Gray

AREA SETUP

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

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

Giant visual calendar-November
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-November) Display it in your circle time area and encourage children to take turns adding the dates.

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

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

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

SPECIAL TOOL

This special tool was created in response to a special request received. (Open group identification-Mice) 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-Gray) Print, laminate, and store the pictures in a Ziploc bag or in your thematic bin.

ACTIVITY SHEETS

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

WRITING ACTIVITIES

(Open writing activities-G like gray) (Open writing activities-N like November) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.

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

Educa-nuudles-Gray
(Open educa-nuudles-Gray) 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-Gray

Construction/Building blocks:

• Instead of dividing your blocks according to their type (wooden, LEGO, etc.), divide them according to their color.
• Different shades of gray 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 gray for cutting, drawing, and creating.
• Finger paint for exploring color combinations.
• Gray markers with different tips (narrow, broad, etc.).
• Color by number activity sheets requiring the use of gray 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 gray card can be associated to a mouse).
• Sorting activities using items available in your daycare.
• Gray cellophane paper can be cut and glued to the bottom of empty toilet paper rolls to make gray 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 gray items.
• Red light, yellow light, green light game.

Sensory bins:

• Water table: add drops of gray food coloring to the water.
• Rock bin: fill a container with tiny gray 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-Gray) (Open giant word flashcards-Gray) Print.
mouse, cloud, car, cement, squirrel, coat, rock, elephant, pigeon, rabbit, dolphin, donkey

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

Food:

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

Activities:

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

ROUTINES AND TRANSITIONS

Game-This is my spot-Gray
(Open game-This is my spot-Gray) 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 gray path
(Open my gray 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

Lacing-Gray
(Open lacing-Gray) Print, laminate, and punch holes around the contour of each shape. Give each child a shoelace or ribbon they can thread through the holes.

Gray toys
Fill a large container with gray 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 gray paint chips. Be sure to have two copies of each color. Cut the paint chips that contain more than one shade of gray. 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

Gray treasure hunt
Hide gray 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 gray
Go for a walk with your group in your neighbourhood and search for gray items. Make a list of all the gray things you see (or take pictures) and discuss your findings during lunch time.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

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

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

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

What is missing?
Deposit several gray 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 gray in my book
Give each child a picture book. When you give them the signal, they must turn the pages to find gray items. Each time they see a gray item, they must say "gray" and show the other children what they found.

MUSICAL AND RHYTHMIC ACTIVITIES

Musically gray
Cut a variety of shapes out of gray 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 gray shape to stand on.

EARLY SCIENCE/MANIPULATION/EXPLORATION

Where does gray come from?
Using poster paint, ask children to try to create gray 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 gray 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

Gray everywhere!
Gray is a color that is difficult to integrate in baking, but you can transform cupcakes to make them look like mice. Just purchase special silver food coloring in a specialized bakery or where baking supplies are sold. Use silver candy pieces for the eyes and nose and licorice for the mustaches.

Special silverware and dinnerware
Purchase gray dishes, a gray tablecloth, and gray utensils in a department store or at your local dollar store. Plates, bowls, forks, spoons, napkins...everything must be gray!

ARTS & CRAFTS

Puppets-Gray
(Open puppets-Gray) 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-Gray
(Open models-Gray) Print the models and use them for various crafts and projects throughout the theme.

COLORING PAGES

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

SONGS & RHYMES

(Open songs & rhymes-Gray) Print.

Gray

By: Patricia Morrison

Sung to: Are you sleeping?

Black and white, white and black
Shades of gray, shades of gray
When they're mixed together, when they're mixed together
Li-ght gray, da-rk gray

Have fun!

The Educatall team