The Booboo
Whisperer (Kim Brodie)
When a child comes
to Kim in tears with a booboo, she sits them down and says, “Lemme have a chat
with your booboo.” She holds their
arm or leg and pretends to have a conversation with the hurt spot. “Now, listen here. You need to stop hurting my friend
____. Stop it now!” It always calms the child and gets her
to smile while the others gather around and show empathy.
Scissor Wizards
(Sandy Spoon)
Buy cheap drinking
straws and let the children use these to practice cutting. They make a “snapping” sound that the
children love when they cut. Keep
the straws in a tub and they can cut and recut until they are tiny pieces that
can be used for stringing on plastic lacing.
Separation
Anxiety (Sandy Spoon)
Make a chart with
6-8 circles on it and hang it on the wall. Cut out the same number of shapes – happy faces, hearts,
leaves, etc. Use a travel alarm
clock and set it to go off 1 hour later.
Hide it in the room. When
it goes off, the children have to find it and then match one of the shapes on
the chart. Repeat until the end of
the day. It will help children
understand the passage of time and they know they’ll see their mom or dad when
the last one goes off.
Hint! Set the last one to go off after the
parents arrive to allow for a margin of tardiness on the parent’s part.
Quote
Use it up.
Wear it out.
Make it do
Or do without!
*Great advice for
all of us!
Down in the
Jungle (Tune: “Down in the Meadow by the Itty Bitty
Pool”)
Down in the jungle
where nobody goes
Lived a mother
gorilla washing her clothes.
Wash-a washa here.
Wash-a washa
there.
That’s the way she
washes clothes.
High five
Wooby wooby wooby.
High five
Wooby wooby wooby.
High five
wooby wooby wooby.
That’s the way she
washes clothes.
*Repeat with the
father gorilla, baby, or other animals.
I’m Done Jar
(Deb Rocco)
Put pictures of
activities that children can do if they finish their work (puzzle, etch-a-sketch, easel) on
sticks. Place these in a jar that
says “I’m Done.” When children
finish their work they can choose a stick and do that activity.
Mind Break Jar
(Deb Rocco)
Write ideas for
brain breaks on popsicle sticks and place them in a jar that says “Mind
Jar.” (Switch seats, sing a song,
do an exercise, etc.)
Mini
Smartboards (Deb Rocco)
Use small
etch-a-sketches and call them “mini smartboards.”
O “Fishally” (Deb Rocco)
Prepare a small
bag of Goldfish crackers for each student with a note that says, “You are O
‘Fishally’ in kindergarten!”
Caught You
Being Good (Deb Rocco)
Write the names of
students who have good behavior on small pieces of paper and place them in a
special container. At the end of
the month draw a name for a special prize.
Bumspell (Jessica Bailey)
Divide the
students into two teams facing each other. Explain the activity by telling them that they will be
writing their names with their bums (aka bottoms). Demonstrate how to do that by slowly spelling your own name
with your bum. Then show them what
it looks like when you do it fast.
Tell them that they will be competing with each other to see which team
can bum spell the fastest. Each
child will spell their name and then gently hip bump the next child in
line. That child then bum spells
her name and hip bumps the next child.
This continues until the last child in the line has finished spelling
their name.
*Hint! You can use spelling words, word wall
words, or other words for this game.
Read the Room
3D Style (Charmaine Brade
Nixon)
Collect 3D glasses
from 3D movies. Collect “magic
wands,” such as pointers, rulers, novelty pencils, etc. When students finish their assigned
work they choose a magic wand and a pair of 3D glasses and walk around the room
identifying letters, reading words, making sounds, finding shapes, etc. They believe the 3D glasses help them
become magic readers!!
Bottle Lid Name
Puzzles (Karen Bernath)
Print the letters
of a child’s name on plastic milk bottle lids to create a name puzzle. Store the lids in a bag with a label
with the child’s photo.
4 Green Jelly
Beans (Karen Bernath)
1 green jelly bean (Hold
up 1 finger.)
Down in my bell
bean (Pat
tummy.)
Giving me a tummy
ache
What am I going to
take? (Open palms.)
All my friends are
telling me (Point finger.)
They’ve got a
remedy.
Don’t eat the
green ones (Shake
head.)
And jump up and
down.
(Jump up and down.)
2 green jelly
beans…
Don’t eat the
green ones
And rub your
tummy, jump up and down. (Pat tummy
and jump around.)
3 green jelly
beans…
Don’t eat the
green ones
And pat your head,
rub your tummy, jump up and down.
4 green jelly
beans…
Don’t eat the
green ones
And kick your leg,
pat your head, rub your tummy, and jump up and down!
Alphabet Scramble
(Rhonda Middleton)
Put a set of flash
cards with letters scrambled up in a pocket chart. Tell the children you’re going to sing the alphabet and sing
it with the letters scrambled. For
example: “J, T, Q, E…” The children will begin shouting, “A –
It begins with A.” Explain that
“someone has messed up my alphabet.
Who can help me fix it?”
Call on a child to help find the A and place it in the chart. Begin singing the song again, “A, J, T,
Q…” The children will get excited
and start singing the song the correct way. At that point take out all the letters and hand one to each
child. Sing again and let each
child come up when their letter is sung.
Crumple Balls (Linda)
Take a piece of
recycled paper and write or draw something on it. It could be a letter, color, word, shape, number, math fact,
question, etc. Children crumple
their paper into a ball. On the
count of three, they throw the ball into a circle or around the room. Each child picks up a crumpled ball and
answers the question, gives a word that starts with that letter, etc.
*You can repeat
the activity with the same “balls” because they’ll usually pick up a different
question.
I Don’t Know
Here’s a tip for
getting a response from a child who is hesitant or typically replies, “I don’t
know.” Just say, “Well, if you did
know what would you say?” Nine out
of ten times they will give you an answer.
Picture Cues
Teach letter
sounds with picture cues. Start
with pictures (for the helper of the day). You might have a cat, ant, snake, sun, ice cream cone, and
elephant. Put a blank under each
picture. Children sound out the
helper to be “Cassie.”
*Make crossword
puzzles using the helper’s name and word wall words.
Rock Solid
Readers (Cathy Richardson
& Jeanette Wannop)
Children earn a
polished rock (from the dollar store) for every 15 books that they read. Young children love to collect things
and you could get a “class granny” to sew little bags for collecting or
purchase small bags at the dollar store.
Good-bye
Handshake or Hug (Cathy
Richardson & Jeanette Wannop)
Children give the
teacher a handshake or hug before they leave at the end of the day.
Standing
“O”vation (Cathy Richardson
& Jeanette Wannop)
Everyone stands up
and makes an “O” with their arms as they sing “ooooooo.” This is a great way to recognize
something exciting or someone’s success.
Christmas Gift (Deb
Lacarte)
You will need a
clear plastic glass and a Christmas ball.
Fill the glass half full with candy or small toys. Paint the student’s name on the ball
with glitter glue or fabric paint.
Put the ball on top of the candies and wrap in colored cellophane. Attach a candy cane and to/from
sticker.
*Students will
come up years later and say they still put the decoration on their tree every
year.
Snowman (Cindy Garnham)
Build a snowman at
circle time during those long winter months with this activity. You will need to cut 3 circles (small,
medium, large) out of white felt.
Make hats, scarves, and other items to decorate the snowman out of
colored felt scraps. Begin by
singing this song to the tune of “Up on the Housetop.”
Can you guild a
snowman 1, 2, 3.
A lovely little
snowman, 1, 2, 3.
What does your
snowman need?
Children take
turns helping to dress the snowman.
Thanks for sharing these great ideas!