Cars Preschool Theme

  

With the popularity of Disney's Cars the Movie and Lightening McQueen, cars is a good theme for a preschool curriculum. The topic can be included within a transportation preschool lesson plan or as part of a safety unit. The following article provides ideas for car crafts, songs and activities appropriate for any early childhood environment.

  

Car Preschool Crafts

There are many crafts that can follow a car theme. The following suggestions are appropriate for toddlers as well.


1.Car Painting: allow young children to paint with cars by placing some spoonfuls of tempera paint onto large pieces of paper and provide small cars and trucks to drive. It is a good idea to choose cars or trucks that have treads on the wheel for they will make more visible tire tracks. Alternatively, the cars can be sitting in a tray of paint.


2.License Plate Rubbings: find old license plates for cars. Each child can create a crayon rubbing of the plate by placing a tracing paper over top and then using the side edge of crayons to create the image.


3.Collective Mural: on a bulletin board, the preschool teacher will place a large picture of a road. The children can cut out car pictures from magazines and then paste them onto the road to help make a classroom mural. This class project also works well for a transportation theme.


4.Shapes: provide children with different shapes, such as rectangles, squares, circles and small triangles and allow them to create cars out of the shapes. This art activity works well with a class demonstration and visual cue for the children to follow.



Car Preschool Songs


Overall, transportation songs can be included into a car preschool lesson plan. The following song is more specific to a car theme.


Twinkle twinkle little star
My daddy drives a motor car
Push a button, and pull the choke
Off he goes with a puff of smoke
Twinkle twinkle little star
My daddy drives a motor car.



Another important lesson to include into a car theme for a preschool class is to discuss safety, and the lights which are used to direct traffic. This following song will correlate well with a game of Go, Go, Stop.


To the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" –

Twinkle, twinkle traffic light
On the corner shining bright
Red means stop, and green means go
Yellow means go very slow
Twinkle twinkle traffic light
On the corner shining bright



Children Activities for a Car Theme


                    

Car Matching: this matching game can be made out of felt material for the flannel board or other material. The matching activity promotes color recognition. On a flannel board, the teacher will place different color garages. Alternatively, the garages could hold numbers or shapes. Each child in the circle will be provided a matching car with the same color and/or design. The children will be asked to bring their car to the board to place their felt piece into the appropriate garage.


Cars on Trays: instead of cars in the sandbox, which is thoroughly enjoyed by young children, try placing cornmeal on a tray with a few cars. This activity can be a singular station in the classroom.

Spelling Car: on clean juice lids, stick letters on one side and then turn upside down onto a table. For this activity, a child will use a magnet wand to lift the lids to try and make the word car. The process helps with letter skills.


Threading a Car: provide children with a car shape made out of a thick piece of paper with holes punched out around the edge of the shape. The shape will hold a string with a knot at the end through one hole, to allow a child to thread the string through the other holes. This activity is wonderful for fine motor development in young children.

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas 

Turtle Preschool Theme

Turtles are fun animals to feature for a theme day in a preschool curriculum and could be included into a variety of preschool lesson plans, such as a pet theme, or a reptile lesson plan. The following article provides some facts, preschool songs, crafts and books for a turtle theme day within an early childhood setting.

Introducing Turtles with Children


Begin a theme on turtles at circle time by asking the children what they know about turtles. Record their answers and use them as a starting base for the learning process. Some facts to share with a preschool classroom about turtles:


 •one of the oldest living animals on earth, they existed over 200 million years ago
•some turtles can live for a very long time, to 100 years old and older
•many different sizes and live everywhere on earth except the Antarctica where it is too cold
•live in many different settings from land and water, to forests and grasslands
•many land turtles are called tortoises.
•they are reptiles
•their shell protects them from predators
•there are over 250 species
•some are endangered and need protecting
•some turtles can be kept as pets, and they need to be taken care of properly
•they can be carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores depending on what kind of turtle



Preschool Song and Poem about Turtles

This action song has fun hand motions to go along with the lyrics and is very popular within many early childhood environments, including swimming lessons. If you do not know the tune, there are many YouTube videos available:



I have a little turtle, his name is Tiny Tim
I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water, he ate up all the soap
And now my little turtle has a bubble in his throat.

Works well with using sign language as well. Here are the signs for turtle and bubble

This finger play is a popular preschool poem about turtles:



There was a little turtle (make a small circle with your hands)
He lived in a box, (make a box with both hands)
He swam in a puddle, (wiggle hands)
He climbed on the rocks. (climb fingers of one hand up over the other)
He snapped at a mosquito, (clap hands)
He snapped at a flea, (clap hands)
He snapped at a minnow, (clap hands)
He snapped at me. (point to yourself)
He caught the mosquito, (mimic catching a bug)
He caught the flea (same action)
He caught the minnow, (same action)
But he didn't catch me! (point to yourself)



Turtle Preschool Craft








A developmentally appropriate craft for preschool is to use a paper plate for the turtle's body. The preschoolers can then tear up paper to cover the shell. This process is great for fine motor development. Prepare a head, tail and feet for the children to finish their turtle.



A single egg carton can be used for the turtle's body. In addition to make a flat turtle, the young children can put together the turtle with as an old CD covered in felt or craft foam cut in a circle for the main body.









Felt Board Poem about Turtles

                                              




The following poem works well as felt pieces on a flannel board:

One turtle with nothing to do
Called for his friend, then there were two.
Two turtles strolling by a tree
Saw their buddy, now there are three.
Three turtles, a log as their floor
Made room for a pal, now there are four.
Four turtles warming in the sun
Saw a fifth friend, and said, "what fun!"




Children's Books about Turtles


Many preschool children are familiar with turtles based on the many books, and television shows about Franklin and his friends. Here are a few more suggested books:


•One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies (Candlewick, 2005)
•Turtle in the Sea by Jim Arnosky (GP Putnam and Sons, 2002)
•Turtle Splash by Cathryn Falwell (Greenwillow, 2002)
Of course, don't forget about the classic tale of Tortoise and the Hare.



Other Preschool Areas for a Turtle Theme


There are still some more ways to add turtles into a theme day within a preschool curriculum, such as placing plastic turtles into a sensory table with sand and barks of wood, taking a field trip to a local pet store that have turtles and playing a game of Turtle Turtle Hare, a rendition of the classic Duck, Duck Goose. Children could wear green or brown on this theme day and be invited to bring any turtles they have at their home.

Online Early Childhood Workshops with Circle of Ideas 

Indoor Preschool Games

 

In early childhood settings, it is important to have a curriculum that includes physical activities that will foster gross motor development. But, sometimes, there are those days when the weather does not cooperate for the young children to have their allocated outside play time. When those days occur, whether it's due to rainy days, or too cold or hot temperatures, then it is a good idea to have some games and movement activities available for young children to engage in. Following are some game ideas for young children to play inside. These games are helpful in preschool and daycare settings but can also be used at home and for birthday parties.

 

 

Who is Under the Blanket?

One child is chosen to leave the group, and is sent away somewhere so that he/she cannot see the rest of the class. The teacher then chooses one child to hide under the blanket. When the selected child returns to the group, he/she must guess who is under the blanket. It is important to tell the children, before the game begins, how everyone must keep the secret and not give the child's name away to the guesser.

Fruit Basket

Every child in a circle receives a picture of a fruit. There are pairs of fruit. A teacher calls out a fruit, such as "apple" and two people will stand up and change seats. This is done several times, and then the teacher says, "fruit basket" and all the children must stand up and move to another seat. This game can have other variations, such as bug dance.

Doggie, Doggie, Where's Your Bone?

One child is selected to be the dog, and sits in a chair with his/her back to the children who are sitting in a circle. The teacher chooses a child from the group to steal the bone which is sitting under the chair. The child makes sure that bone cannot be seen and the group says, "Doggie, doggie, where's your bone? Somebody stole it from your home. Guess who? Maybe you! Maybe the monkeys from the zoo. Wake up doggie, find your bone". This game can have many variations depending on seasons, holidays and themes. For instance, it can be a squirrel and the nut is stolen.

Duck Duck Goose

This is a classic game that requires some room. The children sit in a circle and one child is chosen. He/she moves around the outside of the circle tapping each child's head while saying "duck." But, when the child says, "goose," then that child must stand up and run the opposite direction of the first child in atttempt to get his/her seat back.

The Bunny Hop

Have a number of flashcards with shapes or numbers on them, and one card that has a bunny. The teacher shows the cards to the group and the children can call out the right answer to the picture being shown. Then the teacher shows the bunny card, and all the children can hop up and down while she sings, "hop little bunnies, hop hop hop, hop little bunnies till you stop and drop."

 

 

The Shoe Game

Everyone takes off one shoe and puts in the center of the room. Then a child is asked to leave the room. The teacher selects one of the shoes and hides it away. The child returns to the circle and has to guess whose shoe is missing. This is a great visual and memory game.

 

Number Game

The children dance and/or move around and when the teacher pauses the music she will call out a number. The children will then try and make groups with that number. So, for instance if she calls out three, then the children try and make groups of three.

 

Obstacle Course for Preschoolers

If the young children inside are very active, an indoor obstacle course can do the trick. Use things around the room to help create the course, such as furniture, cushion and carpets. The children each take a turn. They have to listen to the instructions carefully. The teacher might say, "first I want you to go under this table, then go around this chair, hop up and down twice and then sit back down."
Young children need to move their bodies. When outside time is not available, then it is becomes necessary to find indoor games and activities which allow them to move and have fun.