The city

AREA SETUP

Print a variety of posters and use them to decorate your daycare. (Open thematic poster-The city) Print.

Stickers for rewards-The city

(Open stickers-The city) Print the illustrations on adhesive paper and use them to create an original sticker collection.

Educa-decorate-The city

(Open educa-decorate-The city) Print, cut out, and laminate. Use the illustrations to decorate your walls. Hang a few from the ceiling too.

Educa-theme-The city

(Open educa-theme-The city) Print, cut out, and laminate. Use the items to decorate the walls of your daycare to set the mood for the theme.

Garland-The city

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

CIRCLE TIME

Educ-chat-My neighbourhood

Educ-chat is a game which contains a variety of illustrations representing subjects, verbs, and objects children can use to make complete sentences and build their vocabulary. (Open educ-chat-My neighbourhood) Print, laminate, and cut out the cards. Make three piles (subjects, verbs, objects). Ask a child to pick three cards, one from each pile, and read the sentence. The sentences will sometimes be silly, but you will surely have fun! You may also choose to place the cards yourself and ask a child to read the sentence.

Hang a variety of items which represent the stores and businesses found in your neighbourhood from the ceiling to attract children’s attention. They will question you about the theme you will be exploring.

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-The city) Print, laminate, and store in a “Ziploc” bag or in your thematic bins.

Memory game-The city

(Open picture game-The city) Print two copies and use the cards for a memory game.

ACTIVITY SHEETS

Activity sheets are provided for each theme.  Print and follow instructions. (Open activity sheets-My neighbourhood)

Educa-nuudles-The city

(Open educa-nuudles-The city) 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.

Stationery-My home

(Open stationery-My home) Print. Use the stationery to communicate with parents, in your writing corner, or to identify your thematic bins.

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Word flashcards

Use the flashcards to spark a conversation with your group, in your reading and writing corner, or to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards-The city) (Open giant word flashcards-The city) car, store, movie theater, building, taxi, bus, subway, restaurant, mall, park, library, street light.

Let’s chat

Print and laminate the word flashcards. Children take turns picking a word (ex. movie theater) and presenting it to the group. Encourage them to tell you everything they know about each item related to the theme. Ask questions to keep the conversation flowing.

Associating words and pictures

(Open giant word flashcards-The city) Print, laminate, and display the word flashcards on a wall within your circle time area or on a large piece of cardboard that can be moved around. Print a second copy of each word flashcard and cut each card from this series in half so that you have one set with words and one set with the corresponding illustrations. Press Velcro behind each card. Stick a piece of Velcro next to each complete word flashcard on your board. Invite children to match the words and illustrations and stick them on your board.

Picture clue story-The city

(Open picture clue story-The city) Print. Sit in a circle with your group. Begin reading the picture clue story. Pause every time you reach a picture clue to give children time to complete the sentence with the word represented by the picture.

Felt board-The city

Glue four pieces of blue felt on a large piece of cardboard to create your felt board and hang it on a wall. (Open felt board-The city) Print. Invite children to help you trace the items on colorful felt and cut them out. The felt shapes will stick to your felt board. Children will enjoy using the them to create a variety of scenes and scenarios.

My city path

(Open transition games-The city) Print, laminate, and arrange the illustrations on your daycare floor, creating a path that leads to various areas children visit daily. The path can lead to the bathroom, the cloakroom, etc. or, if you prefer, you can use the illustrations to delimit different workshops.

Game-This is my spot-The city

(Open transition games-The city) Print each illustration twice. Using adhesive paper, press one copy of each illustration on the table. Set the other set of illustrations in an opaque bag. Children take turns picking an illustration to determine their spot at the table for the day. You can also use the illustrations for naptime spots or your task train.

Illustrated walk

Invite children to walk one behind the other. Call upon their imagination and tell them that you are going on a walk around your city. In fact, you will simply be walking around your daycare. As you walk, imagine various obstacles: a stop sign, a yellow street light, a pedestrian who is crossing the street, a bus stop, a flashing right turn signal on a car, etc. Ask children how they should react to each of these imaginary obstacles.

ACTIVITIES FOR BABIES

Out and about in the city

Take little ones on a walk around your city and name the items you see to spark an interest in their environment.

Pictures of my city

Display a variety of pictures representing stores, homes, traffic signs, etc. at children’s level on the walls of your daycare to create a miniature neighbourhood for them to admire.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

In the city

Sit in a circle with your group. Say, “I am going to the city. I add “x” to my backpack.” (name an object). The child sitting next to you repeats what you just said and adds an item. The games continues until a child is unable to remember all the items previously named.

Bus ride

Arrange several chairs one behind the other, single file. Invite children to sit in your “bus”. They may take turns playing the role of the bus driver. Provide a variety of accessories such as backpacks, lunch boxes, shopping bags, etc.

Crazy race

Divide your group into two teams. Give each team a shopping cart. Children can take turns pushing the cart around. Provide a clue and, with their teammates’ help, children race to collect the corresponding item. The first child who finds the correct item can add it to his or her team’s cart. At the end of the activity, count the items in each team’s cart.

Shopping parachute

Prior to presenting this activity, fill several boxes with objects representing a specific type of store. For example, you may have one box filled with fabric flowers to represent a florist shop, plastic tools to represent a hardware store, clothing items to represent a clothing store, etc. Set all the objects on your parachute and have fun making them bounce up and down. Once they have all fallen off the parachute, sort them with your group, associating each one to the correct store.

Stacking grocery items

Provide several empty bottles and cans. Encourage children to stack them as if they were stocking the shelves in a grocery store.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Red light, yellow light, green light

(Open traffic lights and signs) With your group, draw a giant city in your driveway. Depending on the amount of space you have, you may include streets, a grocery store, a bank, a park, a daycare center, a school, etc. Add traffic signs here and there. Children will love riding tricycles through your city. Prepare simple traffic lights. For example, when you display a green circle, children pedal as quickly as they wish. When you raise the yellow circle, they must slow down. When they see the red circle, they must come to a complete stop.

Variation: If you don’t have tricycles, children can simply walk through your city. When they see the red circle, they must come to a stop and contract their muscles. When they see the yellow circle, they may release their muscles. Finally, when they see the green circle, they must practice taking deep breaths. Repeat this activity many times.

The four corners of my town

Set up a different type of store in each of the four corners of your yard. Children must visit each one, using different means of transportation to reach them.

A grocery store outing

Invite parents to join you on a trip to the grocery store. Be sure to show children the fruits & vegetables section, the meat section, the milk products section, the bread and cereal section, and finally, the junk food section. Explain how a grocery store is set up to represent the four food groups. If you wish, prepare a grocery list and use it for a unique treasure hunt. Children will have fun searching for the items on your list.

Offices and stores

Children love to play in homemade “cabins”. Set old bedsheets over garden furniture, tables, long chairs, etc. to create tents or cabins. Each one will represent an office building or store. Add different objects to each one (cash register, toys, plastic food items, etc.). Let children have fun buying and selling items.

ACTIVITIES INVOLVING PARENTS

My profession is…

Ask parents to come talk about their profession with your group. They can, for example, tell children if they work in a tall office building or factory, if they are business owners, how many people they work with, etc.

Running errands

Provide each family with a piece of paper they can use to draw a store they enjoy visiting together.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Hunt and seek-The city

(Open hunt and seek-The city) Print and laminate. Children pick a card and search for the item in the scene.

Snakes & ladders-The city

(Open snakes & ladders-The city) Print and laminate. Children use a die and small figurines to represent playing pieces.

Educa-duo-My neighbourhood

(Open educa-duo-My neighbourhood) Print and laminate for use with a dry-erase marker. Children must draw a line between items that go together.

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

Shopping Day

Pick a day and transform your daycare to make it look like a mall. Create an information kiosk and stand behind it as you greet children in the morning. Direct children to one of the many boutiques or stores you have set up. Your reading corner will become a bookstore, your construction area will represent a hardware store, your role play area can become a clothing store or a grocery store, etc. Try to integrate the different types of stores you can find at your local mall in your daily activities. Your yard can host a small circus, just like the ones that often set up in mall parking lots for a weekend. Pretend to eat snacks and meals at your mall’s food court. Prepare special meals and menus and have fun! (Open price list) You can use mealtime to discuss foods from around the world. After all, food courts often offer a variety of foods (Greek, Italian, American, Thai, etc.).

The grocery store

(Open price list) Print and laminate. Set up a cash register and let children take turns using it. Distribute shopping bags to the other children and encourage them to select items (toys) they would like to purchase within your daycare. When they are done shopping, they must head to the cash register to pay. You may use this activity to clean your daycare. Explain how store shelves and items for sale must be dusted and rearranged regularly to make sure the store is tidy. (Open pretend money)

ARTS & CRAFTS

Puppets-My neighbourhood

(Open puppets-My neighbourhood) Print the various models on heavy paper. Have children cut them out and decorate them with a variety of arts & crafts materials. Glue a Popsicle stick behind each one to turn them into puppets.

A map of my neighbourhood

(Open map of my neighbourhood) Print the black and white or color version of this document. Have children use the items to complete the map. They can add streets, characters, etc.

Traffic lights

Give each child three paper plates. Have them paint one red, one yellow, and one green. Next, have children glue each plate on a piece of black cardboard to represent a traffic light. Make sure they respect the following order: green, yellow, red.

Stencils-My neighbourhood

(Open stencils-My neighbourhood) Print and cut out the various stencils. Children can use them to trace and paint different elements related to the theme.

Puppets-The city

(Open puppets-The city) Print the various models on heavy paper. Have children cut them out and decorate them with a variety of arts & crafts materials. Glue a Popsicle stick behind each one to turn them into puppets.

Models-The city

(Open models-The city) Print the various models and use them for your various activities and projects throughout the theme.

Billboard

Set a large white paper banner on the floor and encourage children to create a billboard for a store they are familiar with (or for your group), much like the signs we see along busy boulevards in cities.

Mall floor plan

Use a variety of recycled materials, a large piece of cardboard, and your imagination to represent a mall floor plan, complete with all the stores children can think of.

Scrapbook-The city

(Open scrapbook-The city) Print this new page for each child. Add the page to each child’s scrapbook. If you don’t already have a scrapbook for the children in your group, visit the Scrapbook section of the Educatall Club.

COLORING PAGES

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

Creative coloring-Store

(Open creative coloring-Store) Print for each child. Have them complete the drawing as they see fit.

SONGS & RHYMES

(Open songs & rhymes-The city)

By: Patricia Morrison-Sung to: Village People-In the navy

In the city

In the city

There are lots of busy streets

In the city

Skyscrapers, malls, and shops galore

In the city

There are so many people too

In the city

An endless list of things to do

Have fun!

The educatall team