Anyone who knows me well, knows I am no stranger to Home Depot. Having married a man with a penchant for home remodeling, I have learned to navigate the aisles well, in search of the right size of screws, the critically needed electrical wire, or the aesthetically pleasing cabinet pull. Almost without fail, I see something at “the Depot” that appeals to the preschool teacher in me (or maybe it’s the preschooler in me).
Five Favorites….To Start
OK, for those of you looking for more Dr. Seuss activities, here are five favorites to start off with! More to come!
(Does anyone else ever feel like they’re juggling this many things?)
Do You Know This Friend of Mine?
Here’s a song the children love! It’s perfect for reinforcing phonemic awareness and a great reminder of their classmates’ names. I learned it way back in my university days, so I really don’t know who to credit for it. Whoever you are, many children send an enthusiastic “Thank you”!
My Magic Words
If you haven’t heard of Signing Time, you should check it out. It has an inspiring background story, and the research behind preverbal signing in hearing children can be quite compelling. Though they are oblivious to all of that, my boys just really enjoy it, and that’s why we’ve watched many episodes at our house. It’s a fun and dynamic mix of vocabulary, song, and sign.
Shaky Egg Sound Match
Here’s a quick, easy, and inexpensive way (music to a teacher’s ears, right?) to create a great tool for incorporating music and auditory discernment. Whoa, back up the truck, what was that? “Auditory discernment” is the ability to hear the differences and similarities between two sounds. It can be as simple as hearing the difference between a bell ringing and a horn honking, but it’s also the groundwork for hearing the difference between the sounds in words, like the short e sound and the short i sound. Phonemic awareness is a critical reading skill, and it is completely auditory. So building auditory skills actually paves the way for reading skills. OK, so back to the project at hand!
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
I try to fit a nursery rhyme, fable, or fairy tale into each unit. As I’ve mentioned before, these are the literary classics of childhood! When talking about the arts and the senses, I like to introduce the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin!
You can check out a book to read out loud, create a flannel board story, or use the coloring pages from this website. Whatever your method, get familiar with the story and bring it to life in your storytelling. After the story, talk about whether or not the children think it could really happen. Probably not….at least not exactly (though the story’s historical roots are actually debated). Nonetheless, listening to music can make us want to move in different ways, depending upon the way it sounds. Play a few samples and have the children suggest what type of movement the music makes them think of. Choose samples that remind you of a lullaby, a dancing tune, a quiet tip-toe song, etc. End with a march and have the children march, parade style, to your next activity!
Crayons in the Box Song
This is a great song for learning about colors and for building rhyme recognition, an important skill for pre-readers (read more about phonological awareness here). Use this song during large group, music and movement time, or just as a filler during a transition. The little ones love it! Eventually, they’ll be ready to be the ones giving the clues!
Introducing the Five Senses!
As I mentioned before, the purpose of teaching about the five senses in preschool is not for the children to be able to recite the five senses, but to build sensory awareness. Whenever I introduce the five senses, I like to start out with the book, My Five Senses by Aliki. It does a great job of simply introducing each of the senses, and then pointing out how we may use several of them at the same time, and that we use them to be aware of what’s around us. It’s very brief, very simple, and right to the point.
Vivaldi's Four Seasons- Don't Just Listen, Get Up and Move!
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons has always been one of my favorite musical works. This program music is so beautiful and powerful, but also so descriptive, you can literally see in your mind and feel in your bones what Vivaldi is trying to describe with his music. (And if you aren’t sure what he’s trying to describe, check out these sonnets Vivaldi wrote to correspond with his music.) Because the music is so suggestive of movement, it’s perfect for a music and movement activity with children!
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons- Don’t Just Listen, Get Up and Move!
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons has always been one of my favorite musical works. This program music is so beautiful and powerful, but also so descriptive, you can literally see in your mind and feel in your bones what Vivaldi is trying to describe with his music. (And if you aren’t sure what he’s trying to describe, check out these sonnets Vivaldi wrote to correspond with his music.) Because the music is so suggestive of movement, it’s perfect for a music and movement activity with children!
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