Bonus Unit
Holidays
Materials for Holidays Bonus Unit
Tin cans or baby food jars
Unpopped popping corn
Glad Press and Seal wrap
Coloring utensils
Time capsule container
Cupcakes
Sparkling apple juice
Doilies
Construction paper
Glitter
Paper plates
Hearts made of paper
Bed sheet
Rice crispies
Egg dying packages
Hard boiled eggs
Egg cartons
Pipe cleaners
Glue
Paint and supplies
Nutter Butter cookies
Frosting
Candies
Graham crackers
Bread
Turkey
Cheese
Condiments
Cotton balls
Plastic goblet
Craft glue
Tissue paper
Wrapping paper
Ribbon
Matzoh
Soap templates
Glycerin
Scents, dyes
Food coloring
Chocolate hearts
Star stickers
Magazines to cut up
Milk and donuts
Pretzel rods
Melted white chocolate
Styrofoam balls
Yarn
Regular pretzels
Origami template
Menorah
Candles
Sugar cookies
New Years
Story Time: Happy New Year! / Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts'ai!by Demi
This book introduces students to the Chinese New Year and all the celebrations associated with it.
Art Activities:
Individual: Noise Makers
Give students cleaned out tin cans or baby food jars to make shakers with. Provide them with unpopped popping corn and let them fill their containers as they wish. Then, they can cover the open end with Glad Press and Seal plastic covering. It will hold the kernels inside and will leave you without a mess! Students can decorate the containers however they like.
Group: Time Capsule
Create a time capsule with things from your classroom that will be found by students a long time from now. Encourage students to include things that represent their daily activities, such as markers and crayons, books, and a picture of the class.
Cognitive Skills:
Old and New
Talk to students about the concepts of old and new and ask for some examples of old and new things. Then, give them a worksheet and two different coloring of coloring utensils. They should circle all the old things on the worksheet in one color and all the new things with the other color. Talk about the value of old and new things as well.
New Year, New You
Ask students if they know about New Year’s resolutions, and if they do, what theirs might be for next year. Tell them that it is a great way to start something over, especially if they have been making mistakes or not being a nice person.
Dramatic Play: Midnight Snowball Fight
Send your students to winter with this fun play activity. They can pretend to be outside in the dark, just before midnight on New Year’s Eve. They can be having a snowball fight until you tell them that it is time to celebrate the New Year. Then, they can all count down from 10 and jump around in celebration.
Snack Time: Sparkling Apple Juice and Cupcakes
Because New Year’s is a celebration, your students should get a little celebration for snack time! Give them festive cupcakes and a cup of sparkling apple juice. It will make them feel like they are having a soft drink even though they are getting none of the caffeine effects.
Valentine’s Day
Story Time: Fluffy's Valentine's Day by Kate Mcmullan
This is about a loveable pig who realizes the fun of Valentine’s Day.
Art Activities
Individual: Personalized Valentines
Provide students with doilies, construction paper, coloring utensils, and glitter and let them make their own valentines. You can provide them with some simple phrases written on colorful paper (or even provide Valentine stickers), such as “Happy Valentine’s Day!” “Be Mine, Valentine,” and “Have a Stellar Day, Valentine!”. They can glue these to their valentines.
Group: Valentine’s Day Quilt
Give the children magazines to cut out pictures which would be appropriate for Valentine’s Day. Have them cut out a rectangle of construction paper. On it, they can glue or tape their pictures to look like they are “sown” together to make a “quilt” of Valentine’s Day cheer.
Cognitive Skills:
Counting
Make two hearts, one pink and one red. Glue them together, back to back. Then, put that heart with about three dozen other plain hearts on a bed sheet. Have each student grab a part of the bed sheet and lift it high on your count. When you say the word, students should toss the sheet in the air so that the hearts fly. Students should then run to pick up all the hearts. When they have all been collected, have students count their hearts to see who has the most. The person who get the pink and red heart can count it as five hearts.
History of Valentine’s Day
You can explain Valentine’s Day without getting too religious with students by telling them that the day is named after St. Valentine and telling them a bit about why he was known for love and gifts. Ask students if they can think of any other holidays that have to do with religious celebrations or historical figures.
Dramatic Play: Secret Valentine
Have one student pretend to be at home, and have other students come and pretend to ring the doorbell but run away. The student at home should open the door and act confused for the first few times, then angry. Finally, on the last ring, the student should open up the door to find a valentine lying on the ground. He or she reads the valentine and looks for the sender but cannot see anyone. Finally, the sender comes forward and gives the recipient a Valentine’s Day hug.
Snack Time: Red and Pink Rice Crispies
These are such a fun and delicious treat. The red and pink colors will make them festive and keep your students in a Valentine’s Day mood!
Ingredients:
1 or 2 bags miniature marshmallows
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups crispy rice cereal
Red food coloring
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add marshmallows and red food coloring.
Stir until mixture becomes difficult to stir any more.
Mix in the Rice Crispy Cereal and stir until hot.
Butter a pan (a square pan like a brownie pan) and spread mixture evenly in the pan. Allow to cool and cut into squares.
Easter
Story Time:The Best Easter Egg Hunt Ever by John Speirs
Keep the mood light with this cute story about an Easter egg hunt. Your students will be dying to do their own egg hunt!
Art Activities
Individual: Egg Dying
Bring in egg dying kits and hard boiled eggs for students to experiment with. You can set up stations with different colors and teach students how to pattern the eggs. You should have egg cartons available for the eggs to dry in later.
Group: Tulip Bouquet
Students will each need one cup from an egg carton, paint supplies, and a pipe cleaner. They should cut the top of the egg carton cup in a jagged edge so it looks like a tulip. Then, they should paint or color their egg carton. When it is dry, they should write their names on the tulip. One end of the pipe cleaner should be twirled into a spiral shape. This end will be glued to the egg carton. Let it set for a few hours and put everyone’s flowers together for a class bouquet.
Cognitive Skills
Match the Patterns
Cut out egg shapes from different colors of paper with 2 eggs for each color. Hide one each of the different color eggs in the classroom. If you don’t have enough colors you can always decorate eggs with matching decoration (for example, some a squiggle design, some with zigzag, some with stripes. Give each child one egg and have them find their matching egg in the room.
To increase the difficulty, you can make large egg shapes then cut them in half using a puzzle type cut, such as zigzag or interlocking puzzle pieces. Give each child one half of an egg, and then ask them to find the person with the other half that fits theirs.
Dramatic Play: The Bunny Family
Have your students pretend to be a family of bunnies. You are the parent bunny and it is your job to get everyone together and sitting down for a bunny dinner for Easter, but your bunny family is too wild and excited to sit still long enough to fill their plates! Have your students take turns being the bad bunny while you pretend to get exasperated at their behavior.
Snack Time: Easter Chick
For this snack, take a nutter butter cookie (or similar sandwich cookie if there are allergies to nuts) and ice it with yellow frosting. Use a candy corn for the beak and chocolate chips for eyes. Your students will have lots of energy after this snack, so be prepared!
Passover
Story Time: Matzo Ball Moon by Leslea Newman
This is a charming story about a girl and her family at Passover. The Matzo balls are so good that no one can resist sneaking them when they make trips through the kitchen. After eating a wonderful meal, the girl sees the moon and compares it to a matzo ball, leading to the name of the book.
Art Activities
Individual: Soft Little Lambs
Each student starts with two paper plates. One should be the body of the sheep. One will be cut apart to make the head and feet. Students should cover the body with cotton balls that they glue on. Next, they should cut a circle for the head and glue it on the back of the body, so that it looks like we are viewing the sheep from the side. Then, students should trace their thumbs to make feet for the sheep. They can cut the feet out and glue them on as well. Finally, they can decorate the face and make their sheep smile.
Group: Create Elijah’s Goblet
Keeping with Jewish tradition, students can make Elijah’s goblet from a plastic goblet and tissue paper. The students should have different parts to perform to make this a true class project. The first students should cover the cup in craft glue. The next group should cover the cup in tissue paper that has been torn up into little pieces. The third group covers the cup with another layer of craft glue to make it shiny and smooth. The fourth group glues a piece of ribbon at the top of the stem and winds it around until it reaches the bottom. Then, they should glue the bottom in place. Finally, the last group should decorate the cup with extra bits of ribbon, colored-on butterflies, etc.
Cognitive Skills
Traditional Passover Food
Ask your students if they know what foods are usually eaten at Passover. Tell them what the menu consists of and explain what the symbolism behind each food is. If possible, bring the food for your students to see and taste.
Dramatic Play: Seder Supper
Have students act out a Seder supper, including telling a little about the history of Passover and why it is so important to the Jewish culture. They can pretend to be a family sitting down to dinner and telling stories about their heritage and culture.
Snack Time: Matzoh
This traditional Jewish food of unleavened bread is available at most grocery stores with a kosher section, so it should be easy to find and tasty to eat. Give it to your students and explain that it is the same as their normal bread, it just does not have yeast, which makes the bread rise.
Mother’s Day
Story Time:Wake up, Emily, It's Mother's Dayby Patricia Reilly Giff
Your students will probably understand Emily’s problem of not knowing what to do for her mother for Mother’s Day. She keeps trying to think of things to do, but her plans are not working out. Will she have a gift ready in time?
Art Activities
Individual: Mother’s Day Card
Give students construction paper, coloring supplies, and a mission to make their mothers a Mother’s Day card. Since it is their card and their mother, they can create whatever they want. When they are finished with the outside, you should have a standard saying for them on the inside, such as “Thanks for being such a great mom! I love you!” They can sign their names to make it truly special.
Group: Decorative Soap
Bring in soap templates and glycerin soap for your students to use in making their mothers special soap. You can melt down the glycerin and let them add colors, scents, and exfoliating particles if they wish. You should do all the pouring and handling of the hot soap, but they can personalize their products just for their mothers. You should keep track of whose soap is in which template by writing their names on the templates.
Cognitive Skills
Mother’s Role
Ask your students some of the many things their mothers do. Ask them how hard they think their mothers have to work to make sure everything is as it is supposed to be. Talk about ways your students can make things easier for their mothers, such as picking up after themselves or doing things to help before they are asked.
Dramatic Play: Be a Mother
Students can be mothers in this dramatic play, but the fun is that they get to pick what type of mother they want to be. They could be mother ducks or mother horses, whatever they can think of. They should treat their imaginary children as a traditional mother would, adapting it for the type of mother they pick.
Snack Time: Chocolate Hearts
Mothers love chocolate, so serve it to your students in honor of Mother’s Day. If there are heart-shaped chocolates available, that is most appropriate, but if not, just use whatever is around and in season.
Memorial Day
Story Time: Let’s Get Ready for Memorial Day by Lloyd G. Douglas
This book has a nice history and background on Memorial Day, as well as a storyline that students will follow.
Art Activities
Individual: Personal Flag
Let students show their national pride by helping them make an American flag. They can cut strips of red and white paper for the main section of the flag. Once those are glued together, they can cut a blue square from construction paper and glue it to the upper left corner. Then, students can add small stars. The small star stickers that come in various colors work best for this; use the silver ones to make it look most authentic. Then, students can cover the stripes in glitter if you have it. They should drizzle glue over the stripe and put the same color glitter on all of the stripes. It will make it much flashier and exciting for your students.
Group: Memorial Day Tribute
Pass out magazines for your students to look through and cut up. Ask them to look for pictures that they think are related to Memorial Day, such as people in uniform, flags, gravesites, and any other patriotic picture they may find. Then, have your students come forward and paste their findings on a big notepad. This should be a group project, and everyone should get to post everything they find, as long as it is relevant. When you are finished, talk about what items you have on your board and why they represent Memorial Day.
Cognitive Skills
Counting Flag
Give students a multitude of a small candy, such as red hots or M&Ms. They should divide all the red ones into seven equal piles, representing the seven red stripes on the flag. Then, they should separate all the white candies into six equal piles, representing the six white stripes on the flag. Students should also make sure that there are the same number in the white piles as the red piles. Then, they should count to see how many they have per pile. Students can then line up their stripes and count how many candies they have total.
Dramatic Play: Memorial Day Parade
Send your students on a joyful parade around the room celebrating the service and sacrifice of the armed forces. They can pretend to be in a bad, they can be baton twirlers, they can be beauty queens, they can ride horses; they can do whatever they see in parades. Do not forget to keep students reminded that there is a serious reason for the holiday but that it is a time for joy and celebration.
Snack Time: Graham Cracker Flags
Give each student a graham cracker and have three dishes of icing sitting out. The icing should be mixed with food coloring so there is red, white, and blue colors. Let students decorate their flag however they want before eating it.