THEME: EASTER(Open thematic poster - Easter)

CIRCLE TIME

Magalie Lebrun suggests an imaginary game to begin each day. (Open thematic letter – Easter) Choose the letter you prefer among the three choices. Prepare a beautiful envelope with Easter colors. Print the letter and insert it in the envelope. Place it in an easy to find place in the daycare. During circle time, have the children find the letter and read portions of it to them. Follow the instructions.

Every day select a child to be the group’s Easter Bunny. Give the group clues as to who it is. Be sure to give each child a turn. When they have guessed correctly, the Easter Bunny gets to wear bunny ears. He will be your helper throughout the day. He can serve snacks or plates, be the first to play various games, etc. Be sure to grant your Easter Bunny as many privileges as possible.

SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION PERIODS

Which animals lay eggs?

What kind of meals can we use eggs for?

Where do hens live?

Where does chocolate come from?

How is chocolate made?

What is the origin of Easter?

Which animals are associated with Easter? (rooster, hen, chick, rabbits, etc.)

Where can we find these animals?

What do rabbits, hens, sheep, and ducks eat?

What color is chocolate?

Who likes chocolate?

Discuss eggs (shape, color, texture, etc.).

Have you ever seen a rooster, a hen, or a chick? Where?

What is Easter?

AREA SETUP

Easter Tree

This can be a collective project which lasts all week. When you are outside with the children, search for a branch. Place it in a bucket filled with sand or rocks. Paint the branch and add sparkles. Use it to hang the decorations the group makes.

Hang colorful plastic eggs from the ceiling. If they do not have a hole at the end to hang a string simply use hot glue to attach a string to the eggs. Hang pictures of bunnies, chicks, hens, etc. on the walls. Gift bags and greeting cards are a great source!

Using a simple cardboard box, you can conceive a terrific décor with the group. Paint the box and glue Easter decorations on it. Purchase bunnies, chicks, baskets, flowers, multicolored plastic eggs, hats, silk scarves, etc. Take pictures of the children standing in front of the décor. A wonderful gift for parents! (Open Easter frame) Pictures can be wrapped in a shoe box with straw and chocolate eggs.

PICTURE GAME

The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with the group. Use them to decorate the daycare or a specific thematic corner.

(Open picture game – Easter) Print, laminate, and store in a “Ziploc” bag or in your thematic bins.

ACTIVITY SHEETS

For Easter, we have prepared an Activity Sheet Workbook. (Open activity sheet workbook – Easter) Print and follow instructions.

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS

Have fun with these great workshop ideas provided by Caroline Allard. To help you plan and organize your workshops, we have prepared a useful printable document.

(Open workshop planner)

Sensory bins:

  • Fill a bin with store-bought colorful straw, straw leftover from last year’s chocolate, or simply shredded paper. Organize the straw to resemble a nest.
  • Add a stuffed hen and chicks and you have a henhouse!
  • Add plastic eggs of all kinds (eggs that open, eggs that sparkle, big eggs, miniature eggs, etc.) You can also add other farm animals. Even if they do not lay eggs, they can be lots of fun!
  • Eggs filled with hidden surprises
  • Use a bin filled with water or simply a sink. Add rubber ducks and a few stones.
  • Add green styrofoam pieces to your water table to resemble lily pads. Add food coloring or foam bath
  • Select a few stuffed animals (which you no longer need) and allow children to play in the water with them

Construction or building blocks:

  • Use only pastel colored blocks.
  • Add farm animals or a small farm if you have one for children to make the connection with the Easter farm which, if possible, can be visited with the children at your local mall
  • Provide plastic strawberry containers with straw
  • Color and cut out Easter pictures (bunnies, ducks, chicks, hens, etc.) Laminate to create original characters

Manipulation:

  • Create miniature “sound boxes” with plastic eggs. Present them to children in a colorful basket. For older children, prepare sets of eggs with identical sounds. They will enjoy trying to find the two eggs which make the same sound. It may be best to use hot glue to secure the eggs
  • Memory game with pictures of farm animals
  • A tic-tac-toe game using chicks and bunnies
  • Hopping bunny game
  • Memory game with Educatall pictures
  • Pastel-colored modeling dough (homemade or store-bought) with Easter pastry cutters (bunnies, flowers, chicks, etc.)
  • Easter puzzles (farm, Spring, etc.)
  • Lotto game

Role play:

  • Bunny, chick, or duck costumes. Many accessories such as headbands can be found at dollar stores
  • Rain boots, checkered shirt, and a straw hat for a farmer’s costume along with stuffed farm animals
  • A mirror and face painting is always popular!
  • Organize a chocolate factory corner using chocolate scented modeling dough, pastry cutters, and other accessories. Include a chef’s hat and an apron

Arts & Crafts:

  • Cellophane (transparent) paper, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, and any other green, blue, pink, or yellow material
  • Pastel-colored sand (Dollar store) for extraordinary collages
  • Chalk on dark construction paper, dry pastels on dark paper, pastel-colored wooden pencils or markers
  • Add a few drops of food coloring to white glue
  • Farm animal or egg stencils
  • Coloring pages related to the theme

Reading/Relaxation:

  • Easter books, books about farm animals…
  • Decorate the area with Easter pictures
  • Record animal sounds for children to listen to using a Walkman

Science:

  • Grow grass or alfalfa in empty egg shells to create funny characters
  • Dye eggs with various natural dyes such as red cabbage, blueberry juice, or with food coloring in a small quantity of water and vinegar
  • Make an egg shell disappear in a glass of vinegar! Children will be very impressed
  • Any scientific experiment you can find involving eggs…there are so many!

WORD FLASHCARDS

The flashcards may be used during circle time to spark a conversation or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins.

(Open word flashcards – Easter) Chocolate, bunny, chick, basket, egg, straw, carrot, flower, Easter egg, Spring, daffodil, hen

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Bunny tail

Draw a bunny without a tail on a large piece of cardboard. Cut a circle out of cardboard and glue cotton balls to it. Blindfold children. One at a time, children attempt to place the tail in the correct place on the bunny. The winner is the child who places the tail closest to the right spot. Variation: Draw a bunny with an empty basket. Children try to place Easter eggs in the basket.

Miniature egg race

Children stand side by side in a large open area. They crouch down to form balls and roll themselves to the other side of the room.

Watch out for the eggs

Trace a straight line on the floor using electrical tape. One at a time, children walk on the line with an egg resting in a spoon. They must try not to let the egg fall. You may use a hard boiled egg to avoid messes.

Henhouse

Fill a large container with wood shavings. Add Easter figurines (chicks, bunnies, eggs, etc.). Children will enjoy playing in their henhouse.

Mysterious egg

Hand each child a small Easter bag. Hide several eggs throughout the daycare. One egg should have a tiny object inside. Children hunt for eggs and fill their bags while a song plays. When the music stops, children gather and open their eggs to find the mysterious object. The child who finds it becomes the hen and hides the eggs for the following round. If the egg with the object is not found, they continue searching until it is discovered.

Bunny or chick

Stand at one end of the daycare. Children stand with their backs to the wall at the opposite end of the room. Show them a picture of a bunny. Children must hop towards you like bunnies. Show them a picture of a chick. Children crouch down and peck like a chick. Alternate the bunny and chick pictures. Continue until the group has all reached the other side of the room. Start over.

Easter lacing

(Open Easter shapes) Print and cut out. Punch holes around the contour and have children lace.

Bunny hole

Place hoops on the floor and play music. Bunnies (children) hop or dance around the daycare to the beat of the music. When the music stops, each bunny must find a hole to call home. The bunny which does not find a hole is out of the game. Remove one hoop every time you start over as in musical chairs.

Be careful! Very fragile!

Children form a circle. Have them pass an egg around the circle without dropping it. This is a very stimulating and rhythmic game!

May I Easter Bunny?

You play the role of the Easter Bunny. Give instructions to the group such as “Take two giant bunny hops”, or “Take two tiny chick steps”. Before moving, children must ask you, “May I Easter Bunny?” You must answer yes or no. They must follow the instructions only if you said yes.

Easter Bunny says

The leader of the game gives instructions to the group using, “Easter Bunny says…”instead of “Simon says…” Examples of instructions are run like a bunny, hop like a bunny, eat a carrot like a bunny, peck like a chick, sit on an egg like a hen, etc.

The hen and the chick

Children sit in a circle. Select a player to walk around the circle touching the other children’s heads saying, “Chick.” Finally, he touches a child and says “hen”. This child must stand up and pursue the other player around the circle. If he catches the player who touched his head before going all the way around the circle, he may return to his place. If he does not catch the other player, he becomes the one who walks around the circle touching children’s heads and saying “chick”. Variation: Children stand in a circle. One player is outside of the circle playing the role of the bunny. The “bunny” has a basket. He walks around the circle and eventually deposits the basket behind another child. The child with the basket behind him must attempt to catch the bunny. The bunny must return to the other child’s place and the game continues.

Egg race

Children must roll an egg using their noses. To make the race more difficult, you can create an obstacle course.

Bunny tracks

Dip your index and middle finger in flour. Leave bunny tracks here and there. Make a long trail for children to follow. At the end of the trail, children find a basket full of Easter eggs.

Feather race

Use electrical tape to mark a start and finish line. There should be approximately 10cm between the two lines. Give each child a straw to use to blow on their feathers. The first child to have his feather cross the finish line wins. The winner may be challenged by another child.

Light as a feather

Stand in a circle around a large blanket. Children firmly hold the edge of the blanket. Have them raise their arms above their heads. Put feathers on the blanket and make them move by shaking the blanket. Observe the way the feathers fall back down on the blanket. You may add paper eggs (Open egg models). Print the eggs and cut out.

Fishing for eggs

Cut eggs out of cardboard (Open egg models) Attach paperclips to the eggs. Use a fishing line with a magnet at the end to fish for eggs.

Egg hatching

Use this as a relaxation activity. Play soft music. Imitate a chick hatching from its egg.

Bunny game

Children wear a strip of paper with bunny ears attached to it (Open bunny ears). They stand at one end of the daycare. You hold three different bunny pictures. One bunny is sleeping, one is hopping, and one is eating (Open bunny game). When the picture of the sleeping bunny is displayed, children must lie down on the ground. They must hop like a bunny when they see the picture of the hopping bunny and pretend to eat a carrot when they see the bunny eating.

Puzzle

Find Easter pictures (example: greeting cards, gift bags, etc.) Cut each picture into two or three pieces using jagged scissors. Give children a piece of a puzzle and have them search for the other pieces to complete the puzzles.

Sorting chocolate

Draw a line on the floor and place an empty egg carton a few feet further. Children try to throw chocolate eggs into the cavities.

Snap, crackle, pop!

Children sit in a circle. Place open plastic Easter eggs in the center of the circle. Children must assemble them as quickly as possible. Each child can have a basket in which he deposits the eggs he successfully assembles. Count the eggs in each basket when all the eggs have been assembled.

Who is the hen?

Children form a large circle. Choose a child to stand, blindfolded, in the center of the circle. Another child is chosen to be the hen. This child walks around the circle holding an egg while the rest of the group sings a song. The hen gives the egg to another player. The player who receives the egg makes a chicken sound and the other children stop singing. The blindfolded child must guess who has the egg. Players exchange roles. The child who was the hen goes to the center of the circle and the child who was given the egg becomes the hen.

Chick race

Divide the group into two teams. When you give the signal, the first player from each team places a chick (yellow cotton ball) in his spoon and crosses to the other side of the room and back. They then give the spoon and chick to the next player in their team and so on until everyone has had a turn.

Colored bunnies

Make two teams. Have them stand on two lines facing each other at opposite ends of the daycare. Associate one color to the two bunnies from opposite teams who are one in front of the other (2 yellow bunnies, 2 red bunnies, etc.) Place a carrot on the floor halfway between the two teams. When you name a color, the two children associated to that color must run to grab the carrot. The child who reaches the carrot first earns a point for his team.

Bunny race

Make a large circle. Children hold hands. One child remains outside of the circle holding a basket, he is the bunny. He hops around the circle and deposits the basket behind another player. He then quickly runs away and the other child must try to catch him. The bunny tries to reach the other player’s place before being caught. Start over.

Bunny marathon

Place carrots in a line on a table. Children stand in a pillowcase at the other end of the room and hop to catch a carrot before returning to the starting point.

Where are the bunnies?

(Open tiny bunny) Print and laminate. Hide tiny bunnies throughout the daycare. Place them so children will see their ears sticking out of their hiding places. When you give the signal, children search for bunnies. There is no winner in this game. The object of the game is simply to have fun. At the end, you can give each player a tiny bunny to take home.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Easter egg hunt

Hide plastic eggs and have children hunt for them.

Easter walk

When you take a walk with the group, invite children to imitate you (example: hopping like a bunny, walking like a duck, etc.) You can also walk single file like a duck family. Baby chicks imitate each movement their mother does…

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

The shaking box

Use an empty egg carton. Write the numbers 1, 2, and 3, three times each in different sections of the egg carton. In the remaining sections, glue pictures of a bunny, a duck, and a rooster (or other animal pictures on hand). Children place a button in the egg carton and close it. They shake the box before opening it to see in which section the button landed. If it fell on a number, the children must name the number. If it fell in a section containing the picture of an animal, they must reproduce the sound associated with that animal.