Gold

AREA SETUP

(Open thematic poster-Gold) Print, laminate, and decorate the walls of your daycare with all kinds of posters.

Banner-December
(Open banner December) (Open banner December-small) Print and laminate. Use the banners to decorate your daycare.

Giant visual calendar-December
We have created a giant visual calendar you can build throughout the month. You can use it to count how many days are left until the end of the month or simply as a tool during circle time. (Open giant visual calendar-December) Display it in your circle time area and encourage children to take turns adding the dates.

Educa-decorate-Gold
(Open educa-decorate-Gold) Print, cut out, and laminate. Decorate the walls of your daycare to set the mood for the theme.

Garland-Gold
(Open garland-Gold) Print. Let children decorate the garland. Cut it out and hang it within your daycare or near your daycare entrance.

Educ-poster-Gold
(Open educ-poster-Gold) Print and display.

SPECIAL TOOL

This special tool was created in response to a special request received. (Open group identification-The moon group) Print and display in a specific location or in your circle time area.

CIRCLE TIME

Poni discovers and presents-Neutral colors
(Open Poni discovers and presents-Neutral colors) Print the cards. Laminate them and cut them out. Use your Poni puppet or another puppet children are familiar with to present the colors to your group.

PICTURE GAME

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

ACTIVITY SHEETS

(Open activity sheets-Gold) Activity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions.

WRITING ACTIVITIES

(Open writing activities-D like December) (Open writing activities-G like gold) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.

Stationery-Gold
(Open stationery-Gold) Print. The stationery can be used to communicate with parents, in your writing area, or to identify your thematic bins.

Educa-nuudles-Gold

(Open educa-nuudles-Gold) Print for each child. Have children color the sheet and use Magic Nuudles to give it a three-dimensional look. Variation: You don't have Magic Nuudles? Have children fill the spaces designed for Magic Nuudles with bingo markers or stickers. To order Magic Nuudles

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS-Gold

Construction/Building blocks:

• Instead of dividing your blocks according to their type (wooden, LEGO, etc.), divide them according to their color.
• Different shades of gold felt can be added to children's constructions.
• Sort cars, figurines, etc. according to their color.

Arts & crafts:

• Use paint to introduce children to color combinations.
• Construction paper, tissue paper, etc. in different shades of gold for cutting, drawing, and creating.
• Finger paint for exploring color combinations.
• Gold markers with different tips (narrow, broad, etc.).
• Color by number activity sheets requiring the use of gold crayons.
• Coloring pages.

Role play:

• Transform your area to represent a paint store. Include paint sample cards, paintbrushes, rollers, painter hats, and wooden sticks used to stir paint. Ask parents to provide old decorating and design magazines. Add old shirts with paint stains on them.
• Create an artist studio complete with easels, paint palettes, etc. Add large sheets of paper and let children pretend they are famous artists.
• Decorating magazines.
• Old t-shirts with paint stains on them.

Manipulation:

• Memory game related to colors.
• Modeling dough. Allow children to mix colors together. Homemade modeling dough helps reduce the cost of this activity.
• Association game involving colors (example: a gold card can be associated to a ring).
• Sorting activities using items available in your daycare.
• Gold cellophane paper can be cut and glued to the bottom of empty toilet paper rolls to make gold binoculars.
• Lite-Brite or mosaic games.

Reading/relaxation:

• Books related to shapes and colors or books with pretty illustrations.

Music and motor skills:

• Homemade Twister game involving gold items.
• Red light, yellow light, green light game.

Sensory bins:

• Water table: add drops of gold-coloured food coloring to the water (specialty stores).
• Rock bin: fill a container with tiny gold rocks (used in aquariums).
• Froot Loops bin.

Early science:

• All experiments that involve colors can be explored here.
  o Color explosion in milk.
  o The flower that changes color when food coloring is added.
  o Color combinations with paint.
  o Bake a cake and add food coloring to the icing.
  o etc.

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Word flashcards
Use the cards to spark a conversation with your group or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards-Gold) (Open giant word flashcards-Gold) Print. ingot, ring, necklace, tooth, watch, earrings, gold pieces, trophy, medal, pencil, wrapping paper, garland

Gold Day
(Open perpetual calendar-Gold Day) Print and display near your daycare entrance to inform parents and children of this special day.

Area setup and greeting:

• As children arrive in the morning, draw a gold design on their cheek using a makeup pencil.
• Serve children a glass of water or juice in gold disposable drinking glasses.
• Serve children a special snack in a gold paper plate.
• Make an original gold hat simply by gluing gold items on a baseball cap or strip of paper. You can also make gold hats with your group or invite parents to make a special gold hat with their child.
• Display pictures of gold items on your walls and deposit some on the floor. Hang gold decorations from the ceiling.
• Offer as many gold toys as possible.

Food:

• Serve lunch in gold plates and bowls.
• Bake a cake and top it with chocolate frosting. Decorate it with edible beads that are gold and shiny.
• Bake muffins in gold muffin liners.

Activities:

• Hang a large banner on the wall. Invite children to make a collage by cutting gold items out of catalogues or flyers, tearing pieces of gold paper or cardboard, etc.
• Play a modified version of musical chairs. Simply replace chairs with gold shapes secured on the floor (or stick them directly on the chairs).
• Play music and invite children to dance while waving gold scarves (or pieces of gold fabric).

ROUTINES AND TRANSITIONS

Game-This is my spot-Gold
(Open game-This is my spot-Gold) Print two copies. Laminate and cut out the cards. Glue one copy of each card on the table using adhesive paper. Drop the other copies in a bag. Children take turns picking a card to determine their spot at the table for the day. You may also use the cards to determine naptime spots or for your task train.

My gold path
(Open my gold path) Print, laminate, and secure the illustrations on the floor to create a path which leads to areas frequently visited by children such as the bathroom or cloakroom. If you prefer, the illustrations may also be used to delimit your various workshops.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND MOTOR SKILLS

Gold toys
Fill a large container with gold toys. Children take turns selecting a toy. Have them return it to the correct spot/shelf within the daycare.

Color hunt
Visit your local hardware store and collect several gold paint chips. Be sure to have two copies of each color. Cut the paint chips that contain more than one shade of gold. Hide one series of paint chips throughout the daycare. Divide the second set of paint chips among the children in your group and invite them to find the matching cards.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Gold treasure hunt
Hide gold objects throughout the yard. Invite children to hunt for them. Make this activity even more fun by hiding very tiny items and providing magnifying glasses. Variation: This activity may also be done indoors or even in the dark with flashlights.

On the lookout for gold
Go for a walk with your group in your neighbourhood and search for gold items. Make a list of all the gold things you see (or take pictures) and discuss your findings during lunch time.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Educ-trace-Gold
(Open educ-trace-Gold) Print for each child. Children must trace the lines using the correct color and then color each item using the corresponding color.

Educ-colors-Gold
(Open educ-colors-Gold) Print for each child. Children must color only the items that are normally gold.

Educa-symmetry-Gold
(Open educa-symmetry-Gold) Print. Children must color the bottom picture (black & white) to make it identical to the top picture (in color).

What is missing?
Deposit several gold objects on a table. Have children observe them closely. After a few minutes, hide the items with a blanket. While the objects are hidden, remove an item. Remove the blanket and ask children to identify the missing item.

I see gold in my book
Give each child a picture book. When you give them the signal, they must turn the pages to find gold items. Each time they see a gold item, they must say "gold" and show the other children what they found.

MUSICAL AND RHYTHMIC ACTIVITIES

Musically gold
Cut a variety of shapes out of gold construction paper and secure them on the floor throughout your daycare (or yard). Play calm music and invite children to move to the sound of the music. When the music stops, they must quickly find a gold shape to stand on.

EARLY SCIENCE/MANIPULATION/EXPLORATION

Where does gold come from?
Using poster paint, ask children to try to create gold paint by mixing different colors. Once they have had the chance to try a few combinations, tell children about primary and secondary colors. Give each child a small quantity of various paint colors. Let them experiment.

Colourful ice cube tray
Add a few drops of food coloring to the water in each section of an ice cube tray. Set it in the freezer. You may also choose to insert a tiny gold object in each section. Deposit a plastic container on a large towel, drop the ice cubes in the container and let children manipulate them.

Color wheel
(Open color wheel) Print and cut out the different pieces. Glue the color wheel in a paper plate. Make a small hole in the centre of the paper plate and insert a fastener that will hold the two arrows in place. Use the two small arrows to point to two primary colors. Use the large arrow to point to the corresponding secondary color. Experiment with your group by combining the two paint colors.

CULINARY ACTIVITIES

Golden service
Purchase gold-coloured dishes, utensils, placemats, tablecloths, etc. Use them to serve and add a touch of gold to children's snacks and meals.

ARTS & CRAFTS

Puppets-Gold
(Open puppets-Gold) Print the models on heavy cardboard. Have children cut them out and decorate them. Glue a Popsicle stick behind each model to create puppets.

Models-Gold
(Open models-Gold) Print the models and use them for various crafts and projects throughout the theme.

Gold glitter everywhere!

Print coloring pages or let children create their own designs by tracing the outline of objects with white glue. Sprinkle the drawings with gold glitter, shake off any excess and let dry.

COLORING PAGES

(Open coloring pages theme-Gold) Print for each child.

SONGS & RHYMES

(Open songs & rhymes-Gold) Print.

Gold By: Patricia Morrison

Sung to: Hickory Dickory Dock

Gold

Glittery, shimmery gold
Like the trophy I will win
Dad's watch, Mom's brooch
Or a pirate's grin
Glittery, shimmery gold

Have fun!

The Educatall team