Issue 807: July, 2008

Have you checked out the PreschoolFirst blog?

Type or paste the url http://allchildsplay.blogspot.com into your browser. Read and add your comments to the Play Power! PreschoolFirst blog. Look for the posting with our favorite article by the Niskayuna Nursery School Co-op in NY that explains to parents why play centered learning is BETTER for kids.

July’s Activity: Star Spangled Pop!
The Fourth of July is a great holiday to host a noisy celebration in your classroom. For infants we suggest you share a song and surprise activity!

Here's how: Young Children from 24- 66 months:
Make your own indoor fireworks with a roll of metallic streamer paper and plenty of bubble wrap. Collect as many sheets of bubble wrap as you can, tape the sheets together, and cover as much of the floor as possible. Play the Star Spangled Banner and other appropriate patriotic music, and hand each of the children a five-foot length of streamer paper. To create a light show, darken the room and flick the lights on and off. Hand other teachers flashlights to shine as the children wave streamers to the music. Ask the class to dance on the bubble wrap and wave the streamers in the air. Their dancing will create the sound of firecrackers! Serve blueberries and red strawberries or strips of red fruit wraps on white toast for a Red, White and Blue snack!

Infants and Toddlers from 2-24 months: Play an age-appropriate song game to celebrate the 4th of July with infants and toddlers in your care. You’ll need three ladies silk type scarves - not knitted thick winter scarves! We recommend red, white and blue scarves if you can find them. You’ll also need an empty facial tissue box that has a slit opening at the top. Tie one corner of each scarf to one corner of another to create one long piece of fabric. Stuff the scarves into the tissue box and pull just the corner of one scarf sticks out though the slit on top of the tissue box. You can make several of these boxes so many children can have a parade together. Place the box/es in the center of the room, sing the following words to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel,” and follow the motions after each line.

“All around the town we march” (Scoop the child into your arms and hold him/her with his/her back against your belly, and march around the room gently bouncing the child).
“In the 4th of July parade!” “Step high, step low, we march and wave.” (Move the child’s legs in a marching motion and then help him/her wave to others in the room).
“Til….POP goes the fireworks!” (Stop in the center of the room, bend down so the child can get a grip on the scarf sticking out of the box, then jump up so the child pull the scarves out of the box to make the fireworks go POP). Wave the scarves around and then push the scarves back into the box. Keep marching and singing until the children are tired of the play. Babies and toddlers will love anticipating what will happen each time they pull the scarves out of the box. Share the idea with families!

Highlights of our Basic Concepts Theme Our Basic Concepts theme is filled with playful activities that focus on opposites, positions, shapes, and recognizing simple attributes.

Here is a small sample of our favorite Basic Concepts Activities! To locate these and other activities on our site, login, click the Your Class menu button, look under the appropriate age group, and click on Select Activities for this class by type or theme.

FREE ACTIVITY: Color Targets 1 (18-24 mos.) - Children throw colored balls at matching colored targets.

Big and Little Houses 2 (24-30 mos.) - Children talk about the concept 'big & little' and build homes for block people and toy ants.

My Shape Sorter 2 (30-36 mos.) - Children learn about shapes and create their own Shape Sorter.

Backward Party (36-48 mos.) - Children dress up for a Backward Party.

Bear in a Box (48-66 mos.) - Children listen to a story and learn about the positions: inside, outside and upside down. Non-PreschoolFirst subscribers can download a PDF version of one of these exciting theme activities from our website. Simply click the link at the bottom of this message. Our monthly newsletter and sample activity are also available on our website www.preschoolfirst.com.

Head Start Connection: Because the Basic Concepts theme has a special focus on shapes and comparisons, it supports all the Geometry and & Spatial Sense Indicators from the Head Start Outcomes Framework. The activities in the theme are straightforward, so they're a great place to start assessments with a new group of students. Activities such as Hide and Compare (36-48 mos.), Compare and Contrast (36-48 mos.), and Shapes All Around Us 5 (48-60 mos.) also offer teachers and students many opportunities to discuss ideas and use the investigative processes specified in the five Scientific Skills & Methods Indicators.

PreschoolFirst Classroom Tip Do you have “wigglers and rollers” on your rug during story time? Try breaking the story up into two halves and read the first half immediately before an indoor activity period that includes story related activities. After the clean up, invite the children to the rug and ask them to help you remember the events from the first half of the story. Turn the lights down low, use a flashlight and read the second half of the story in a quiet voice. This technique encourages children to remember details and stay focused at story time.

Website Updates Have you filled out your PreschoolFirst Survey? Check your email! We’d love to know what you think about PreschoolFirst and what our team of curriculum developers can do to make our online resource EVEN better! Be sure to tell us what feature or capability you’d really like to see offered on PreschoolFirst. Remember, PreschoolFirst doesn't go home for the summer! We’ll continue to send everyone regular updates with seasonal ideas to add to your repertoire. Have a great Fourth of July weekend, and we hope you'll take a minute sometime soon to realize what a difference you make each day in the lives of children.

Don’t forget PreschoolFirst also contains a full observation assessment tool for children 0-66 months.

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For more information click here or call 1-866-584-2900.

Click here to download this month's sample idea.