Below is a sampling of activities children participated in during the month of January 2012.

• Infants 
• Toddlers 
• Discovery-Preschool 
• Preschool 
• Prekindergarten 

 

Infants

 For infants, the theme is “Winter Tunnels”.  Sample activities include:

• Library & Language: Listening to picture books read aloud, such as How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? by Iza Trapani and The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani; listening to vocabulary words that describe emotions, colors, foods, day and night
• Sensory: Crawling through “winter tunnels” (cardboard boxes)
• Motor: Bouncing balls; making music
• Cognitive: Sorting objects; investigating shapes

 

Toddlers

For Toddlers, the theme is “In My Imagination”.  Sample activities include:

• Library & Language: Exploring picture magnets featuring nursery rhymes, winter-themed books, and nursery-rhyme or fairy-tale books; Listening to the featured books read aloud: Five Little Ducks by Child’s Play and This Old Man by Child’s Play
• Creative Arts: Creating fingerpaint prints
• Sensory: Exploring water using tools to scoop and pour
• Dramatic Play: Using dress-up clothes and props to pretend to be “on stage”

 

Discovery Preschool

For Discovery Preschool, the theme is “Things That Go”. Sample activities include:
below:

• Library & Language Arts : Describing pictures on transportation-themed photo cards; reading the featured book: Freight Train, by Donald Crews
• Creative Arts: Creating collages and painting with puffy paint
• Science & Sensory: Experimenting with building ramps and rolling cars and balls down the ramp
• Dramatic Play: Dressing up and pretending to ride on a train
• Math & Manipulatives: Shape identification with puzzle cards and wooden puzzles

 

Preschool

For Preschool, the theme is “My Imagination”.  Sample activities include:

• Library & Language Arts: Exploring photos of musicians, dancers, and children using their imaginations; writing imaginative stories in booklets; Reading the featured book: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Creative Arts: Creating imaginary character sculptures using  clay and a variety of collage materials
• Science & Sensory: Exploring creatures hidden in a sensory table
• Dramatic Play: Acting out the story Where the Wild Things Are in a forest
• Math & Manipulatives: Building imaginary creatures and their homes

 

Prekindergarten

For Prekindergarten, the theme is “Dinosaurs”.  Sample activities include:

• Library & Literacy: Matching uppercase and lowercase letters; exploring books about dinosaurs; Reading the featured book: Dinosaurs Roar! by Paul and Henrietta Strickland
• Creative Arts: Puppet-Theatre Creation, Sponge Painting
• Science and Sensory: Creating dinosaur skeletons to explore cause and effect relationships as well as observe how materials change in a variety of circumstances; exploring sand   
• Dramatic Play: Pretending to be scientists making discoveries in a lab
• Math & Manipulatives: Associating numbers and dots on a die with quantities they represent; exploring volume; counting by ones to tally objects; building creatures with unit blocks