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!

Weather and Seasons (Jan 21-25)

We have talked about winter and cold weather, now we should step it up and discuss all the seasons and the basic weather that goes with them! This lesson will go hand in hand with your daily calendar discussions!

In South Texas the seasons are a little fuzzy. What I mean is, we really only have 2 seasons, hot and cold. I think it is important for our kiddos to understand what is happening in the rest of the country and to try to pinpoint the various seasons here as best we can!



SPRING:
Spring is when it begins to get warmer outside, snow on the ground will melt away. The flowers will begin to grow again and the leaves on the trees will begin to show up. You will hear birds singing much more! It rains often in the spring to help the flowers and trees grow. Easter, Memorial Day and Mother's Day are in spring.

SUMMER:
In the summer the weather is warm or hot. You can go swimming, go to the park, go on vacation, and go to the beach during the summer. We wear shorts and tank tops and sandals to help keep us cool. It is fun to eat ice cream and popsicles. The flowers are pretty, the grass and trees are green and the birds have lots of fun playing.  Independance Day and Father's Day are in summer.

FALL:
Fall is when the weather becomes cooler. The leaves on the trees begin to change color and fall off the trees. Flowers will begin to disappear and the grass will start to turn brown. The birds are now storing food for the winter.  Labor Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving are in fall.

WINTER:
Winter is the coldest part of the year. The trees will not have any leaves on them. There are no flowers. The grass will be brown. The birds will be sleeping or have flown to a place that is warmer for them. We get to drink hot chocolate to keep us warm. We wear long sleeved shirts and pants, and even coats, hats and mittens to keep us warm. Christmas, New Year and Valentine's Day are in winter.


SEASON MATCHING

Print out the cards and cut out the pieces at the bottom. I suggest doing two seasons at a time so you don't overwhelm the kiddos. Pick 2 that are opposites, like summer and winter. To make it harder, pick 2 that are close, like spring and summer. Lay out the cards and give them the pictures. Ask them to decide where each picture falls in the seasons. Talk about their answers.

If you are having trouble printing the above matching activity, you can print the below worksheets and use them in the same way. Cut out each item and have the children match them by placing them together. I am working on the link for the matching activity now...
http://www.tlsbooks.com/allkindsofweather.pdf
http://www.education.com/files/95001_95100/95099/weather-wear-matching.pdf



WEATHER CHART

If your calendar does not have a weather piece, this chart can be used with your daily circle time discussions. Cut out a large circle, you can use a paper plate!  Either draw or cut out and paste on the 2 lines to bi-sect the circle, making 4 equal parts. Use a brad to attach the arrow so that you can easily point the arrow at the weather of the day. Attach the 4 different types of weather using a picture and the word in each of the 4 spaces. We do not use the snow, since we only rarely get any here. I used wind instead, since we do have some very windy days! Make it work for your class!

MATH

Raindrop Counting and Sequencing:
Cut out the 10 numbered rain drops. The second page will be where the children will place their drops. Begin by counting the numbered rain drops with the kids. Make sure they can see the numbers on them. Once you have counted them, ask the children to tell you which number comes first. You can give the numbered drops to the kids to place on the second page if they are ready for that, or you can hold them while you do this. When a child has given you the correct answer, let that child place the drop in its place on the second page. Go through each of the numbers. If they get any out of order, you can use your fingers to count and discover which number should actually come next.   raindrop sequencing sheets

 

 

 

GROSS MOTOR

Tornado in a Bottle

Make one of these for each child! Use a 2 liter bottle or use an individual water sized bottle, whichever you want. Clean out and fill with water. Add blue food coloring or glitter. Screw the caps on really well! You can even use duct tape to make sure they won't open. Talk to the kids about what a tornado is. Tornadoes are really fast wind which swirls around and around in a circle. They cause what is called a "vortex" or a tornado. Allow the children to spin around and around in circles. Be careful that they do not make themselves sick! Now demonstrate the vortex you can make with the bottle. Swirl the bottle around and around until they can see the tornado! Let them try to make one too.




SCIENCE

Rain Cloud in a Jar

In order to demonstrate how rain falls from the sky, we will use this really fun experiment.

Materials:

Glass Jar

Blue Food Color

Shaving Cream

Fill the jar with water to about an inch from the top. Squirt shaving cream on top of the water. Explain to the kiddos that they should pretend that the water is the air and the shaving cream are clouds up in the sky. Clouds are made up of water. Remember when we talked about steam rising up? Water can become vapor, which is like steam, and rise up into the sky. The water in the sky becomes clouds. When these clouds become really heavy and full of water, rain falls. Demonstrate this by squirting some blue food color onto the top of the shaving cream. The color will soak through the "clouds" and drip down into the water, or sky.

Wind in a Cup

Materials:
Large, clear cups

Tissue paper, shredded up

Straws
Tape

Make one of these for each child. Shred up some tissue paper. Put it in the cup. Place a straw in the cup and then tape over the top to make a lid. Have the kids blow into the straw in the cups to make wind. They will be able to see the effects of wind on the shredded paper! This is a really fun activity! Discuss how the wind blows the trees, the grass and the flowers.

ART

Rainbows

Materials Needed:

Coffee Filters

Markers

Q tips

Talk about rainbows and how they are made up of the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Show the kids a picture of a rainbow. Rainbows are formed when rain drops shine through sunlight.

Tape the coffee filters to a larger piece of paper. Draw a rainbow in the correct colors on the coffee filters. Give the children a small container of water and a Qtip. Allow them to dip the Qtip in the water and then let water drip onto the rainow. The colors will spread! The end result is very pretty. Hang these around the room for the week.

 FINE MOTOR

Match the Seasons

Use this Seasons worksheet from Education.com. They will trace a line that connects the weather to the season.

CRAFT

Cloud Craft

There are 2 really fun crafts you can do with clouds! Pick the one that works best for your class. These are fun to hang from the ceiling (if you can!)

#1 - Cotton Ball Clouds

Cut out the cloud template. Provide cotton balls and a glue stick and let the kiddos make theirs as fluffy as they wish!

#2 - Puffy Paint Clouds
Cut out the cloud template OR just print it on paper. Make the puffy paint and allow the kids to paint as they like!

Directions for Puffy Paint:
1 TBSP self-rising flour
1 TBSP salt
Food coloring (blue)

Combine the flour and salt. Drop 3-4 drops of food coloring into it and add about 1-3 TBSP of water to make a smooth paste.

**Once done painting, microwave the painting for around 30 seconds or until the paint puffs up and is dry.

COMMUNITY

Meteorologist

Meteorologists are the scientists who study the weather and predict (make an informed guess) what the weather will be like a few days from now. These scientists examine the wind, rain, and temperatures and report to everyone what they think will happen. People can make plans to be outside if it will be sunny and warm or plans to stay inside if it will be rainy and cold.

MUSIC

Mr. Sun  Lyrics and Sound!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Come again another day

Little _______ wants to play

Rain, Rain Go Away!

COOKING

Mud Pies

Ingredients:
Instant chocolate pudding
Oreo cookies
Milk
Gummy worms

Mix instant chocolate pudding according to the directions on the package. The children help add the “dirt” (pudding mix) and “rain” (milk) to make “mud.” To make this part extra fun, I punch holes in a styrofoam bowl and when the children pour the milk into the bowl it drips like rain into the mixing bowl. The children help mix the mud with a spoon. Put 2 Oreos in a ziplock bag for each child to crush. Put the crushed Oreos in a clear punch cup, add a gummy worm and 3-4 spoonfuls of pudding.

LETTER J j

J is for Jacket! We wear jackets when it is cold outside. Have the kids trace the letter with their finger. Then allow them to color it in. Talk about which Jackets are the same in the picture.

http://www.kidsunder7.com/2011/07/letter-j-worksheets.html