BAKE COOKIES DAY

Need another idea to make through the week. Why not celebrate Bake Cookies Day with one of these activities.

Bake Cookies Day is December 16, but it's fun to bake cookies any day of the year. Here’s what holidayinsights.com says about today:

'Ya gotta just love Bake Cookies Day......... 


..... Christmas is for Christians 


..... Hanukkah is just for Jews 
.

.... Ramadan is for those of Islamic descent 


..... Kwanzaa is for those of African origin 


..... Native American Day is for American Indians


But, Bake Cookies Day is for EVERYONE! 


Play Dough
Put cookie cutters and play dough on a cookie sheet. Add a rolling pin (cylinder block), scissors, and plastic utensils.

Paper Ornaments
Put some cookie cutters, scissors, glue, and the scrap box out on a table. Let children trace around the cookie cutters, cut out their paper cookies, and then decorate with stickers or glitter pens. Punch a hole, tie on a string, and decorate the tree. 



Graph
What’s your favorite kind of cookie? Do a bar graph and tally the results. 



Recipes
Let children write their own “how to make cookies” recipes. 





Descriptions
Give each child a cookie and ask them to draw what it looks like. Next, ask them to write 2-5 sentences describing their cookie. Finally, they get to eat the cookie! 



What else? Read books or sing songs about cookies…or, just wait until a boring January day to do these things!! 


OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

Teachers all over the USA are thankful that next week is a short week! Forget "rigor" and give your children some special memories. Here is a song memory from when I was little girl many, many years ago. It's still a great song and a meaningful way to compare/contrast and talk a about the "olden days."

Over the River
(Traditional Tune)
Over the river and through the woods (Pretend to hold reins of a sleigh
To grandmother’s house we go. and drive as you bounce up and down.)
The horse knows the way (Put hands behind back and nod
To carry the sleigh like a horse.)
Through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the woods, (Pretend to drive sleigh.)
Oh, how the wind does blow. (Wrap arms around self and shiver.)
It stings your toes and bites your nose (Touch nose and point to toes.)
As over the ground we go.

Through the country and cities far (Pretend to drive a car.)
In sun or wind or rain.
We might go by train (Pull down on train whistle.)
We might take a plane. (Fly hand like a plane in the air.)
Or maybe a bus or car. (Hold out right hand, then left.)
Through low valleys and mountains high (Look down low and then up.)
Now, grandmother’s house I spy. (Hand over eyes.)
Hurrah, for the fun! (One fist in the air.)
Is the turkey done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! (Cheer with other fist.)

Comparisons – Use a Venn diagram to compare what it would be like to visit grandmother a long time ago and how we visit now. How are things the same? How are they different?

Graphs – Make a graph of how they will travel to their Thanksgiving dinner. Car? Plane? Train? Bus? Boat? Stay at home!

Olden Days
Bring in a rotary phone, typewriter, record player, and camera. (A note to parents might help you find one of these.) Talk about how they were used when their grandparents were kids. What do we use now instead?
*Hint! I think it's important for children to know what these items are because most of the books copyrighted before 2000 have pictures or reference them.

WEATHER REPORT

We always sang a weather song at morning meeting. Each day we had a “meteorologist” who would remind us which word to use in the song.

Weather Song (Tune: “My Darlin’ Clementine”)

Sunny, sunny, sunny, sunny,
It is sunny in the sky.
S – u – n – n – y Sunny
It is sunny in the sky.
Cloudy…
Rainy…
Windy…
Snowy…

Hint! Insert other words children suggest such as “foggy,” “muggy,” and so forth.

Download this free weather chart for children to color in daily.

https://www.brightsprouts.com/weather-chart-for-kids/

Weather Words
Write weather words on a language experience chart and point to the letters as you sing.
*Challenge children to come up with synonyms for different types of weather. For example, sunny could be bright, hot, cloudless, etc.

Thermometer
Place a thermometer outside your classroom window so children can learn how to read the calendar and judge appropriate clothing for outdoor play.

Wind Tester
Make a wind tester by stapling a strip of tissue paper to a straw. Hold it up to see if the wind is blowing. What direction is the wind blowing from?
*How else can you tell if the wind is blowing?

How Can You Find Out?
Brainstorm different ways to find out about the weather. For example, weather app, look at the newspaper, watch the weather report on television, look out the window, etc.

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.) Put their papers together to make a class book.

“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.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

Here is a song "memory" from when I was little girl many, many years ago. It's still a great song and a meaningful way to compare/contrast and talk an about the "olden days."

Over the River
(Traditional Tune)
Over the river and through the woods (Pretend to hold reins of a sleigh
To grandmother’s house we go. and drive as you bounce up and down.)
The horse knows the way (Put hands behind back and nod
To carry the sleigh like a horse.)
Through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the woods, (Pretend to drive sleigh.)
Oh, how the wind does blow. (Wrap arms around self and shiver.)
It stings your toes and bites your nose (Touch nose and point to toes.)
As over the ground we go.

Through the country and cities far (Pretend to drive a car.)
In sun or wind or rain.
We might go by train (Pull down on train whistle.)
We might take a plane. (Fly hand like a plane in the air.)
Or maybe a bus or car. (Hold out right hand, then left.)
Through low valleys and mountains high (Look down low and then up.)
Now, grandmother’s house I spy. (Hand over eyes.)
Hurrah, for the fun! (One fist in the air.)
Is the turkey done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! (Cheer with other fist.)

https://bit.ly/drJRiver

Comparisons

Use a Venn diagram to compare what it would be like to visit grandmother a long time ago and how we visit now. How are things the same? How are they different?

Graphs 

Make a graph of how they will travel to their Thanksgiving dinner. Car? Plane? Train? Bus? Boat? Stay at home!

Olden Days
Bring in a rotary phone, typewriter, record player, and camera. (A note to parents might help you find one of these.) Talk about how they were used when their grandparents were kids. What do we use now instead?

*Hint! I think it's important for children to know what these items are because most of the books copyrighted before 2000 have pictures or reference them.




Family Celebrations
Holidays are a good time to talk about diversity. Not all families celebrate Thanksgiving, but most families do celebrate something. Ask children to bring in photos of celebrations they have in their home. Put their pictures together to make a class book.

GOOD OLD DAYS

Teachers all over the USA are thankful that this is a short week! Forget "skills" and give your children some special memories. Here is a song memory from when I was little girl many, many years ago. It's still a great song and a meaningful way to compare/contrast and talk an about the "olden days."

Over the River
(Traditional Tune)
Over the river and through the woods (Pretend to hold reins of a sleigh
To grandmother’s house we go. and drive as you bounce up and down.)
The horse knows the way (Put hands behind back and nod
To carry the sleigh like a horse.)
Through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the woods, (Pretend to drive sleigh.)
Oh, how the wind does blow. (Wrap arms around self and shiver.)
It stings your toes and bites your nose (Touch nose and point to toes.)
As over the ground we go.

Through the country and cities far (Pretend to drive a car.)
In sun or wind or rain.
We might go by train (Pull down on train whistle.)
We might take a plane. (Fly hand like a plane in the air.)
Or maybe a bus or car. (Hold out right hand, then left.)
Through low valleys and mountains high (Look down low and then up.)
Now, grandmother’s house I spy. (Hand over eyes.)
Hurrah, for the fun! (One fist in the air.)
Is the turkey done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! (Cheer with other fist.)

Comparisons – Use a Venn diagram to compare what it would be like to visit grandmother a long time ago and how we visit now. How are things the same? How are they different?


Graphs – Make a graph of how they will travel to their Thanksgiving dinner. Car? Plane? Train? Bus? Boat? Stay at home!


Olden Days
Bring in a rotary phone, typewriter, record player, and camera. (A note to parents might help you find one of these.) Talk about how they were used when their grandparents were kids. What do we use now instead?
*Hint! I think it's important for children to know what these items are because most of the books copyrighted before 2000 have pictures or reference them.

                                               

                           

WEATHER REPORT

No matter where you live, there is WEATHER! It's real and it's something that children are naturally interested in.

We always sang a weather song at morning meeting. Each day we had a "meteorologist" who would remind us which word to use in the song. The "meteorologist" would make a big deal out of walking to the window, looking around, and then choosing the word to sing in the song.

Weather Song (Tune: "Shorting Bread")
What will the weather, weather, weather,
What will the weather be today?
He/she says its sunny, sunny, sunny.
S-U-N-N-Y today.

*Insert cloudy, rainy, snowy, etc. in the song.

Weather Song #2 (Tune: "Bingo")
There is some weather in the sky and sunny is its name-o.
s - u - n - n - y, s - u - n - n - y, s - u - n - n - y,
and Sunny is its name-o.


Weather Song #3 (Tune: “My Darlin’ Clementine”)

Sunny, sunny, sunny, sunny,
It is sunny in the sky.
S – u – n – n – y Sunny
It is sunny in the sky.
Cloudy…
Rainy…
Windy…
Snowy…


Weather Words
Write weather words on a language experience chart and point to the letters as you sing.

*Challenge children to come up with synonyms for different types of weather. For example, sunny could be bright, hot, cloudless, etc.


Weather Journal
Staple several sheets of paper together to make individual books. Each day have children illustrate the weather and write descriptive sentences.

*Graph the weather for a month. Were there more sunny days or cloudy days?
There are several different versions of this you can download free off the internet.



Thermometer
Place a thermometer outside your classroom window so children can learn how to read the thermometer and judge appropriate clothing for outdoor play.

Wind Tester
Make a wind tester by taping a strip of tissue paper to a craft stick. Hold it up to see if the wind is blowing. What direction is the wind blowing from?

How Can You Find Out?
Brainstorm different ways to find out about the weather. For example, look on line, look at the newspaper, watch the weather report on television, look out the window, etc.

 

 

Click for Weather Graph 

Click for Weather Song