Monthly Theme Ideas

Hey Fellow Munchkin Teachers! I thought you may want to get some ideas for the upcoming month. Here's what I have planned in my classroom.

Check back for March... Coming soon :)

February Theme Ideas: “Friendship is Sweet”

Friendship:

ART IDEAS	Friendship Art- Work on a painting with a friend Paint a hive as a class, have everyone paint their own bumble bee friend to add to the hive Friendship Quilt- everyone decorates a square and helps lace it together Friendship Tree with handprint leaves from all the students Friendship Wreath made of all of the student’s hand prints Friendship Bracelets- make a bracelet for a friend
DISCUSSION IDEAS	What is a friend? What do you like to do with friends? How can we help friends feel good? List ideas- hugs, compliments… Hold a Compliment Circle- go around and give each friend a compliment How can you make new friends?
FINE MOTOR	Lace your friend a Friendship bracelet Write your name on a card and decorate for a friend Lacing the friendship quilt Trace an “F” for friend
LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT	Friendship flowers- split a carnation at its base and put one half in a color and the other half in another color- For example: blue and yellow will make a green flower. Sort counters with a friend ·         Play peek-a-boo counters with a friend. Put numbered hearts in order and hide a different (peek-a-boo) heart.
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT	Friendship Freeze Dance- have students freeze on the nearest heart and make it so they have to share the small area with a friend. “You are my Sunshine” Friend Games (like a Simon Says game)- Have students partner up and teacher calls out, “Hand to Hand,” “Leg to Leg,” “Back to Back” Combination of Freeze Dance and Friend Games- dance around until the music stops then freeze with a friend and follow directions.
CELEBRATE THE WEEK	Friendship Fruit Salad- have each classmate bring in a fruit and add it to the salad. Enjoy!

Valentine’s Day:

ART IDEAS	·         Make a heart with your hands and attach poem you can find here: CLICK HERE and make a Valentine’s Card for parents. ·         Coffee Filter hearts- watercolor paint to create a tie-dye look ·         Splatter painting on a heart (use toothbrushes, paint brushes, etc) ·         Make people out of hearts ·         Spray paint hearts ·         Valentine’s Day Card Holders
DISCUSSION IDEAS	·         What is love? Who do you love? ·         Being caring shows your love. List ways to be caring. ·         How can you show you are thinking of others? ·         What is Valentine’s Day? ·         What does X and O represent with love?
FINE MOTOR	·         Make hearts with your hands ·         Trace a heart ·         Lace a heart necklace ·         Lace a heart shape
LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT	·         What shape does love represent? ·         Sorting hearts by size and color ·         Put numbers on large hearts and put in order ·         Peek-a-boo Hearts: put numbered hearts in order and hide a different (peek-a-boo) heart. ·         Tangrams to make a heart ·         Patterning with X’s and O’s
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT	·         “A Finger Heart” from The Mailbox “Songs and Rhymes on Parade” Fingers to Fingers, Thumb to thumb Bend them down And See what they become ·         “I Love You, You Love Me” from Barney ·         “You are my Sunshine”
CELEBRATE THE WEEK	·         Have a Valentine’s Party and exchange valentines- Tip: Younger students need to be walked through this so keep it to a small group. The students should bring in valentines with no names on them so you can help them drop the cards into their friends boxes/bags easily. Sitting in a circle helps this.

Feelings:

ART	Happy Paper Plate faces- choices of yarn colors for hair, googly eyes, button noses Photocopy real pictures of students posing different emotions. Watercolor over them. Collage with simple faces (circles with sad, happy, mad, silly face)
DISCUSSION IDEAS	Look at pictures of people showing emotions- talk about what they are feeling. Have students practice each emotion. Wrinkled Heart Activity- Read “Chrysanthemum,” by Kevin Henkes or “How to Lose All Your Friends,” by Nancy Carlson. Take a paper heart and wrinkle it a little each hurtful thing read. Then, open the heart and talk about how hurtful things never go away once they are done. Talk about forgiveness. Give situations like, “Someone hit you. What should you do?” Discuss feelings, how to fix it and what to do next. When do you feel… Happy, silly, mad, tired, grumpy… How do you handle friends when you are in a bad mood?
FINE MOTOR	Lace happy faces Make happy faces on white boards Make puzzles out of emotions pictures- Have students put them together Use chopsticks or tweezers to move cotton balls on to a happy face outline Mr. Potato Faces
LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT	Graph feelings each day Add feelings of students- 2 happy plus 2 tired equals 4 friends Sorting and Patterning with faces (use simple circle faces- happy, mad, sad, silly) Count the different faces used on art Listen to a classmate’s heartbeat- How does this sound?
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT	Simon Says- act out emotions Older students can be given a situation and act out emotions (ex: you just stubbed your toe) “Sing a Song of Feelings” courtesy of Hummingbirded.com- to the tune of Frere Jacques “I have feelings, I have feelings Look at me, and you’ll see Sometimes I feel (mad) Really really (mad) Look at me, and you’ll see”
CELEBRATE THE WEEK	Feelings Bingo- I found a great template courtesy of Perkilou Products CLICK HERE

Rhyming, Silly Seuss Week:

Dr. Seuss’ Birthday is March 2^nd.

ART	Paint Cat in the Hat red striped hats Foot prints for the “Foot Book” Decorate a Green Eggs and Ham placemat Draw and dictate to the teacher things that should go up Draw a special birthday cake for Dr. Seuss
DISCUSSION IDEAS	What are rhyming words- play a rhyming game- Can you rhyme with … Come up with your own rhymes Who was Dr. Seuss? Career exploration. What present would you get for Dr. Seuss’ birthday? Book Specific: “Cat in the Hat” What would you do on a rainy day? “Foot Book” Where will you go with your feet? “A Great Day for Up” Game- Does this go up? List different things that do and do not fly “Fox in Sox” Share your silly socks “Green Eggs and Ham” Would you try green eggs and ham? Make them!!
FINE MOTOR	Use wiki stix and form simple Seuss words on top of templates POP bubble wrap Tracing red and white lines on a Seuss hat
LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT	Count how many feet are in the class Estimate then count- How many times did Sam ask? Count how many things go up Counting by 5’s, 10’s, etc. is like rhyming- Try it!
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT	Spell out POP with masking tape on the floor then HOP ON POP
CELEBRATE THE WEEK	Cooking with Rhymes: MAKE a CAKE and BAKE it. Make a cake for Dr. Seuss, while wearing your Dr. Seuss hats, and see how often you can rhyme while doing it. Wear silly socks on Friday too!