worksheet pages. The first pages have the patterns and the second pages have the pieces to use to complete the patterns. Patterning is a great skill to master. It can help children understand how things work together and how to solve problems.

Snake Patterning Worksheet



ART/CRAFT

Craft - Chameleon Paper Craft

From DLTK's website! A chameleon is a type of lizard. They are really amazing because the will change color to match whatever they are sitting on. Their eyes are also really neat because of how they move. Check out this short video chameleon and it's funny walk, and his eyes moving in their super cool way.

http://www.arkive.org/parsons-chameleon/calumma-parsonii/video-06a.html

Now that you know what a chameleon is, you can do a cool craft!

Materials Needed:

Paper plates (paper, not foam or plastic)
Markers, crayons or paint
Scissors
Glue sticks

Color or paint the bottom side of the paper plate. Choose any color, chameleons can change their color so be creative! Print the template below for each kid. Color the template pieces and cut out. If your kiddos are too young to cut them, help them out! Make an example for them to follow and allow them to glue their pieces to the plate.

http://www.dltk-kids.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/image/bplatechameleon.gif

Art - Squishy Snake Painting

Materials Needed:
Rubber snakes from a dollar store
Paint
Paper

Pour some paint into bowls big enough for the snakes to fit into. Provide each child with a squishy snake and some paper. Allow them to place the snake into the paint and create a masterpiece! When children are able to use something unusual for an activity like this, it makes it much more interesting!



GROSS MOTOR

Act Like A Reptile

This is a super fun game! Totally unorganized and crazy and that is what makes it so great! Get the kids in a line or circle. Shout out the name of a reptile and the kids should act like it! SLITHERY SNAKE! CHAMELEON! ALLIGATOR! So much fun and so silly.


FINE MOTOR

Cutting Practice

You will need some child's scissors for this. Cutting a circle is pretty tough, so if they can't get it, don't worry. This is more about the practice than perfection! You may want to cut one out yourself to show them what is supposed to be the end result!

http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/spiralsnake.html

Download and print the template from firstpallet.com.

BOOKS



http://www.amazon.com/Whos-Hiding-Inside-Reptiles-Pull/dp/1581173075/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377110482&sr=1-2&keywords=who%27s+hiding+inside

This is a very cute book with interactive pull out pieces. Great for our lesson this week!



http://www.amazon.com/Mixed-Up-Chameleon-Eric-Carle/dp/0064431622/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377110663&sr=1-1&keywords=the+mixed+up+chameleon

Great book which talks about characteristics of many animals and also has a lesson about loving who you are!


http://www.amazon.com/Look-Turtles-Lets-Read-Find-Out-Science/dp/0064451569/ref=cm_lmf_tit_5

A very informative book about turtles. Has great illustrations!



MUSIC

Reptiles They Have Many Scales

Reptiles they have many scales
Some reptiles have long, long tails
They lay eggs and like the sun
Some have legs, some have none
Reptiles they have many scales
Some reptiles have long, long tails




COOKING

Snake Sticks

Ingredients:
Bread stick Dough (the kind in a can that you can mold)
Parmesan Cheese, shredded
Butter, melted

Each child should make their own. Make sure they are making their creation on a piece of foil so you can move it! The idea is for the kids to make a snake out of their dough. They can keep it straight, make it curvy, curl it up, or whatever! When they have it the way they want it, use a pastry brush to spread melted butter on the top. Then allow the kids to sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. Bake them as instructed on the package. Once cooled, you can all enjoy eating your snakes!



On The Farm

A farm is a very educational place! There are plenty of interesting animals to learn about, plants that grow, cool jobs, and dirt! All kids (well, most kids) love dirt! We are going to explore the happenings on a basic farm in this fun week full of lessons!

Farm Animal Flashcards!

CIRCLE TIME

Print out the flashcards above. Talk about a farm. A farm is a place where people called Farmers work their land raising different animals, such as cows and chickens, for food and also grow their own fruits and vegetables. They get up very early in the morning to begin working and they work very hard. All of their animals have to be fed and their living areas cleaned. Then the farmers have to milk the cows, collect the eggs from the chickens, and shear the wool from the sheep. Their plants must also be attended to. They have to water them amd pick the ripe fruits and vegetables when they become available. Often the farmers make their own furniture, tools, and clothing also! They are very busy.

What kinds of sounds do these animals make? Show them the flashcards and have them make the animal sounds!




LETTER:   Y  y for Yard

Y is for YES, YUM, YIPPEE, and YARD. Farms have Yards, Houses have Yards, even Schools have Yards.

Print the color sheet http://learning-years.com/coloring-pages/letters-numbers/ABC-123_coloring-030.htm

Talk about the sound that Y makes. Trace the letter with your finger, then with a crayon. Color the yard!






READING

Learning about LONG VOWELS can be tricky! This week we will continue to learn what happens when we add the "e" to the end of "short a" words. Review:

On Starfall.com: LONG vowel sounds! This week do the Long A lesson and story 
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

On readingbear.org: also work on the long A sound, which is usually made by adding an E to the end of a word
http://www.readingbear.org/Presentation.aspx?PresentationID=68&Part=1


Activity

Index Card Book:  Add to your book this week by creating words that sound one way with a short vowel and no "e" on the then that will change to long vowels when we add the "e". Use words like "cap", "wad", "mad", "bath", "man", and "tap". Read the words without the silent e, then find out how the word changes when we add the silent e.



SCIENCE

Butter Making!

How is butter made? Or a better question is, how was butter made by farmers a long time ago? They made it in a butter churn. A butter churn was a big jug with a huge pole that agitated or mixed up the milk. You would pour the fresh cow's milk into the jug, close the lid with the pole sticking out, and push and pull the pole up and down really quickly. This motion causes the fat in the milk to stick together. After a while, all the fat will be stuck together and that is what we call butter!

Materials Needed:

Baby Food Jars with Lids
Whipping Cream (full fat)

Pour whipping cream into the jars so that they are about half full. Place the lids on the jars TIGHTLY! Have everyone shake the jars as hard and fast as they can. More than likely they will tire out before the process is done. It might be a good idea to only provide 1 jar for every 2 or 3 children so they can take turns. After roughly 15 minutes, you will have butter! (see the Music section for the "making butter boogie") For better flavor, add a little table salt to it.

**Save the butter for the cooking activity later!

ACTIVITY

Act Like Farm Animals

This is fun and easy! Gather the children and tell them to act like a cow! Allow them to do this for a minute or 2 and then act like pigs! Continue on with this activity as long as they are interested.



COMMUNITY

Farmers

Farmers are very hard workers! They are up really early and go to bed late. There are many different kinds of farmers. Some produce crops, or fruits and vegetables. Some raise animals such as cows, sheep or pigs. Most of the fruit, vegetables and meats that we eat are grown and raised by farmers. Their crops can also be used to make our clothing, paper, and many other things. Farmers are very important people!




MATH

Math Mats

Print these math mats from Prekinders.com! They are really cute. Provide some white and yellow playdough and have the kiddos make baby chicks to put in the farm yard. The number of chicks they should make is listed on each mat. For a tougher challenge, mix the mats up so they aren't in numeric order.

http://www.prekinders.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/farm-counting-mats.pdf






Farm Animal Patterning

Print this pack from havefunteaching.com. This is a terrific patterning lesson using very cute farm images.

http://havefunteaching.com/worksheets/themes/farm-worksheets/farm-sequencing-activity.pdf







ACTIVITY

Mommy animal and Baby animal Matching

Mommy & Baby Matching Cards

You can print the above cards and use for a few different games!

You could play a basic Memory game where you mix them up and turn them face down on the table. Have each child take a turn turning over the cards 2 at a time to try to match a mommy to a baby. Once they have found a match, remove those cards.

You can print out enough copies for each child and cut them out. Mix them up and have the kids make matches on the table. You could even have them glue them to a piece of construction paper in pairs.

You could even just hold up a picture of a mommy animal and have the kids find the matching baby.

ART/CRAFT

ART-Yarn Collage

Materials Needed:
Construction Paper

Lots of strips of yarn in multiple colors
Glue (white school glue works best)

This is an art project so there is no real goal! You can explain that we are using yarn because it is like the fiber farmers weave from Sheep's wool. (That is how we are tying it in to the farm theme) Allow the kids to pull whichever and however many pieces of yarn that they want and glue them to the paper. They could make a pattern, but more likely it will look like a big pile of mulit-colored spaghetti when they are done. Free art expression is a great thing for their little minds and is also great for their fine motor skills.





CRAFT - Hand Print Sheep

Crafts are generally more goal oriented. They are trying to reproduce something, but in their own way.

Materials Needed:
Black Paper

White Paper

White Chalk

White Cotton Balls
Glue

Begin by using white chalk to trace each kid's hand onto the black paper. Make sure their fingers are spread out wide! Cut them out.

Give the kids their handprint, a piece of white paper, a pile of cotton balls and glue. Ask them to glue their hand print to the paper. Show them that their thumb will be the head of the sheep and their fingers are the legs. You can even draw a little face on the thumb to help them see it! For even more fun, use googly eyes.

Next have the kids glue cotton to the body of their sheep. When they are done and dried, hang them up around the room.

BOOKS

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/House-That-Built-Barefoot-Paperback/dp/1846860512/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369326597&sr=1-3&keywords=the+house+that+jack+built

This is a fun, repetetive rhyming book that is a delight to read!




On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Barnyard-Banter-Denise-Fleming/dp/0805087788/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369326682&sr=1-1&keywords=barnyard+banter

A really fun and interactive book  in which everyone can have fun making farm animal sounds!



MUSIC


Making Butter Boogie!

You can sing this while making the butter in the Science lesson!

Shake it UP, shake it DOWN
Shake it, shake it all around
Shake it HIGH, shake it LOW
Shake it, shake it to and fro
Shake it over, shake it under
And pretty soon, you will have BUTTER


Old MacDonald Had A Farm

A classic! Find it HERE. The link has the lyrics, the music to download and even a video! Have fun

COOKING

Farm Foods!

The idea here is to have a few items that people on farms can grow and make themselves!

Ingredients:

Bread (homemade is best, but not always feasible)

Butter (the stuff you made in the Science lesson)

Strawberries, apples or other fruit from a farm

Eggs

Milk

You might want to schedule this for breakfast time! Talk about how all of these things come from the farm. The farmers make their own bread using flour, salt, etc. You know how to make butter! Strawberries, apples, and other fruits are grown on farms. Eggs come from chickens. Milk comes from cows.

In order to get them involved, allow them to butter the toast and use plastic butter knives to cut strawberries. Serve the kids some scrambled eggs and a glass of milk also! A full farm-made meal.

(You could also serve bacon or sausage and talk about how it comes from pigs if you feel comfortable opening that can of worms!

SUMMER! Swimming Pools and Ice Cream

Summer is a fantastic time of year! Lots of warmth and sunshine, swimming pools, ice cream, & beach days. What fun we can have during the summer.  Some kids are out of school for the whole summer, but we will be here all summer long! Join us for some great summer lessons and activities.

CIRCLE TIME

Summer is the warmest part of the year. The days are longer than in the winter, too. That means more time for playing outside! Summer comes after Spring and before Fall. The holidays Memorial Day, Father's Day and Independence Day fall during the Summer. Well, technically not really, since Summer doesn't actually begin until June 21. Summer weather begins pretty early down south, so that is what we are going by around here! Discuss the types of activities the kids like to participate in during the Summer! Talk about things that make them think about summer!



LETTER:  Q q 

Q is a very special letter! Q will always be with his best friend, U. Put the book together and review the sound that Qu makes!
http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/learning-letters/ib-book-q.htm



READING

On Starfall.com: it's time to move on to the LONG vowel sounds! This week do the Long A lesson and story 
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

On readingbear.org: also work on the long A sound, which is usually made by adding an E to the end of a word
http://www.readingbear.org/Presentation.aspx?PresentationID=68&Part=1


Activity

Index Card Book:  Create a fun flip book using some spiral bound index cards. Cut the left 3rd of each card so that it will flip independently of the rest of the cards. Write each letter of the alphabet individually on the left cards. We will use the right portion for the sounds we are working on this week. For this week's lesson, write ane and ake on the right side. When you flip the single letters on the left, it will create new words! Work on the words, Cane, Lane, Mane, Pane, Vane, Bake, Cake, Fake, Lake, Make, Rake, Sake, Take and Wake this week!




SCIENCE

How Hot is the Sun?

Summer is known for being hot! We all dress in shorts, eat ice cream, and hang out in swimming pools to keep cool. So how hot is the summer sun? Here are some experiments we can do to find out!

Materials Needed:

Ice Cubes

Marshmallows

Crayons

Foil

Make sure you pick a hot day with minimal clouds for this experiment. Talk about the sun. The sun is a big, bright star in space. The sun is where our heat and light comes from. When the sun is down at night, the temperatures are cooler. When the sun is up during the day, it is hot.

Different materials can melt because of heat. Allow the kids to touch an ice cube. Its very cold, because it is water that is frozen. If the ice cube gets hot, it will melt and become water again. Set an ice cube in a bowl on the table while you are talking. Check back on it in a few minutes to see what has happened to it.

Marshmallows can also melt in heat. Set a couple out on the table and keep an eye on them. They do not change.

Crayons can melt in the heat as well. Place a few on the table to see what happens.

Now go outside. As soon as you walk outside you should feel the difference in the temperature (especially down here in South Texas!). The sun has made it hot outside. What do you think will happen if we put an ice cube on the ground in the sun?  Try it and see if they are right.

Place a few marshmallows on a piece of foil and also a crayon on a piece of foil in the sun. Find out what they think will happen to these items if we leave them in the sun.  Let the kids run around a play for a little while, then bring them back to find out what happened to each of the items. The sun heated the items up, and caused them to melt. They should at least be soft and gooey.

For extra fun, allow the kids to color using the melty crayons! It will be a new experience for them and give them a tactile understanding of what the heat of the sun can do.

MATH

Shell Hunt

Fill a bucket or tub with sand. Place shells throughout the bucket, buried in the sand. Allow the kids to dig for the shells (as if on a beach) and pull them out. Once they have pulled all the shells out of the sand, count them up to see how many they found.

Ice Cream Cone Patterning

Use these fun patterns from makelearningfun.com! Print the pattern cards and cut out felt or foam copies. Give the kids a pattern card and the cut outs and ask them to copy the pattern on their cards.
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/IceCreamFeltPatterning.htm

ACTIVITY

Water Fun Day!

There is nothing better for young kiddos. Pick a sunny day and have the kids come to school in their swim suits with shorts over top. Plan to spend most of the day playing in the water! Provide several different stations for them to explore such as a kiddie pool with some pool toys, a sprinkler to run through, big sponges in a bucket to squeeze, water guns or water balloons, sidewalk water painting, etc. You could have a car washing station for toy cars, buckets to pour water into, lots of different things to float in the water, nets to catch things in.  You could even create a waterfall by attaching different sized funnels, tubes, and bottles to a board and showing the kids how to pour water into the top to watch it flow down into a pool! You can easily make your play yard like a little water park! Just make sure to put plenty of sunscreen on the kiddos before and during their time in the sun. Sunglasses and hats are also recommended!

PS - request the parents bring a full change of clothes for them. They are going to need to get dried off at some point!

 



I found this on a search, I would give them a plug if I knew where it came from!

ART/CRAFT

ART - Summer Picture Collage

Collect pictures from the internet or magazines that are images of summer. Cut them out and place them on the art table. Provide a large piece of construction paper and glue sticks for the kiddos and ask them to make a picture of all their favorite things about summer.

Once they have completed their pictures, talk about the things they chose and why!

CRAFT - Paper Plate Watermelon Slices

Materials Needed:

Paper Plates

Green Paint or Colors

Red Paint or Colors

Black foam cut into seed shapes

Glue

Cut the paper plates in half to form semi-circles. If your kiddos can use scissors, have them do it. Show them a picture of a watermelon slice and ask them to make one of their own.

WORKSHEET

What Doesn't Belong?

You can do this fun summer themed worksheet from Prek8.com:  http://prek-8.com/holiday/summer/belong1.html




BOOKS


 On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Mouses-First-Summer-Classic-Board/dp/1442458429/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1368551514&sr=1-1

 This is a fun story about all the fun you can have during the summer!

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Days-Welcome-Books-Weather/dp/0516230441/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368551711&sr=1-5&keywords=hot+days

All about the summer's hot days!

MUSIC

Summer's Here

to the tune of "Are you sleeping"

Days are longer, sunshine's stronger

Summer's here, summer's here!

Let's jump through the sprinkler, let's make lemonade

Summer's here, summer's here.

COOKING

Lemonade & Watermelon

What could be better? These are 2 things that are perfect in the summer!

Lemonade:

6-8 fresh lemons

1 cup sugar

6 cups cold water

Juice the lemons. This can be a fun activity for the kids to do. To get the most juice out of the fruit, press and roll the lemons on a hard surface before cutting. This will also make it easier for little hands to squeeze! Pour the juice into a bowl and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar crystals disappear. Add the water. Easy as that! Fresh lemonade.

Watermelon:

Provide slices of watermelon without the rind. Give the kids plastic butter knives and allow them to cut pieces off as needed.

You can use seedless watermelon if you are concerned with a choking hazard.

What a refreshing summer snack!

Shapes

Shapes are all around us in the world! This week we will focus on many of the basic shapes and where we can find them. We will find them in our homes, at school, outside, and everywhere!

CIRCLE TIME

Collect some pictures of ANYTHING! They could be pictures from a photo album, a magazine, a story book, whatever. It is best to provide pictures that you can draw on, because it is beneficial to draw the shapes you find on the picture with a bright marker to make them easier to see. Talk about different shapes. Use the shape flashcards HERE. Next, show the pictures you collected. Ask the kiddos if they can find some shapes in the pictures. As they locate different shapes, draw the shape on the picture with a bright marker and say the name of the shape.

ACTIVITY

Shape Pizzas

You can do this with felt pieces, craft foam or construction paper. Provide a large, light brown circle for the pizza. It makes it look really good if you also provide a slightly smaller orangy-red circle for the sauce. Then provide some red circles for pepperoni, white rectangles for cheese, green triangles for peppers, black ovals for olives, and orange squares for chicken. Talk about each of the shapes. Then allow the kids to create their pizzas. Hang them on the wall to enjoy all week!



Shape Piggy Worksheet

I found this on TeachersPayTeachers.com! There are many awesome downloads on that site that you can use! Here is the: Piggy Shape Worksheet Print the worksheet. It will help to color in the color key at the top the correct colors for the kids to refer to. Have them color all the squares blue, triangles orange, circles red and stars yellow.  Then they can fill in the shape chart at the bottom.

LETTER: O o for Octagon

The letter O is perfect for this week because it is a circle! It also is the first letter of Octagon, which is a shape. http://bestcoloringpages.com/o-for-octagon-coloring-page-with-handwriting-practice_1d2411.html

Print the worksheet. Talk about the letter O and some of the words that begin with O. Words like Ocatgon, Octopus, Officer, Orange, Omelet, etc. Have the kids trace the letter with their fingers, then with a color. They can practice making Os at the bottom of the page. This is good practice since they are just circles!

READING LESSON

On Starfall: http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

This week we sould just review the first 5 lessons and make sure we have a firm grasp of the sounds.

On Readingbear:  http://www.readingbear.org/

Also review week. Use their review of Short A to Short U.

Click HERE for a fun Short Vowel learning song you can listen to!

SCIENCE

2 Parts Equal a Whole Shape Activity

This is basically a puzzle game, but we make it science-y by incorporating how the 2 parts equals a whole.

Materials Needed:

Craft Sticks

Markers

Put 2 craft sticks side by side and draw a shape across both so that when you pull them apart, there are 2 pieces of a shape that are recognizable. Draw them as big as possible to make it easier. It helps to use specific colors for certain shapes.

Jumble them all up. Talk about how 2 pieces of puzzle will make a whole shape. Demonstrate making a whole shape with the 2 pieces by putting one of the shapes together. Then allow them to try. Once they have made a whole shape, they should tell you what shape they made.

MATH

Cheerio Necklaces

Materials Needed:

Cheerios (circles!)

Yarn or Twine

Place the Cheerios in a bowl for the children to access. Begin first by counting out numbers of Cheerios. Give them a number and allow them to count that number of Cheerios out. You can play around with this as long as they are interested. When you are ready, have them thread the cereal onto the yarn. Make sure to tie a knot in one end first, so their Cheerios don't slide off the end as they work! Once they are done, practice counting their circles together. Then they can wear them (and snack on them, if you allow it!)

Shape Patterning

http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/creating-patterns02/

You can print and use the above worksheet for this lesson. OR you can provide shapes such as blocks and do it that way. The basic idea is to create a pattern using shapes and then have the kids mimic the pattern themselves. This is more interactive and will hold their attention better if they can use the blocks to make their patterns.

ART/CRAFT

Art - Shape Art

Cut out a bunch of different sizes and colors of shapes. Provide the kids with a large piece of construction paper and some glue. Tell the kiddos they can make anything they want using the shapes! Be creative. This is a really fun activity. You may need to show them what to do and give them a little direction to get them started, but once they get going they will create something amazing! Make sure you label them so that Mommy and Daddy will know what they created!

Craft - Clown Shape Craft

This is more of a craft because they are going to make a specific thing, a clown! Print the template HERE from firstschool.com. Cut it out and follow the completed clown in the corner. Put him together while discussing the shapes that make him.

BOOKS

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Things-Turtleback-School-Library-Binding/dp/0613000560/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368129861&sr=1-1&keywords=the+shape+of+things

On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/When-Line-Bends-Shape-Begins/dp/0618152415/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368131328&sr=1-1&keywords=where+a+line+bends+a+shape+begins

MUSIC

Shape Hokey Pokey

(use the shapes from the flashcards in Circle Time for this)

Put your circle in, Put you circle out, Put your circle in and shake it all bout Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your square in, Put your square out, Put your square in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your oval in, Put your oval out, Put your oval in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your rectangle in, Put your rectangle out, Put your rectangle in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!

Put your triangle in, Put your triangle out, put your triangle in and shake it all about. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around that's what its all about!


COOKING

Shape Crackers

Provide round crackers, such as Ritz. Use cheese slices and cut out different shapes from them. Provide the cheese shapes and crackers and allow the kids to create shape crackers! YUM