Early Childhood - educational preschool and kindergarten teaching activities

SOCIAL STUDIES

Classroom Experiences:

Include toys related to methods of transportation in play areas; Trucks, cars, buses, trains, airplanes and helicopters can be added to the block area, and boats and barges can be added to the water table. The teacher can help children focus on the concept of the necessity of transporting goods and people.

Children can take short walks in their neighborhood and identify structures (houses, businesses, churches and so on)

Children can be led to observe changes in their immediate environments, such as changes in the room, on the playground, or in the school building.

Encourage children to create structures with blocks that represent what they know of their community and neighborhood. They might construct a fire station, gas station, harbor, airport, etc.

Children can work together to move toys or materials that need to be moved or to clean up the materials and play area.

Teachers can keep a large scrapbook with records of important events in the children's experiences. Reviewing it with the children will teach them that we can keep records of events and that these records help us to recall the events accurately

Learn about the world of work by visiting workplaces in the neighborhood and making models of the neighborhood. Ask school or community workers to be guest speakers in the classroom.

Children can begin to categorize objects and goods as "wants" or "needs". The can develop the concept that people are paid for their work and that the money is used to acquire goods.

Children can invite their families to talk about family and cultural customs or holiday celebrations, food, clothing or other cultural experiences with the class.

Community and Community Helpers Activities:

Discuss why we have rules at school and what they are. Help children to develop some new rules for the classroom and the school.

Discuss what to do if their home is on fire.

Have a child pretend to be a police officer. The other children can pretend to be lost and have them try to give the police officer the correct information so the officer can help them.

Have the children pretend to be mail carriers and deliver mail to the children.

Have the children make their own "home". Glue wallpaper scraps to the inside of boxes Cut "windows" out and glue fabric scraps above the holes for curtains. Have them use their imagination.

Read the book "Rosie's Walk", then discuss the things that they see on their way to school.

Walk around the schoolyard and collect a variety of things that can be used to make crayon rubbings; or have the children take a piece of paper with them and place the paper on an object and rub with a crayon. Some items could be tree trunks, sidewalks, walls, manhole covers, or bricks.

Using picture cards (safety, holidays or careers) have students select cards depicting firefighters, policeman, bakers, teachers, etc. Ask the children what the career is and what they do. Why is this career important?

Show the children a picture of a police officer. Encourage the children to tell about an experience they have had with a police officer. Stress how they are important and what their jobs are; help people in trouble, make sure rules are followed, direct traffic, help lost children find their way home, and help keep our town safe.

Set up a supermarket in the classroom. Use aprons, name tags, jackets, bags, shelves, play money and a cash register. Group food that go together (meats, dairy, etc.).

Compare the sizes of different buildings in the neighborhood (store, apartment, house, skyscraper, etc.).

Talk about some things they can do in their town for fun, such as, going to the park, a museum, etc.

Place a graham cracker in an envelope with the child's name written on the envelope. Designate a mail carrier to deliver the letters to their owners.

Make a fire collage using red, orange, and yellow bits of torn paper.

Provide the children with paper bags and walk around the inside and outside of the school and pick up litter.

Transportation Activities:

Discuss the various types of transportation and why they are used. Children can cut pictures of different types of transportation vehicles from magazines and glue them to a piece of paper for a collage.

Show children how to make a truck using a rectangle, a square and two circles.

Have enough pictures of vehicles for each child. Discuss the mode of transportation. Then cut the picture into three to ten pieces (depending on age level). Children work their own puzzles and then trade with others

Group small toy cars, boats, trains and other vehicles into type, color, size, things that fly, thing that go in the water, etc.

Divide a bulletin board into three sections: air, land and water. Have the children look through magazines and find picture of transportation then place them in the appropriate sections.
Make a graph showing how the children get to school. Draw a grid on a chalkboard and label each row by drawing or attaching a picture of a bus, car, bike or child walking. Have the children tell how they arrive at school and graph their responses.

Help the children fold paper airplanes, then have them decorate them any way they would like.

Safety Activities:

Cut out a shape of a traffic light and a red, yellow and green circle. Have the children place the lights of the traffic light into the correct order and ask them what each color represents.

Teach the children their address and phone number. Tell them why it is important for them to know this information.

Discuss some safety rules and encourage the children to offer some of the rules they know and obey.

Discuss the fire safety, water safety, traffic safety, school safety and home safety rules:
Fire safety rules: never play with matches; if clothes are on fire, stop, drop and roll; to avoid smoke, stay low and go; keep away from hot appliances; and practice home fire drills.
Water safety rules: never swim alone; in a boat, stay seated and wear a life jacket; get out of the water during a thunderstorm; walk around a pool; learn to swim.
Traffic safety: obey all traffic signs and lights; fasten your seat belt; before crossing a road, look left, right, then left again; listen and follow directions from the bus driver; keep both hands on the handlebars when riding a bike.
School safety: walk in the school, not run; keep your hands and feet to yourself; keep litter in its place; stay alert and play safe on the playground; don't play with fire alarms or fire extinguishers.
Home safety: know your address and phone number; don't take medicine unless your parents or teacher gives it to you; stay away from household cleaners; never open the door for strangers; attach emergency numbers near each phone in the house.

Discuss what to do if a stranger approaches and asks for help or offers candy.

Arrange chairs to form a line for seats on a bus. Have children take turns being the bus driver and the passengers and show safe ways to get on and off the bus.

Tape some traffic sounds, including sirens and have children identify and draw what they hear. Discuss how the sounds make them feel.

Put life jackets, goggles, fins, traffic signs, masks, toy vehicles, doctor's kit, telephones, etc. in the dramatic play area.

Play "Red Light, Green Light".

Do sinking and floating experiments.

Walk around the school and look for things that could be considered unsafe.

Show the children poison stickers and tell them what they mean and why they should avoid these products.

Practice dialing 911.

Health Activities:

Have children wash and dry their hands. Then have them take turns rubbing lotion on each other's hands and buffing their nails.

Talk about the uses of water: drinking, washing dishes, bathing, etc.

Have the children look through magazines and find things they use to keep themselves clean. Talk about the items, then make a collage using the pictures.

Discuss step by step directions for washing hands and face, brushing hair, shampooing hair, brushing and flossing teeth.

Talk about what each of the children do before they come to school.

Talk about the importance of sleep.

Discuss the importance of our eyesight. Have the children cover one eye using an eyepatch and see if their everyday activities become harder to perform.

Discuss what we do when we need to blow or wipe our noses (get a tissue, throw it in the trash, and wash our hands).

Talk about what we do if we cut ourselves (wash it out, put a band-aid on, etc.).

Talk about what to do when we burn ourselves (putting ice on the burn or running cold water over it).

Discuss the use of teeth for eating, speech and appearance.

GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Walking:

Walk slowly or quickly about in space.

Walk in a circle, square, triangle, etc.

Walk forwards and backwards.

Walk on heels or tiptoes.

Walk lightly or heavily.

Walk sadly, happily or angrily.

Walk with a bean bag on child's head, potatoes on the back of children's hands or cups of sand in each palm of their hands to aid in balance.

Running:

Run about in space informally.

Run with knees high.

Run in a circle or zig zag pattern.

Run backwards.

Run on tiptoes.

Run like animals.

Jumping:

Jump in place.

Jump with feet apart or together.

Jump in different directions.

Run and jump.

Jump to rhythm.

Jump onto a piece of paper on the floor or give them a bean bag and have them throw it on a certain color of paper and then jump to that color.

Hopping:

Hop in place.

Hop forward or backward.

Hop sideways.

Hop in place using rhythms.

Hop on one foot several times, then the other.

Skipping:

Skip forward and backward.

Skip in place.

Skip in a circle.

Skip to a rhythm.

Skip with a partner.

Objects to use:

Ropes: how tall can you make the rope; can you make a circle, square, etc. out of the rope; tie it in a knot, jump over it, go under it, or walk on it.

Parachutes: make waves with it; put a ball in it an roll it to a friend; run in a circle with it and have some children run under it.

Tires and tubes: walk around the rim of tire; walk around a group of tires; step in and out of each tire in a group; run around a tire; jump from tire to tire and jump up and down on a tube.

Balance Beam: walk forward, backward, sideways, etc.; walk with object balanced on head; hop on one foot or imitate animals while walking on the beam.

Balls: throw a ball up, down, through a hoop, backwards; bounce it, catch it; bounce while running, walking, hopping or skipping; kick it while stationary; kick a thrown ball, or kick with your eyes closed.

Hoops: roll with one hand; spin the hoop and run, skip, walk or hop by it until it drops; jump in and out of a hoop on the floor; rotate on foot, hand, waist, or neck; toss hoop in the air and catch it.

FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Building and Stacking:

build a tower with one hand, then the other

make a shape for children to copy

Placing pegs in pegboard:

with one hand

both hands simultaneously

remove pegs using alternating hands or copy a design by memory

Stringing beads:

string large and small beads

string a bead pattern

string spools, macaroni, shells, etc.