Download simple clipart pictures from your computer, print them out, and engage young children in a listening and seeing version of Bingo. A much more fun way to help children Match sights and sounds.
Tip of the Week – Interactive Reading
Make any picture book story come to life for pre-school and elementary kids by using key phrases and words contained in the story as prompts for movement and to enrich vocabulary. Excellent technique for use with pop-up books and just as fun with picture books of all levels.
Tip of the Week – Identifying Colors and Parts of the Body
Use this great Tip of the Week to help young children identify their colors by ‘painting’ parts of their bodies using the fun, laminated artists’ pallet. Fun, non-messy way to learn colors and learn the parts of the body!
Tip of the Week – Singing Puppets
Meet Petra the Singing Pig. Petra doesn’t sing in English but rather ‘oinks’ familiar tunes. Can you guess which song Petra is singing? Gets students involved in really listening for tunes and they can join in the sing-a-long after the song is identified!
Bugs
I wish I could remember which vendor supplied the wonderful finger puppet bugs we’re using in this workshop, but I have seen sacks of bugs in just about any variety store and Dollar stores. I have the kids use the bugs for a variety of activities including directions that focus on positions – over, under, around, through. “Put your bug on your knee, hold the bug above your head, let the bug fly around your wrist.…..When you have circle time, or after you have read a good book about bugs, hand out the bugs and have all the ladybugs move around the circle like a ladybug would move, then the grasshoppers, etc.
Spider Web
Arrange children in a standing circle and, starting with one child, help him put the yarn around his waist and then he throws the ball to someone across the circle from him; that person puts the yarn around her waist and throws the ball to someone else. Continue in like manner until all participants have had the yarn and only one is left. The result is a nice spider web-looking design. If the children sit down on their knees, it makes the spider web closer to the ground. The remaining person tries to walk through the web (like a fly or bug) without touching the yarn web. Kids love this activity and it gets more exciting if another child is a spider and tries to catch the fly. (If gets too “wild” – the teacher can be the spider.)