J - Jungle Theme

Reading Time
Jungle Bullies by Steven Kroll
If I were a Jungle Animal by Tom and Amanda Ellery
One Day in the Jungle by Colin West
Deep in the Jungle by Dan Yaccarino
Edward in the Jungle by David McPhail
If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
The Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter
Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz

Music / Physical Time
Dance and Move. We turned on music and did as animals do. Different actions for each animal.

Five Monkeys
Five Monkeys swinging in the tree.
Teasing mr. alligator
Can't catch me, no you can't catch me.
Along comes mr. alligator
Quite as can be and
SNAP! that monkey right out of the tree.
(Repeat until zero monkeys.)

Arts / Craft Time
J - Jungle. We used paint, exotic leaf stickers, few animal stickers. It might have been better to pick something more distinct like jaguar. Monkey and birds on J sometimes is confusing.


Monkey Puppet. The girls were surprisingly not interested in the least with these. Too bad.


Science / Sensory Time
Smell. Here was have foods from the jungle in cups covered with foil. The girls were suppose to smell the cups and match up the smells. They had a very difficult time with this, but it was fun. After awhile I showed them one cup and had them try to find the match. This was a little better. Each girl had their own matches so they didn't have to share. I just wrote initials on the top.

Snack Time

We ate the jungle food using in previous activity. I am not completely positive that all of these are from the jungle but you get the picture.

Bananas, Chocolate, Mangos, Coconut, Kiwi, Pineapple

I - Indian Theme

Just as a disclaimer: we might have done some things that are stereotypical but they are not meant to be offensive in any way. We have many natives here in Arizona and we respect their culture and heritage. This month is actually the "Native American History Month." I thought it appropraite to talk about this especially with Thanksgiving coming up.

Reading Time
This First Thanksgiving by Laura Krauss Melmed
Thanksgiving Rules by Laurie Friedman
Suanto's Journey by Joseph Bruchac
10 Fat Turkey's by Tony Johnston
One little, Two little, Three little Pilgrims by Hennessy
Squanto, A Warrior's Tale by Fontes & Korman
(I think that I did a couple of more general books but I must not have written them down.)

Music Time
Rain Dance. We actually did a variation of this by tapping our fingers, then patting the ground, then clapping loud for thunder. It is suppose to sound like rain. We dance around for minute too.

Arts / Craft Time
Headdresses.

(Are they so cute? or what?)

I - Indian. Again I am not sure I like the way this turned out but it works I guess.

Dream Catcher.

Pottery? We used just a simple salt dough. The girls had so much fun with this. We tried to inprint native symbols into it. This one means friendship.

Social Science Time

We talked about the customs, housing, work, etc. of native americans. We gave the girls names like giggling stream and running wind.

Snack Time

Indian Fry Bread and Corn.

H - Halloween Theme

Reading Time
(I requested soooo many books from the library. Some were good. Some were not so good. These are my favorites. We read them constantly for a few weeks.)
We're Going on a Ghost Hunt by Marcia Vaughan
10 Trick of Treaters by Janet Schulman
Halloween Sky Ride by Elizabeth Spur
We're Off to Find the Witches House by Mr. Krieb
T. Rex Trick or Treat by Lois Grambling (mostly for Cera's sake, she loves dinos.)
(A couplel of others I would like to find but couldn't this year: Goodnight Goon, Dem Bones, Big Green Monster.)
Music Time
(There are so many variations of Halloween songs. I couldn't get enough. I wish that we had more time to learn all of the fun songs. Here are a few. We didn't spend too much time of them and with pictures and actions they really came to life.)

Pumpkin song to: "I'm a little teapot
"I'm a little pumpkin
Orange and round.
Here is my stem,
There is the ground.
When I get all cut up,
Don't you shout!
Just open me up
And scoop me out!

Six Little Ghosts That I Once Knew Sung to: "Six little ducks"
Six little ghosts that I once knew,
Spooky ones, kooky ones, shy ones too.
But the one little ghost had a special job to do,
He led the others with a
Boo! Boo! Boo!Boo! Boo! Boo!Boo! Boo! Boo!
He led the others with a Boo! Boo! Boo!
Down to the haunted house they flew,
In and out, round about, through and through,
But the one little ghost had a special job to do,
He led the others with a
Boo! Boo! Boo!Boo! Boo! Boo!Boo! Boo! Boo!
He led the others with a Boo! Boo! Boo!


Horns & Fangs Sung to: "Head and Shoulders"
Horns and fangs,
knees and claws,knees and claws.
Horns and fangs,knees and claws.
Eyes and ears and tail and paws.

The Monsters are so Loud Sung to: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home
The monsters stomp around the house,
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monsters stomp around the house,
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monsters stomp around the house,
Their brothers and sisters send them out
And they stomp some more outside around the house.
The monsters yell around the house,
Eeeeeeh! Eeeeeeh!
The monsters yell around the house,
Eeeeeeh! Eeeeeeh!
The monsters yell around the house,
Their brothers and sisters send them out
And they yell some more outside around the house.

If Your a Monster
If you're a monster and you know it, wave your arms.
If you're a monster and you know it, wave your arms.
If you're a monster and you know it,
then your arms will surely show it.
If you're a monster and you know it, wave your arms.
(suggest other verses show your claws, gnash your teeth, stomp your feet.)

Five Little Witches
Five little witches (hold up five fingers) standing by the door.
One flew out (Flying motion with hand)And then there were four.
Four little witches (four fingers) standing by a tree.
One went to pick a pumpkin (picking motion with three fingers)
And then there were three.
Three little witches stirring their brew. (stir)
One fell in And then there were two. (two fingers)
Two little witches went for a run. (run with fingers)
One got lostAnd then there was one. (one finger)
One little witch, yes, only one. (one finger)
She cast a spellAnd now there are none.
(make motions as if to cast spell and then put hands in lap)

Go Away, Big Green Monter, Go Away (Act it Out, Of course)
Go away, big green monster, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, big green monster, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, big green monster. Go away, big green monster.
Go away, big green monster, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, scary witch, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, scary witch, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, scary witch. Go away, scary witch.
Go away, scary witch, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, black cat, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, black cat, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, black cat. Go away, black cat.
Go away, black cat, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, white ghost, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, white ghost, go away. GO AWAY!
Go away, white ghost. Go away, white ghost.
Go away, white ghost, go away. GO AWAY!

Dem Dry Bones Lyrics (We didn't do all of this song.)
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh mercy how they scare!
With the toe bone connectedto the foot bone,
and the foot bone connectedto the ankle bone,
and the ankle bone connectedto the leg bone.
Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh mercy how they scare!
With the leg bone connectedto the knee bone,
and the knee bone connectedto the thigh bone,
and the thigh bone connectedto the hip bone.
Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh mercy how they scare!
With the hip bone connectedto the back bone,
and the back bone connectedto the neck bone,
and the neck bone connectedto the head bone,
Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh mercy how they scare!
With the finger bone connectedto the hand bone,
and the hand bone connectedto the arm bone,
and the arm bone connectedto the shoulder bone,
Oh mercy how they scare!
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh those bones, oh those bones,oh those skeleton bones.
Oh mercy how they scare!
With the shoulder bone connectedto the back bone,
and the back bone connectedto the neck bone,
and the neck bone connectedto the head bone.
Oh mercy how they scare!
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Doin' the skeleton dance.
The foot bone's connected to the leg bone.
The leg bone's connected to the knee bone.
The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone.
Doin' the skeleton dance.
The thigh bone's connected to the hip bone.
The hip bone's connected to the backbone.
The backbone's connected to the neck bone.
Doin' the skeleton dance.
Shake your hands to the left.
Shake your hands to the right.
Put your hands in the air.
Put your hands out of sight!
Shake your hands to the left.
Shake your hands to the right.
Put your hands in the air.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
wiggle, wiggle.......wiggle your knees.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Doin' the skeleton dance.

(If you are wanting some fun music to play, here are some songs I think are fun: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Monster Mash, Abracadabra, Ghost Busters, Somebody's Watching Me, Thriller, I put a Spell on You, Purple People Eater.)

Arts / Crafts
Letter H - It is suppose to be a Haunted House. I think I would re-do it next time. It didn't quite turn out how I would have liked.

Witches Hats. These are just party hats with a paper plate cut on the bottom. Decorate with spiders, eyes, glitter glue, stickers. Notice the really cool drinks we had (punch with dry ice).


Science Time

Dry Ice can be a blast. If you put little pieces in hot water it will work better. You can also put soap into the water. This makes bubbles full of the carbon dioxide. If you pop the bubbles you can see the foggy air. We also put balloons on top of a vase so they could fill up and pop off. It is so fun to watch the kids get into this. They are a little wary when the balloons get really big. We did talk about the safety issues.

Skeleton. Here is a cute hand out that we didn't quite get to. I wanted to do this along with the "Dem bones" song. But we had too much going on.

Math Time

Sticker counting. Make a simple grid and then the kids can put stickers in each box until the number is reached. We did zero to ten. The book 10 Trick or Treaters also does this.


Snack Time

There are really too many fun things to do for snack but I already had my hands full planning everything else. So we just did simple mummy pretzels. The girls tried to do their own. Squeezing the frosting out was a bit difficult but fun.

We did these two other things we another friend came to visit.

Footprint Ghost. This usually turns out better, but Sunshine has very high arches, like me so the shape isn't quite right.

Cute spider. The kids were able to practice folding the paper legs. Good manipulation practice.

G - Garden Theme Lesson Plan

Reading Time

Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres is a fun easy book. One of the favorites for this theme. The girls even wanted to know how the vegetables grew that we used later in the day.

Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming is a very well written book. It might be a little advanced but very fun. We loved looking for those bunnies and whether they would get into the garden.

Over in the Garden by Jennifer Ward is a book using the lyrics of a song. Mostly it is about bugs and counting. But we really enjoyed it.

There is a Billy Goat in the Garden by Laurel DeeGugler is also a great book but doesn't have much to do with planting. We loved talking about the bee getting that goat.

Outside Time

Planting a Garden. We went outside and pretended to garden. We made little holes and dropped the seeds in. The girls loved this. They would have been happy doing this all day.

Harvesting. Then we went over to where I had "planted" some radishes for the girls to harvest.

Sensory / Manipulative Activity

Washing the Vegetables. The girls loved this too. I forget how the simple things are the things that they really enjoy the most. They just wanted to wash and wash and wash.

And they did a good job too.

Plant puzzle. We did this simple puzzle with parts of a plant (roots, stem, leaves, flower). I was surprised how difficult this was for the girls to figure out. It only had four pieces so I thought that it would be easy.

Music Time

The Plant Part Song
Tune: The Farmer in the Dellwritten by Mrs. Jones

The seed makes a plant.The seed makes a plant.

With soil and rain and sunny days,The seed makes a plant.

The roots find the water.The roots find the water.

With soil and rain and sunny days,The roots find the water.

The stem holds it up.The stem holds it up.

With soil and rain and sunny days,The stem holds it up.

The leaves make the food.The leaves make the food.

With soil and rain and sunny days,The leaves make the food.

The flower makes the fruit.The flower makes the fruit.

With soil and rain and sunny days,The flower makes the fruit.

The fruit holds the seeds.The fruit holds the seeds.

With soil and rain and sunny days,The fruit holds the seeds.

The Garden Song
Tune: The Farmer in the Dellwritten by Mrs. Jones

The gardener digs a hole.The gardener digs a hole.

Hi Ho the Cherry-OThe gardener digs a hole.

The gardener plants the seeds.The gardener plants the seeds.

Hi Ho the Cherry-OThe gardener plants the seeds.

The rain begins to fall.The rain begins to fall.

Hi Ho the Cherry-OThe rain begins to fall.

The sun begins to shine.The sun begins to shine.

Hi Ho the Cherry-OThe sun begins to shine.

The plants begin to grow.The plants begin to grow.

Hi Ho the Cherry-OThe plants begin to grow.

The flowers start to bloom.The flowers start to bloom.

Hi Ho the Cherry-OThe flowers start to bloom.

The garden looks beautiful!The garden looks beautiful!

Hi Ho the Cherry-OThe garden looks beautiful!

Science Time

Sorting seeds. The girls had five different seeds to sort into the muffin pan cups. They really liked playing with the seeds and looking at the different types. They would sort for a while and then put them all back together again and then sort again.

Arts / Crafts

G- for Garden. We just painted it brown and then put vegetable, bug, and flower stickers all over it. I think that it might look more like a garden if I made the girls do the vegetables in rows or something.

Plant Pot. We also painted craft sticks white and then I hot glued them to an old formula can to make our own little pot. I bought a starter basil kit from Target's dollar area but we didn't get to actually plant them. Later, Sunshine bought me flowers with her dad so I just put those in ours.


Math Time

Counting Petals. We actually glued cereal to the flower centers rather than petals. Sunshine and I actually did this after Cera left because we just didn't have time, but she did a great job. She knows her numbers and can count so it wasn't too hard.

Snack Time

Vegetables. I just cut up the vegetables that the girls washed and they even ate them.

F - Farm Theme Lesson Plan

We actually didn't do this together because of our schedule getting a bit mixed up. We have been taking turns getting sick. Anyway, there are so many ideas for farm that I had to do somethings just with Sunshine. Then she went and did farm stuff at the other house plus she was able to go a field trip to a real farm.
Reading Time
Golden Books: Baby Farm Animals
The Jolly Barnyard
The Little Red Hen
Nursery Rhyme Little Boy Blue, Little Bo Peep
Music Time
Old McDonald had a Farm
Farmer in the Dale
Arts / Crafts
F- Farm

Paper Plate Pigs
Cotton Ball Sheep
Activities
Milking Cows
Making Butter
Making bread, grind your own wheat
Matching game (baby animal to adult animal)
Resources
Virtual Vine
Pre K Pages

E - Earth / Environment Theme Lesson Plan

Rug Time
Calendar
Introduction of Theme
Reading Time
Our Park by Mercer Mayer
Outside / Character Building
Picking up Trash. We went for a short walk and cleaned up any trash that we found. It was interesting what they thought was trash. They wanted to pick up sticks and feathers and weeds. But they almost were racing to find the trash. It was really cute. My roommate from long ago was such an example of picking up trash that you pass. I am not sure if she even remembers teaching that to me. Shout out Jeni. Anyway, I try now to do my part to whenever I go walking and I am always surprised by how much trash there is in my relatively nice new neighborhood.

Scavenger Hunt. I used old egg cartons (which I always keep now for future activities). I put different colored paper into each spot and told the girls that we would try to find things in our environment to match each colored paper. I was a little bit worried that we wouldn't be completely successful, but I was dead wrong. We found so many great things. We even found a rock spray painted blue for gas line markers. They had so much fun and were great little explorers.

Some of the things in our environment were natural and some were man made. And although Earth day is fitting to celebrate in the spring Arizona is still flourishing with flowers.

Art / Craft Time

E - Earth. The "land" is a hand print.

Science Time

Animal / Habitat sort. I had the girls sort pictures of animals into four different environments. They had a really difficult time doing this. And Sunshine wanted to argue with me about a couple of animals.

Snack Time

Earth Donut Holes. Once again I had no idea what we were going to do for snack but then I had a moment of inspiration. I used food coloring to make these look like little earths, BTW food coloring stains fingers and mouths.

D - Dinosaur Theme Lesson Plan

Rug Time
Calendar
Introduction of theme
Reading Time
A Trip to Dinosaur Time by Michael Foreman - Nothing special
The Three Little Dinosaurs by Larry Brimnar - Like the Three Little Pigs, ok
How Big Where the Dinosaurs by Patrick O'Brien - Names & Pictures of different dinos
Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs by Sandra Boynton - Our Favorite, Good opposite book
Outside / Manipulation/Sensory Activity
Searching for and uncovering dino bones - I really wish that I had a sand table for this and real bones for that matter but it was a quick and fun activity. The girls really did a good job being careful using their paint brushes to clean off the paper bones.

After the bones were found we tried to put together like a puzzle. Cera was pretty excited to find that all the bones made a "longneck" dinosaur.

Then we colored the bones. The activity on line says to glue dry pasta onto the skeleton to make it look like bones. I thought that was a great idea but that it would take a long time and the girls would get bored. Maybe that would work for well for older kids.

I actually put the pieces together using little scrapbooking brads so that the pieces move. Pretty cool. I used this black paper only for the picture. It isn't glued on or anything.

Math Time

We did this stamping activity found here. Basically you role the die and then stamp out that many dino squares. This worked ok, but really it was just do give me some time to get our fossil stuff together.

Science Time

Make your own fossils. There are several ways to make your own fossil some cooler than others. The simplest way is to use plaster of paris. It dries fast and there is really only two ingredients. We went outside to collect leaves and then we used some plastic dinos for footprints.


Arts / Craft Time

D - Dino. I think that it turned out great.

Then we did a simple little necklace with dino card beads.

Snack Time

Rice Crispy Treat Dinos. These were fun. I always forget about planning the snack until the very last minute. Thank goodness I always have stuff on hand. Thanks Blair for the cookie cutters.