Themes & Activities

Theme - Archives

Happy New Year 2010
(Open thematic poster - Happy New Year 2010)

 

 

 

 

 

SPECIAL TOOL

This tool was created in response to a special request we received. Organize your birthday wall with the following. (Open Birthday bear) Print and laminate. Write the name of each child.

 

CIRCLE TIME

 

Invite children to talk about what they did during the Holidays. Encourage them to bring pictures of the gifts they received to the daycare.

 

AREA SETUP

 

To start the year off right, reorganize your daycare. The Tips and tricks section is packed with great ideas to help you get started.

 

Educa-decorate - Happy New Year 2010

(Open educa-decorate - Happy New Year 2010) Print, cut out, and laminate. Decorate your walls for the theme.

 

PICTURE GAME

 

The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with the group. Use them to decorate the daycare or a specific thematic corner. (Open picture game - Happy New Year 2010) Print, laminate, and store in a Ziploc bag or in your thematic bins.

 

ACTIVITY SHEETS

 

Activity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions. (Open activity sheets - Happy New Year 2010)

 

WRITING ACTIVITIES

 

(Open writing activities - Happy New Year 2010) Print for each child or laminate and use with an erasable marker.

 

 

 

Educa-nuudles-Happy New Year 2010

(Open educa-nuudles - Happy New Year 2010) Print for each child. Have children color the sheet. Once they are done, they may use Magic Nuudles to turn their coloring page into a three dimensional work of art.

 

Variation: If you do not have Magic Nuudles, ask children to fill the spaces designed for the Magic Nuudles with bingo markers or stickers.

 

 

 

 

 

To order Magic Nuudles:
http://www.educatout.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=76&osCsid=dd5f6e4b9a9a91cbd4f9a233494afbff

 

Stationery-Happy New Year

(Open stationery - Happy New Year 2010) Use this thematic stationery to communicate with parents, in your writing area, or to identify your thematic bins. Print.

 

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS

 

Have fun with these wonderful workshop ideas provided by Caroline Allard.

 

We have collected a variety of workshop ideas, pertaining to no theme in particular, to start the year. Let children enjoy them as they wish. Take advantage of the beginning of a new year to introduce new activities.

 

Construction/building blocks:

• Blocks of all kinds: Lego, wooden blocks (colourful or natural), Bristle, Duplo, Mobilo, etc.
• Cardboard boxes stuffed with newspaper to create giant blocks.
• Figurines.
• Means of transportation: cars, trucks, airplanes, boats, trains...
• A garage and a mat which children can roll cars on, cardboard cylinders for tunnels, traffic signs, etc.
• Farm animals, zoo animals, reptiles, pets, etc.
• Natural construction elements such as branches, rocks, bark, etc.

Arts & crafts:

• An easel with large sheets of white paper for painting.
• Different sizes of paintbrushes, brushes, sponge brushes, rollers, old toothbrushes, etc.
• Water paint.
• Finger paint with glossy paper.
• Chalk and a chalkboard.
• Scrapbooking paper punches.
• Glue sticks, white glue, glitter glue, liquid glue.
• Adhesive paper.
• Feathers, pompoms, pipe cleaners, yarn, ribbon, confetti.
• Construction paper in various colors.
• Colourful cardboard or construction paper.
• Cellophane paper, tissue paper, wrapping paper.
• Paper plates, cardboard tubes, cone-shaped glasses.
• Popsicle sticks, toothpicks.
• Recycled material.
• Catalogues and flyers.
• Stencils.
• A tablecloth to cover the table.

Drawing:

• Coloring pages related to routines, workshops, friends, or the name of your daycare.
• Markers, wooden pencils, and waxed crayons.
• Oil pastels, coloured chalk.
• Pencils and erasers.
• Rulers and stencils.
• Stamps and stamp pads.

Role play:

• Anything you can find that can be used for dress-up play.
• Adult or child clothing (parents can provide you with items they no longer need), handbags, shoes, belts, scarves, hats, old jewellery...
• Electronics (toy versions or real ones with the electrical cords removed), dishes, table and chairs, plastic food items, empty food containers.
• Dolls, doll clothing, cradle, high chair.
• Puppets and small theatre.

Manipulation:

• Memory game using educatall.com picture games.
• Puzzles.
• Modeling dough for sculpting and for use with cookie cutters.
• Different sizes, colours, and shapes of beads for necklaces.
• Lacing shapes.
• Objects which may be used to practice lacing, tying, and zipping.
• Toys which involve assembly or matching.
• Lotto games, memory games, and other board games adapted to the ages of the children in your group.
• Card games, magnetic numbers and letters.
• Magnets of all kinds and a cookie sheet.

Pre-reading:

• Fairy tales, storybooks, picture books.
• Book and CD sets, children can listen to the stories with headphones.
• Album with pictures of the children in your group.
• Books with the letters of the alphabet.
• Magazines containing plenty of pictures.
• Felt board with characters which may be used to create stories.
• Comfortable armchairs, cushions, a small table.
• Posters for decorating the walls.
• A small "hideout" corner for extra privacy.
• A small floor or table lamp.

Pre-writing:

• Dotted letters for tracing.
• Games in which children must search for differences.
• Hunt and seek games.
• Activity sheets which involve tracing and letters.
• Games with educatall.com word flashcards.
• An old typewriter which may be used to type real letters.
• Magnetic numbers and letters.
• A whiteboard and dry erase markers.

Sensory bins:

• Sand and/or water table. You can replace the sand or water with: oats, lentils, uncooked pasta, sunflower seeds, cotton balls, leaves, peas, cereal, etc. The possibilities vary according to the ages of the children in your group. You be the judge of what is safe for them!
• Spray bottles.
• Funnels, empty containers which may be used for pouring.
• Small objects or figurines which may be hidden in the bins.
• Kitchen utensils for stirring.
• Straws, sponges.
• Measuring cups, colander.
• Objects which float and others which sink.

Science/nature:

• Posters of animals and natural phenomena.
• A map, an atlas, a globe.
• Plants, soil, vivarium, aquarium, gardening tools.
• Magnifying glasses and rubber gloves.
• Objects found in nature (logs, branches, leaves, rocks...)
• Scale.
• Funnels and eyedroppers.
• Containers of all kinds for mixing.

Music:

• Posters of musical instruments.
• A tape recorder and a microphone for singing and recording.
• Music from different countries, different musical styles.
• Musical instruments (toy versions or real ones).
• Rhythmic sticks, triangles, drums, cymbals, xylophones, bells, etc

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Word flashcards

The flashcards may be used during circle time to spark a conversation with the group or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins.

 

(Open word flashcards - Happy New Year 2010) New Year's Day, trumpet, hat, streamer, turkey, cranberries, accordion, harmonica, New Year's Eve, spoons, midnight, confetti.

 

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Champagne glasses

Provide children with two dozen small champagne glasses. Pile the glasses one on top of the other, counting out loud every time you add one until they all fall down! Start over again and again!

Variation: Arrange the glasses to make a pyramid. Throw a foam or plastic ball to make them fall down.

 

The months of the year

(Open 12 months of the year) Print, laminate, and glue them to the floor. Play music. When the music stops, children must sit on a month (like musical chairs).

Variation: Have fun recognizing the months of the year. Glue them to the wall in the correct order, at children's eye level. Give children different instructions, depending on their age and level. You may, for example, tell a child to stand in front of his birthday month, or the first month of the year.

 

Clothespin race

Set a long clothesline up between two chairs. Divide the group into two teams. Give each team a bag of clothespins. When you give them the signal, each team attaches clothespins to the clothesline while you play a song. When the music stops, count how many clothespins each team added to the clothesline. The team who added the most wins! Identify each team's clothespins with a different color.

 

Hot potato

Sit in a circle with your group. Children pass a potato around the circle to the sound of rhythmic music. When the music stops, the child holding the potato must sit in the center of the circle. The game continues.

 

Musical chairs
A classic game to play! Arrange one chair less than the number of children in your group (for example, if there are 10 children, arrange 9 chairs). Children form a circle around the chairs. To the sound of music, they walk around the chairs. When the music stops, children must quickly sit on a chair. One child will remain standing since one chair is missing. This child is eliminated (you may invite him to stop the music for the next round). Remove another chair and play music. Keep going until there is only one child left.

 

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

 

Magnifying glass game

(Open magnifying glass game - Happy New Year 2010) Print and laminate the board game and the illustrations. Cut them out and store them in a box or in a plastic bag. Children pick an illustration and search for it on the board game, using a magnifying glass. Once they have found a match, they deposit the illustration in the correct square, on the board game.

 

Educ-association

(Open educ-association - Happy New Year 2010) Print the pages and follow the instructions included in the game to assemble everything in a file folder. Children must associate the illustrations according to the instructions on the board game. Once they have found the correct association, they must deposit it in the corresponding square using Velcro or adhesive putty.

 

Educ-pattern

(Open educ-pattern - Happy New Year 2010) Print and laminate. Children must complete each pattern by placing the correct illustrations in the squares using Velcro or adhesive putty.

 

Happy New Year hunt and seek

(Open hunt and seek - Happy New Year 2010) Print and laminate. Children pick an illustration and search for it in the larger picture.

 

Puzzle

(Open puzzles - Happy New Year 2010) Print, laminate, and cut out the pieces. Children enjoy placing the pieces to reconstruct the pictures.

 

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

Traditional dance

Children dance in a circle, holding hands. They move to and fro, then grab hold of a partner's arm and turn around. Then, they change partners and start all over!

 

Spoon game

To the sound of rhythmic music or traditional folk music, show children how to make music with a set of wooden spoons.

 

CULINARY ACTIVITIES

New Year's punch

Set a large punch bowl in the center of the table. Fill it with fruit punch or grape juice. Suggest different fruit children can add, one at a time. Provide a spoon they can use to stir the punch. Serve in small plastic champagne glasses.

 

ARTS & CRAFTS

 

2010 mobile

(Open craft - 2010 mobile) Print, trace the number 8 on heavy cardboard, and cut out. Next, cut out the other numbers. Thread different lengths of string in the holes on each of the numbers and hang them from the number eight to write "2010". Thread string through the three holes on the number eight to hang from the ceiling.

 

Making confetti

Let children punch holes in cardboard or construction paper using a hole-punch. Have them store their confetti in a small container. They may use the confetti for a craft or, if you are up to it, let them throw it in the air and shout, "Happy New Year!"

 

My 2010 scrapbook

There's nothing like a new scrapbook to start the year off right. Use it throughout the year. (Open scrapbook 2010) Print several copies of each page. Have children color the pages. Take pictures of the children and add them to their scrapbooks. Add personalized comments. Glue the cover page on heavy cardboard and join the pages together with ribbon or add them to a binder for each child.

 

New Year's memory

(Open scrapbook - Happy New Year 2010) Print for each child. Add to each child's scrapbook.

 

COLORING PAGES

 

(Open coloring pages theme - Happy New Year 2010) Print for each child.

 

CREATIVE COLORING

 

Happy New Year's

(Open creative coloring - Happy New Year 2010) Print for each child. Have children draw their wish for 2010.

 

SONGS & RHYMES

2010

By: Patricia Morrison
sung to: BINGO

 

It's the start of a brand new year
So let me hear you cheer:
2-0-1-0
2-0-1-0
2-0-1-0
2010 is here!

 

 

Have nice day!

 

 

Educatall team

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