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 THE COLOR BROWN

QUICK STARTS FOR BROWN
Collect brown leaves
Make gingerbread
Play in the dirt
Finger paint with chocolate pudding
Glue brown yarn worms on brown paper
Make brown box sculptures
Build with brown Lincoln logs
Draw with brown marking pens
Make brown play dough
Play with brown Teddy Bears
Do brown tree bark rubbings
 

BROWN ART

 
BROWN TURKEYS
Give your children brown paper turkey shapes.
Set out some small brown feathers, glue and brushes.
Have your children spread glue on their papers
Then place brown feathers on their turkeys.
 
WOOD SCULPTURES
Obtain small sanded wood scraps from a hardware store.
Set out small bottles of white glue.
Encourage your children to make their own wood structures.
You may want to include small tan craft sticks with the wood.
 
“POTATO HEAD” PUPPETS 
Give each of your children a large brown paper potato shape.
Set out some colored marking pens.
Have children make facial features on their potato shape.
Set out some large craft sticks and some glue.
Have children glue a handle onto the back of their “potato head”.
Have children hold up their puppets while they sing the “Potato Head” song.
 
BROWN TREE
Set out some brown paint, a paintbrush and some light blue construction paper.
Have children, one at a time, paint one hand and arm brown.
Then, have them press the hand and arm onto a sheet of paper to create a tree trunk and branches.
Have a dish pan full of warm soapy water handy for children to wash their hands and arms when they are done.
After the paint is dry and you have admired each brown tree, let children decorate their tree according to the season.
Winter - add torn white paper for snow.
Spring – add scrunched up pink tissue paper for blossoms.
Summer – add green paper leaves and red apple shapes
Fall – add multiple colored paper scraps for fall leaves.
  
 BROWN COLLAGE
Give your children pieces of brown construction paper or cardboard.
Provide them with materials such as brown pictures cut from magazines, brown paper bag and fabric scraps, and short pieces of brown yarn or feathers.
Invite children to choose the materials they want and glue them onto their brown paper or cardboard pieces to make a brown collage.
 
FUZZY BROWN BEARS
Cut bear shapes out of brown construction paper or brown paper bags..
Let your children brush glue onto the shapes.
And sprinkle on one of the materials below to make fuzzy fur.
Tiny pieces of brown yarn
Pulled felt pieces
Used, dried tea leaves
Used, dried coffee grounds
 
BROWN GAMES

 
BROWN BASKET GAME
Bring in an assortment of brown baskets for your room.
Choose ones of varying sizes.
Let your children take turns nesting the baskets or lining up the baskets from smallest to largest.
 
NUT SORT

Purchase a variety of nuts in their shells.
Mix up the nuts and place them on a table.
Let your children take turns sorting the nuts.
Have them count how many of each kind of nut they have.
 
BROWN HUNT
Sit in a circle.
Choose two children to be hunters.
Give them each a brown basket.
Have children go out of the circle and hunt for brown items.
Each child brings back one brown item to the circle.
Continue the game while interest lasts.
 
WHAT’S IN THE BROWN BAG
Send each of your children home with a small brown paper bag and a note asking parents to help the child find a brown item to put inside it.
At circle time, let each child have a turn giving clues abut what’s inside his or her bag as the others try to guess the answer.
Have a few brown items on hand for children who forgot their item from home.
Variation:  Each day bring a brown bag to circle time, give out a few clues and have your children try to guess what’s inside.
 
NUT TOSS
Set up a tossing game.
Set out a brown basket and five large walnuts.
Let your children take turns trying to toss the walnuts into the basket.
Have the children count how many of their nuts landed inside the basket.
 
HOT POTATO
Have your children sit in a circle.
Pass a large brown potato around the circle.
Tell your children that the potato is hot and they must pass it quickly or they will get burned.
Then set a timer for a short time.
The child holding the potato when the timer rings must roll it to someone else. 
Reset the timer and start the game over again.
BROWN LANGUAGE
POTATO HEAD STORIES
Have  your children hold up their “Potato Head” puppets and tell short stories about the lives of their puppets.
Or have each child tell you about a brown object that their potato head likes.
 
BROWN BEAR STORIES
Look for stories about brown bears to read to your children.
Or have your children help you make up stories about a pair of brown bear cubs.
 
BROWN OBJECTS
Select a picture book that your group likes.Select a picture book that your group likes.
Read the story to your children, pausing to show them the illustrations.
As they look at each one, ask them to point to and name any brown items they can spot in the picture.
Continue as long as interest lasts
 
BROWN BOOK
Make a brown flip book for each of your children by stacking together five small brown lunch bags and stapling them together at the top of the bags.
Turn the bags sideways, with the flaps at the right.
Write the word “brown” on each page.
Let your children use brown crayons or markers to draw a brown picture under each flap.
Let them take turns reading their brown books to one another.
BROWN WRITING
BROWN MARKING PENS
Set out some paper and some brown marking pens.
Have your children practice writing their names or the letter “B” using the brown pens.
 
BROWN FINGER PAINT
Let your children finger paint letters using brown paint.
You could also have them write in brown chocolate pudding.
 
BROWN SAND PAPER LETTERS
Cut out the large sand paper letters.
Give the letters to your children and have them trace the letters with their fingers.
 
BROWN SCIENCE
 
BROWN NATURE DISPLAY
Take your group on a walk to collect brown nature items, such as pine cones, twigs, leaves, bark, seeds, nutshells and dried grasses.
Or bring in a variety of brown nature items yourself.
Help your children sort the items into like groups on a large square of brown cardboard and glue the items in place.
Then label each group of items and display the square in your science corner.
 
DIRT OBSERVATIONS
In this activity, children explore how dirt is made
Cover a table with newspaper.
Set out a pan of dirt.
Explain to your children that dirt is sand with tiny pieces of decaying plants and animals in it.
Let each child put a scoop of dirt on the paper.
Ask the children to examine the dirt with their eyes or with magnifying glasses.
Can they see any parts of plants, animals, or sand?
What does the dirt look like?
How does it feel?
What does it smell like?
Keep track of their observations on a chart.
 
PROBLEM SOLVING WITH BROWN NUTS
Set out a pile of nuts.
Tell your children that you want to open the nuts but you forgot your nut cracker.
Let your children work in small groups and see if they can think of a way to open the nuts
Supervise each group so that they don’t try anything dangerous to themselves or others.
 
BUILDING WITH MUD
Either indoors or outside let your children take turns working with mud.
Make sure that your mud is not too damp or runny.
Bring out molds and craft sticks for your children to use to build interesting structures.
 
WOOD COLLECTIONS
Set out a few items made out of wood, such as a wooden spoon, bowl or figurine.
Ask your children to bring in other small wooden items to share with your group.

BROWN SNACKS

BROWN SNACKS
Here is a list of some brown snack suggestions.
Pretzels Cereal
Wheat bread Peanut butter
Cocoa  Tea
Toast Brownies
Nuts Graham crackers
Cooked bacon Spice Cake
Pancakes Syrup
 
BROWN MUSIC & RHYMES

 
LITTLE BROWN DUCK
Tune:  “Little White Duck”

There’s a little brown duck, swimming in the water.
A little brown duck, doing what he ‘ought to.

He swam all day by the lily pads,
He met a frog and he said, “I’m glad”!

There’s a little brown duck, swimming in the water.
Quack, quack, quack!
                          Adapted Traditional 
 

                                   

I’M A BIG TURKEY
Tune:  “I’m a Little Teapot”

I’m a big turkey
Fat and brown.
I like to waddle
And strut around.

When I get excited
My feathers I spread.
Then I gobble and
Nod my head.
                  Jean Warren

           

 
BROWN LEAVES
Tune :  “Frere Jacques”

Brown leaves, brown leaves
Falling down, falling down.
Falling on the grass,
Falling on the street,
All around, all around.
                   Jean Warren
 

                       

THINGS ARE COLORED BROWN
Tune:  “The Farmer In The Dell”
 
Oh, toast is colored brown.
Oh, toast is colored brown.
Heigh –ho, I know it’s so.
Toast is colored brown.

Oh, seeds are colored brown.
Oh, seeds are colored brown.
Heigh – ho, I know it’s so.
Seeds are colored brown.
                        Liz Ryerson

Let your children think of other brown items to sing about.

 
BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Turn around.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Touch the ground.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Reach up high.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Touch the sky.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Bend down low.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Touch your toe.
                 Adapted Traditional
 

                       

MR. POTATO HEAD
Mr. Potato Head,
He got cold, so he went to bed.
The doctor came and the doctor said,
“You need a hat for your head”.

Mr. Potato Head
He sat up and got out of bed.
He went to the store and this is what he said,
“I need a hat for my head”.

Mr. Potato Head
Bought a hat for his head.
Now he’s happy, his head is too.

What kind of hat did he choose?
                                 Jean Warren
Have your children hold up their Potato Head puppets and tell what kind of hat they would buy.