Dinosaur activities

Give each child a chocolate chip cookie and a toothpick. Tell the children about how there are people who dig up dinosaur bones and have to get them out of the earth. Have the children try to get the chocolate chips out of the cookie using the toothpicks.

Sequencing Sizes
You can draw and cut out different sizes of bones and/or teeth. Have the children order them from smallest to largest or the other way around. Ask them which is the largest/smallest for younger ones.

Pin the horn on the Triceratops

Sort pictures of dinosaurs by meat eating and plant eating. Have the children try a piece of ham and a bite of lettuce. Have them tell you which they like better and it they would be a meat eater or a plant eater.

Books about Plants/Gardens

The Carrot Seed
Planting a Rainbow
Let's Grow a Garden
Growing Vegetable Soup
The Little Red Hen
Eating the Alphabet

Plants and Gardens Crafts

Coffee Filter Flowers
Get coffee filters and watercolors and let the children paint them. When they are dry, pinch the middle of the coffee filter with your thumb and pointer finger and twist it so it looks like a blossom or a pansy. Twist a pipe cleaner around the bottom of it for the stem. Spray them with perfume.

Lai Making
Cut out small flowers out of construction paper. Punch a hole in the center of them. Cut colored straws into different sized segments. Cut a piece of yarn for each child large enough for a necklace. Let the child alternate using the flowers and straw pieces.

Vase Decorating
Use clean baby food jars (taller ones) for the vase. Let the children cut crepe paper into small pieces. Using a paintbrush, spread glue on one side of the jar at a time and place the crepe paper on it. If you spread glue over the whole thing at once it is rather messy and hard to hold. The children might need help brushing a thin layer of glue over it to keep it all on an laying flat. They will need to dry overnight.

Flower Picking (Picking Songs)

Make a flower garden on a piece of construction paper. Have the tops of the flowers separate from the stems (detachable). Laminate the page with the stems and laminate the flowers seperate (so they can be removed). Write songs on the backs of the flowers and then velcro or tape them to be on top of the stems in the garden. Have a child come up and pick a flower from the garden and sing the song that is on the back of it. Great opening transition.
You could make any background you would like. You could do a clown holding balloons, bubblegum balls in a machine, fish in the sea, etc. It could fit any theme.

Flyswatter Gross Motor

Tie bugs onto strings and have them hanging from the ceiling above the children in an open area of the room. Let the children take turns with a flyswatter and try to swat the bugs. You could also have some taped to the walls and have them jump to get them.

I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee.
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee.
Ouch! He stung me!

I'm bringing home a hippopotamus.
Won't my mommy make a great big fuss?
I'm bringing home a hippopotamus.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

I'm bringing home a baby rattlesnake.
Won't my mommy shiver and shake?
I'm bringing home a baby rattlesnake.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I'm bringing home a great big grizzly bear.
Won't my mommy have a great big scare?
I'm bringing home a great big grizzly bear.
ROAR!

I'm bringing home a stinky baby skunk.
Won't my mommy put him in a trunk?
I'm bringing home a stinky baby skunk.
Peee-uuuu

I made pictures to go along with each verse. The children pull one animal out of the folder and we sing about it.

Sharks

Baby shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, (2 times) (thumb and pointer finger acting as shark's mouth)
Mommy shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, (2 times)(thumb and all fingers)
Daddy shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, (2 times)(two hands)
Grandpa gums, doo-doo, doo-doo (two times) (two fists, connected at wrists acting as shark's mouth)
Swimmers swimmin' doo-doo, doo-doo (two times) (swimming movements with arms)
SHARK ATTACK, DOO-DOO, DOO-DOO (2 times) (Yelling!, whole arms acting as shark's mouth)
Swimming back, doo-doo, doo-doo, (2 times) (alternate roll shoulders back, or whole arms as if swimming back)

No One Else Can Smile My Smile

No one else can smile my smile
‘Cause it only belongs to me.
It’s found in only one place
It’s found right here on my face.
It’s my smile, yes sir-ee.

No one else can laugh my laugh
‘Cause it only belongs to me.
It’s a sound that only I make
A sound that you cannot take.
It’s my laugh yes sir-ee.

No one else can walk my walk
‘Cause it only belongs to me.
And when I’m not even trying
I’m telling you who I am
It’s my walk yes sir-ee.

Mister Jack-O-Lantern Song

Oh Mister Jack-O-Lantern,
You're such a funny site.
With crooked teeth (point to teeth)
and squashed in nose (squash nose with palm)
and eyes of candlelight. (point to eyes)

I'll put you in my window (hands outline square window)
And when I go to bed (rest head on hands)
You can scare the people in the streets (whisper)
You funny old pumpkin head (increase speed and voice)
BOO! (yell)

Becoming Dinosaurs

Give each child a dinosaur name using his/her real name. (For Example: Danny would be Dannyasaurus or Kate would be Katasaurus). Have them move around like dinosaurs. Let them know some lived in the water, others flew in the sky, some stayed on land. Tell them about how some dinosaurs ate meat and others ate leaves and plants. Have them choose which kind of dinosaur they want to be. Sort them into meat eating and plant eating dinosaurs.

Dinosaur footprints find

Before the children arrive, cut out dinosaur footprints (can be any size) and spell out the word dinosaur, one letter on each footprint, and hind them around the room. Have the children find a footprint and bring it back to the circle. Spell out the word dinosaur with the children. It is a great way to introduce the theme.

Find out how big a real T-Rex footprint was (or another dinosaur) and try to recreate it using butcher paper. See how many children fit into the footprint.

Chick-Feed Snack

What you will need:
Muffin tin or paper cup
Raisins
Corn Cereal
Puffed Cereal
Sunflower Seeds

Have each child take a muffin tin or paper cup. Have each of the ingredients in a bowl with a spoon. Let the children take 2 spoonfuls of each cereal and one spoonful of the raisins and sunflower seeds. You can add other things if you wish. You could make a picture recipe as well to have the children follow.

I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

I found pictures for this song and colored and laminated them. The lady I made is half the size of a piece of posterboard with a big circle cut out of her stomach so the animals can be fed to the lady.

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly.
Perhaps she'll cry. Boo-hoo. (I sing this instead of "perhaps she'll die" because it is more kid friendly. You can sing Oh me, Oh my.)

I know an old lady who swallowed a spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
But I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll cry. Boo-hoo.

I know an old lady who swallowed a bird.
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
But I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
Perhaps she'll cry. Boo-hoo.

Keep singing in this manner and add these animals in this order.
Cat-Imagine that to swallow a cat.
Dog-What a hog to swallow a dog.
Goat-Just opened her throat and in walked the goat.
Cow-I don't know how she swallowed the cow.

To end the song you sing:
I know an old lady who swallowed a horse.
She cried of course!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Everyone knows this song but you can spice it up by making flannel animal pictures or use other pictures and pass them out to the children. When you sing about that animal let that child come up to the front and make the sound.
Old MacDonald had a farm.
E-I-E-I-O.
And on that farm he had a horse.
E-I-E-I-O.
With a neigh, neigh here.
And a neigh, neigh there.
Here a neigh, there a neigh
Everywhere a neigh, neigh.
Old MacDonald had a farm.
E-I-E-I-O.

Continue on with other animals from the farm.

The Farmer in the Dell

The Farmer in the Dell
The Farmer in the Dell
Heigh-ho the derry-O
The Farmer in the Dell.

The Farmer takes a wife.
The Farmer takes a wife.
Heigh-ho the derry-O
The Farmer takes a wife.

The wife takes a child...
The child takes a nurse...
The nurse takes a dog...
The dog takes a cat...
The cat takes a mouse...
The mouse takes the cheese...
The cheese stands alone...

Have everyone in your class stand up and hold hands in a circle. Have someone be the farmer and stand in the middle of the circle. As you sing the song, the class will move in a circle around the child in the middle. Have the "farmer" choose another child to be the wife and have them join him in the middle of the circle. Keep adding children to the middle of the circle with the song. By the end you have a hard time moving around all of the children in the center, but it is really fun.

The Animals on the Farm

(Sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus")
The Cows on the farm go moo, moo, moo
Moo, moo, moo, moo, moo, moo.
The cows on the farm go moo, moo, moo,
All day long.

Horses-neigh
Pigs-oink
Sheep-baa
Chickens-cluck
Turkeys-gobble
Dogs-ruff

Down On Grandpa's Farm

This is a really fun song, but I don't have a tune to relate it to.

Down on Grandpa's farm there is a black and white cow.
Down on Grandpa's farm there is a black and white cow.
The cow, he makes a sound like this moo, moo.
The cow, he makes a sound like this moo, moo.
Oh, we're on our way, we're on our way,
On our way to Grandpa's farm.
We're on our way, we're on our way,
On our way to Grandpa's farm.

Other verses:
Big brown horse (neigh, neigh)
Loud brown dog (ruff, ruff)
Lazy white cat (meow, meow)
Fat Pink Pig (oink, oink)
Plump Red Hen (cluck, cluck)
Fluffy Yellow Chicks (peep, peep)
Pretty white ducks (quack, quack)
Wooly white sheep (baa, baa)

I altered this song to fit zoo animals.
Down at _________ (Zoo Name) Zoo
Be creative and make up sounds or actions for the animals you see. These are a few I came up with from our zoo:
Big White Bear (growl, growl)
Long Necked Giraffes (No sound for this one so I say "They always eat up high, way up high)
Black and White Zebras (They always run really fast, really fast)
Big Tan Lion (roar, roar)
Black and Orange Tiger (roar, roar)

Dinosaur Stomp

Dinosaur Stomp

Play the bunny hop song and have the children pretend to be dinosaurs stomping around. There is also a book called the Dinosaur Stomp and it has a tape that goes along with it if you can find it. It is SO fun and the kids love it.

Dinosaur page

Literacy, ABC’s Activity to go with the letter

D is for dinosaur. Do letter page for alphabet book.Using “dinosaur bones” (Pasta or Q-tip) make a Dd page

Dinosaur Fishing Game

Dinosaur Shape Fishing Game

Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut and laminate many different colored dinosaur shapes from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip to each dinosaur shape. Spread the dinosaur shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the dinosaur shape. Have them try to catch the biggest dinosaur or the red dinosaur. For a twist, label the dinosaur shapes with letters or numbers.

Ideas for Plastic Dinosaur Figures

--Have the children sort the animals by size.
--Have the children sort the animals by the kind they like the best to least.
--Buy two or more sets and have the children sort the animals by type.
--Supply the children with a balance and let them experiment.
--Have the children count the animals.
--Supply the children with cards with numbers on them. Large playing cards work well. Have the children place the appropriate number of animals on each card. Ie 4 animals on the card that has a 4 (or 4 of diamonds) on it.
--Let the children play with the animals in the sand and water table.
--Put the dinosaurs in the block area, encourage the children to create mountians with the blocks for the animals to live and play on.
--Supply the children with paint and white paper, and give them a figure of a dinosaur. Have them dip the animals feet in the paint press them on the paper to make dinosaur tracks.

Dinosaur Arts and Crafts

Dino Bones
Have the children make their own dinosaur by gluing pasta noodles to a piece of paper. You could also use Q-tips for the bones. Cut some in half for shorter bones. Then have them make up a dinosaur name for their creation.

Dinosaur Sponge Painting
Supply the children with sponges of dinosaurs and paint and have them make a pre-historic scene with them.
Or you could cut out a big triceratops and have them sponge paint it using a mixture of paint and sand. Tell them about how their skin was rough like that.

Torn Paper Dino Pictures
Supply the children with a full sheet of white paper with a dinosaur shape drawn onto it and half sheet of green paper. Ask them to make a dinosaur by tearing pieces of the green paper and gluing them onto the white paper.

Make a dinosaur egg using soap flakes and with a small plastic dinosaur in the center. Use a plastic easter egg to shape it or just squeeze it together with your hands. I don't know the exact amount of water to add to the soap flakes. It may give you ideas on the box.

Have a pre-cut T-Rex head for each child or a very large head for the whole class. Have each child practice their scissors/cutting skills by cutting out teeth for the dinosaur.

Stegosaurus Hats
Make a band that fits around your child's head using construction paper. Then staple another strip that goes from the front on the band to the back straight up and over the top of the head. Extend this using more construction paper so it goes down the center of your child's back. Have your child cut out triangles for stegosaurus plates. Crease the bottom of the triangle and staple them to the paper that goes across the top of the head and down the back (tail).

Fish Beanbags

I made these out of felt. I had ten in all - two of each color for the base. So, two reds... each with a different accent color. Then, I had five of them swimming one direction as a "school" and the other five (one of each color) facing the other direction. These can be used for SO many things.

I taught a week of preschool about fish and the ocean. During circle time, I would toss a fish to a child that had something to say. We talked about schools of fish, and how we are like a school of fish and always stay with our group (good before a field trip). We talked about the different colors. For example, which one is red and orange? Which one is green and red? Before I made them, I planned out how the colors would work so there were no two fish with the same two colors.
We got partners and tossed the fish back and forth, getting further apart as we went. Sometimes I think gross motor skills are overlooked.
We used these with almost every fish song we sang that day:

1. One little, two little, three little fishies, four little, five little, six little fishies, seven little, eight little, nine little fishies, ten little fishies in the sea.

2. One, two, three, four, five... Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten... Then I let him go again.
Why did you let him go?
Because he bit my finger so.
Which finger did he bite?
This little finger, on the right.

3. Five little fishies swimmin' in the sea,
Splishin' and a splashin'...happy as can be,
Along comes mister shark, quiet as can be (whisper)
And SNAPPED (loudly) that______ (color)fish right out of the sea!

Dinosaur Science

Play Dough Fossils-
Many fossils were created by an animal or vegitation making an imprint on damp soil. This soil then hardened over time. Create fossils with play dough by allowing the children to press the dinosaurs feet into play dough. Compare the tracks left in the dough.

Search for fossils in the sand table/box. Hide the pasta in the sand and ask the children to look for the dinosaur fossils (pasta).

Dinosaurs fingerplay

DINOSAURS

Five enormous dinosaurs Letting out a roar--
One went away, and Then there were four.
Four enormous dinosaurs Crashing down a tree--
One went away, and Then there were three.
Three enormous dinosaurs Eating tiger stew--
One went away, and Then there were two.
Two enormous dinosaurs Trying to run--
One ran away, and then there was one.
One enormous dinosaur, Afraid to be a hero-- He went away, and Then there was zero.

You can use your fingers, or puppets/stuffed/plastic diosaurs. You can also draw the dinosaurs on pellon and make this a flannel board story-letting the children remove one dinosaur at a time.

Ishy Ishy Dance

Oh, I went out fishing (cast pretend fishing pole)
On a hot summer day (wipe hand across forehead)
And I leaned on a fence (rest head on fist to side)
And the fence gave way (keeping previous position, bend at knees)
Got my hands in my pockets (slap hands on pockets)
And my pockets in my pants (turn hands around and slap back of hands on pockets)
Watching all the fishies (hand on brow, searching)
Do the Ishy, Ishy Dance (hands palms together overhead, then wiggle toward the floor - do this every time you sing the words Ishy Ishy Dance)
The Ishy Ishy Dance,
The Ishy Ishy Dance,
Watching all the fishies (hand on brow, searching)
Do the Ishy Ishy Dance.


It doesn't look like much, but the kids LOVE it!

The dinosaur Went Over the Mountain

The dinosaur Went Over the Mountain Tune: For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

The dinosaur went over the mountain, The dinosaur went over the mountain, The dinosaur went over the mountain,
To see what he could see To see what he could see, To see what he could see
The other side of the mountain, The other side of the mountain, The other side of the mountain, Was all that he could see Was all that he could see, Was all that he could see, The other side of the mountain, Was all that he could see!

I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur

I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur (Tune: I'm a little Tea Pot)

I'm a mean old Dinosaur (Make a mean face, the kids make the cutest mean faces)
Big and Tall (Gesture hands big and tall )
Here is my tail, here is my claw. (Gesture hands behind your back for tail and make claw hands)
When I get all hungry (rub your tummy)
I just growl (have the kids exaggerate the grrroooowwwlll)
Look out kids I'm on the prowl. (Here I tickle each one of the tummy and they all giggle)

Books about Dinosaurs

Ill-Mannered Dinosaurs
Where the wild things are
Ten little dinosaurs
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? By Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
Dinosaur Stomp
Dinosaur Roar by Paul and Henrietta Stickland
Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner
Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
Scaly Babies
Fossils
The Dinosaur Egg Mystery by Val Biro
An Extraordinary Dinosaur
Can I Have a Stegosaurus Mom?
10 Terrible Dinosaurs

Ants go marching

Sorry I don't have a tune for this one.

The ants go marching One by one hurrah... hurrah..
The ants go marching One by one Hurrah... Hurrah
The ants go marching One by one the littlest one stops to (something that rhymes ex: to suck his thumb.)
And they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom

The ants go marching Two by Two Hurrah.. Hurrah..
The ants go marching Two by Two Hurrah.. Hurrah.
The ants go marching Two by Two the littlest one stops to (another rhyme, ex: tie his shoe)
And they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom

You repeat this until you get to the number Ten
Ex:
The ants go marching 10 by 10 Hurrah... Hurrah..
The Ants go marching 10 by 10 Hurrah.. Hurrah.
The ants go marching 10 by 10 the littlest one stops
and Shouts that's the End.
Then that's the end of the song.

Let the children take turns coming up with a rhyme for each number. It's also fun to start singing the song faster and faster so that it cuts down on time. This one may or may not work depending on the ages of you kids.

Bug Science

Science Activities

1. Get an ant farm and let your kids watch them build their many tunnels.

2. Bury (to the rim) several containers of food in the ground. Put a piece of cardboard on top of the container. In some containers put foods that will attract bugs. In others put foods that won't. Before you put them out ask the children to suggest which foods they think the bugs will like. Check back later and see if the children are right.

3. Get magnifying glasses and look at the bugs in your yard/neighborhood. Have a clipboard and crayons and let your child draw what they see. Keep a bug book.

All about Bugs- Arts and Crafts

· Make Your Own Bug

What You Need:cotton balls, egg cartons, google eyes, pipe cleaners, construction paper, glitter, any other material that you want to use.What You Do:Cut the egg cartons and let the children make their own bug

· Make an insect collage.
Cut out different bugs from various magazines and make a collage

Make a butterfly
Get a quart size ziploc bag. Have crepe paper, beads, glitter, pom poms, etc. Have the children put these things in the bag and then have the teacher take the bag and divide the things in half (roughly put half of the crete paper, pom poms to one side, leave the rest on the other half). It should look like a bow tie. Then take a pipe cleaner and fold it in half around the middle of the bag. This is the body of the butterfly. Then twist the pipe cleaner and leave the ends sticking up for the antannaes. Each corner of the bag is a tip of the wing.
You could also make a butterfly using coffee filters of any size. Let the children watercolor them and then when dry,scrunch it up in the center and twist a pipe cleaner around the center for the body.

Ladybugs
Cut out a black oval for the body and a circle for the head. Make a red circle for the wings the same size as the black oval. Cut the red oval in half the long way. Glue the head to the black oval and using a brad fastener (by the neck) put the red wings on so they can open and close. Using a hole punch cut out holes in the wings so the black oval shows through and makes spots on the wings. You can use googly eyes or punch out holes for the eyes too.

Flyswatter painting
You'll need to give yourself some room on this one. This is great to do outside. Get a clean flyswatter and some paint on a paper plate. Using large paper (butcher paper is great or large construction paper works) have the child paint with the flyswatter. You could glue on little insects to the paper and have them try to swat them.

Math Activities involving bugs

· Take a walk a look for bugs. Count them as you go

· Find a picture of a bug and count the legs. Explain to your child that not all bugs have the same amount of legs (ex. Centipeds, spiders…)

· Look at different bugs and compare the shapes and sizes

· Butterfly Match -Create several diferent colored butterflies. Cut them in half and then have your children match the butterfly halves.

Get a box of "Bug Bites" (Keebler) and make patterns out of the bugs. Start with a 2 bug pattern and then when they get the hang of that, do a 3 bug pattern.

Sort the "Bug Bites" bugs and count them. Graph or chart them if you like.

Divide a piece a piece of paper into 9 squares and randomly # them. Have your child put that many "Bug Bites" in that square. You could obviously use goldfish crackers or other snacks if you like. You could also get bug stickers and have your child put that # bug stickers on that square.

Get bug stickers and put one on and index card. Two on another and so forth until #20. Then, depending on age/ability, have your child put them in order. You could write the # on the front or back depending on what you want your child to focus on. I like to put it on the back and have my child focus on counting the bugs and not just # recognition.

Play the Cootie Game

Shapes are Everywhere

Look through magazines and cut out objects of different shapes. A table, a clock, a stop sign, etc. Then show them to the children and have them tell you the shape it is. Have a posterboard or large piece of butcher paper and make rows for each shape. Sort/chart them. Put all of the circles into a row, the squares, etc. Then you could count how many each row has and write the number at the bottom. This helps them to work on their shapes, charting, counting, and number recognition. Let the children play with the shapes and chart during free play. You could also leave out magazines and scissors and let them find their own shapes and cut them out.

Look around the room and point out shapes that are in the room. Hold up a picture of a square and ask a child what shape it is. Have that child look around the room for something that is that shape. Do this with all of the shapes. Be creative. Tiles, lights, pictures on the wall, patterns on clothing, anything counts.

Bug Memory Game

Get pictures of different bugs and paste them on index cards. Play like you would the memory game.

You could play bug bingo as well. Have a bingo board with different mix of bugs on every board. Be sure to make individual cards that have every bug in the game on them. Then have the children take turns and draw a card from the pile. If the child has that bug on their board, they could put "Bug Bites" crackers or "Honey Bees" graham crackers on that spot.

Alphabet Book

Make an Alphabet Book. Each page has a different letter on it. Let the children draw pictures that begin with each letter. Example: draw Bugs on the B page of your Alphabet Book.

This could be a good on-going craft and/or activity that would help the children learn their Letters.

Bumble Bee Dance

Have children pretend they are bumble bees and dance to “The Flight of the Bumble Bee” by Tchacoskiy

This one could be a could starter activity to a good wiggle activity

Books about Bugs

• The Grouchy Ladybug-Eric Carle
• Effie
• The Very Hungry Catipillar-Eric Carle (I made this one into a flannelboard story and the kids absolutely love it. It helps with retelling a story, counting, and days of the week.)
  
• The Lonely Firefly-Eric Carle
• 10 Little Ladybugs
• Inch by Inch
• The Ants Go Marching
• Miss Spiders ABCs (A fun activity to do with this is to get foam letters with sticky backs. Let the children put them all over a paper plate. Then put little cuts around the edge of the paper plate and take a piece of yarn and make a web around the plate.)
  

Musical Flowers

Make flowers out of construction paper and laminate them. Make one for every child in your class plus a few extra (just in case). I made my flowers different colors and put # in the center of them. You could put shapes on them too if you wish. Then you put on some music (something to do with spring or plants or gardens would be fun) and have then children walk around the flowers. Then when the music stops, you call out a number, shape or color (adjust to their age/ability). The child standing near that flower holds it up and then they get to choose a treat/sticker and then be your helper and watch the other children until the activity is over. This is great because you can ask your 2 year old what color their flowers is, your 3 year old what shape they have, and your 4 year old the number. It is quickly and easily changed to fit every age.

Fun Farm animal activity

Play various animal sounds from a tape and let your children identify what farm animals make that sound. For further reinforcement have them match the sound with a cutout or figurine of the animal -or- Make paper bag puppets

This could be a good activity to reinforce the Farm animals that you children are learning about.

Books that go along with the Barnyard Animals theme

Mr. Brown can moo can you?
The animals of farmer jones
Who Lives on the farm
Click Clack Moo (Cows that Type)
Thump, Quack, Moo by Doreen Cronin and Besty Lewin
Farmer Ham
Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming
Farm Alphabet Book by Jane Miller
Old MacDonald by Amy Schwartz
The Little Red Hen
The Cow that went Oink by Bernard Most
The Sheep who was Allergic to Wool by Mother Goof
Counting Sheep by John Archambault
The Big Red Barn
Farm Flu by Tereza Bateman

This little Piggy

I think we all know this one

This little piggy went to market (Touch the big toe)
This little piggy stayed home (Touch the second toe)
This little piggy ate roast beef (Touch the third toe)
and this Little piggy ate none (Touch the fourth toe)
And This little piggy went . Wee.. Wee.. all the way home ( Touch the pinkie toe and wiggle it)

This is a good opening activity or a good "toe play"

Math Activity

Take a walk and count how many different animals you can see (example: bunny, lizard, bird, cat, dog)

This could be a good activity to use during outside free-play time. It can help your children learn their numbers and how to count.

Farm Animal Crafts

Paint your childrens toes with pink paint. Then have them press them on paper. Now you can have your children decorate the toe prints as pigs and make a farm on the rest of the paper -

Cut out a pig using pink paper. Let your children finger paint it using chocolate pudding.

Cut out the shape of a sheep from a sheet of construction paper. Use a googly eye or punch out a hole for the eye with a hole punch. Use cotton balls and elmer's glue and have the children make them look fluffy like sheep.

Sponge paint a cow cut out using black and white paints, or brown.

Cut out a duck shape and have the children decorate it using yellow crepe (and orange for the beak) and glue. An easy way to do this is to give them paint brushes and have them brush the glue across the duck and then they can put down several pieces of crepe paper at a time. It's less of a mess with the glue. You could also have the children tear up yellow and orange paper and glue that on.

Literacy, ABC's Activity to go with the letter

In a box place items that start with the letter B, ball, banana, bandage, basket, bat, bear, bell, belt, bib, blanket, block, book, boot, bottle, bowl, brush, butterfly and so on. Take each one out and have your child tell you what each one is. - or- Do a "B"ackwards day - have a race walking backwards, or you can wear your clothes backwards.

This can be done for any letter. Just choose objects that begin with the letter that you are teaching. This is a good activity to use during circle time

Chicken Dance

(To the tune: The Chicken Dance)
Play or sing the music and have the children do the classic dance:Make your hands like talking four times, flap arms like wings four times, wiggle bottom four times, clap Four times, do it again faster!!

This is a good activity song to get the children's attention either before or during circle time.

Jump Inside the Circle

Sung to "Little Bunny Foo Foo"
I learned this one at Headstart. You take a hula hoop and place it in the middle of your circle at circle time. When you are dismissing the children to another activity you sing,
"If you have blue eyes and you have a striped shirt,
And your name's Billy, please stand up!
And jump inside the circle, circle, circle,
Jump inside the circle, then go _________." (Wash your hands, outside, to the table, etc).

This is one of my favorite dismissing transitions. The kids have so much fun with it and you can vary it a million ways. You can give clues about what the children are wearing, appearance, personal data (birthdays, siblings' names, middle names, last names, parents' names, ages), things the children like, etc. The possibilities are endless. You can also change what you have them do. You don't need the hula hoop. You can have them twirl around (just sing "twirl twirl around, twirl twirl around, twirl twirl around, then go ______."), dance around, clap their hands, jump up and down...you get the idea. No materials needed. Fun, huh?

Bubblegum Song

Bubblegum, bubblegum, chewy chewy chewy chewy chewy bubblegum.
Bubblegum, bubblegum, chewy chewy chewy chewy chewy bubblegum.
I love it! I love it! Chewy chewy chewy chewy chewy bubblegum.
I love it! I love it! Chewy chewy chewy chewy chewy bubblegum.

This song doesn't look nearly as fun as it is to sing. (Sorry I don't have a tune to relate it to.) While you are singing you pretend you have a big wad a bubblegum in your hands that you are playing with. Put them together and pull them apart. When you get to the "I love it" part be dramatic and throw your hands out wide like you would for a big hug. (I didn't make up the actions, I just play along.) This song is fun because you start out at a regular speed and get faster and faster and faster.

5 Green and Speckled Frogs

5 Green and speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating the most delicious bugs.
Yum, Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Now there are 4 green speckled frogs
Glub, glub! (Instead of the glub, glub I have heard "on the log")

You can do actions to this song or you can draw a log on a piece of posterboard with a slit in the water that the frogs jump into. You could velcro the frogs onto the laminated posterboard. I made the frogs and log out of pellon and grabbed a blue flannel blanket and used that as my flannel board. The kids came up when I pointed to them and made the frog jump off the log and into the "water".

Here is the Beehive

Here is the beehive, (Hand in a fist out in front of you)
Where are the bees? (shrug shoulders)
Hidden inside, (point to your fist)
Where nobody sees. (Cover your eyes)
Soon they'll come creeping, ("creep" with your fingers on your other hand)
Out of their hive,
1,2,3,4,5...BZZZZ! (Pop your fingers out of the fist 1,2,3,4,5 then tickle the kids or pretend the bees are flying around)

I have made big bees and stapled them to craft sticks. I choose 5 children to come up in front and stand close together (in a circle or "hive"). At the end of the song when the bees come out, the children raise the bee high in the air and buzz as I touch them on the head.

Apple # Activity

Apple Activity-Numbers
Have apples # 1-10 laminated (optional-they last longer). Staple them on craft sticks. Take a green pipe cleaner and cut it small enough to hide behind the apples. Have one child leave the room while you tape the "worm" to the back of one apple. The child comes back into the room and says, "Little worm, little worm are you behind # ___?" You turn over the apple he asked about and continue until you find the worm. If you have enough children in you preschool, let the children hold the apples in front of the room. It will help them to recognize the # as well.

One Little Apple

One little apple round and red,
Went kerplop on ______'s head,
One little apple round and red,
Went kerplop on ______'s head.

I put a picture of an apple laminated on the end of a craft stick and go around the circle touching the kids on the head as I say their name. You could just use a real apple and pretend it fell on their head. You can use this as a transition to excuse children from the circle to go outside, wash their hands for snack, etc.

Hickety Pickety Bumblebee

Fun to do with a bee puppet or a picture of a bee stapled to a craft stick. Can be used as a transition to either get children to the circle or excuse them from the circle.
Hickety Pickety Bumblebee,
Won't You Say You're Name for Me?
BZZZZZ! (Buzz on a child's head, foot, shoulder, etc.)
(Have the child say their name)

Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?

Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar
You can make cookies out of paper or pellon (flannel board material) and put them in a cookie jar. You could write the childrens' names on the cookies and pull out a name and begin the song. After singing about that child, have them come up and draw the next child who "stole the cookie from the cookie jar".
Class-"Bobby stole the cookie from the cookie jar."
Bobby-"Who me?"
Class-"Yes, you!"
Bobby-"It couldn't be!"
Class-"Then who?"

This could be used as a transition to excuse children from the circle.

Do You Know this Friend of Mine?

Do You Know This Friend of Mine?
Sung to the tune of "Do You Know the Muffin Man"
Do you know this friend of mine, this friend of mine, this friend of mine?
Do you know this friend of mine his/her name is _________.

Can be used as an opening transition to get children ready for circle.

Willaby Wallaby Woo

Willaby Wallaby Woo
(This is fun to do with a puppet or stuffed elephant.)
Willaby Wallaby Woo
An elephant sat on you.
Willaby Wallaby Wee
An elephant sat on me.
Willaby Wallaby Wusan
An elephant sat on Susan.
(I think you get the idea.)

You can use this same song during dinosaur week and say a T-Rex sat on you.

This is a great opening transition to start circle time or a fun way to excuse the children from the circle.

Name Game Song

The Name Game Song
I think everyone knows this one, but it is a fun one. We'll use the name Sally. It is a good opening transition to circle or to use anytime; outside, in the car, during free play, etc.
Sally, Sally, Bo Bally
Banana Fana Fo Fally
Me My Mo Mally
Sally

I'm Looking through the Window

Make a window out of cardboard, cardstock, or laminated construction paper. Hold it up to your own face fist and sing,
I'm looking through the window,
I'm looking through the window,
I'm looking through the window,
To see who I can see...

Then say a child's name and have them come and sit on your lap. Then you hold the window up to their face and have them look out of it and sing it with their name. You can use this as a getting to know you activity or as a transition anytime of the year. You don't have to do every child in the class every time. You can do 4 or 5 kids and then when you are ready for the next activity you can say, ______ (child's name on your lap) sees everyone! My preschoolers loved it at the beginning of circle time. It was a great way to get kids interested in coming to the circle after snack, cleaning up, etc.

Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Make a picture of an apple tree and laminate it. Have 5 apples with smiley faces on them laminated also. You have to be able to remove them. Put velcro on the apples and stick them to the tree.
Way up high in the apple tree.
I saw 5 apples smiling down on me.
So I shook that tree as hard as I could.
Down came 1 apple, mmm mmm good.
(You remove one apple at a time until they are all gone. I let my children take turns shaking the paper and removing the apples.)

Rainbow Fish

The Rainbow Fish (by Marcus Pfister) is a great book on sharing. I made flannel board pictures to go with it using pellon. I used Elmer's glue and glitter to make the shining scales that he shares with the other fish. An activity that I have seen done with this story is to get swedish and put them in little snack baggies (if you have 10 kids in you class you will need 10 bags of fish). Then have a little fishing pole with a magnet on it and the childrens' names on paper with a paper clip on each name. Have each child fish for a friend's name and then they take a bag of fish and give it to that friend. Of course every child will get a bag of fish so assure them of that if they start to get restless. Remind them of the story and how happy it makes the Rainbow Fish feel when he shares things he really likes with his friends.

Little Mouse

When teaching colors to your children this is a fun game. You make houses of different colors and a mouse that is small enough to hide behind them. You take turns with the children and have one close their eyes or leave the room and show the others which color house you are going to hide the mouse behind. The child comes back into the room and chooses a color (without touching them). You say, "Little mouse, little mouse are you in the ______ house?" You let the child look behind that color house AFTER you have finished the rhyme. Go through all of the colors until you find the mouse.
Another variation of this game is with bees and trees. Make the treetops different colors and say, "Little bee, little bee, are you in the _____ tree?" Obviously the options are endless with other animals/objects. Be creative!

Awesome!

I'm so excited to share ideas back and forth. Have you ever heard of Lapbooks? My friend just told me about them and I am totally pumped. I've used the sites:

http://www.lapbooklessons.com/

and

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Lapbooks_at_HSS.php

I think we could come up with some pretty awesome ideas ourselves - like a rainbow fish lapbook, maybe a nemo lapbook... think about it.