Activities for Preschool Children for Groundhog Day

The winter in the US and Canada this year has been particularly cold and snowy with most of us forced to stay inside! On February 2nd, the US and Canada celebrate Groundhog day. Here are activities for preschool children for Groundhog Day!

According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end.

If on the other hand, it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly "see its shadow" and retreat back into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.

One of my readers sent this activity in for all of us to enjoy. Great for gross motor skills, following directions and just having fun!

Groundhog Tunnel Play
With Groundhog Day just around the corner I wanted to share this idea that my kids love.
I place a tunnel on the floor and they take turns crawling through pretending to be the Groundhog.
I sit at the exit end with a flashlight and a cloud shape and a sun shape that has a hole in the middle.
If the cloud is covering the flashlight there is no shadow so we say an early spring is on the way Hooray!
If the sun is in front of the flashlight there is a shadow so we say six more weeks of winter Oh NO!

Sometimes we do this after making a Groundhog Headband or mask that they can wear while crawling through the tunnel but they like to do this without one just as much.

I do hope you have fun with this one--wonderful imaginary play for all! If you liked these activities for preschool children for Groundhog Day, check out the other ideas in my Preschool Planner.

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

There are Two Editions now for the Preschool Planner: Basic or Platinum.


Send me any ideas you would like to share and I will post them on my Blog.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Inside Preschool Activities - Action Cube & Obstacle Course

January in the US for most of us means finding as many inside preschool activities to do that teaches, motivates and uses the pent up energy that results from "cabin fever". Preschoolers need to be active. They learn best when they are physically involved in the lesson.

All of my readers are sending in wonderful ideas to share and here are a couple of them that use the "learn by doing" philosophy that I use every day.

Circle Time Action Cube
This activity is a circle idea which involves a largish cube with a picture of a child jumping on one side, sitting on another, hopping on another, hands high in the air on another, crouching on another, lying down on another. The children take turns rolling the cube and everyone does the action.
Animals could be put on each side and the children be that animal on the roll.
OPTION: It could be a small group activity too where each child does the action individually - turn taking.

Literacy Obstacle Course
One thing I like to do when constructing the obstacle course for the class is incorporate literacy or numeracy learning–for example:

·Design obstacle course in a different shape each time (or number or letter) – children get a kick out of guessing.
·Write numbers, letters, sight words, or draw shapes etc in hopscotch squares for children to identify
·Place numeral, number representative, letters for sounds, shape etc cards around the course for children to identify.

If you like these inside preschool activities, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

There are Two Editions now for the Preschool Planner: Basic or Platinum.


Send me any ideas you would like to share and I will post them on my Blog.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html

Preschool Alphabet Activities - Name Recognition

Happy New year to everyone! I'm back and so excited to share more ideas with all of you. We can all use preschool alphabet activities and this one is simple and easy and captures their attention.

So many people have sent in new ideas to me the past couple of months.

I find that some of the simpler ideas can be the most fun while teaching our preschoolers; that is what teaching preschool is all about! Having fun and learning all at the same time.

This idea for learning letters of the alphabet and name recognition is perfect.

All kids love singing a familiar song but changing up the words to personalize it make it ever better.


New variation of the BINGO song

This idea is one I do with my three year olds. During greeting time, we sing this song to the tune of Bingo.

"There's a little girl here we're glad to see and Greta is her name o, G, R, E, T, A, G, R, E, T, A, G, R, E, T, A, and Greta is her name o."

Explain to the children that you would like for them to stand when you call their name. I have a card with their name spelled out, and as I say the letter, I point to it so the children would hear the letter and see it.

The young children are learning to spell and recognize their names.
We all have a ball with this activity.

If you like these preschool alphabet activities, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner and give them a try.


http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html


Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


PS: If you would like to receive my free newsletter for more ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html