Theme: Service
November Themes: My boys (ages 2, 4) go to preschool twice a week, so I planned our activities for the off days - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I printed a monthly chart (link to come) as a way to keep organized and stay on track. Here's the first week at a glance:
MONDAY:
Shape (Secret Service Agent): Making secret service letter hearts were my boys favorite part of the week! My four and two used dot markers to decorate this heart printable. Afterward, we cut out the hearts and wrote "From: Secret Service Agent". We talked about the importance of doing nice things for people and how the heart is a symbol of love. Throughout the week, my boys would do something kind and leave a heart. My four especially loved being an "agent" and leaving secret service hearts all over. He even cleaned the toilet (with some help with the cleaner) and left a heart on the top of the toilet for me to find. We used these hearts to write love notes to grandparents and dropping off cookies for dad at work (see below).
Art (Service Drawings): My boys were so excited about our secret service hearts, we decided to write a love note to grandparents right away. We talked about how happy it would make them to get mail and how we wondered if they'd know who the "secret service agent" was. My boys got a big kick out of this. We decorated the letters with heart stamps and stickers.
Sensory (Excavating Letter Hearts): We LOVE sensory bins at our house. So much that I invested in an official Sensory Bin from Lakeshore Learning this month. I love that the table adjusts it to different heights. For this sensory bin I made dirt (see recipe below) and added our toy construction trucks from the Dollar Tree. I also added in acrylic hearts with uppercase letters written on them, so this also served as a letter review. The trucks helped find the letter hearts (service) and matched them to our letter & hearts printable (uppercase and lowercase hearts available). Find the letters quickly, because the oil from the dirt rubs the permanent marker off the acrylic hearts. Add these three ingredients together in your sensory bin to make dirt:
- 10 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups hot chocolate
The "dirt" should look crumbly, but be able to mold and stay in a ball (perfect for making dirt castles!) If it's too dry, add a little more oil. If it's too wet, add more flour.
Gross Motor (Raking Leaves): I was planning on talking to my boys about how raking leaves for people is an act of service. Unfortunately, we ran out of time for this this week.
WEDNESDAY:
Letter (Secret Watercolor Letters): Do you ever have activities that don't go as planned? I drew a bunch of shapes and wrote a letter inside (for my two I wrote all the letters we've reviewed in our theme series so far) with a white crayon. The plan was to ask "what's inside the circle?" and have my two and four paint water color over the circle to discover the secret letter. Our watercolor was too thick to see all the letters! I learned to use water + liquid watercolor next time. We still had fun painting and identifying shapes!
Fine Motor (Service Pies): My two and four both REALLY enjoyed this activity. We talked about how baking pies for someone is a type of service. I did this activity one-on-one with each boy. I filled a bowl with whipped cream (cotton balls) and my boys would draw a number (from our foam puzzle) and use tweezers to fill the pie tin with the same number of cotton balls. I was planning on doing some adding, so my four would draw two numbers and add them together, but he wasn't up for it today! Note: You can find cotton balls, pie tins and the foam numbers at the Dollar Tree. Idea from Babes, Tots & Kids.
Number (Service Ladders): This game is like Chutes & Ladders, except there are only good deeds - which are service related. We talked about the good deeds first and then played the game. We used coins as our game pieces and rolled the die to move up the game board. If you land on a spot with a good deed, you get to move ahead up the ladder. My four especially loved this. I printed this from Babes, Tots & Kids.
Science (Magic Foaming Hearts): These hearts are made with baking soda, so when my four and two placed them in our sensory bin of vinegar the hearts immediately started foaming! There was so much foam! Once the hearts started melting, the boys were so excited to find a treasure inside each heart. You can view a tutorial here.
FRIDAY:
Rhyme (Skinnymarink): When I taught preschool, this song was one of our favorites. This youtube is super cheesy, but it has the tune and actions.
Skinnymarink a dink a dink,
Skinnymarink a doo.
I love you.
Skinnymarink a dink a dink,
Skinnymarink a doo.
I love you.
I love you in the morning,
and I love you late at night.
I love you in the evening,
when the moon is shining bright.
Skinnymarink a dink a dink,
Skinnymarink a doo.
I love you.
Skinnymarink a dink a dink,
Skinnymarink a doo.
I love you.
Sorting (Cookie Matching): I printed a matching set of colored cookies from Babes, Tots & Kids and cut them out to play a matching game with my four. He LOVED this and requested to play it over and over throughout the week. We did a color review/match with my two. We talked about making cookies for someone is an act of service.
Treat & Outing (Service Outing): We made Chocolate Chip Cookies together and dropped them off at Dad's work. My boys were so excited to leave a "Secret Service Agent" heart (from earlier this week, see above) on the cookies and have dad guess over and over who the secret agent was.
Service Booklist: And of course, we read often throughout the week. We mostly read before our quiet times each day, but we occasionally read during a meal or random time during the day. I placed these books on hold at our local library a week in advance and we enjoyed reading them this week as we learned about Service:
- The Giant Hug by Horning
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
- Hedgehugs by Steve Wilson
- Here Comes Darrell by Leda Schubert
- I Am Helping by Mercer Meyer
- Kindness is Cooler by Margery Cuyler
- The Little Red Hen by Lucinda McQueen
- Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
- The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen
- The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau
Note: I'd also like to focus on beginning sounds, hand writing, cutting and beginning reading for my four. I will incorporate more of these ideas in this series, but also love this beginning reading program.
