Tip of the Week – Listening Bingo

Posted on: January 13th, 2013
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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

Posted on: December 11th, 2012
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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

Posted on: November 20th, 2012
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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

Posted on: October 23rd, 2012
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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!


Tip of the Week – Listening

Posted on: October 3rd, 2012
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Use a simple drum to encourage good listening skills and simple movements. Easy for all ages, no complicated props needed! Great for pre-school and elementary-aged children.


Leaves

Posted on: September 4th, 2012
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The Fall of Freddy the Leaf or other books make nice introduction to the subject of fall leaves and why they come off the trees.  There are also a variety of art activities that can be extenders on this subject.  I have my movement kids practice making shapes with their bodies and talk about how some leaves are wide, some skinny, some with rounded lobes, and some with “pointy” ends.  Then, Iet the “leaves” blow back and forth on their pretend trees until the wind finally blows them to the ground.  Since leaves don’t have knees, feet, legs, or arms, they can only roll around.  Then I pretend to “rake” them up into a pile.  But of course, when I pretend to go get a leaf bag to put them in, the “leaves” always blow away!  (A big kid favorite!)


Bugs

Posted on: September 4th, 2012
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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

Posted on: September 4th, 2012
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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.)


Hatching

Posted on: September 4th, 2012
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After a discussion about animals that layeggs, I use a piece of fabric to cover a child (like an eggshell) and then let the child “hatch” into whatever animal he chooses.  Often, the children want their animal to be a surprise and let the other kids guess what’s hatching.  This works well for butterflies because the scarves or piece of material can cover the child like an egg shell, then they can wrap themselves in the cloth and make a cocoon, and then the scarf becomes wings.  Good activity for vocabulary-building:  metamorphosis, egg, larva (caterpillar), etc.  This also can be extended into drawing/coloring butterflies, searching of butterflies out of doors, and similar extended-type activities.


Planets — the Solar System II

Posted on: September 4th, 2012
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Another fun activity is to cover 8 flashlights with different colored cellophane paper and one big flashlight with yellow or orange cellophane.  Then, darken the room and the children can sit or lie down on the floor and take turns shining the flashlight that represents the “sun” and, then naming each one, shine the lights representing the planets orbiting the sun.  This is a wonderful activity, the kids get fully engaged, and it teaches a lot about the solar system.