AREA SETUP
(Open thematic poster-Agriculture) Print, laminate, and decorate the walls of your daycare with all kinds of posters.
Educa-decorate-Agriculture
(Open educa-decorate-Agriculture) Print, laminate, and cut out the various items. Use them to decorate your daycare and set the mood for the theme.
Garland-Agriculture
(Open garland-Agriculture) Print the illustrations. Let children decorate them. Cut them out and hang them within your daycare or near your daycare entrance to create a garland.
Educa-decorate-Vegetables
(Open educa-decorate-Vegetables) Print, laminate, and cut out the various items. Use them to decorate your daycare and set the mood for the theme
Educa-decorate-Fruit
(Open educa-decorate-Fruit) Print, laminate, and cut out the various items. Use them to decorate your daycare and set the mood for the theme
Garland-Squash
(Open garland-Squash) Print the illustrations. Let children decorate them. Cut them out and hang them within your daycare or near your daycare entrance to create a garland. Transform your daycare to represent harvest time. Trace tree shapes and draw fields on brown paper bags. Cut them out. Have children cut fruit and vegetable shapes such as apples, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and strawberries out of construction paper. Deposit baskets filled with fruits or vegetables on a table within your daycare.
CIRCLE TIME
Educ-chat-Agriculture
(Open educa-circle time-Agriculture) (Open giant word flashcards-Agriculture) Print the questions and the giant word flashcards. Laminate them. Deposit the questions in a box and encourage children to take turns picking one. Spread the giant word flashcards out on a table or display them on a wall. Also print the "It's my turn" card. Laminate it and glue a Popsicle stick behind it. It will help children respect the child whose turn it is to speak throughout this activity. The questions will help little ones develop their sense of observation, their vocabulary, and cooperation skills while providing them with the opportunity to practice waiting for their turn. This tool will help you organize a group discussion about the theme.
Identifying pictures
(Open giant word flashcards-Agriculture) 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 from one area to another within your daycare. Read a word and encourage children to take turns identifying the corresponding picture. Hang plastic fruits and vegetables from the ceiling within your daycare. Greet children with a basket of fresh fruit or vegetables. Deposit a hay bale in your construction area (beware of allergies) and wear a straw hat and overalls.
Poni discovers and presents-Squash
(Open Poni discovers and presents-Squash) Print, laminate, and cut out the cards. Use a Poni puppet or another puppet children particularly like to present the different types of squash to your group.
Educ-chat-The farmers' market
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-The farmers' market) 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.
Suggested circle time questions and activities
For circle time, dress up as a farmer. Present a basket filled with vegetables and encourage children to name them and identify the characteristics of each one. Ask children if they have ever visited an apple orchard. Do they have a garden at home? Have they ever been to a farm? Invite children to bring a stuffed animal, a toy, or a storybook related to the theme to daycare. Deposit all the items in the centre of your circle time area and discuss each one with your group. Tell your group the three little pigs story. Discuss the many roles of farmers.
PICTURE GAME
(Open picture game-Agriculture) Use the pictures to decorate your daycare or to spark a conversation with your group. Print, laminate, and store the pictures in a Ziploc bag or in your thematic bin.
ACTIVITY SHEET
(Open activity sheets-Agriculture) Print and follow instructions.
WRITING ACTIVITY
(Open writing activities-A like agriculture) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.
Stationery-Agriculture
(Open stationery-Agriculture) Print. Use the stationery to communicate with parents, in your writing corner, or to identify your thematic bins.
Educa-nuudles-Agriculture
(Open educa-nuudles-Agriculture) Print for each child. Have children color the sheet. Once they are done, they may use Magic Nuudles to turn the coloring pages into three dimensional works 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:
VARIOUS WORKSHOPS-Agriculture
Construction/Building blocks:
- Provide wooden or LEGO blocks and encourage children to build silos, a barn, etc.
- Horses, farm animals, tractors, figurines, etc.
- Small plastic trees.
- Miniature squash.
Arts & crafts:
- A variety of cut fruits and vegetables that can be used for stamping.
- Collages with a variety of seeds and grains (corn, barley, etc.).
- Make maracas using empty containers and different types of seeds.
- Use empty milk cartons to make vases for flowers children pick in your yard.
- Use corn cobs for painting.
- Vegetable shapes that can be filled with crumpled pieces of tissue paper.
- Empty toilet paper rolls, construction paper, and paint for making miniature apple trees.
- Encourage children to paint using branches and leaves (pine, maple, etc.).
Drawing:
- Fruit, vegetable, farmers' market, or harvest time coloring pages.
- Fruit and vegetable stencils.
Role play:
- At the farmers' market: fruits, vegetables, baskets, reusable bags, scale, cash register, pretend money, etc.
- At the apple orchard: Cardboard tree or a branch in a bucket to represent an apple tree, apples in every color, pie plates, apple juice containers, pictures of different kinds of apples.
- Garden: gardening accessories, gloves, pots, flowers, pictures of different types of flowers, vegetables, fruits, hats, etc.
Manipulation:
- Memory game involving vegetables, fruits, flowers, etc.
- Association game: is this a fruit or a vegetable?
- Different types of dried beans that can be sorted by color, shape, etc.
- Different varieties of squash that can be manipulated and observed. Miniature squash are very resistant and therefore perfect for little hands.
Pre-reading:
- Book, books, and more books!
- Set a scarecrow in your reading corner. It will be the perfect companion for your little readers.
Pre-writing:
- Hunt and seek activities.
- Various activity sheets related to the theme.
- Games with educatall.com word flashcards.
- Tracing and maze activities.
- Chalkboard and chalk.
Motor skills:
- An apple, a carrot, or another fruit or vegetable can be used instead of a ball for several different games and activities.
- A treasure hunt with several different fruits and vegetables children must collect.
- Make your own scarecrow.
Sensory bins:
- Container filled with dried ears of corn.
- Container filled with popcorn.
- Container filled with various types of seeds and small cups that can be filled and emptied over and over again.
- Container filled with dirt and live worms.
- Container filled with pinecones.
Kitchen:
- Make a carrot and raisin salad.
- Prepare a fruit salad using seasonal fruit and serve it as a snack or for dessert.
- Taste different types of fruits and vegetables.
- Make applesauce.
- Make vegetable soup or stew.
Early science:
- Association game involving seeds and pictures of the vegetables they will become.
- Different types of vegetables (peeled, whole, halved, etc.) that can be observed with magnifying glasses.
- Use different fruits and vegetables to make your own juice.
- Visit your local supermarket.
- Apple oxidation.
- Study a variety of bulbs.
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-Agriculture) (Open giant word flashcards-Agriculture) Print. tractor, field, silo, hay bale, seedling, watering can, water, fertilizer, manure, pitchfork, cart, farmer (Open word flashcards-Harvest time) Print. (Open scene-Agriculture) Print, laminate, and cut out. Children use the items to complete the scene.
Sequential story-Vegetables
(Open sequential story-Vegetables) Print, laminate, and cut out. Have children place the illustrations in the correct order.
The farmers' market scene
(Open scene-The farmers' market) Print, laminate, and cut out. Children use the items to complete the scene.
ROUTINES AND TRANSITIONS
Game-This is my spot-Agriculture
(Open game-This is my spot-Agriculture) Print two copies of each illustration. Use adhesive paper to stick one copy of each illustration on the table. Place the second copy in a bag. Children take turns picking an illustration to determine where they must sit at the table. You may also use the illustrations to determine children's naptime spots or their place in the task train.
My agriculture path
(Open my agriculture path) Print, laminate, and secure the illustrations on the floor of your daycare to create a path leading to the areas frequently visited by children throughout the day. The path can lead to the bathroom, the cloakroom, etc. If you prefer, use the illustrations to delimit various areas.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS
Lacing-Agriculture
(Open lacing-Agriculture) Print, laminate, and make holes around the contour of each shape. Children can use string or shoelaces to lace the shapes.
Lacing-Fruits and vegetables
(Open lacing-Fruits and vegetables) Print, laminate, and make holes around the contour of each shape. Children can use string or shoelaces to lace the shapes.
Garden game
(Open game-garden) Print six copies. Laminate and stick the illustrations on the floor so that children are able to hop from one vegetable to another identical vegetable. Name a vegetable and children must try to go from one end of the path created to the other, stepping only on this vegetable. Variation: Use one copy of each vegetable for each child in your group. For example, if there are six children in your group, print six cabbage illustrations. Play music. When the music stops, children must quickly find the vegetable you name.
The rooster
Select a game leader who will play the role of the rooster. This child moves about, performing various actions. The other children must mimic his/her every move. After a while, give another child the chance to be the rooster. Variation: You can ask each child to act out a specific farm animal.
Rolling squash
Purchase several different types of decorative squash. They are very resistant and can therefore be manipulated by little hands. Encourage children to weigh each one and have fun rolling them across the floor.
Ploughing the fields
Fill a few large containers with dirt. Let children mix the dirt with their hands like a farmer ploughs his fields. You may also provide small shovels, containers, etc.
Harvesting pumpkins
Deposit one or two pumpkins at one end of your daycare. Children take turns transporting the pumpkin(s) to the other end of the daycare. Children will quickly realize just how heavy pumpkins are. Variation: Use very round pumpkins and have children roll them across the daycare.
Tiny seedling
Have children act out the following:
Tell them they are tiny seeds in the ground (they must curl up in a ball).
Tell them it is starting to rain (they remain curled up in a ball, but move gently).
Tell them the seed is poking out of the ground (they lift their head and upper body).
Tell them the sun is shining, making the seed grow (they slowly stand).
Tell them the seed is becoming a big pumpkin (children stretch and strike an original pose).
Tell them the wind is starting to blow (they plant their feet on the ground and sway from side to side).
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Chick or bunny
(Open chick-bunny) Stand at one end of the daycare and have children stand, with their back to the wall, at the opposite end of the daycare. Show them the bunny illustration. They must hop towards you, like a bunny. Next, show them the chick illustration. They must then crouch down and pretend to peck the ground like chicks. Alternate the illustrations until all the children have reached your end of the daycare. Variation: Add pictures of other animals and other actions. You may even choose to create animals that don't really exist.
Our garden
Plant a small garden in one corner of your yard and grow a variety of vegetables. Encourage children to care for their garden throughout the summer. They will love to watch the vegetables grow.
My farmers' market obstacle course
Create an obstacle course complete with balance beams, a tunnel, hula hoops, etc. Deposit fruit and vegetable illustrations along the obstacle course. Have children carry a basket as they complete the course and encourage them to collect the fruits and vegetables.
Galloping along
Provide broomsticks and invite children to pretend they are on galloping horses.
Animal families
Divide your group into three teams. One group will be the horse family, another group will be the sheep family, and the final group will be the pig family. Whisper the name of one of these animals in each child's ear. When you give the signal, children must all act like this animal and try to find the other members of their animal family.
Herding sheep
One player plays the role of the dog while the other children pretend to be sheep and crawl around the yard. The dog must capture the sheep. If the sheep lie on their back, they are safe and cannot be captured. If the dog touches a sheep while he/she is crawling, the child who was touched becomes a dog. He/she can help capture the others. The game ends when there is only one sheep left.
Pink pig game
(Open game-pink pig) Print, laminate, and cut out. Stick the pink pig on a wall. Give each child a laminated tail. Children take turns trying to stick the pig's tail in the right spot while blindfolded.
Wagon race
Divide your group into teams of two. Have one child from each team lie on the ground and then raise himself/herself up onto his/her arms. Each child's partner must hold his/her feet and together, they must move forward. Children must race to the opposite end of the yard before trading places and racing back to the starting point.
Scarecrow and birds
One child plays the role of the scarecrow while the others are birds. The scarecrow must touch the birds to prevent them from eating seeds on the ground. Each time a bird is touched, he/she becomes a scarecrow too. The game continues until all the children are scarecrows.
Ploughing fields
Use rope to tie a cardboard box behind each of your bicycles/tricycles. Children will enjoy pretending to plough the yard. If you wish, you can also deposit balls here and there throughout the yard. Children will love to pretend they are pumpkins they can collect in their wagon (cardboard box).
Jumping through the fields
Draw lines in your sandbox to represent rows in a garden. Encourage children to jump over them. Variation: You can use chalk to draw lines on asphalt or simply deposit jumping ropes on the ground too.
Harvest time
Plant a pretend garden in your sandbox. Hide plastic fruits and vegetables from your play kitchen in the sand and encourage children to dig them out.
COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES
Educ-differences-Agriculture
(Open educ-differences-Agriculture) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must find the differences between the two pictures and identify them using a dry-erase marker.
Educ-pairs-Agriculture
(Open educ-pairs-Agriculture) Print. Children must color identical illustrations using the same color or draw a line between them. For durable, eco-friendly use, laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.
Educ-trace-Agriculture
(Open educ-trace-Agriculture) Print for each child. Children must trace the dotted lines using a crayon of the corresponding color and then color each object using the same color.
Educa-symmetry-Agriculture
(Open educa-symmetry-Agriculture) Print. Children must color the bottom picture to make it look exactly like the top picture.
Educ-intruder-Agriculture
(Open educ-intruder-Agriculture) Print and laminate. Children must find the six (6) intruders.
MUSICAL AND RHYTHMIC ACTIVITIES
Where are the mice
(Open colourful mice) Print and laminate. Deposit the mice throughout the daycare, placing them so only their tail is visible. To the sound of music, children search for the mice. For this activity, the goal is simply to have fun. At the end of the activity, you may let each child keep one mouse. Variation: You may choose to have children collect mice of a specific color.
Musical animal
Play music and encourage children to dance around the daycare. When the music stops, show children an animal picture. They must move like this animal until the music starts again.
My beautiful horse
Provide each child with several strips of colourful crepe paper. Encourage them to dance, jump, and spin around to the sound of music. If you wish, you may insert the strips of crepe paper in their belt, their sleeves, their collar, etc.
MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Dress-up dolls-Agriculture
(Open dress-up dolls-Agriculture) Print and laminate. Children will love to dress the dolls.
Dress-up dolls-The farmers' market
(Open dress-up dolls-The farmers' market) Print and laminate. Children will love to dress the dolls.
Visiting the farm
This imaginary game is simple and requires very little or no material. It can be presented sitting on a chair or on the floor. Tell your group you are going on a tractor ride to visit the farm. Bounce up and down lightly, as if you were driving down a bumpy path. Encourage children to look to the left to admire sheep. How many lambs can they see? A little bit further, admire the cows. Try to count them... Suddenly, pretend to stop to let the ducks cross the road. Children will catch on quite quickly and probably invent many other animals and interesting things to look at.
When I go to the farm...
Have children sit in a circle. Each child must say, "When I go to the farm, I see..." before repeating the animals named by the other children and adding a new animal. Variation: With older children, you may choose to have them make animal sounds instead of naming animals.
When I go the farmers' market...
Have children sit in a circle. Each child must say, "When I go to the farmers' market, I fill my basket with..." before repeating the vegetables named by the other children and adding a new vegetable.
Farmers' market stand
Empty a storage shelf and have children fill it with a variety of plastic fruits and vegetables to represent a farmers' market stand. Provide small baskets, a cash register, pretend money, reusable bags, etc.
Growing seeds
Hang a large white paper banner on a wall (or the fence). Glue different types of seeds at the bottom of the banner and help children draw what the seeds will become. They may draw the actual vegetables or imaginary ones.
EARLY SCIENCE/MANIPULATION/EXPLORATION
Vegetables growing, growing, growing...
Just like farmers, fill flower pots with dirt and plant a few seeds with your group. Green beans are a good choice since they grow quickly. Water the seeds, deposit the flower pots in a sunny location, and watch their transformation daily.
Gardening area
Set up a gardening area within your daycare. Fill a large container with dirt and provide gardening tools, plastic vegetables, an empty watering can (to avoid spills), etc. Children will love to pretend they are gardening. Variations: You may fill a container with water and let children wash the plastic vegetables or add real vegetables that still have the leaves attached.
The farm
Fill a large container with wood chips and add animal figurines (chicken, horse, sheep, pig, chick, rabbit, etc.). Children will love to play with the animals.
Udders
Fill latex gloves with milk and use elastics to tie them. Hang them from the ceiling so they are accessible for children. Deposit a large container underneath the gloves. Use a needle to make tiny holes in the fingertips and show children how to milk a cow.
CULINARY ACTIVITIES
Tasting local products
Present a wide variety of locally-grown vegetables, fruits, maple products, honey, etc. Choose common products and others that are more exotic and offer items that can be eaten raw and cooked.
Vegetable characters
Let children use their imagination to create characters in their plate. Provide cut carrots, celery sticks with leaves attached, peas, salad, green peppers, parsley, cucumber slices, etc.
Vegetarian combo
During the week, invite children to bring a vegetable to daycare. Integrate the vegetables in your meals or use them to make a special recipe. You may even challenge yourself to try and use all the vegetables in a single recipe. It may help to use certain vegetables to decorate children's plates. Children will be very proud to eat this meal!
A mouse snack
Cut a cantaloupe or honeydew melon in half. Empty each half using a melon scoop to create tiny melon balls. Deposit a melon half upside down on a plate. Use skewers to plant the melon balls in the melon skin along with pieces of cheese or other fruit pieces.
Bunny drink
Ingredients:
- 3-4 carrots
- 3-4 oranges
- 2 spoonfuls of maple syrup
- 2-3 spoonfuls of lemon juice
Peel the carrots and the oranges before cutting them into pieces. Mix well in a blender. Add maple syrup and lemon juice. Pour the bunny drink into glasses and serve immediately.
Farmer's dip
Ingredients:
- 1 package of spinach
- 1 ½ cup of sour cream
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 3 scallions, finely chopped
- 1 envelope of dehydrated vegetable soup
- Salt and pepper to taste
This recipe is great for children. Provide plastic knives they can use to cut the spinach into tiny pieces. Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and dehydrated soup in a large bowl. Have children add the cut spinach and mix everything together. Let children dip veggies, crackers, or pita chips in this dip. Tell them that this dip is packed with vitamins that give farmers the energy they need for their daily tasks.
ARTS & CRAFTS
Puppets-Agriculture
(Open puppets-Agriculture) Print the models on heavy cardboard. Have children cut them out and decorate them with a variety of materials. Glue a Popsicle stick behind each model to create puppets.
Models-Agriculture
(Open models-Agriculture) Print the models and use them for various crafts and activities throughout the theme.
Mandalas-Agriculture
(Open mandalas-Agriculture) Print for each child. Have children color the designs as they wish.
Puppets-The farmers' market
(Open puppets-The farmers' market) Print the models on heavy cardboard. Have children cut them out and decorate them with a variety of materials. Glue a Popsicle stick behind each model to create puppets.
Stencils-The farmers' market
(Open stencils-The farmers' market) Print and cut out the stencils. Children can use them to trace or paint items related to the theme.
Healthy puppets
(Open models-vegetables) Print for each child. Have children color the vegetables, cut them out (depending on their age) and glue faces on them. When they are done, they can glue Popsicle sticks behind each one to complete their puppets.
Vegetable mobile
(Open mobile-Vegetables) Print for each child. Have children color the various parts and assemble them to create a mobile. You can use a clothes hanger, a plastic bowl with holes in it, or a paper bowl as a support for your mobile.
My barn
Use an empty milk carton to create a barn. Paint it red or black. Glue square pieces of construction paper on it to represent windows and doors. Use an empty Pringles container to represent a silo. Wrap the container with aluminum paper. Complete your barn by using animal-shaped cookie cutters to make salt dough farm animals. Bake the shapes and then let children paint them. Arrange the animals around your barn. Use upside down strawberry baskets to represent pens for the animals. Add hay or straw.
Scarecrow
As a group, make a scarecrow and deposit it next to your door. Stuff old clothing items with newspaper and tie the extremities. Use an old ball to represent your scarecrow's face. Let children get creative.
Cock-a-doodle-doo
Trace the contour of each child's hand on a piece of paper, making sure their thumb is positioned upwards to represent the rooster's head. Draw an eye and a beak on the thumb. Color in the shape using bright colors.
Horseshoe
(Open craft-horseshoe) Print on heavy cardboard and cut out. Help children wrap their horseshoe with aluminum paper.
Horse mane
Have children glue small pieces of yarn on a horse drawing to represent its mane.
Pig snout
For each child, cut an empty toilet paper roll in two and have them paint the piece with pink paint. Punch holes on each side and thread a piece of string through so you can tie it around their head.
Soft sheep
Give each child a Styrofoam glass. Have them place it upside down on the table and stick cotton balls all over. Cut a circle out of white construction paper to represent a sheep head and glue wiggly eyes on it.
My little chick
Paint the bottom of each child's foot using yellow paint and press it down on white paper. Let dry. This footprint will represent the chick's body. Glue feathers on each toe. Cut eyes and a beak out of construction paper and glue them on the chick. If you wish, you can also glue birdseed around the chick.
COLORING PAGES
Complete the drawing-Agriculture
(Open complete the drawing-Agriculture) Print for each child. Have children complete the picture by drawing the missing elements.
I am learning to draw-A barn
(Open I am learning to draw-A barn) Print and laminate the model sheet. Encourage children to practice their drawing technique on the model sheet before trying to draw a barn on their own.
Coloring pages
(Open coloring pages theme-Agriculture) Print for each child.
SONGS & RHYMES
(Open songs & rhymes-Agriculture)
Sung to: B-I-N-G-O By: Patricia Morrison
Agriculture
There was a farmer in a field
Growing yummy vegetables
Agri-agriculture, agri-agriculture, agri-agriculture
Puts veggies on our table
Have fun
The educatall team
Mettre à jour Annuler