Sleeping Bearzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

Books:

Bear Snores On  by Karma Wilson

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep by Maureen Wright

Sleep, Black Bear, Sleep by Jane Yolen

Bearcub and Mama by Sharon Jennings

Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming

Songs & Fingerplays:

Cave Play

Did you know you carry a bear cave with you wherever you go?

Little Bear

(to the Tune of Are You Sleeping Brother John?)

Are you sleeping
Are you sleeping, little bear, little bear?
You will sleep all winter
Through the cold, cold winter, little bear, little bear.
Are you sleeping,

Are you sleeping, little bear, little bear?
You will wake in springtime,

In the warm, warm springtime, little bear, little bear.

Game:

Hibernating Bears

Let's play a rousing game of musical caves! While the music is playing the 'bears' will dance in the sunshine of spring and summer, foraging for berries and visiting friends, but when the music stops we'll fall fast asleep in a 'cave'  for the winter.

Activities:

Bear Den Craft:

We’ll make our own bear dens today, complete with a sleeping bear!

Sleeping Bear Cave:

Bring your teddy bears for some snuggling in the ‘cave’!

Bear Dominoes:

Make a bear domino train by matching bear pictures.

Large Group Activity
Pass the Bear…we’ll play Pass the Beanbag, but with our stuffed bear friends instead of beanbags.

Celebrate Snow!

Books:

A Hat For Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert

Songs, Fingerplays and Flannelboards:

Cold Winter’s Day

Going outside on a cold winter’s day,

If it starts to snow I’ll play, play, play.

Did you bring your hat?

Yes, I brought my hat.

Going outside on a cold winter’s day,

If it starts to snow I’ll play, play, play.

Did you bring your scarf?

Yes, I brought my scarf.

Did you bring your hat?

Yes, I brought my hat.

(continue adding coat, gloves, boots)

Sign Language: cold, winter, hat, scarf, coat, gloves, boots)

Five Little Snowmen

(feltboard, snowmen)

5 little snowmen standing in a row.

Each had a hat and a big green bow.

Out came the sun and it shone all day.

1 little snowman melted away.

4 little snowmen standing in a row. (Continue…)

I’m A Little Snowman

(tune of I’m a little Teapot)

I'm a little snowman round and fat.

Here is my broom and here is my hat.

When the sun comes out it's time to say

'This is the end of me today!

A Chubby Little Snowman

A chubby little snowman

Had a carrot nose.

Along came a bunny,

And what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny,

Looking for his lunch,

Ate the snowman's carrot nose.

Nibble, nibble, crunch!

10 Little Snowballs

(pom poms, bucket)

(tune of One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians)

One little, two little, three little snowballs,

Four little, five little, six little snowballs,

Seven little, eight little, nine little snowballs,

10 little snowballs in a pile.

Dance Like Snowflakes

(tune of Frere Jacques)

Dance like snowflakes, dance like snowflakes

Through the air, through the air.

Whirly twirly snowflakes, whirly twirly snowflakes

Here and there, here and there.

Game:                 

Melting Snowman

Children lay on the floor, stretch out, and form a blanket of snow. They pretend that other children are rolling them up to make large snowballs. The children roll across the floor, finally becoming so large they have to stand up and become jolly snowmen. Snowmen are frozen and must stand rigid all day and night. One day the sun shines so long and so brightly that the snowmen begin to thaw. Call out body parts, starting at the head and working down to the toes. The children begin moving these body parts slowly. As the day continues to get warmer; the snowmen gradually melt away. Have the children slowly/gracefully melt to floor.

Activities:

Snowflake Scenes

(white paint, stamp pads, snowflake stamps, paper)

We’ll create snow scenes with paint and snow shaped stamps.

Snowmen feltboards

(individual feltboards, snowman pieces)

Designing snowmen is fun with felt pieces and pom poms.

Snowball Toss

(Snowmen, styro balls)

Who doesn’t love to throw snowballs? We’ll burn up some winter energy throwing snowballs at the snowmen.

Movement:       

Snowflake Dance

(bubbles, cd player/music: Vivaldi:Winter)

Celebrate the Season.....

Books:

Too many to list here...what are YOUR holiday favorites?

Songs:

Five Little Christmas Trees

Five little Christmas Trees standing all alone.
Their hearts were very sad ‘cause they hadn't found a home.
Then chop went the ax and down fell a tree
And off it went with a happy family!
(continue from 4-1 Christmas Trees)
No little Christmas Trees standing all alone.
Their hearts were very happy ‘cause they all found a home!!!

Here Is The Chimney

Here is the chimney (Make fist, enclose thumb)
Here is the top. (Palm of hand on top of fist)
Open the lid. (Remove hand quickly)
And out Santa will pop. (Pop up thumb)

Way up High on the Christmas Tree

Way up high on the Christmas tree (Point up)
Two little candy canes winked at me (wink),
So I shook that tree as hard as I could (pretend to shake tree)
And down dropped those candy canes (squat down)
Mmm, Mmm, Good!! (Rub Tummy)

Activities:

Santa Hat

Make a Santa hat for next week’s Holiday Parade.

Reindeer Chow

We’ll mix up some oats and glitter to make a treat for the reindeer.

Ornamental Match

Match different circle sizes to their corresponding ornaments.

Stick the Bow to the Present

Like the popular party game with a donkey and a tail!

Games

Reindeer Pokie (Sung To: Hokey Pokey)

You put your antlers in,
you put your antlers out,
you put your antlers in,
then you shake them all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your hooves in,
you put your hooves out,
you put your hooves in,
then you shake them all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your tail in,
you put your tail out,
you put your tail in,
Then you shake the,em all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your red nose in,
you put your red nose out,
you put your red nose in,
then you shake them all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your whole self in,
you put your whole self out,
you put your whole self in,
then you shake them all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

Santa, Santa, Reindeer

Play just like duck, duck, goose

Jingle Parachute

Place small bells on a parachute. Have each of your children grab a part of the sheet. Everyone picks up the sheet and the bells are in the middle. As you all sing Jingle Bells Have them move the sheet to jingle the bells. At the end of the song everyone raises their arms quickly which sends the bells flying.

Hooked on Cookies!

Books

The Doorbell Rang  by Pat Hutchins

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Sam's Cookie by Barbro Lindgren

Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar? By David A. Carter

Maisy Makes Gingerbread by Lucy Cousins
Count Your Cookies by Colin Fletcher

MMM, Cookies! By Robert N. Munsch

Songs

Five Little Cookies

Five little cookies With frosting galore.
(Child's Name) ate the red one, then there were four.
Four little cookies, Two and two you see
(Child's Name) ate the green one, then there were three.
Three little cookies But before I knew,
(Child's Name) ate the white one, then there were two.
Two little cookies, Oh what fun,
(Child's Name) ate the brown one, then there was one.

Oreo

Sung to the tune of Sarasponda:
Chocolate cookie, chocolate cookie,

chocolate cookie, yum, yum, yum.
Chocolate cookie, chocolate cookie,

chocolate cookie, yum, yum, yum.
An Oreo, a Chocolate Oreo.
I like the creamy filling in a chocolate Oreo. Yum!

Animal Crackers

Sung to the tune of 99 bottles of pop on the wall

Oh, once I ate a lion, then a tall giraffe,

and when I ate the elephant he really made me laugh.

well you may think I'm silly but I'll tell you the truth,

they were animals crackers and you can eat them too!!

Activities

Cookie Tracing

Using pencils and cookie cutters we’ll practice tracing skills today!

Cinnamon Gingerbread Man

Kids will rub cinnamon stick on sandpaper gingerbread men then decorate with crayons.

Playdough Cookies

Playdough, cookie style! We’ll cut out cookies and use beads to make them festive.

Large Group Game

Who Stole The Cookie from the Cookie Jar?  

Turkey Talk

Books

A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

This is the Turkey by Abby Levine

This First Thanksgiving Day by Laura Krauss Melmed

Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child

Oh, What a Thanksgiving! by Steven Kroll                  

Songs & Fingerplays   

The Turkey

The turkey is a funny bird
His head goes wobble, wobble,
(move head from side to side)
The only word that he can say
Is gobble, gobble, gobble.
(children walk with a wiggle and repeat the last line)

Five Little Turkeys

Five little turkeys sat in their pen,

“Hide, Turkeys, Hide!” said the little red hen.

One little turkey hopped out the door

And when he was gone, there were four.

Four little turkeys sat in their pen.
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew far away
But the other ...(3) decided to stay.

Three little turkeys sat in their pen.
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flapped her wings and flew.
And when she was gone, there were ...(2).

Two little turkeys sat in their pen.
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew far away.
But the last ...(1) decided to stay.

1 little turkey sat in his pen.
"Hide, turkey, hide!" said the little red hen.
The last little turkey flew off toward the sun
And when he was gone, there were ...(none).

Feltboard        

Color Turkey Feathers

Mr. Turkey was so sad.
He lost the feathers he once had.
Now he wants us to help him find
all the feathers of his kind.

We will look both high and low,
we will find them, don't you know.
Here's a red one and a blue.
Look, we've found a green one too.

Here's an orange one and a yellow
soon he'll be a feathered fellow.
Now we've found the purple one,
Black and white-we're almost done.

If we just look up and down,
I know we'll find the feather brown.
Now Mr. Turkey is so glad,
We found the feathers he once had.

Game

Turkey Hunt

We’ll go a-huntin’ for some hidden turkeys!

Activities         

Pumpkin Playdough

We’ll get more use out of our pumpkin pie scented playdough…a favorite activity!

Turkey Feathers

Let’s make turkeys with lots of colorful feathers today!

Stuff the Turkey

We’ll toss ‘stuffing’ into large paper bag turkeys for some large motor fun!

Large Group Activity

Gobble, Gobble
One child is the farmer. The rest of the children are turkeys. The farmer closes eyes and the turkeys all go hide. Once hidden the turkeys can randomly and quietly "gobble, gobble". The farmer sets out and finds all his/her turkeys.

Slice O' Pie

Books:

16 Runaway Pumpkins by Dianne Ochiltree

Ugly Pie by Lisa Wheeler

Pie in the Sky by Lois Ehlert

Thelonius Monster’s Sky=High Fly Pie by Judy Sierra

The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Denys Cazet

Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie by Herman Parish

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson

The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson

Songs:

First you take the pumpkin and you pick it, 
You pick it, you pick it, pick it, pick it. 
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! 

Then you take the pumpkin and you carve it, 
You carve it, you carve it, carve it, carve it. 
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! 

Next you take the spices and you mix it, 
You mix it, you mix it, mix it, mix it. 
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! 

You put it in the oven and you wait, 
You wait, you wait, you wait, you wait. 
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! 

You take it out the oven and you bite it,
You bite it, you bite it, bite it, bite it 
And you chew it, you chew it, chew it, chew it, chew it. (Sing like your mouth is full)
Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie Yummy! 

Ring Around the Pumpkin

Ring around the Pumpkin,
Pocket full of nuts,
Leaves, leaves,
They all fall down.

March around the pumpkin…

Stomp around the pumpkin…
Tip-toe around the pumpkin…
Jump around the pumpkin…

Activities:

Pumpkin Pie Playdough

Kids will use pumpkin pie scented playdough to serve up some Pumpkin Pie!

Slice O’ Pie

Using pumpkin pie colored and scented glue, kids will create their own Slice O’ Pie.

Pumpkins on the Vine

Kids will use counting skills to count little pumpkins.

Large Group Activity:

Beanbag Games

Ideas for Home

Easy Pumpkin Pudding 
Materials and Ingredients: 
1 cup vanilla pudding for each child  
2 tsp. Libby's easy pumpkin pie mix per child 
A bowl for each child 
A spoon for each child

Description: Help young children measure and place one cup of vanilla pudding in their individual bowls. Next, measure out 2 tsp. pie mix with each child. Ask children to mix the vanilla pudding and the pie mix together for a seasonal and yummy treat.

No Bake Pumpkin Pie
Individual recipe:
Small custard-sized pie crusts
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon marshmallow creme
1 tablespoon prepared whipped topping
Sprinkle of cinnamon
  
Mix all ingredients together and pour into the crust. The recipe is then ready to eat; if you wish, it may be refrigerated or frozen.