The daily suggested activities for your preschooler are listed below. These are all suggestions for you to have in one location; if you find, that you need additional resources for your child. Our key word is Flexible and that is very important when working with young children. If you are in need of other resources, please just contact me.
I will continue to send a morning email each school day with links to this page, Ms. Cosgrove's morning message, and the attendance form.
Please continue to email me your pictures. I love seeing your faces and all the fun you are having while we are apart!
Theme: Zoo
Suggested Activities
Read Aloud - Dear Zoo
Calendar Activities
Months of the Year Song
Days of the Week Song
Counting Song
StarFall Calendar
Virtual Field Trip - San Diego Zoo
The below link allows you to explore the San Diego Zoo. The site is filled with photos, facts, videos, stories, and activities all related to the animals and plants found at the San Diego Zoo. It is a fabulous way to see this incredible zoo.
Hippo Crafts
You will need 2 paper plates for the hippo. Trim the sides of both of your paper plates to make each of them more of an oval shape. Fold 1 of the paper plates in half. This will be the hippo mouth. Unfold that plate and paint half of it gray. Paint the entire plate gray of the 2nd plate. Once the paint is completely dry, turn the mouth paper plate over and paint it pink. Let it dry completely before moving on. Next fold the mouth paper plate in half with the gray showing on top and glue it to the bottom of the face paper plate. Cut two nose nostrils out of gray paper and glue them on the top of the mouth. Then cut ears out of the gray paper and glue them onto the back of the face. Next, glue large googly eyes or paper cutouts on the hippo face. Use a black marker or crayon to draw the little whisker holes on top of the hippo’s mouth. For the teeth, cut strips of white paper. Make a small fold of the tooth and glue them down inside the mouth. Spread the top ones apart and put the bottom ones together so the mouth closes easier.
Trace a large circle of light purple and large circle of dark purple. Trace light purple and dark purple shapes for the ears. Trace black ovals for eyes and white shapes for teeth. Have your child cut out each shape. Glue the dark purple mouth onto the light purple head. Glue the eyes and ears on the paper. Add mouth and nostrils with a black marker or crayon.
Frozen Animal Zoo Rescue Sensory Play
Everything is possible in imagination, right? So lets say these animal got stuck and frozen in an ice age? Well..your preschooler needs to save them! Use a big plastic bowl and pour a small amount of water in it, then add some of the plastic toys and put it in a freezer for a few hours, so all the water freezes. Repeat this step, layer by layer until the bowl is full and all the plastic toys are frozen in different layers of water. Turn the frozen bowl upside down in a bucket and pour some warm water over it, so you could remove the plastic bowl from ice. Use an empty bottle and fill it with warm water to melt the ice. In addition, you may add some table salt and sprinkle it often on ice. This makes the ice melt faster ... Another option to free the zoo animals, your preschooler may bang on the ice with a toy hammer. Please place some towels around the bucket to protect the floor from getting wet and slippery.
Build a Number Zoo STEM Activity
Start by building the signs for the Number Zoo. Use colorful post it notes to label your zoo sign and then to label each of the numbers. Start with numbers 1 to 5. Continue on to go from 1 to 10, if your preschooler has mastered lower numbers. Have your child write the numbers. Dot out the numbers, if necessary. Order numbers with your child. Build the zoo with popsicle sticks or blocks. Attach the numbered post it notes to each zoo enclosure. TIME TO COUNT! Now is the fun part where you child can begin to count out how many zoo animals go into each designed number area according to the number signs that they’ve created for their number zoo. Extend this activity by having conversations about how certain animals have to stay with their own kind for their protection but how others can be together. Always fun to sneak in some science into their math and STEM activities too.
Zoo/Letter/Number Printables
The below link is a site that provide free printables for you to access for your child, if you have a printer. Please utilize these along with the other suggested activities, if needed. You may need to scroll to bottom of page to download. Some sites may require you to enter an email in order to download the printables. I have provided the entire site so you may select the pages that you feel are useful.
Letter Review Weekly Activities
We have completed our weekly letters. The remaining weeks of the year will focus on reviewing and reinforcing letter recognition as well as initial sounds. The suggested activities are designed to be practiced throughout the week.
Letter Activities and Alphabet Songs
Letter Cups
Grab a set of plastic/paper cups and letter stickers. You may write the letters on the cups with a marker, too. The pictures are examples of various letter activities you may explore with your preschooler. Too many letters at once, work on a few at a time until you feel as if your child has mastered those letters and beginning sound. Select letters of your child's name. If your child has mastered their first name, start working on last name. Extend this activity with numbers. The possibilities are many....
Rainbow Name
Have your child write their name in pencil. You may need to assist your child. Have your child trace each letter using 1 color of the rainbow for each letter. Repeat with a 2nd, 3rd, etc colors.
Sensory Writing/Play dough/Object Letters
Write your name as well as other letters and numbers in shaving cream, rice, sand, or flour. Any substance will work to give your child that sensory input when writing letters.
Use play dough to form letters. You may write a letter on a piece of paper and have your child roll out play dough to cover the letter. Cover the letter with small objects such as buttons, beads, cereal, or macaroni.
Music/Movement
Animal Balance Poses
Try this activity with the song I like to Move it from Madagascar or songs from this website:
Miss Melinda's Music Class
Zoo Songs