Spring Theme
Mariann
(c) 2001 Mariann T. Kosub
Please SNIP this lengthy post when responding. :)
CONCEPTS
1. Spring is the season between summer and winter.
2. In the springtime, dormant and migrating animals reappear.
3. Seeds are planted, and plants begin to grow in the spring.
4. People enjoy outdoor activities once again as the weather becomes
warmer.
5. Chicks, lambs, and birds are springtime animals.
6. Flowers, dandelions, and grass are spring plants.
7. Light colors, called pastels, are seen during spring.
THEME GOALS
Through participating in the experiences provided by this theme, the
children may learn:
1. Spring colors.
2. Spring animals.
3. Spring activities.
VOCABULARY
1. rain -- water that falls from the clouds.
2. garden -- a place where plants and flowers are grown.
3. spring -- the season that comes after winter and before summer.
4. pastel -- a soft, light shade of a color.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITY CENTERS
1. Add books about Spring and Spring activities to the library area.
2. Display pictures of various Spring activities.
3. Make a "Spring Picnic" Prop Box. Include picnic basket, blanket,
tablecloth and napkins, plates, cups, silverware, plastic models of food,
etc.
4. Have a green table day: Cover a one table with green paper and display
only green objects on the table. See if the children can find other green
things to add to the display.
5. Add cups, scoops, spoons and food coloring to the water play table. If
possible, use rainwater.
6. Add rainbow colored sand, pasta or rice to the sensory table.
7. Make five pairs of kites in various colors. The children can sort the
kits according to color.
8. Make five parachutes of varying sizes. The children can sort smallest
to largest, and then largest to smallest.
9. Make a "Spring Cleaning" Prop Box. Include small mops, feather dusters,
empty pails, spray bottle with plain water (and a few drops of blue food
coloring to simulate cleanser), rags, sponges, etc.
10. Assemble some bird houses made of different colors of felt. Make a
bird to match each bird house and the color. The children can match the
birds to the appropriate houses.
11. Collect pictures of animals and their young. Place the adult animal
pictures in one basket and the pictures of the baby animals in another
basket. The children can match adult animals to their offspring.
12. Listen for sounds of spring: bird and animal calls, thunder, wind,
raindrops, insects buzzing, etc.
13. Smell for spring smells: fresh air, flowers, soil, fresh-cut grass,
etc.
14. Add spring animals, such as chicks, ducks, or rabbits, to the block
corner. Suggest building pens, hutches, and fences for the animals.
CIRCLE TIME / GROUP ACTIVITIES
1. Discuss the signs of Spring. Take a short walk and note signs of
spring. Observe buds on trees and new leaves, the color of grass, any
flowers that might be blooming, birds, nests, etc.
2. Discuss some outdoor activities that we can do in the spring that we
couldn't do during the winter. For example, play outside for longer periods
of time.
3. Practice stretching the imagination. Tell a story with an open-ended
comparison. For example, "Ted planted a seed that was as little as a ....
He watered it with water that was as wet as a .... The seed grew as fast as
a .... The plant popped through the ground like a .... The plant had
leaves as green as ...."
ART & MESSY MEDIA ACTIVITIES
1. Paint with pastel colors.
2. Create a seed collage by gluing different kinds of seeds onto
construction paper. Use seeds that are large in size. Examples are pinto
beans, dried peas, navy beans, lima beans, and popcorn kernels.
3. Make footprint butterflies. Draw around each child's feet or shoes for
the butterfly's wings. Add a body and draw in the antennae.
4. Make a sunflower. Paint a paper plate yellow and glue brown cotton
balls to the center. To make the cotton balls brown, place cotton and dry
tempera paint in sack and shake. Glue green paper stem and leaves to
flower. Display together in a sunflower garden.
5. Crumple smalls squares of pink and green tissue paper and glue to brown
construction paper tree trunk to make a beautiful apply blossom tree.
6. Use puffed rice for pussywillow trees.
7. Paint half a walnut shell red. When dry, paint black spots on shell with
cotton-tipped swab. Or, use a smooth, round rock instead of a walnut shell.
8. Collect string, twigs, and grass. With collected items, form nest in
margarine tub. Add cotton balls for eggs.
9. Paint with cooked spaghetti.
10. Glue oval-shaped pieces of gray velveteen to a pre-drawn stem to make
pussy-willows.
11. Have children cut stems and leaves of green. Paste on paper and add a
"flower" of colored cupcake paper or balls of tissue paper.
12. Arrange rose petals and glue on paper.
13. Make hand tulips. Hold fingers together on one hand and place hand in
brightly colored paint. Press hand onto paper. Dip side of hand in green
paint and press onto paper to make stems. Repeat to make leaves.
14. Thread dandelions to make jewelry.
15. Marble paint with spring colors.
16. Color or paint flower cut-outs. Glue to Popsicle sticks. Put some
clay in the bottom of an egg carton (cut to desired size) and mount the
Popsicle sticks in the clay. Let dry.
17. Collect scraps of fabric and sort according to colors of the rainbow.
Draw arcs of a rainbow onto an old white sheet. Glue fabric onto the
rainbow, using a separate color in each arc and overlapping the fabric's
edges.
MATH & SCIENCE
1. Plant a sunflower garden outside your classroom. Chart its growth with
the children.
2. Provide each child with a cup, soil and some alfalfa seeds. Plant the
seeds and water. Then place in the sun and watch the sprouts grow. The
sprouts can be eaten for snack.
3. Cut the large end off a fresh carrot and place it in a small cup of
water. In a few days, a green top will begin to sprout.
4. Grow two similar plants. Water one daily. Do not water the other one.
Note what happens. Why?
5. Make a seed number book. Cut sheets of paper in half to make a book or
5 or 10 pages. Staple. On the first page, write the number 1 and glue one
seed. Continue using different number on each page until the book is
complete.
6. Grow two similar plants. Place one in sunlight. Cover the other with
cardboard which is perforated for air. Water each plant daily. Note what
happens. Why?
7. Bees are the only insects that produce food eaten by man. Of many
species, only the honeybee makes honey. Observe honey in honeycomb. Taste
honey. The bees' nest is called a comb. It is made of six-sided cells that
are wax. We use beeswax for candles, floor waxes, polishes, plasters,
ointments, and in lipstick.
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
1. Walk around the neighborhood to observe signs of spring. Provide each
child with a paper bag to collect items that can be used in science area or
in an art project.
2. Place bouquets of flowers on each table during meals.
3. Visit a nursery where potted flowers are sold. Or, visit a flower
garden.
SUGGESTED LARGE MOTOR ACTIVITIES
1. Pretend to be a flower. Curl up in a ball. Pretend to water each
"flower." Each time the flower is watered, child stands up a little more.
2. Play "Pass the Flower," a variation of "Hot Potato."
3. Play "Ring Around the Rosie."
4. Jump rope.
5. Use a Chinese jump rope or a piece of elastic thread or elastic band.
Stretch the rope with hands and arms. Step on the rope and pull with hands.
Stretch the rope to music.
6. Crawl on the floor and pretend to be a roly-poly. When touched by an
adult, roll into a tight ball. When adult leaves, stretch out and begin to
crawl.
7. Plan an obstacle course. Invite another class to try it out.
8. Draw hopscotch diagrams on the sidewalk with chalk. Take turns hopping
in each block without stepping on any lines. Try varying the shape of the
hopscotch board: candy cane, inverted U-shape, etc.
SONGS & FINGERPLAYS
1. "Little Flower"
If I were a little seed planted in the ground,
I'd stretch my roots and grow and grow;
I'd stretch my stem and grow and grow;
I'd blossom into a pretty flower.
Then I'd sway back and forth as if to say,
"I'm glad to be with you today!"
2. "Sing a Song of Springtime"
Sing a song of springtime,
Bird songs fill the air
Plants are sprouting up again
And the weather's fair.
The sun is bright and warm,
There are blossoms on the way.
Isn't it time to enjoy
A wonderful spring day?
3. "The Big Round Sun"
The big round sun in a springtime sky
Winked at a cloud that was passing by.
The little cloud laughed as it scattered rain,
Then out came the big round sun again.
4. "Mud is Fun" to: "Row, Row, Row
Your Boat"
Mud, mud, mud is fun
Watch us stir it up
Round and round and round and round
Mud is fun to make.
Mud, mud, mud is fun
Listen to it squish
Through our fingers, round our toes
Squish is how it goes.
5. "Signs of Spring" to: "Muffin Man"
Do you see a sign of spring,
A sign of spring, a sign of spring?
Do you see a sign of spring?
Tell us what you see.
BOOKS & STORIES
1. Curious George Flies a Kite by Martha Rey.
2. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.
3. Andy and the Lion by Daugherty.
4. Will Spring Be Early? Or Will Spring Be Late? by Crockett Johnson.
5. Round Robin by Jack Kent.
6. First Comes Spring by Anne Rockwell.
7. The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.
8. The House of Four Seasons by Roger Duvoisin.
9. Springtime for Jeanne-Marie by Francoise.
10. City Springtime by Helen Kay.
11. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey.
12. Have You Seen the Birds? by Joanne Oppenheim.
--
Mariann
Visit Baby K Online -- http://babykosub.cjb.net
Sandra
some of your suggestions for the month of April! Again, I really
appreciate you taking the time to post. :)
--
~Sandra~
"Mariann" <mari...@RyEaMhOoVoE.com> wrote in message
news:tDHt6.191738$B6.42...@news1.rdc1.md.home.com...
watson
Mariann wrote:
> Spring Theme
> (c) 2001 Mariann T. Kosub
>
> Please SNIP this lengthy post when responding. :)
>
>
> 4. "Mud is Fun" to: "Row, Row, Row
> Your Boat"
> Mud, mud, mud is fun
> Watch us stir it up
> Round and round and round and round
> Mud is fun to make.
>
> Mud, mud, mud is fun
> Listen to it squish
> Through our fingers, round our toes
> Squish is how it goes.
Thanks Marianne. We will be singing this mud song a lot.
Vonna
>
>
The Rogers
Mariann
"Sandra" <sandz...@hotmail.com> wrote in message...
> Thank you so much for posting this Mariann. I will definitely be using
> some of your suggestions for the month of April! Again, I really
> appreciate you taking the time to post. :)
It's my pleasure, really -- I don't get to share these guides with anyone
other than the staff and I think there are some nifty ideas to share with
other providers and kids. I always get a thrill when I see a classroom
doing one of the activities and watching the kids have fun. :)
Mary J. Moore
and in my file, ready to go!! We're starting off our spring theme with a
"book" the kids are making, each day a page on something about spring.
Mary
Sandra
--
~Sandra~
"Mary J. Moore" <az...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote in message
news:99be9f$1sh$1...@freenet9.carleton.ca...
Mary J. Moore
Mary
Darlene Preston
I was unable to view the "spring theme" original post in my news reader; it had
already expired. It sounds like you shared some great resources for us Mariann,
and I missed out. Now I will try to view it at "google".com or in some other
web based newsgroup list and let you know if I find it.
Hi everyone and welcome spring.
--Dar
Sandra
to you privately. :)
--
~Sandra~
"Darlene Preston" <daran...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3ABE5C50...@home.com...
Mariann
> to you privately. :)
Done.
--
Mariann
Visit Baby K Online -- http://babykosub.cjb.net
CCDC -- http://www.cloverleafcdc.com
WL
I love the mud song!
-CJ-
The Preston Group-Family & Work Essentials
Got it this morning.
--Dar
Mariann wrote:
--
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