Snowmen Songs and Games

To finish up the month of January, we played some snowman games and sang some snowman songs in Large Group.

We did The Snowman Pokey and we sang Ring Around The Snowman.  We sang Ring Around The Snowman slow and fast and loud and soft.  

We read the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  We looked at the pictures and talked about what we thought was happening.  We also looked at some other pictures of all the things you can do in the snow and we talked about them too.  

You can read The Snowy Day at home and talk about the pictures.  If you don't have the book, there is an online reading on YouTube if you search the title.  

To work on identifying bod parts and understanding prepositions, we played the snowflake game.

To play this game, we all had a snowflake and we would use our ears to listen to where we needed to put it.  We put the snowflake under our arms, above our heads, next to our ears, by our sides, touching our elbows, behind our backs, in front of our eyes etc....

Snowmen

This week for Large Group, we looked at the pictures in the book Snowmen At Night by Caralyn Buehner.  We talked about the actions that the snowmen were doing at night.  We noticed that they were walking, skating, sledding, drinking "cold" chocolate, swinging, racing, playing games and making snow angels.  We played a snowman game where we were all a different colored snowman.  We counted how many snowmen were standing in our line and when the sun came out, one of the colors of snowmen melted to the ground.  We used our bodies to move like we were melting and as each snowman melted, we used our math skills to figure out how many snowmen were left.  

If you want to read Snowmen At Night at home so you can talk about action words with your child, you can check it out from the local library or there is a reading on YouTube if you search the title of the book.

We also played with scarves by moving them to the beat of the music.  We worked on directional words and prepositions by moving our scarves up high, down low, in front of us, to the side and behind us.  We also danced to the song Shake Your Sillies Out.  We moved our bodies in different ways to shake the sillies out.  We also took turns choosing ways for our friends in class to move their bodies to shake the sillies out.  If we had trouble thinking of an action, Teacher Heidi let us use the GoTalk to make a choice.

If It's Snowing and You're Cold

This week for large group we talked about the "s" or snake sound.  We talked about things that start with the "s" sound.  One of the things that we talked about was SNOW.  We talked about what things we needed to wear to stay warm in the snow.  We talked about boots, coats, scarves, snow pants, sweaters, hats, mittens and gloves.  We also talked about where on our bodies we would wear each item.  We looked at some mittens and some gloves and talked about how they are the same and how they are different.  We played a game where we picked out an item of clothing and then sang a song about that item.  The song is to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It", but it's called "If It's Snowing and You're Cold".  

We also read and talked about the pictures in the book The Jacket I Wear In The Snow by Shirley Neitzel.  As we read the story, we dressed a paper doll in the clothes that she needed to be warm while playing in the snow.

You can read this book at home and talk about things you wear in the snow and what part of your body you where them on.  You can check this book out from the public library or there is a reading of it on YouTube if you search the title of the book.

The Snake Sound

The "S" Sound

This month we will be talking, singing, playing and reading about the "s" or the snake sound.  We make this sound by putting our tongue behind our teeth.  You can play a fun game at home to work on saying the "s" sound that will also work on using words to describe objects.  You can play the "I See Something" game.  You play this game by saying "I see something that...." and then describe an object that you see and have your child guess what it is.  You can take turns and have your child describe something they see and have you guess too.

The Mitten in the Snow

This week for Large Group, we played a game using a BIG mitten and the animals from the book The Mitten.  We talked about the names of all the animals and we reviewed the sequence of events from the book.  We all took an animal and sang a song as we added each one to the mitten.  When all the animals were inside, we did a BIG sneeze and our mitten came apart and the animals went flying everywhere.  You can sing the song at home with your child while you read the book.  The song is to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell.

The mitten in the snow, the mitten in the snow;

Help us please so we don't freeze, 

The mitten in the snow.

The (name of animal) squeezes in, the (name of animal) squeezes in;

Help us please so we don't freeze,

The (name of animal) squeezes in.

To work on the "t" sound, we met my friend Tiny Tony and sang a song about him.

We sang about his teeth, his tongue, his nose, his tail, his tummy and his toes.

The Mitten

This week for Large Group we read the book The Mitten by Jan Brett.  This is a book about a boy named Nicki who wants his grandma to make him mittens that are as white as snow.  It isn't long before Nicki loses his white mitten in the white snow and it becomes a warm home to some animals.  The story ends with the bear getting tickled by the mouse's whiskers and letting out a HUGE sneeze.  This sneeze sends the animals and the mitten flying through the air.  When Nicki finds his mitten it has been stretched and pulled and is bigger than his other mitten.

We all loved this story.  We learned that if you look on the side of each page, there is a picture that gives us a hint of what will be happening next.  We talked about the animals in the book and used descriptive words to describe them.  We made predictions as to what we thought would happen next and we even drew some conclusions about what happened based on the pictures we were looking at.  We talked about mittens and how they help us.   

We also talked about the "t" or the ticking sound.  We talked about things that start with the "t" sound and practiced saying them.  We talked about how the word mitten has the "t" sound in the middle.  We talked about how when you say the "t" sound, you move your tongue up to the top of your mouth.  We sang a song called tongue tip time where we practiced saying sounds and words by moving our tongue up to the top of our mouths.  

You can read the book The Mitten at home by checking it out from the library or you can watch an online version by going to YouTube and searching Online Storytime: The Mitten.

"T" is the Ticking Sound

This month we are working on the "t" sound or the ticking sound.  We will be practicing using this sound by itself and in words and sentences.  There is a visual cue for this sound that is made by putting your hand in a fist and then flipping your pointer finger up when you say "t".  This visual cue is to remind us that when we say "t" our tongue goes up.

Some things you can do at home to work on the "t" sound are:

-Play the "tip toe game".  Walk around on your "tippy toes" saying "tip toe" as you walk.

-Get some toothbrushes and pretend to brush the teeth of stuffed animals or dolls and practice saying "t" while you brush.

-Make and have an afternoon "tea" with dolls and stuffed animals.

-Build some block towers and repeat the words "my block is on top" as you add new blocks to the tower.

-Count your toes saying "1 toe, 2 toe etc....".

-Talk about and point to body parts that start with "t", like teeth, tummy, toes and tongue.

-Make some art and use tape.  Have your child use the word "tape" to request it.