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SELF-PORTRAITS (Art)
Try one or both of the ideas below with your group.
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Paper Plate Faces: Give your children small hand mirrors and encourage them to examine their reflections, noting such things as hair colors and styles, eyebrow and eye colors, skin colors, and nose and mouth shapes. Set out paper plates, crayons, various colored construction paper scraps and yarn pieces, plus scissors and glue. Then let the children use the materials to create self-portraits, helping them with scissors, if necessary. |
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Paper Kid Shapes: Cut large kid shapes (similar to gingerbread kid shapes) out of posterboard. Invite the children to check their reflections in a full-length mirror. Then set out materials, such as those listed above in Paper Plate Faces, and let the children decorate their shapes to create self-portraits. Use the portraits to create a room display, if desired.
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FINGERPRINT FUN (Science/Art)
Set out washable inkpads in dark colors plus white paper. Show your children how to press their fingers and thumbs on the pads, then onto paper to make fingerprints. Explain that everyone’s fingerprints are unique, and encourage the children to compare prints by using magnifying glasses. Then provide fine-point markers and let the children use them to turn their fingerprints into such things as flowers, bugs, or animals.
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SEE HOW I’M GROWING (Measuring/ Sizes)
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My Height and Weight: Make wall charts and use them to record each child’s height and weight. Measure again several times during the year to track how your children are growing. |
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My Size: Set out items of infant and toddler clothing. Talk with your group about the items and remind the children about times when they wore similar clothes. Then invite the children to try putting on the items to see how much they have grown.
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MY FEELINGS PUPPETS (Feelings)
Give each of your children two 4-inch paper circles, one with a happy face drawn on it and one with a sad face. Let the children decorate the faces with crayons, if they wish. Turn the faces into puppets by attaching craft stick handles. Then ask the children to hold up their puppets to show their feelings as you say such things as “My birthday is tomorrow,” or “I lost my favorite toy.” Other feelings puppets might be made that show mad faces, scared faces, tired faces, or surprised faces.
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I LOOK IN THE MIRROR (Language/Body Parts/Movement)
Let your children take turns standing in front of a full-length mirror and acting out the following rhyme:
| I look in the mirror and what do I see? |
| I see my eyes blinking at me. |
Continue with more rhyming lines, such as “I see my mouth smiling at me,” “ I see my head nodding at me,” “I see my hands waving at me,” and “I see my toes wiggling at me.” Encourage your children to make up other body movement rhymes, if they wish.
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SEE NOW WHAT I CAN DO (Music/Movement)
Tune: “Hokey-Pokey”
I can reach up high,
I can reach down low.
I can clap, clap fast,
I can clap…clap…slow.
I can jump up and down,
I can twirl all around.
See now what I can do!
Elizabeth Scofield
Invite your children to act out the song as you sing. Then repeat the song, substituting other action words for “reach” and “clap,” such as “look” or “dance.”
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FAVORITE THINGS SONG (Music/Preferences)
Tune: “The Paw-Paw Patch”
(Bella) likes pizza, how about you?
(Bella) likes pizza, how about you?
(Bella) likes pizza, how about you?
How many people like pizza, too? (Raise hands.)
Liz Ryerson Sing a verse of the song for each child, substituting his or her favorite food for “pizza.” Or sing about other categories, such as my favorite toy, color, or animal.
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MY OWN VEGGIE DIPPERS (Food Preparation)
In separate containers, set out a variety of veggies, such as the following: carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber rounds, yellow bell pepper strips, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli florets. Also set out two kinds of dips. Then let your children choose the veggies and the dip they want to create veggie snacks their own way.
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