How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

Special Instructions:  Bring a mallet or small hammer.  

Gathering Activity: Dinosaur Googly Eye Search- We hid googly eyes in playdough and then searched for them.  (This is a wonderful fine motor activity).  The children loved hiding them for the Mommies to find.  Then the mommies would hide them and the children would search for them.
 
Circle Time: We read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?  by Jane Yolan.  We sang dinosaur songs and dinosaur fingerplays.    We counted and sorted plastic dinosaurs.  We danced to "We Are the Dinosaurs" by The Laurie Berkner Band (a family favorite).

 

Art: Clothespin Stegosaurus:  We made these super cute (and super easy) dinos.  The children needed very little help and were so proud of their creations.

Snack: Dinosaur Shaped Sandwiches and Bananas (Fun Fact: A T-rex's tooth is as long as one banana).

Playtime Activities:

Dinosaur Hunt:  We hid plastic dinosaurs outside for the children to find.

Dinosaur Eggs:  We made these awesome dinosaur eggs with baby dinos hiding inside.. Then the kiddos used a mallet or small hammer to crack them open, supervised closely.  By far the favorite activity of the day.  The prep for these is intensive, but soooooo worth it!  Don't skip this fun activity. 

A Turkey for Thanksgiving

Gathering Activity:  We read Thanksgiving stories with our mommies. 

Circle Time: We read A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting.  We sang Thanksgiving songs together.

Art Activity: Hand Print Turkeys

Materials Needed: Construction paper, crayons, scissors, glue, googly eyes, feathers, red pom poms.
Directions: Trace both of your child's hands and cut out. Glue on a second sheet of a construction paper. Allow them to glue feathers on four of the fingers on each hand.  Add a googly eye, a yellow beak, and a red pom pom waddle to each turkey.

Playtime Activities: We played 3 Turkey themed games together.

1-Duck, Duck, Turkey (played just like Duck, Duck, Goose) 

2-Turkey Dinner Game

Sung To: " Frere Jacques"

Turkey dinner, Turkey dinner
Gather round,  Gather round.
Who will get the drumstick?
Yummy Yummy Yum stick!
All sit down!  All sit down!

Materials Needed: A turkey place mat for each of the children and a plastic drumstick from our play kitchen food. 

Directions: Choose one child to be the "hider."  The other children close their eyes (with Mommy's help) and sing the song. The "hider" places the drumstick under one of the place mats.  Each child opens his eyes and lifts his place mat to see if he has the drumstick.   The child that finds the turkey hides it the next time around.  Such a simple concept, but the kiddos loved it! 

3-Turkey Hunt: Play Hide and Go Seek with our Moms.  The children hid with their mommies and gobbled like turkeys while one family pair searched for the gobbling turkeys.  We played until everyone had a turn to hunt.

Snack: We held our own little Thanksgiving feast.  We ate turkey shaped sandwiches, cheese cubes, apple slices, pumpkin muffins, and popcorn. Each mommy brought something to contribute to the feast.

The Napping House

Special Instructions: Wear your favorite pajamas and bring a flashlight.

Gathering Activity: We sat on blankets and read stories about bedtime with our moms.

Circle Time: We read The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood.  We sang songs about rain and nap time.  We had plush animal versions of each of the story book characters and acted out the story over and over and over again. Each child took a turn being different animals. So many giggles!

Art Activity:  Marshmallow Rainbows

Materials Needed: Pastel colored mini marshmallows, glue, pre-drawn rainbow outlines.

Instructions: Help your child pour the glue in one part of the rainbow and fill with coordinating rainbow color.  Repeat until all sections are filled.

Snack:  Snack Houses and of course, leftover mini marshmallows (because it would be cruel not to let them eat them).
Materials needed: Create individual kits for each child:
9 wheat things per child, 1 cheese triangle for roof, 1 small cheese rectangle for chimney, 1 large rectangle for door, 1 raisin for door knob.
Instructions: Allow each child to assemble their homes and then enjoy! 

Playtime Activity: We played 3 games.
Who is Under the blanket? : We had a stuffed animal to represent each of the characters in the story.  The children took turns leaving the room with their mom and return to guess which animal is hiding under the blanket.

 

Sleeping Animals: Each child pretends to be one of the characters sleeping and tries to lie as still as possible when the game leader calls out. "Go to sleep!" until the game leader calls out "Ouch a wakeful flea bit me!"  then everyone jumps up and makes the sound of his or her animal.

Make a Rain Storm: We used a rain stick, instruments, and flashlights to make a rain storm.  The children brought a flash light from home.    We took turns doing all of the parts of the storm.