• To Mom, with a Cherry on Top Craftivity
• Mommies Are Special – Leveled, Printable Book
  *Includes 4 different reading levels, plus a wordless version* This book honors all that mothers do. Children are encouraged to draw comparisons between the animal mothers in the book to the way their own mothers care for them.
• Tulips Cut-and-Paste Art Pattern
  This cut-and-paste ladybug art project will provide your students with opportunities to improve their fine motor dexterity and their ability to follow directions.
• Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Keepsake Book
  In this 38 page e-book we have provided the patterns for our special Mother’s Day & Father’s Day keepsake books for you to use with your students.

   

A sweet little boy surprised his mom one morning and brought her a cup of coffee. He made it himself and he was so proud! Anxiously, he waited to hear the verdict. The mom had never tasted such bad coffee in all her life! As she forced down the last sip, his mom noticed three of his little green army guys in the bottom of the cup.

She asked, “Honey, why would three of your little army men be in the bottom of my cup?”

Her son replied, “You know, Mom. It’s like on TV. ‘The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup!’”

Mother’s Day Coupon Book

*You can find a printable Mother’s Day Coupon Book @ A to Z Teacher Stuff

Have students color small pictures for a coupon book for Mom. You should be able to get 3 or 4 coupons on one paper.

Make a cover that says:
Coupon Book for the Best Mom in the World
Happy Mother’s Day, 2003!

Some examples of coupons are:

• I’ll be quiet for 5 minutes. (zipper graphic over mouth)
• I’ll pull the weeds. (goat eating grass)
• I’ll sweep the floor.
• I’ll get the mail.
• I’ll walk the dog.
• Good for one free kiss.
• I’ll sing you a song.
• I’ll eat all of my vegetables.
• I’ll shovel the snow.
• I’ll rake the leaves.
• I’ll do the laundry.
• I’ll clear (or set) the table.
• I’ll carry the groceries in.
• I’ll water the flowers.
• I’ll make you breakfast in bed.
• I’ll take the trash out.

Sunflower

This flower is similar to the coupon book in that the child promises to help with some chores around the house. The difference is that Mom can pull the petals off of a flower to “redeem” the flower petal coupon.

Use a small paper plate and copy this poem on yellow construction paper to be glued in the middle of the plate:

I love you for
The things you do.
Here are some things
I’ll do for you!
Tear off a petal
Once in awhile,
And I’ll do something
To make you smile!

The outside petals each list a chore. Here are some examples:

• I will set the table.
• I will clean my room.
• I will dust the house.
• I will make my bed.
• I will fold the laundry.
• I will pick up my toys.
• I will take out the trash.
• I will do the dishes.

Add a stem and leaves to make the flower.

Bath Salts with Card

Read the book, “Five Minutes Peace” as an introduction; this is about a mother elephant who would just like five minutes of peace and quiet to soak in the tub. Color a picture of a duck in a bathtub. Cut out the picture and glue on the front of a card. Make bath salts (see recipe below) and put about a quarter cup in snack baggies/. Staple or tape the baggie inside the card. Include this verse inside the card:

Here’s a gift for Mother’s Day.

I’ll try my best in every way.

But if you get upset with me,

Relax and soak! Don’t you agree?

Bath Salts Recipe

3 cups Epsom salts

1 tablespoon glycerin

perfume (or lotion)

two drops of food coloring

Place Epsom salts in a glass or metal container. Combine glycerin and food coloring. Add perfume to make a fragrant mixture. Then add to Epsom salts. Stir thoroughly.

Mother’s Day Flowerpot Ideas

Use paint markers to make a picture on a flowerpot. You could also have children dip a finger into red paint and decorate the pots with ladybugs. Either plant a flower in the pot or include a packet of seeds for mom to grow at home. Tie a ribbon around the pot and attach this poem to the potted plant.

I’m your little flower, Mom.
Please help me grow and bloom:
Take the weeds but leave the roots
And give me lots of room.

Mom, you are my gardener,
My sunshine and my rain.
Too much will make me wither.
With enough, I’ll bloom again.

I am your little flower, Mom.
I’m different from the rest:
Don’t pick me Mom, just help me grow
To be my very best.

Here’s another poem. You can change the name of the flower to match what you planted.

A Pansy for Mom

This flower is for you, Mom.
It’s a pansy, you see.
It’s growing more and more each day.
It’s really just like me!
So I’m giving you this flower
With a note that’s oh so true.
And when you watch this flower grow
You’ll remember, “I love you.”

Here is a poem to attach if you plant seeds and they don’t come up in time for  Mother’s Day.

I planted some seeds in hopes that they’d grow.

Something went wrong. I just didn’t know.

Instead of some flowers, it’s a cupful of dirt.

I love you! I hope your feelings aren’t hurt!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Mother’s Day Photo Card

Take a photo of each child holding a bouquet of flowers and tape it inside a card with this verse:

Dear Mom,

I will love you forever
And forever you will be
The most wonderful mother.
You mean everything to me.

I thought of buying you flowers
In the usual way.
But I knew you would prefer
A FOREVER bouquet!

Dandelion Photo Card

Make some dandelions for the cover of the card. Inside, put the child’s photo on one side and the Dandelion Poem on the other. The back cover has a copy of a comic strip showing a mom and son and a kitchen with vases of dandelions covering every surface and the caption, “That’s enough dandelions for now. These are beautiful, but let’s save some for tomorrow.”

Front of card  |  Back of card

Inside of card

Dandelions
Mommy,

Guessing your favorite flower
Shouldn’t be all that hard.
I’ll bet they’re green and yellow
And grow all over the yard.

I only pick the special ones
Because they’re just for you.
They’re my way of saying thanks
For everything you do!

And even if these flowers
Only seem to last for a day,
The love that they are given with
Will always be there to stay.

For when it comes to picking
The mommy that’s the best,
In my precious little eyes
“You” stand out from all the rest!

I really love you mommy.
Hope your Mother’s Day is fun.
Here’s hugs and kisses for you
From your “darling little one”.

“I Love MOM” Badge

If your school has a badge-making machine, you can create a badge for every Mom. Trace around a heart sticker and cut a school photo into a heart shape. After cutting out the round white paper for the badge, write the words and glue on the photo to make the badge, which is covered with a clear cellophane sheet. A dotted or colored background circle looks nice also. I’ve seen some of my former Moms wearing these pins 10 years later!

Breakfast in Bed

Decorate a bag with wall paper to look like a bed and Mom’s head. IN the bag we will put a napkin, a breakfast bar and a tea bag. This idea came from a posting on Kinderkorner webring.

Donna from New Hampshire wrote the following poem to go with the Breakfast in Bed projects. Thanks for your creativity!

Breakfast in Bed

Since it is your day,
I have something to say:

Don’t lift your head.
Have breakfast in bed!

Just take a look–
You don’t have to cook!

I don’t like to brag
But it’s breakfast in a bag!

Happy Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day Cookbook Ideas

I’ve been making the cookbooks every Mother’s Day for more than 10 years.

I begin by asking each child to tell me something their Mom makes that is one of their favorites. Sometimes you have to practically drag the answers out of them by asking some of these questions. “Where does she get ____? How long does she cook it? How long does it take to make it? What do you think the oven temperature is set at? What does she put in it? What else does she put in it? How much of that does she use in it? How does it taste? ” You get the idea!

I include the pages below at the beginning, then copy each child’s recipe and bind them into a class Mother’s Day Cookbook for each Mom. They love them!

This was the cover & introductory page for last year’s cookbook:

This is the next page of the cookbook. A friend gave me this recipe and I adapted it for my class.

Last year I took each child’s photo dressed in a chef’s hat and apron, holding a bowl and spoon. I use a graphic near the title. I like to include an “About the Author” section and I ask each child to tell me why his/her Mom is special.

• Insects: A Thematic Cross-Curricular Unit
• Insects Picture Dictionary and Word Wall Cards
• Butterflies Theme: Purposeful activities for Math Writing and Reading for Kindergarten
• Ladybugs: A Complete Thematic Unit

Insects & Bugs Photo Teaching Ideas

We built our own bugs by combining our choice of body parts from 3 heads, 3 abdomens and 3 thorax. We added 6 legs and displayed them on a red-checked tablecloth.

This is another wonderful idea from our art teacher, Ms. Bittle, depicting the metamorphosis of a butterfly. Color a butterfly and cut out.

Make stripes on a rectangle of brown paper and glue to cover a toilet paper roll. Fold a small strip of black paper and glue on for antenna.

Roll up the butterly and stuff into the toilet paper roll.

Cover the roll with a tissue to form the chrysalis. Now you’re ready to act out the life cycle of a butterfly!

This depicts the life cycle of a butterfly using pieces of pasta. The egg was a hole-punched dot (but a grain of rice would work). The caterpillar was macaroni. The pupa was a seashell and the butterfly a bowtie. We used markers to color on them.

The teacher outlined a half of butterfly in paint and the children filled in the other colors. Then we folded them to show symmetry.

Then we folded them to show symmetry.

We went on a Bug Hunt with our magnifying glasses to look for insects and made a book about position words with a ladybug cover.

Plastic ants were used to practice counting skills, while ladybug cards were used to act out subtraction problems.

Use foam insects to make patterns. These can be stapled to make headbands after the glue dries.

We made a bracelet to represent the life cycle of a butterfly. The first bead is white to represent the egg. Put on a red bead next to represent the caterpillar’s head. Then put on three green beads next to represent the caterpillar’s body. Put on a glitter bead for the chrysalis.

Finish the bracelet with a butterfly.

The girl has 5 paper ladybugs on her desk. We used these to practice subtraction problems.

The boy made one of the ladybugs “fly” by blowing it off his desk. Then he wrote the number sentence 5-1=4.

Download Now, Print & Use!

• Plant and Flower Activities: Science, Lang Arts, Math, and Art
• Plants Thematic Unit
• In the Garden Multi-Leveled Printable Book
• Vegetables Word Wall Cards & Picture Dictionary

 

Using a magnifying glass, we examined seeds.
Then seeds were spread on the ground and we walked through them to learn how seeds travel.		Finally, we looked at our socks to see if any seeds had “hitchhiked”.
We folded a paper towel and sprayed it with water. We put the paper towel and three lima beans (that had been soaked in water for about an hour) into a ziplock bag. The ziplock bags were stapled inside our very own greenhouses and attached to a bulletin board where we could watch the seeds grow.
White carnations were put in water colored with food coloring to show how the stem carries water to the flower.		We read two versions of Jack and the Beanstalk and made a Venn diagram comparing them.
Parts of this flower help students remember their function. Pieces of yarn are glued on for roots and a straw is used for a stem. Seeds are glued in the middle of the flower ( a small paper plate with triangles snipped out for petals. Real leaves were glued on.		Another year we labeled the plant parts.
Cornstarch (representing pollen) is in the middle of this paper flower. A felt bee visits the flower and picks up the pollen on its body.
We used corn seeds for manipulatives to solve addition problems.		Our plant snack was made from a celery stalk stem, half baby carrot petals, and a rice cake center (covered with peanut butter and sunflower seeds).
To demonstrate the needs of a plant, put one in a dark cupboard for a week with no water or light. Have the children predict what will happen. It should look similar to the plant on the left. The one on the right was kept in sunlight and watered as needed.		Find the small seed inside a peanut and/or a lima bean (after soaking it for a few hours.)
She is getting ready to plant seeds inside the fingers of the food handler glove.		We wet the cotton balls and placed one in each finger of the glove.
He has placed the seeds on the cotton balls inside the glove. Each finger is labeled with the name of the seeds we “planted”—radish, tomato, pumpkin, pepper, and marigold.		The radish seeds sprouted first, but the others soon followed.
These are some of the plant “parts” we ate–seeds (sunflowers), stems (celery), roots (carrots) and leaves (lettuce).		Links:Inside a Seed Lesson Plan Plants Theme ~ A to Z Teacher Stuff

Instant Downloads @ A to Z’s Store

Download Now, Print & Use!

• Plant and Flower Activities: Science, Lang Arts, Math, and Art
• Plants Thematic Unit
• In the Garden Multi-Leveled Printable Book
• Vegetables Word Wall Cards & Picture Dictionary

 

• Moon Unit: Activities for Math, Science, Literacy
• Blast Off! A Space Unit
• Astronomy Word Wall Cards & Picture Dictionary
• Space: A Thematic Cross-Curricular Unit
• Space Pack: “Out of this World” Resources for Your Classroom {FREEBIE!}

    

Space Theme Unit Activities

Here is a fun early childhood unit for learning about space, the solar system, and astronomy.

Children get to throw a beanbag into the Earth tub, the Moon tub, or the Sun tub for reading a letter, word or number flashcard correctly.

She is shining the flashlight (representing the sun) on the earth. It is day on the side of the earth where the light shines and night on the other side.

We are acting out being the earth by all facing the sun (on the floor). Right now it is daytime.

When we face away from the sun, it is night time because the sun is no longer shining on us.

We made model magic spheres in three sizes to represent the sun, moon and earth.

She is putting triangle sun rays on the pocket we created by stapling one-half a paper plate to a full plate.

We made these into necklaces that hold fact cards about the sun.

The sun is made of gases that are constantly in motion. We swirled yellow, red and white paint to represent these gases.  Then we dipped a white circle into the paint…

…and made sun prints by laying it on another paper.

We put it on top of a sentence we had written about the sun.

Pairs of students shared a space station work mat between them. I put some cubes (pretend astronauts) on the mats.  Each pair of students estimated how many “astronauts” were on their space station. Then they counted and we recorded the actual amount.

One student in the group made a stack of ten cubes and the other student counted on from ten to see how many “astronauts” they had.

Star stickers were used to make these constellations. If possible, make a transparency of the page with just the stars in place and have the children match the same constellations.

What is this?

It was this in the dark. One child holds the flashlight (a pretend star) on another child. When he is close, the star looks brighter. As he backs up, the star seems dimmer. Then the lights are turned on–can you still see the light from the star? Do stars still shine during the day?

We covered a paper towel tube with stars.

We used a push pin to poke holes in black circles to make constellations. (A styrofoam tray was used for backing.) We did several of these.

We rubber-banded the paper constellations to one end of the paper towel star viewer and shone a flashlight through the other end. When the lights were out we could see our constellations on the ceiling.

Use model magic to create the different phases of the moon.

The boy is pouring glitter into his “star jar”. The glitter represents the millions of stars in the sky.  The jar is closed and a poem is glued to the top.

Phases of the Moon

(idea from Jennifer)

Take a chocolate chip cookie (the chips are craters in the moon) and nibble away the different phases of the moon–beginning with a full moon of course and then nibbling it and stopping at each phase until it is a new moon (all gone).

Download Now @ A to Z’s Store

• Moon Unit: Activities for Math, Science, Literacy
• Blast Off! A Space Unit
• Astronomy Word Wall Cards & Picture Dictionary
• Space Pack: “Out of this World” Resources for Your Classroom {FREEBIE!}

   

• Lucky Leprechaun and the Incredible Shrinking Hat Project
• St. Patrick’s Day Activities Making Words and More
• Leprechaun At School Multi-Leveled Reader
• St. Patrick’s Day Math & Literacy Activities

Literature Actvities

• Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato
• Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute
• The Leprechaun’s Treasure by Joyce John [out of print]

Collaborative Book Activities

What Do Leprechauns Wear?

The students color a picture of a leprechaun. Then they write their name on the first line and color words to describe their leprechaun for the remainder of the sentences. Bind all of the pages into a class book.

_________________ is a leprechaun.

He is wearing a ______________ hat,

__________ coat, ______________ pants,

and __________shoes.

How to Catch a Leprechaun

The children write or dictate a story describing how they would use the leprechaun traps they made to catch a leprechaun.  Attach it to a picture of a leprechaun trap created by each child.

Individual Student Books

The Leprechaun

Cut apart a picture of a leprechaun and use color words on page to complete a picture on each page. For example, I see a red beard. Students color the beard on the face picture red.

I see a black hat.

I see a red beard.

I see a green shirt.

I see a brown belt.

I see purple shoes.

I see gold.

I see a leprechaun.

Lots O’ Green

(Education Center, March Monthly Reproducibles, Kindergarten, TEC943)

Students illustrate each page.

Green on the shamrocks.

Green on the tree.

Green on the leprechaun.

Green on me!

Other Writing Activities

If I Found the Leprechaun’s Gold

Have children write or dictate an ending to the following story starter:

If I found the leprechaun’s pot of gold, I would…

Limericks

Create a limerick–the final word in the first, second and fifth lines rhyme and the final words in the third and fourth lines must rhyme. This pattern is from Education Center, March Monthly Reproducibles, Kindergarten (TEC943).

There once was a _________ we’ve been told.

Who wears a green _________ in the cold.

While wondering around,

A leprechaun he found!

He bought ___________ and ______________ with his gold.

Leprechaun, Leprechaun

By Jean Warren

Leprechaun, leprechaun,

Come hunt with me.

How many green things can we see?

We found a green (leaf, etc.) under a tree.

We found a green (frog, etc.) next to me.

We found a green (apple, etc.) on the ground.

We found green (caterpillars, etc.) all around.

Journals

We have a vocabulary chart for each month that shows pictures and words related to that month. You can see it in the upper left corner of the photo. The children can use it as a reference for their journal writing. Some of our journal entries can be seen below.

A leprechaun likes a shamrock.

A leprechaun likes me and you.

I like the leprechaun. The leprechaun is green.

Poems and Songs

Leprechaun Pie

(from http://www.abcschoolhouse.com)

Leprechaun pie, Leprechaun pie,

If I don’t get some I think I’m gonna die.

Give away my pot of gold,

Give away the sky,

But don’t give away

My Leprechaun Pie!!!

St. Patrick’s Day Song

(tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)

I’m looking for a leprechaun,
Leprechaun, leprechaun.
I’m looking for a leprechaun.
Do you know where he’s gone?

He wears a suit that’s made of green,
Made of green, made of green.
He wears a suit that’s made of green.
Do you know where he’s gone?

He lives by a rainbow and hides his gold,
Hides his gold, hides his gold.
He lives by a rainbow and hides his gold.
Do you know where he’s gone?

If you see a leprechaun,
Leprechaun, leprechaun.
If you see a leprechaun,
Please tell me where he’s gone!

Five Little Leprechauns

By Jean Warren

(Can be a flannel board poem)

One day out walking,
I happened to see
Five little leprechauns
Coming toward me.

They ran to a house.
They ran through the door.
I managed to catch one.
Then there were four.

Four little leprechauns
Climbed up a tree.
I caught another.
Then there were three.

Three little leprechauns
Hid in a shoe.
I caught another
Then there were two.

Two little leprechauns
Started to run.
I caught another.
Then there was one.

One little leprechaun
Ran to his gold.
He grabbed some coins–
Then stepped out bold.

“Give back my friends,
And I’ll give you this gold.”
So I set them all free.
Now my story is told!

If You’re Wearing Green Today

By Elizabeth McKinnon

(Sung to “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)

If you’re wearing green today, dance a jig.
If you’re wearing green today, dance a jig.
If you’re wearing green today,
Dance a jig, then smile and say,
“Have a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day!”

Additional verses: clap your hands, twirl around, shout “Hurray!”

This Little Leprechaun

(tune of This Old Man) from Copycat, Mar/Apr 94

This little leprechaun, (hold up leprechaun bag puppet)
He hid one. (hold up correct number of fingers)
He hid gold… in the noonday sun. Whew!
With a tap, tap paddy whack, (stomp feet for tap, tap)

Hide a pot of gold.

It’s a secret… can’t be told. (place fingers up to lips)

Continue song, adding a new line for each leprechaun:

Two—He hid gold in his left shoe. OUCH!
Three—He hid gold in the deep blue sea. AHOY!
Four—He hid gold behind the door. BANG!
Five—He hid gold in the old bee hive. BUZZ!
Six—He hid gold and played some tricks. GOTCHA!
Seven—He hid gold beneath the bed. THAT DOESN’T RHYME!
Eight—He hid gold near the garden gate. SQUEAK!
Nine—He hid gold in the nick of time. TICK, TOCK!
Ten—He hid gold in the old pig pen. OINK!

The Leprechauns Are Marching

The leprechauns are marching.
They’re marching down the halls.
They’re marching on the ceilings.
They’re marching on the walls.
They’re marching two by two
And then four by four.
They think they cannot see them.
Look out! Here come some more!

Literacy Skills

Shamrock Game

This is a Shamrock game that is played by 2 children in a center. Each shamrock on the gameboard has a different letter on it. There are 2 sets of picture cards  that begin with the letters on the gameboard. (dog for d, sun for s, etc.) Both sets of cards are the same, but they are run on different colors of green cardstock. There is also one Lucky Card in each set that says, “You get 2 turns.” Players put their cards facedown and then take turns drawing from their pile. If they draw the ladder card, they cover the L with it. If the second player then draws his ladder card, he just loses his turn. They keep doing this until all the shamrocks are covered, then they count to see which set has more shamrocks covered.

Pot of Gold Game

This Pot of Gold game encourages children to use clues to guess a word. I choose a word from our word wall and the students take turns guessing the letters. They must ask, in the form of a question, “Is there a letter s in the word?” If there is, I write it in the space and give the “S” (student) pot a gold coin. If not, the “T” (teacher) pot gets the gold coin. We play this game with several words. It was unusual that the teacher won!

Math

Lucky Charms Graph

Students graph Lucky Charms cereal. Lucky Charm graphs can be found here.

Leprechaun Game

Shamrock Number Game

Shamrocks with numerals on one side are placed face down on the floor in a circle. Music is played and the children march around the shamrocks until the music stops. They pick up the shamrock closest to them and read the number. We do this several times. When the game is over, the children make a shamrock trail by putting the shamrocks in numerical sequence.

Snake Measurement

After discussing the legend that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland, we rolled clay into snakes. We tried to make snakes the same length as the ones pictured. Then we discussed measurement terms such as longer and shorter. Finally, we put the clay snakes in order from shortest to longest.

Social Studies

Ireland the Island

We learned what an “island” is and located Ireland on a globe and map. Then we made our own island from green clay (or playdough). The island can be mounted on a school lunch tray painted blue or on blue construction paper glued to a paper plate. An Irish flag taped to a toothpick is stuck into the clay island.

Art

TLC Leprechaun

The TLC Leprechaun

Colored Leprechaun

Leprechaun Locker Decoration

The children used watercolors to paint these leprechauns before the face was glued to the back.

Leprechaun Ladder

The “leprechaun ladder” was made by alternately threading a green shamrock cut-out and a piece of green drinking straw on to a long piece of green yarn. It was then hung from the ceiling so the leprechaun could climb on it!   ;o)

Shamrock Headband

Cut the center out of a paper plate, but leave one circular area attached so you can glue on the shamrock.

Just for Fun

The Leprechaun kept pulling tricks on our class such as doing this to our bulletin board, messing up our classroom while we were at the bathroom (thanks to the secretary), and flicking our lights on and off (thanks to the principal or custodian who do this from the switch box.)

We had family homework of making a Leprechaun Trap. We set the traps and went on a Leprechaun Hunt, following green footprint clues indoors and outside. We never caught him, but he left us a note that he had to go back over the rainbow. He left us a green treat to eat and some gold candy coins, too.

While on our Leprechaun Hunt, we found the leprechaun’s shoes! We thought he’d lost them while he was climbing on the fence. (One of the teachers spray painted a pair of baby shoes green.)

Here are some of the gold (chocolate) coins that were scattered on the windowsill, close to a small black pot. I usually cut a jagged piece of green felt and have a parent put it near the window–this is a piece of the leprechaun’s pants that tore as he was going out our window, making a quick escape.

Playing Hot Potato is a fun game for St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick’s Day Links

• St. Patrick’s Day Theme Page
• St. Patrick’s Day Printables
• My St. Patrick’s Day Pinterest Board

Uncle Sam

This Uncle Sam locker decoration is a kit purchased from Oriental Trading Company.

Washington Monument

The children cut out the shape below to make the Washington Monument. The long sides are folded and taped, but the top is just folded.

Lincoln Memorial

Use a magnifying glass to look at a penny and find Lincoln sitting in his chair at the Lincoln Memorial.

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty crown consists of  5 triangles on the headband that are folded slightly forward. We ran out of time to make a torch so they just held a strip of yellow crepe paper.

Bald Eagle

This eagle is a lunch bag stuffed with torn newspaper strips. I gathered it together and wound masking tape around it–the part that is not covered (it’s in the child’s hand) is supposed to be the tail feathers. They colored and glued on 2 wings and a head.

National Symbols Review Game

At the end of the unit I taped a symbol to each student’s back and the other children gave them clues to help figure out the symbol they were wearing.

Related:  Presidents Teaching Ideas
Links

• Ben’s Guide to the Symbols
• Statue of Liberty Photo Tour
• Statue of Liberty Paper Model to Print
• Eagle Crafts & Printables
• Photos of Washington DC monuments

Related: National Symbols

Lincoln’s Log Cabin

Use craft sticks to make Lincoln’s log cabin. Glue a penny in the window. Stamp the front and back of a penny coin in the lift-up roof.

Glue on pretzels to make a log cabin.

Abe Lincoln & George Washington Art

This project is from TLC Art's Winter Book (http://www.tlcart.com)

This project is from TLC Art's Winter Book (http://www.tlcart.com)

Abe Lincoln Hats & Beards

Make a cylinder by wrapping black paper around a coffee can. Fit this through and tape it to the large hat brim circle. The beard has string that is tied behind the head. (This project was more trouble than it was worth!)

This hat and beard were easier. The hat shape and the beard are stapled to a sentence strip crown.

Abraham Lincoln used to store important papers in his hat. We glued a business size envelope closed and cut off one end to make a pocket. The children chose one important paper to put inside of their hat.

Penny Investigation

Use a magnifying glass to look at a penny and find Lincoln sitting in his chair at the Lincoln Memorial.

Penny Math Activities

We tossed a die to see how many we could color on each turn at this center:

We worked on probability in math by tossing a penny six times to see which side turned up most–heads or tails?

Penny Science

We explored different ways to clean dirty pennies. I brought in flour, vinegar, salt, water and ketchup. One boy even thought of using a pencil eraser.

We found that dipping the penny in vinegar and rubbing salt on it for abrasion worked best. Ketchup also worked (and was more fun!)

We dropped one drop of water at a time on our pennies to see how many drops they would hold before the water overflows. Before we began, most students predicted 4 to 10 drops, but most of the pennies would hold about 25 drops of water before the water ran over on to the paper towel.

Sight Word Relays

The class was divided into 2 teams–the Lincoln team and the Washington team. If they could read a sight word, the could draw a line between the stars to try to complete their picture first.

George Washington 3-Corner Hats

She is cutting the “hair” for her Washington tri-corner hat seen below. We sang the song, “My Hat, It Has Three Corners” while wearing our hats.

My hat, it has three corners,
Three corners has my hat
And had it not three corners,
It would not be my hat.

The pattern for the hat pictured below isn’t available, but you might be able to try this Washington 3-Corner Hat Pattern.

This is our Washington Monument.

Related: National Symbols

            
How to Make a Valentine * Valentine’s Mini-Books * Valentine’s Theme * February Word Wall Words * Love Bug Cut and Paste
All Valentine’s Day E-Books for Teachers

Our Valentine Quilt

The heart lions are from the 2004 February Lesson of the Month at TLC Art (http://www.tlcart.com)

Valentine Candy Box Picture Magnet

      
These are magnets we used to decorate our lockers. Empty the candies from the boxes. Insert a picture to show through the cellophane window. Glue the boxes closed and put magnetic tape on the back. Thanks to Linda at http://www.kinderteacher.com for this idea.

Valentine’s Counting Book

Maureen Tumenas from Kinderkorner graciously offered to share her Valentine book on my website. Click on the links below to see the books.

Counting Valentines Book (Black and White)

 Counting Valentines Book (Color)

Here is how to assemble the book after printing it out:

• Print out the first two pages–copy them back to back.
• Print out the next 2 and copy them back to back. Stack this on top of the cover page.
• The last two pages are the middle of the book (again copy back to back) and stack on top. Fold the book in half and staple in the middle.
• This is the page order after the pages have been copied back to back, stacked, folded and stapled:

1. Counting Valentines Cover
2. blank page on back of cover
3. Valentines, Valentines, How many do I see?
4. Valentines, Valentines, Count them with me.
5. I have red ones,
6. orange ones,
7. yellow ones, too.
8. I have green ones
9. purple ones,
10. and some that are blue!
11. Valentines, Valentines, How many do I see? Count them with me!
12. blank back cover

Counting Letters in Conversation Hearts

Give every child one “conversation” heart. Have them count the letters on the saying, then place a heart on the graph under the correct number.

Vocabulary Practice

The children could put a sticker on the giraffe for every flashcard they could read.

Valentine Word Building

This is actually a tic-tac-toe game, but we used heart-shaped letters to build three letter words on it. The hearts and game can be found here.

Valentine Vocabulary Practice

At this center we practiced reading our vocabulary words and by reading the heart words and putting them on magnetic hearts.

Valentine Counting by Tens

At this center the children cut and glued on hearts to count by tens.

 Candy Heart Estimation

Use conversation hearts for an estimation activity.

Get a copy of the Conversation Hearts Estimation Activity.

Candy Heart Sorting

Sort the hearts by color, place them on a graph and then color in the graph to show the results. These activity sheets came fromhttp://www.abcschoolhouse.com.

Candy Heart Graphing

Decide on a schedule for center time–how long before the children rotate to the next center. When the centers are finished, gather all the children together for a Halloween sing-along.

Some center choices are:

• PUMPKIN BOWLING: Use 2 “pie” pumpkins (the small ones – about 4-6″ across), break off the stem, and use them to bowl down 3 or 4 1 liter bottles filled with sand or beans/rice (from your sand or rice/bean table). Make sure you put the caps are on. It’s fun because the pie pumpkins don’t exactly roll straight!
• SKELETON RACES: If you study about bodies or bones, this activity fits into your curriculum! Divide the group into relay teams. Each team has to run a distance (maybe 15 feet) to put together a large (!!) skeleton in the correct order. (It can be a large bulletin board size cardboard skeleton that you’ve taken apart at the various joints.) Plan for this next year by purchasing LARGE plastic skeletons on clearance after Halloween this year.
• STICK THE WART ON THE WITCH’S NOSE: Give each child a piece of gum and let them chew it for a few minutes. Play as you would “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”. You will need a laminated picture of a witch, gum, and a blindfold.
• MUMMY UNWRAP: Unwind a roll of toilet paper and then rewind it and put various little prizes in it. The kids sit in a circle and UNwind the toilet paper until they find a prize. Then they pass it on to the next person.
• GRAVEYARD BOWLING: Set up 5-6 bowling pins (depending on # of students) on a sideline in the gym. Place a yardstick about 6 feet away. Students must lay on their stomachs and slide a hockey puck or roll a ball to knock over the pins.
• BAT AEROBICS: Lead the children in exercises, using jumping jacks, skiers, bat squats (with arms flying), grapevines and any other steps you choose. Then have students take turns leading the bat aerobics.
• MUMMY JUMPING: Students make believe they are mummies and use their imagination to jump, with a partner, like a mummy.
• TAPE THE NOSE ON THE PUMPKIN: Have children use a white crayon to write their names on a ‘nose’. Put a piece of tape on back of each nose. Use a scarf to cover one child’s eyes. Have the child walk toward the pumpkin poster and tape the nose to the pumpkin. Repeat for each child.
• CANDY BAG ESTIMATION:  Have child put their name on an estimation paper. Have children look at each item (popsicle sticks, wooden cubes, bears, plastic tiles, pattern blocks, and unifix cubes) and estimate how many of each item will fit in a candy bag. The children write these numbers on their papers under ESTIMATE. Now the children actually fill their bags with the various items and count how many of each really fit in the candy bag. They are to write these numbers on their papers.
• HALLOWEEN BINGO:
  http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/Halloween%20bingo%20and%20concentration.pdf
  This site has bingo cards with 9 pictures.
• HAUNTED PIZZA: Make this Halloween snack by spreading pudding on a graham cracker or other cookie. Then sprinkle on chocolate cookie crumbs  and add gummy worms.
• HOT PUMPKIN: This is like hot-potato; when the music stops you need to say a Halloween-related word before the group counts to 10.  (Great for vocabulary reinforcement!)
• PIN THE FANGS ON DRACULA
• BLACK AND ORANGE PLAYDOUGH: Use Halloween cookie cutters.
• MASKS: Use paper plates as a base and open-ended materials to decorate the masks.
• HEADBANDS: Black or orange strip of construction paper measured to child’s head; templates of bats,spiders, ghosts, pumpkins to trace, cut and paste onto the strip (A favorite station every year!)
• HALLOWEEN STICKERS OR STAMP-A-STORY: Each child may select one sticker or stamps to place on a piece of paper. The child is to then write a sentence or story about that sticker or stamp. Pencil or colored marker may be used to write with. If a child finishes one paper, he/she may select another sticker and complete another page.
• CANDY SORTING: For each child fill a bag with several kinds of candy. Have the students estimate how many pieces of candy are in their bag. Then the students count how many pieces of candy are really in their bags. Have the students sort their candy in three different ways. First have them sort the chocolate and non-chocolate candy. Next have the children sort the candy into large and small pieces. Then they sort by favorite and not favorite.
• DEM BONES CANDY SORTING: Have students sort their candies by body parts. If you can find a graphing mat for Dem Bones, have students graph the various body parts by coloring in one square for each piece of candy.
• JACK-O-LANTERN GAME: (similar to “roll-a-snowman”) Each child starts with a pumpkin shape. They roll the die and decorate their pumpkin accordingly. (1=triangle, 2=square, 3=mouth, 4=leaf, 5=lose your turn, 6=circle)
• HALLOWEEN COLORING: Free choice
• WILD THINGS RUMPUS: Musical instruments (used freely-yikes!)
• HALLOWEEN MATH CENTER: Placemats with Halloween counters for counting and patterning
• HALLOWEEN STORIES: Adult reads/looks at books with children (It’s surprising how many children actually choose to sit for a quiet story among the noisy party atmosphere!)
• GHOST CRAFT AND GAME: Make ghosts and pumpkins by wrapping tissue paper around ping-pong balls. The children take turns trying to throw them into a plastic pumpkin.
• WING FLING: Use small plastic/rubber bats to toss into bat-shaped ‘cave’ (a bat-shaped serving tray bought at party store ( or you could use a jack-o’-lantern trick or treat bucket). Kids make tally marks with chalk on black paper bat shapes.
• WITCH’S BREW: Kids graph the ingredients.
• GAK: Kids make the slimy stuff in ziploc bags.
• OWL SANDWICHES: Kids use bread, bologna, cheese, pickle slices, and cheetos to make edible ‘owls’.
• PUMPKIN SEED BLOWING: Kids use a straw to ‘blow’ pumpkin seeds on a chart with Halloween stickers.
• PUMPKIN PATTERNING: Trace a pumpkin or ghost onto a piece of construction paper. Use dot stickers  to make a pattern on the outline of the ghost or pumpkin.
• HALLOWEEN STORE: Have different Halloween party favors in dishes with a price on each one. For kinders, just use pennies. Have the children buy a toy by counting out real pennies to purchase or using penny stickers to record the amount on an index card. They get to keep the toy.
• HOW LONG IS MR. BONES?: Lay a plastic skeleton on the table and estimate how many unifix cubes tall the skeleton is. Then use unifix cubes to measure him.

Literacy

Halloween Erase-A-Rhyme

Draw pictures on the chalkboard. Allow children to complete the rhyming word and then erase that picture part. These rhymes came from barb on Teachers.net.

Jack-O-Lantern Erase-A-Rhyme

If you want a big surprise, then you must erase his (eyes).
If he has a light that glows, then you can erase his (nose).
If you look and find his chin, then you can erase his (grin).
If you want one just like him, then you can erase his (stem).
If you know just the right place, then you can erase his (face).

For a similar activity (coloring the rhyming jack-o-lantern parts), click here:

Jack-O-Lantern Color-a-Rhyme.

Witch Erase-A-Rhyme

If you’ve ever seen her zoom, then you can erase her (broom).
If you’d like one just like that, then you can erase her (hat).
If you think she’ll give you a scare, then you can erase her (hair).
If you’ve seen her in disguise, then you can erase her (eyes).
If you’ve got warts just like those, then you can erase her (nose).
If you wait a little while, then you can erase her (smile).
If you’ve watched her in a race, then you can erase her (face).
Magic spells, she understands. Now you can erase her (hands).
If she has an owl that hoots, then you can erase her (boots).
If you want to make a guess, then you can erase her (dress).
Unless you want her to escape, then you should erase her (cape).

Scarecrow Erase-A-Rhyme

If you stuff him, he’ll be fat. Now you must erase his (hat).
If you put him on a base, then you must erase his (face).
If you like those pumpkin pies, then you can erase his (eyes).
If he grins like a crocodile, then you should erase his (smile).
If he scares away the crows, then you can erase his (nose).
If you wish that he could play, then you can erase the (hay).
If you stick him in the dirt, then you can erase his (shirt).
If the wind will make him dance, then you can erase his (pants).
If you want to see him kick, then you can erase the (stick).

For a similar activity (coloring the rhyming scarecrow parts), click here:

Scarecrow Rhyme Coloring.

Spider Erase A Rhyme

Spider’s dinner is a little guy.
If you see it, erase the ____ (fly).
Spiderlings just came out of the crack,
so now you can erase  the little egg ____(sac).
We can’t stop now, no matter who begs–
so let’s keep going.  Erase her _____ (legs).
With these ‘knitters’ she makes big nets.
If you know, erase the ________ (spinnerets).
Find the biggest part and THEN–
you can erase her __________ (abdomen).
She has 8 of these too; we know ’cause we are wise.
Now we can erase her ______ (eyes).
What are those things like boomerangs??
If someone knows, we’ll erase the ________ (fangs).
Now comes the part that I really dread.
Can someone please erase her ________ (head)?
Someone named Deb
should erase the _______ (web).

Halloween ABCDE Chant

AB CDE
Pumpkins as orange as can be.
FG HIJ
Halloween is on its way!
KL MNO
Children’s feet on the go.
PQ RST
Costumes cute as can be.
UV WXY
“Trick or treat”, they all cry.
ZZ ZZZ
Candy for you and me!

Reading Game

The girl gets to throw a pumpkin beanbag in the witch’s pot for every flashcard she could read.

The children get to put one piece of their spider puzzle on the orange mat for every flash card they can read. You can continue the game by making the spider disappear one piece at a time.

Audience Participation Story

A Haunting We Will Go

Divide the group into four smaller groups and assign each group one of the words listed below. Read the story. After each of the words is read pause for the group to make the appropriate response.

Witches:  High shrill laugh

Ghosts:  “Whoooooooooooo”

Black cat:  “Meow”

Halloween:  Everyone scream

On a dark and windy night in October, around HALLOWEEN___, a group of kindergartners were walking along a dark country road when they came upon an old, old house. Now, it being HALLOWEEN___, and the GHOSTS___ and WITCHES___ were haunting places like this, it was no wonder the kindergartners were scared when a large BLACK CAT___ran across the road in front of them.

The kindergartners decided to follow the BLACK CAT___ and see where he went. Well, the BLACK CAT___ went right into the old house! The boys, being kindergartners, were not afraid, so they went in the front door, but stopped when they heard what sounded like a GHOST___! They, being kindergartners, went all through the house but they didn’t see a GHOST___ or a WITCH___ or even the BLACK CAT___! Then, just as they were about to leave, they saw a WITCH___ flying through the room on her broomstick with theBLACK CAT___ sitting on the end of her broom. Well, that really scared the kindergartners, so they all started through the door at the same time.

Now, everyone knows that a group of kindergartners won’t fit through one door at the same time, but they sure tried. And when they all did come out the whole front wall of the house came with them, making the old house start to fall down, and as it fell, you could hear the GHOST___ and the WITCH___ with her BLACK CAT___ saying, “Where do we go a haunting now. It’s almost HALLOWEEN___, too!”

Maybe they will come to haunt your house!

Crafts

Mr. Candy Corn

Color Mr. Candy Corn  in traditional orange, yellow and white. Draw a face and put on accordion folded arms and legs. Use wiggly eyes or white reinforcements for eyes.

Styrofoam Cup Ghosts

The styrofoam ghost is simple. The children make the face with a a black marker. Punch a small hole in the bottom if you want them to hang from the ceiling. Place the cups on a cookie sheet and put in a 350 degree oven. Let them melt. This will take about 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how much you want them to shrink. Each one will be different.

Personal Clip Art

Use photo software to insert children’s faces on seasonal clipart.

Haunted Houses

We made haunted houses by gluing wood pieces together. The houses were painted black and then decorated with styrofoam packing peanut ghosts, small pumpkins, Halloween glitter spiders and spider webs. This idea came from Mrs. Critchell’s site: http://www.kinderteacher.com.

After the houses were complete, we made a chart that sequenced the process.

Math

Spray paint lima beans and draw on faces to make ghosts, jack-o-lanterns or goblins to use for patterning, counting or problem solving. The story board mats are from Box It or Bag It Math.

Kid Patterns

Use Halloween candy and erasers for sorting, patterning and graphing activities. (Yes, there is a mistake in the pattern!)

We made a Halloween necklace in an ABC pattern.

Graph the marshmallow bats, ghosts and eyeballs in Haunted Cocoa Rice Krispies Cereal.

Go here for the graph: Haunted Cocoa Rice Krispies Cereal Graph

Use Halloween "glitter" to make a pattern on a seasonal blackline.

For a measurement and counting activity cover a ghost with pieces of popcorn.

Halloween Science

Ghost Drop

These ghost patterns came from Mailbox magazine. The two arms are partially cut away from the body, folded in opposite directions to make the ghosts “helicopter” as they fall, and a paper clip is added to the bottom for extra weight. The arms can then be refolded to make the ghosts spin the other direction when they fall.

Slime Science

(courtesy of Maureen Tumenas)

Talk about what a polymer is and then make one or two of the following:

Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts

Cup #1
Glob of glue
Green Food Coloring

Cup #2
Add about an inch of laundry starch.

Then slowly drizzle green glue into the starch.
Fish out the gopher guts with your fingers.

Phlegm

2 parts corn starch
1 part corn syrup
a dropper of water
food coloring

This is edible. Cornstarch will harden in your drain so throw it in the trash when done.

Toe Cheese Goop

Cup #1

6 spoons of glue
6 spoons of water
food coloring

Cup #2
2 spoons borax
1/2 cup water

Then, put 4 spoons of cup #2 into #1.
Finally, stir and pull out the gobs of “toe cheese.”

More:  Halloween Centers & Games