Block Play at the Children's Museum

It’s here, the “dog days” of summer – the time in late summer when the weather is hot and sticky and rainfall tends to be at an all-time low. Children may be growing cranky and bored; their parents may be counting down the days until the new school year begins. There is still a lot of fun to be had, before we pack away those summer shorts and swimming suits! Welcome to Beat the Heat - this week’s lesson plans for you and your preschool child.

This week, your child may learn:

• In late summer, some times the weather turns very hot.
• We say the air is humid, when it holds a lot of moisture.
• When it is humid outside, we feel even hotter.
• We need to drink water every day.
• When it is hot, we need to drink even more water.
• If we don’t drink enough water when we get hot, we can get sick.
• To keep cool, we should wear loose-fitting, light clothes.
• It is often cooler in the shade than in the bright sunshine.
• Water can evaporate – it can dry up and go into the air.
• When water evaporates off our skin, we feel cooler.
• The letter W makes the “whu” sound, as in “water”.
• We should always swim with a buddy. Two are safer than One in the pool.
• Your child should recognize the diamond shape.
• Your child should understand the concept of “clear” or translucent – having no color.

Places to Go to Beat the Heat

An Indoor Ice Area is a Perfect Place to Beat the Heat of Summer!

There are even some extra worksheets at the end of the lesson, besides the ones listed at the bottom of this page. If you aren’t yet doing worksheets with your child, just ignore them. The only reason why they are there, is because when the children get cranky, you need to have plenty of “back up plans”. Keep them busy, and they may be too tired to push your buttons.

Drink Water, Don’t Get Dehydrated

Remember to drink plenty of water, and that goes for your children, too. If you feel a little light-headed or dizzy, get some water immediately! Other symptoms of dehydration include headaches, dry mouth, yellow urine, decreased sweat, muscle cramps, dry eyes. If you develop nausea or vomitting along with any of the other signs of dehydration, seek medical help immediately. Heat stroke can kill you.

Five Star Picture Books

The Beach Was Made for Hot Summer Weather

Hot City by Barbara Joosse Teddy Bear’s Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy The Berenstain Bears Go to Camp by Stan Berenstain Mouse’s First Summer by Lauren Thompson Feel the Summer by Sarah L. Thomson F is for Fireflies: God’s Summertime Alphabet by Kathy-Jo Wargin Fireflies (Reading Rainbow) by Julie Brinckloe I Love You as Much by Laura Krauss Melmed Watermelon Day by Kathi Appelt One Hot Summer Day by Nina Crews Beach Day by Karen Roossa On the Way to the Beach by Henry Cole

Creative Toys and Products (Optional)

• Little Tikes Beach Ball Sprinkler
• Funny Castle Inflatable Pool
• Step2 Arctic Splash Water Table
• Penguins and Polar Bears Big Box
• Inflatable Bounce House and Slide
• Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Sprinkler
• Small World Sand & Water Toys
• Beach Toys
• Playmobile Open Air Pool with Slide
• Little Tikes Jump ‘n Slide Dry Bouncer

Optional Worksheets for Preschool

Children Love to Play with Water

1. W Beginning Sounds Coloring Page
2. What Begins with W?
3. More What Begins with W?
4. My Itsy-Bitsy W Book
5. Count and Trace Number 2
6. Learning About the Diamond Shape
   
7. Shapes Flashcards

I’m not a big fan of worksheets, but flashcards are great. For the Shapes flashcards, you can buy sturdier cardstock for your printer. Print them off, cut them apart, laminate them if you wish, and cut them apart again. You can post the picture of the Diamond on the wall in your calendar area this week. Or if your child has a good understanding of the basic shapes, you can use these cards as flashcards. This set includes the three-dimensional shapes like cone, sphere and pyramid. Nice, and brightly colored, by TSLbooks.com.

Beat the Heat – Preschool Lesson Plans for Late Summer

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Grandmamusher
Middle: photo by Fort Wainwright Public Affairs
Lower Middle: photo by GrandmaMusher
Bottom: photo by LadyDragonflyCC

• The sound of the letter E
• The shape of the letter E
• Words that begin with E
• Elephants are large animals.
• There are two types of elephants – African and Indian.
• African elephants are larger than Indian elephants, they have baggier skin and bigger ears, too.
• Elephants live together in families. Several families living together form a herd.
• The leader of the herd is usually the oldest female, called a matriarch.
• Elephants eat plants. They eat a lot of plants!
• They eat leaves, grass, hay, tree bark, and fruit
• Elephants flap their ears to cool themselves.
• Elephants spray water on their skin.
• The wrinkles hold the water, which helps to cool them.
• Elephants live for eighty years!
• Elephants have four teeth and two tusks.

Children Love Elephants

Children seem fascinated with elephants, perhaps more so than any other Jungle animal. There have long been picture books capitalizing on this phenomenon, from Babar the Elephant, to today’s Elephant and Piggy series. Dumbo the Elephant was once a popular film. There are stuffed elephants, Beanie Baby elephants, plastic toy elephants, Duplo elephants, and even elephant costumes for children of all ages. You can use your child’s interest to help him learn the sound of the letter e. Practice saying “eh – eh – elephant” to help him hear the sound. Vowels are often much harder to learn than consonants. For one, they have multiple sounds, and they can be harder to hear in the word. It is not uncommon for children to assume that the word “elephant” begins with the letter L!

Musical Help

Elephants Continue to Fascinate Us

Elephant Activities for Preschool

Your child will make some elephant crafts. He will string “emerald” elbow macaroni to make a necklace. You will color the pasta the same way you would color rice. You will play some counting games, and practice large muscle skills by tossing peanuts into a cardboard “elephant”. If your child or children may have an allergy to peanuts, substitute Styrofoam packing peanuts instead.

If possible, try to plan a trip to the zoo on Friday or Saturday. Make sure you visit the elephants! But also find out if there are elk, or eels, or eagles at your zoo.

If you can afford only one book this week, I’d strongly suggest the Tarra and Bella story, although Twenty-One Elephants and Still Holding is also excellent. Hopefully, you can find them all in your library, if your budget doesn’t cover new books this week.

Five Star Picture books for Your Preschooler

Kruger National Park, South Africa

• “Stand Back,” said The Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” by Patricia Thomas
• The Elephant’s Child by Rudyard Kipling
• Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince
• I am a Little Elephant by Francois Crozat
• Pennies for Elephants by Lita Judge
• Elephants: A Book for Children by David Henry Wilson
• But No Elephants by Jerry Smath
• My First Jumbo Book of Shapes by James Diaz
• Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Book Ever
• Elephants Can Paint Too! by Katya Arnold
• No Matter What (Templar Books) by Emma Dodd
• Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends by Carol Buckley
• Ella the Baby Elephant by Kathleen Duey

Quality Toys and Products(Optional)

• A+ Educational Tray Puzzle ~ Elephants
• Calico Critters Ellwoods Elephant Family
• Webkinz Velvety Elephant
• 10 piece Soft Plush Finger Puppets
• Schleich African Elephant male, female, and calf
• Schleich Indian Elephant male, female, and calf
• Melissa & Doug Deluxe Zoo in a Box puzzles

Preschool Worksheets (Optional)

1. Letter E Beginning Sounds
2. E is for Elephant
3. Drawing Ovals
4. Nine Seahorses number worksheet
   
5. Counting worksheet
6. Number 9 Coloring Page
7. Elephant Coloring Page
8. Cutting Practice Worksheet Level 1

E is for Elephant – Preschool Lesson Plans

Photo Credits:
Top:photo by Brett Holt
Middle: photo by Ryan McFarland
Bottom: photo by Stuart Bassil

This week, your child may learn:

• Everybody has feelings.
• Feelings are not good or bad, they just are.
• It is okay to feel angry.
• It is okay to feel scared.
• It is okay to feel happy.
• It is okay to feel sad.
• It is okay to feel loving.
• It is okay if you don’t feel very loving sometimes.
• What we do with our feelings is important.
• It is not okay to hit when you are angry.
• It is not okay to bite or kick when you are angry.
• It can help to exercise when you feel angry.
• When you feel sad, you can ask for a hug.
• When you feel scared, you can ask for a hug, too.
• When we say, “you hurt someone’s feelings” we mean that you made them feel bad.
• You should say you are sorry when you hurt someone’s feelings.

Preschool Concepts

The lesson plans have started adding more “academic” concepts to the themes. This week, the lesson plans will also focus on the letter h, the number 8, the color periwinkle, and the shape octagon. For younger children, you may want to stay focused on the color blue, but once the child knows blue, it can be fun to teach him all the different shades of blue: sky blue, cornflower blue, cobalt, midnight, navy, and of course, periwinkle. There is a periwinkle crayon in boxes of 64 colors. It was always a favorite in my family, and the first crayon to be broken or lost from the box, with thistle coming in a close second.

Preschool Art Projects

Unlike other themes, there aren’t a lot of art projects that can be done for feelings. Your child will make a faces collage, and a feelings book. He will color while listening to music, and try to describe how the music makes him feel. If you have the Feelings Stamps, he can use those, marking how he feels each morning on the calendar, then you will help him make a bar graph at the end of the month as you tally up how many days he chose “happy” or “sad” faces. You can watch a movie with him, pausing periodically to discuss how the characters in the movie may be feeling, or how the movie is making your child feel.

Your child will make several blue pictures, mixing colors and overlapping them to create the delicate shade of periwinkle. He will make a large 8 with glitter and glue, to display in the calendar area. Finally, you will color different shaped pasta, and have your child either string it on yarn for a necklace, or paste it to construction paper for a collage, depending on what shapes you bought.

New Songs Page

I’ve recently added a Songs page at the top, far right of the menu bar. I’ve added links to the songs there, so you can hear them being sung by various artists and children. Not all the songs will be available, but if a song says it’s to the tune of another song, then that song will be featured. For instance, this week your child will should learn the song “If You’re Feeling Grouchy”, which has different words sung to the tune of “Did you Ever See a Lassie?” The song “Did You Ever See a Lassie?” is posted to that page, in case you either don’t know it, or remember it from your childhood. The songs “Skinamerink”, “I’ve Got That Joy” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It” are all listed there, as well. I will add songs from past and future lessons as time allows.
 

Some Children Become Angry When They are Frightened, because They Don't Understand the Difference This is My Angry Face

Five-Star Books on Emotions Teeth are Not for Biting by Elizabeth Verdick Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems How Do I Love You? by Marion Dane Feelings by Aliki Happy Sad Silly Mad: My World Makes Me Feel by John E. Mistchel Andrew’s Angry Words by D. Lachner When I Feel Angry by Cornelia Maude A is for Angry: An Animal and Adjective Alphabet Book by Sandra Boynton Not Afraid of Dogs by Susanna Pitzer The Berenstain Bears in the Dark by Stan Berenstain The Berenstain Bears and the Green-Eyed Monster by STan Berenstain Jamaica and Brianna by Juanita Havill Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss Brand-New Baby Blues by Kathi Appelt Feelings to Share from A to Z by Todd Snow

Quality Products for Your Preschooler (Optional)

• Moody Bear Travel Bag
• The Feelings Playing Cards
• How Am I Feeling? washable fabric chart
• Ready2Learn Giant Feelings Stamps
• Faces & Feelings Listening Lotto
• Children’s Classics – Prokofiev: Peter & the Wolf
• Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 Four-Disc Set

Periwinkle is Both a Flower and a Color

• Worksheet 1: Letter H
• Worksheet 2: What Begins with H?
• Worksheet 3: Words Beginning with H
• Octagon Worksheet 4
• Periwinkle Color Page worksheet 5
• Worksheet 6: Number 8 Trace and Color
• Worksheet 7: Number 8 Count and Color
• Worksheet 8: Number 8 Trace and Color

Happy and Sad Preschool Lesson Plans on Feelings

Photo Credits:

Top: photo by Molly Pop
Upper Middle: photo by Robbie Grubbs
Lower Middle: Photo by Gerry Thomason
Periwinkle: photo by Jeff McMillian

• We have five senses. We use our senses to find out about our world
• We use our eyes to see things, like color, shape and size
• We use our hands to touch things. We learn if things are hot or cold, or soft or scratchy
• We use our ears to hear sounds. We can tell if something sounds high or low, loud or soft.
• We use our tongue to taste things. Things taste sweet, salty, sour, or bitter.
• We use our nose to learn how things smell. Odors can be strong or weak, pleasant or unpleasant.

Smells Tell Us About Our World

Cookies Taste as Good as They Smell

You will be making a set of smelling jars before you begin this week with your child. You will need twelve small containers with lids. Identical salt and pepper shakers may work well, too. You will be putting six pairs of things with distinct scents in the containers, and the child will match up the things that smell the same. You might use lavender oil, vanilla, cocoa, eucalyptus oil, vinegar, and peanut butter. What other scents can you think of?

Directions for Lapbooks Are Coming Soon

Soon we will be learning how to make lapbooks, a learning tool for saving your child’s work. If you have scrapbooking supplies, it will be easier. If not, just make do. There are some videos on youtube, displaying different techniques for assembling these learning tools. I will take us through this process one step at a time. But first, do this week’s activities with your child, and save everything.

Check for these books in your library. Then order the ones you can’t find, or that your child especially enjoys.

Five-Star Books

• The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia M. Scarry
• Who’s Making that Smell? by Philip Hawthorn
• My Five Senses by Aliki
• These Are My Sensors by Steven M. Beattie, II
• Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch
• Smelling by Rebecca Rissman
• Smell by Maria Ruis
• Terrible, Horrible Smelly Pirate by Carrie Muller
• Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup

Quality Toys for Your Preschooler (Optional)

• Educational Insights Smencils colored pencils
• Cloud b Lavender Lab with Scented Pillow
• Fun & Fancy Value Pack Stinky Stickers
• Scratch & Sniff Stickers for Kids:
  Chocolate, Strawberry, Pizza, Grape, Vanilla, Popcorn, Peanut Butter
• Marker Set Scented 12 Markers
• Sesame Street Scented Bubble Baths:
  Watermelon, Mango Tango, Berry Burst

Worksheets (Optional)

• N is for Nose letter tracing
• N is for Noah, letter tracing
• What Begins with N?
• Count and Trace Number 1
• Color These Things Purple
• Purple, Green, Yellow worksheet/a>
• Cutting Practice-Straight Lines
• My N Book coloring book

Our Sense of Smell Preschool Lesson Plans

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Savannah
Bottom: photo by Eric Cuthbert

This week, your child may learn:

• Independence Day is celebrated on the fourth of July
• Independence Day is our nation’s birthday
• Communities celebrate with parades and fireworks displays
• Many families celebrate with picnics, barbecues and get-togethers

Additionally, this week’s concepts include:

• The letter F
• The colors Red, White, and Blue
• The pattern “stripes”
• The number 13

Community Fireworks Displays

Find out when the fireworks display is offered in your community, as it isn’t always on July 4th any more! It might be better to do this week’s activities the week before the Fourth, especially since this year the Fourth falls on a Monday. What other activities are offered in your community? Is there a parade? Contests? Children’s games?

Building Family Traditions

Marching in the Children's Parade

I read in Jeanine’s Fourth of July Family Tradition that she hosts the annual reunion in her home. She cuts out paper stars in red, white and blue, and each person takes a star when they arrive. They write why they are proud to be an American, or what Freedom means to them. Later they take a photo of the entire family, then make a collage of the photo and stars to add to the Fourth of July album. What a wonderful tradition! The only thing that I would add is that with digital scrapbooking you can have multiple copies of the pages printed so that everyone can get a copy.

Another family does Patriotic caroling! They go from door to door in their neighborhood and sing Patriotic songs while holding sparklers. America the Beautiful, the National Anthem, My Country ’tis of Thee, This Land is Your Land, and more are all good candidates for your family sing-a-long.

Make the Menu Special

Even the menu can become part of the tradition. Serve roasted pork, corn on the cob, apple pie, plenty of beverages, and of course, birthday cake! Other families go with barbecued chicken, or grilled hamburgers. One family recipe I discovered in my search is for “Dirty Bananas”. The directions said to make a small slit up the side of an unpeeled banana, insert a few squares of Hershey’s chocolate, then place the unpeeled banana on the grill. Oh, yum! I can’t wait to try that!

Children Learn by Our Actions

Young Children May be Frightened by the Louder Fireworks

Prepare Your Child for the Noise of the Fireworks

Some children are frightened by the loud fireworks. Prepare your child for what to expect. Bring along some ear plugs, just in case. Bring along a flashlight! and your child’s favorite blanket, stuffed toy, or other comforting item. It may be well past your child’s bedtime before the show even begins, and he may be cranky. Being prepared (and patient) will make all the difference between a pleasant memory and a nightmarish experience you never want to repeat.

Five-Star Picture Books

• The Story of America’s Birthday by Patricia A. Pingry
• American the Beautiful by Katharine Bates
• My First Book of Cutting (Kumon Workbooks) by Shinobu Akaishi
• Good Night America by Adam Gamble
• Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native Americaby Joseph Bruchac
• Happy Birthday America by Mary Pope Osborne
• The Fourth of July Story by Alice Calgliesh
• Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney! by Leslie Kimmelman
• Red, White and Blue (All Aboard Reading) by John Herman

Quality Products for Your Preschooler (Optional)

• Patriotic Baseball Cap
• Red, White & Blue Crepe Streamer
• Bike Decorating Kit
• Wagon Decorating Kit
• 8″ Premium Glow-stick Bracelets
• Fourth of July Puzzle
• Patriotic Decorating Kit
• The Stories of Foster and Sousa
• Good Music for Little Guys (and Gals)

Worksheets (Optional)
Worksheet #1 Flag coloring page
Worksheet #2 F is for Fruit
Worksheet #3 Letter F Beginning Consonant Sounds
Worksheet #4 Trace and Write Number 13
Worksheet #5 Cutting Curved Lines
Worksheet #6 Statue of Liberty Coloring Page
Worksheet #7 July Fourth Coloring Page

Preschool Lesson Plans for Fourth of July Week

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by GrandmaMusher
Middle: photo by E.D.W.W.
Bottom: photo by Epic Fireworks

Summer is nearly here! Gardens are growing, flowers blooming, bugs buzzing about – and it is a great time to teach your preschooler about the great outdoors. For this Welcome Summer lesson plan, your child may learn:

• Summer is the season that comes after spring
• In summer, the days are often sunny and hot
• gardens that were planted in the spring now continue to grow
• many flowers bloom
• Trees that bloomed in the spring may now be growing fruits
• Baby animals that were born in the spring are growing bigger
• We need to protect our skin from too much sun
• We protect our eyes, as well, from bright sun by wearing sun glasses
• Water is fun to play with, but we must be careful around water
• We should drink more water in the summer

Teaching the Concepts

This week you will also focus on the letter R, the color red, a rectangle shape, and the number four. These concepts are introduced during the calendar activity. You might have a shelf around your calendar, where you display objects that begin with the “r” sound, like a rubber band, a ring, a toy rabbit, a silk rose, a rag, something red, a rook from a chess set, a ruler. When you and your child talk about the date, and count the numbers from the first of the month to today, then you may point to the items and teach your child the names if he doesn’t know them. Help him to recognize the sound that they begin with. Show him a letter R. I buy six-inch wooden alphabet letters in the craft store and paint them. They come with a plastic hook stapled to the back, that I leave on, and hang them on the wall. Tape a rectangle shape to the wall. Display some things that are rectangular. Display four things, and have your child count them with you. You might not cover all of this every day. Always end an activity before your child is restless and bored.

Summer Sun and Sunscreen Use

This summer, you may want to move many of the projects and other activities to the back yard. It will keep the house cleaner, and your child will enjoy it more. Many children in the U.S.A. are actually deficient in vitamin D! This may be because they spend too much time indoors playing video games, or because they never go outside without sunscreen. The “authorities” disagree on how much sunlight exposure is too much. Those who push for sunscreen use insist that you apply it every time you go outside, and frequently during the day. Those who believe in a more natural approach, insist than thirty minutes outside without sunscreen is sufficient for your child to soak up some vitamin D. You must chose for yourself. I allow myself and my granddaughter to go out without sunscreen for a half an hour, especially if it is before 10am or after 4pm. After that, I either put on a long-sleeved, loose-fitting shirt, move to the shade, or apply sunscreen. I have sensitive skin, and I’m not convinced that sunscreen isn’t part of the skin-cancer problem, but that’s my issue. Encourage your child to wear a hat and/or sunglasses, to protect his face, ears, and eyes. You may wish to read these two opposing articles:

• Sun Safety and Kids
• Sunscreen Use Causes Skin Cancer

Serve Something Red

This week you will focus on the color red. Try to serve red foods at every meal. Some may be family favorites, and some your child might never have tasted before. Foods that are bright, bold colors tend to be very high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. This week, consider serving some beets, strawberries, watermelon, cherries, cranberries, tomatoes, and red peppers. Visit Red Foods, the New Powerhouse for more information.

Wet Sand is a Different Sensory Experience than Dry Sand

Five-Star Books:

• Summer by Alice Low
• Summer (Four Seasons) by Nuria Roca
• Mouse’s First Summer by Lauren Thompson
• Mama, Is It Summer Yet? by Nikki McClure
• Carl’s Summer Vacation by Alexandra Day
• Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer by Susan Hood
• Under Alaska’s Midnight Sun by Deb Vanasse
• One Hot Summer Day by Nina Crews
• Sunflower House by Eve Bunting

Quality Products for Your Preschooler: (Optional)

Drink Lots of Water in Warm Weather

• Waterwheel Activity Table
• Build a Kid’s Play Yard
• Playground Pool
• Geometric Dome Climber
• Alpine Custom Ready-to-Build Swing Sets
• Cool Wave Slide
• Sandbox Cat Digger
• Big Construction Dump
• Schwinn Trike Pink, Red, Blue

Worksheets

These are optional. If your child is not ready for pencil and paper activities, just ignore them.
Letter R worksheet 1
Letter R worksheet 2
Letter R worksheet 3
Letter R Itsy Bitsy Book
Itsy-Bitsy Book Directions
Count and Trace number 4
Rectangles worksheet 1

Lesson Plans for Welcome Summer! week

Photo Credits:

Top: photo by Flyheatherfly
Middle: photo by Grandmamusher
Bottom: photo by wealhtheow1