LET'S GET EGGY!

How about some science and math "hands on" activities with plastic eggs?  These are fun ideas for families to create for the children.

Math
Write numerals or number words on the eggs. Children fill with the appropriate amount of beans or paper clips.
                         
Children match up dots or number words with numerals.

Place a certain number of small objects in the eggs (2-10). Children dump out the objects and then write all the combinations they can make.

Give children a variety of objects. Ask them to predict if each object will fit in an egg or if is too big. Sort the objects after testing if they will fit.

                                                    

Use the eggs for addition and subtraction problems.

Reinforce place value by writing numerals 1-9 on the eggs. Children put the eggs together and then say the numeral.
  

                    

Science
Let children draw pictures of all the animals that come from eggs.

Place objects in the eggs, such as popcorn kernels, cotton balls, bells, etc. Children shake the eggs and predict what is inside.
*Make two eggs with like objects for children to match the sounds.


Musical Instrument

Put dried beans in the eggs and tape to a plastic spoon to make maracas.
                                                

Spoon Relay
Give children a large spoon and an egg. Can they get their egg from one point to another without dropping it?


Yummy Snack
Put small crackers, raisins, cereal, grapes, or other healthy snacks in the eggs.
                         

Sand and Water
Place eggs in a water table or sand box for pouring and measuring.

WHAT CAN YOU ADD TO MY LIST?  AS A TEACHER ONCE TOLD ME, "DR. JEAN, YOU TAKE SOMETHING SIMPLE AND WORK IT FOR ALL IT'S WORTH!"  

EGG-STRAVGANZA

It's the time of year when you can't walk in a store without seeing a display of plastic eggs. They are inexpensive and can be used for a variety of learning activities in your classroom. Here's a video I did last year where I demonstrate these activities.

https://youtu.be/reJQsv0H5oM

Note!  Parents would probably enjoy knowing how to recycle these eggs at home.

Reading Games
Write an upper case letter on one half with a permanent marker and the lower case letter on the other half.

*Give children small pictures of objects to put into appropriate eggs.



Antonyms and Synonyms
Put antonyms on eggs for children to match.
                             
Write synonyms on eggs.

Two Letter Words
Write two letter words on eggs. Children make words and then read them. Can they use the word in a sentence?
                                                  

Word Families

Write onsets (consonants or blends) on one half and rimes (word endings) on the other half. Children twist around and read words. You could also ask children to write the words.
                                                                      

Sight Words

Make puzzles of sight words and put them in the eggs. Children put the letters together, read the word, and then write the word.
           
*Put random letters in the egg and ask children to see how many words they can make and write from the letters.

Sentences

Make puzzles of simple sentences and challenge children to put the words together and read the sentence.
                                                    

COME BACK TOMORROW FOR MATH, SCIENCE, AND MORE EGG-CELLENT IDEAS!

WHERE IS MY BUNNY?

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, bunnies are a reminder of "hoppy" spring days. Here are some finger plays, songs, and crafts to help you get ready for spring.

Where Is My Bunny?
Where is my bunny? (Put hands behind your back.)
No one can see. (Shake head.)
I think that my bunny
Is hiding from me. (Look over shoulder.)
Here is my bunny. (Hold up 1 thumb.)
He’s found a friend. (Hold up other thumb.)
Look at all the others. (Slowly stick up fingers.)
Now there are ten! (Wiggle fingers.)

Here Is a Bunny
Here is a bunny (Hold up index and middle fingers.)
With ears so funny. (Wiggle fingers.)
And here is his
Hole in the ground. (Make hole with fist of the other hand.)
At the slightest noise he hears,
He pricks up his ears, (Wiggle fingers.)
Then hops to his
Hole in the ground! (Pretend to hop bunny ears into the hole.)


Hand Bunny – Trace around each child’s hand and cut out. Cut off the middle finger. Fold down the pinky and thumb. Glue on a sheet of paper and add a mouth, whiskers, eyes and nose.

                                       

Flip, Flop, Hop (Tune: “Wheels on the Bus” - Happy Everything CD)
The ears on the bunny go flip, flop, flop (Hands over head and wiggle.)
Flip, flop, flop,
Flip, flop, flop.
The ears on the bunny go flip, flop, flop,
Flip, flip, flop.

The nose on the bunny goes twitch, twitch, twitch… (Wiggle nose.)
The eyes on the bunny go blink, blink, blink… (Blink eyes.)
The tail on the bunny goes wiggle, wobble, wobble… (Wiggle hips.)
The feet on the bunny go hop, hop, hop… (Hop up and down.)


Bunny Ears - Cut ears out of construction paper and glue them to a headband. You can also trace around children's feet and use them for the ears of the headband.


Drawing Rabbits - Teach children how to draw a bunny from two circles. Add detail to the bunny as you sing the song.
                                                              

Play Dough Rabbits - Challenge children to make rabbits from play dough.

Bunny Basket – Fold the sack in half lengthwise as shown. Draw ears on the sack similar to those shown. Cut on the lines and then cut off the sides. Open the sack. Staple the top points to make ears. Put a face and cotton tail on your bunny basket.

                      

SACK IT TO ME

Some days do you have trouble coming up with new ideas for your lesson plans? Well, the same thing happens to me when I write blogs. Fortunately, I saw this idea for "Occupation in a Bag" from an old post. It prompted me to share other simple activities that you can do with lunch bags.

Occupation in a Bag (Megan Pope) 

When studying community helpers, send home a paper bag with each student. Ask them to put in items that explain what their parents do. This is great for parents who are too busy to come in and speak about their job.

                               


Where Is Square? 

Use the tune from “Where Is Thumbkin?” to reinforce colors, shapes, numerals, letters, etc. For example, children could each have a set of cards with the shapes (colors, words, letters, etc.) drawn on them. Store these in a lunch bag. Ask them to hold up the appropriate shape as you sing: 

Where is square? (Name a shape.)

Where is square?

Here I am.  (Children hold up the square.)

Here I am.

Four equal sides. (Attributes of the shape.)

Four equal sides.

Back in the bag.  (Children put the square back in the sack.)

Back in the bag.

Touch and Tell
Hide objects in the bag. Children close eyes, touch, and guess what it is.

                                            


Buildings 

To make a building turn a lunch bag upside down and decorate with construction paper and markers. Take a second bag and stuff with newspaper. Insert the decorated bag over this to make a stand up building. 
 

*Create a village with masking tape for a road, toy cars, action figures, etc.

Puppet
                                                        

Insert your hand in the bag and decorate with markers, construction paper, and other art media to make a favorite character from a book or unit of study.


Peek a Boo Books
Take 3 or 4 lunch bags and stack them up and staple as shown. Fold over the bottom flap. Write a riddle or question on the front. Open and draw a picture or write the answer under the flap. 

                       

STREAMING MUSIC

It's funny, but 50+ years ago when I started teaching we had a few records...and then cassette tapes...and then CDs...and now....

Today's streaming services simplify a teacher's task to bring music right into the classroom. A computer, a tablet or even your smart phone will help you fill your class with the sounds of music.

Just click on the links below for more information. You will find links to Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify and other streaming services. We have created this custom link to help you access my songs from my CD, Dr. Jean and Friends. Some of the songs you will find are "Tooty Ta," "Mother Goony Bird," "Tarzan," and "Five Little Monkeys.”

                                                   

Here are two links. One goes to the streaming connection and the other goes to a downloadable file containing the lyrics to all of the songs on my CD Dr. Jean and Friends.

Streaming info: http://bit.ly/DrJeanAndFriends

Lyrics: https://www.mediafire.com/file/kze0uuvqwjzp8dz/lyricsDrJeanFriends.pdf/file

P.S.  Thanks to my techie genius webmaster Alex May for helping me help you!!!!

I can't wait to sing, dance, and hold hands with kids again!!! 

AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

One of the easiest and best ways to engage children is to activate their fingers. Here are some great tips to try online or in person or wherever!!!

Quiet Man (Candace Reed)
Make "quiet man" with your fingers by sticking up pinky and pointer and touching thumb, ring man, and tall man. When the teacher holds up "quiet man" the children respond by making "quiet man" and focusing on the teacher.

                                             

Book Connections
Demonstrate how to touch index fingers to show you’ve made a connection with a book. To keep children engaged as you read, invite them to touch their index fingers whenever they “connect” with the book.

               

Peace and Love to YOU!
You can do this for your students and tell them to pass it on.
Peace (Make sign for peace.)
Love (Make sign for love.)
You (Point to someone.)
                                              

Magic Triangle (Cathy Crady)
Teach children how to self-regulate and focus with their magic triangle in their pocket. Place fingertips next to each other to form a triangle. When they need to calm down or if a child is upset have them take out their magic triangle and hold it in front of their mouth. Tell them to take a deep breath in through their nose, and then slowly blow through the triangle.

                     

Thumbs Up Statements (Brenda Lee Hernandez) 

Have students repeat positive comments as they stick up their thumbs.

                                     
                                                I am a good Citizen.
                                                I am trustworthy.
                                                I am responsible.
                                                I am fair.
                                                I am caring.
                                                I use good manners.
                                                I use kind words.
                                                I can do it.

HUMPTY DUMPTY

I'd love to come to each of your classrooms or do a Zoom visit, but that's not possible. However, I have started doing some short videos of songs, rhymes, and stories "Just for Kids." Here's my latest one about Humpty Dumpty.

    

   Watch Humpty Dumpty Video                           
                                    

Here's the new verse for the end of the rhyme:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
So the good children got out some tape and some glue
And they fiddled and faddled until he looked like new.
Then they carefully placed him back on the wall
And said, "Humpty Dumpty, please don't fall!"

Egg Puzzle

Cut ovals out of construction paper.  Have children use their imaginations to make the egg look like Humpty Dumpty.  Next, ask them to cut it up into pieces as if it feel off a wall.  Can they put the puzzle back together?

                   

Rhyme On
Challenge children to fill in the word that rhymes in these additional verses.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a peg.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his leg.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a bed.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his head.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a rose.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his nose.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a pin.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his chin.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a boulder.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his shoulder.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a pie.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his eye.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a deer.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his ear.

Humpty Dumpty sat on the land.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his hand.

Humpty Dumpty sat on the sea.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his knee.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a drum.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his thumb.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a tack.
Humpty Dumpty fell on his back.

Humpty Dumpty said to his friend,
“I’m very tired so this is THE END.”

THE PLANTING SONG

Spring is in the air and it's time to do a little planting!

The Planting Song (Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”)
Let’s all plant some seeds, (Pretend to dig with a shovel.)
Let’s all plant some seeds.
Hi, ho, it’s spring you know,
Let’s all plant some seeds.

The rain begins to fall… (Have fingers fall like rain.)

The sun warms the earth… (Hands over head in a circle.)

The seeds begin to grow… (Make a fist with one hand and bring the other hand up through it.)

*Note!  Some of these activities would be perfect for children to do at home.

Seed Hunt
Have children hunt for seeds in their kitchen at home. Bring these in and plant them in plastic cups filled with potting soil. Be sure to label. Water and watch.


Seedy Snack
Popcorn, sunflower seeds, pickles, and strawberries! What do they call have in common? They could all be part of a seedy snack. Let the children brainstorm all the things they eat that have seeds.


Planting Jelly Beans
Have children brainstorm other things they would like to plant, such as jelly beans or pennies. Plant in plastic cups with the jelly beans and pennies between the cup and the soil so the children can observe what happens.
                       

Veggies
Purchase carrot seeds, radishes, and other vegetable seeds that germinate quickly and plant. Water, set in a sunny window, and have the children record the plant growth.
*Transfer to your school garden or a container garden when the plants are several inches high.


Newspaper Tree
My kids always loved to watch me make this newspaper tree. Open three sheets of newspaper and lay on the floor as shown. Roll up and tape. Cut down several strips from the top about 8” long. Reach into the middle of the roll, grab the center, and slowly pull up. Tac daa!

                           
                                                                                
            

GREEN

  

The world is turning GREEN this time of year. Here are some ways to celebrate the color with a poem, reading, math, science, and art.

Green by Dr. Holly
Green grass,
Green trees,
Green pickles,
Green peas.

Green grows
And green makes
Green lizards,
Green snakes.

Green leaves
Pop out in the spring;
Green is such
A lovely thing!

Color Recognition (Visual Skills)
Sing this song to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”
Do you see the color green, the color green, the color green?
Do you see the color green somewhere in the room?
Each child gets up and touches an object that is green. (Adapt the song for other colors, beginning sounds, etc.)

Hint! Cover a cardboard roller from a pants hanger with green paper to make a green pointer!
                             

Remember (Listening Skills and Model Writing)
Read the poem to the children one time. Ask them to recall the different objects in the poem that are green. Write their responses on the board. Read the poem a second time and see how many more objects they can remember. Read over the list together.

If I Were Green (Oral Language)
Have children close their eyes and pretend they are green. What are they? 

Write this sentence at the top of a sheet of paper and run off a copy for each child. “If I were green I would be ________.” (Younger children can dictate their responses, while older children complete their own sentences.) 

                                                                     

“Eye” Can Graph (Math Comparisons)
Pass a small mirror around the classroom. Encourage each child to look at their eyes and describe what color they are. Make a bar graph by cutting out eyes from construction paper. Let each child color in a section by the color of their eyes. What color do the most people have? What color do the least number have? Have children go home and look at their parents’ eyes. Are they the same color as their eyes?

                    

Natural Green (Science Investigation)
Ask the children to think about all of the things in nature that are green. Write their list on the board as they call out objects. “Are all of these the same shade of green?” Take the class on a nature walk and have each child collect one “specimen” that is green. Bring their objects back in the classroom and compare. Are they all the same? Have children describe their differences. Can they sort the objects? Did they collect plants or animals? What animals are green? What time of year do you see the most green?

Green Collage (Creativity)
Provide children with green paint, green crayons, green markers, and green paper. Invite children to create a “green collage” on a piece of cardboard or a paper plate.

Scratch and Sniff Green (Word Recognition)
Give each child a heavy piece of paper. Write the word “green” on their paper with school glue. (An adult will need to do this for younger children.) Let each child take a spoonful of lime jello and sprinkle it over the glue. (Model how to shake it around and then dump off the excess.) After it dries, children can “scratch and sniff” the word green.

BABY BIRD CUT AND TELL STORY

What’s in the Egg? 

First, brainstorm all the different animals that come out of an egg. Now, you’re ready to make a flip book called “What’s in the Egg?” Fold a sheet of paper in half lengthwise, then fourths and eighths. Open and cut the crease to the middle fold. Fold in half to make 4 little flaps. Children draw eggs on the front of each flap. Open the flaps and challenge children to draw 4 different things that might come from an egg. When they hold this book up to the light, they will see their little critters inside the egg.

                                      

Baby Bird Story
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljOGhrSnJKWVVfekU/view?usp=sharing

It was spring time and mother and father bird decided to build a nest. Who can tell me some of the things they might have used to make their nest?

(Fold the paper in half and cut accordingly.)

Mother bird sat on the nest and laid a beautiful egg.  (Open the nest to reveal the egg shape.)
                        

Now, mother bird could not leave the egg. She had to sit on it and keep it warm and safe. Even when it rained and the wind blew hard, mother bird had to sit there and protect her egg. Fortunately, two little bugs who lived in the tree made friends with mother bird and kept her company. This is one little bug. His name was _____. (Use a child’s name in the class.)

                                                                      

                                                (Draw a little dot for the bug.)  

                                                                                          

This is the other little bug. Her name was _____, (Use another child’s name in the class.)
(Draw another little dot on the opposite side.)

One day as mother bird was sitting on the egg, she heard a little cracking sound. She looked down and saw a little crack in her egg.  (Cut a little slit on the fold slanted toward the eyes.)

                 

Then she heard a great big cracking sound.  (Cut around the eye and slit as shown stopping before you get to the end of the egg.)

                                                            

And guess what mother bird saw coming out of the big crack in her egg? She saw her baby bird!  (Open the egg and bend up the beak as shown.)

                                               

How To
As a writing activity ask children to write "how to build a nest."

HAPPY BIRD DAY

What a perfect time of year to distract yourself from worries and become a bird watcher! There are so many wonderful fiction and non-fiction books about birds, as well as crafts, finger plays, books, and games. I know many of your parents will enjoy doing some of these activities.

Two Little Bluebirds
Two little bluebirds sitting on a hill. (Stick up both thumbs.) 

One named Jack (Wiggle right thumb.)
And one named Jill. (Wiggle left thumb.)
Fly away Jack. (Put right thumb behind back.)
Fly away Jill (Put left thumb behind back.)
Come back Jack. (Bring back right thumb.)
Come back Jill. (Bring back left thumb.)

Opposite variations:
One named Happy and one named Sad… (Say happy and then sad.)
One named Loud and one named Soft… (Say loud and then soft.)
One named Fast and one named Slow… (Move one fast and one slow.)
Continue letting children think of names and motions for the birds.

Paper Plate Birds and Nests
Let children make birds or nests out of paper plates similar to the ones in the picture.

                                    

Lunch Bag Nest
Open a paper lunch sack and roll out and down until you reach the bottom and it looks like a nest. Give children a bird identification book and invite them to choose their favorite bird. Provide construction paper, scissors, and markers and let them make their bird. Make the shape of a tree on a bulletin board. Staple the nests in the tree and then let children put their birds in their nest.
                                                           

Tissue Bird
You can also make a little bird out of two tissues. Open one tissue and lay on the table. Wad the other tissue up into a ball and place in the middle of the flat tissue. Gather around the ball to make a head and tie with a piece of yarn. (An adult will need to do this.) Let children add eyes and a beak cut out of construction paper or let them draw with a marker.
                                      


Bird Watchers 

Take a nature walk and see how many birds you can identify.
       
                                           
P.S. A teacher shared this website where children can learn to identify birds and their calls. It's so engaging even for adults like me!
https://www.aaastateofplay.com/50-bird-species-sounds-they-make/?fbclid=IwAR3JkCpq5zt33DNG-QVeSDSR5Hku-c5PUKiYVRXh_17xvRjEZ_7AzcksUkw