Communication, Language, and LIteracy (Enjoying Language)
An activity for young toddlers
Materials
-soft farm animal toys -laundry basket
Materials for modifiers: -stuffed spider toys -toy fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, goat, cow, and horse
Modifiers
For an easier challenge: -The class sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and the basket will be filled with stuffed spiders the students can hold and play with.
For a trickier challenge: -The class sings "I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly," and the teacher will have the students come up and pick the animals the old lady eats in the song.
Follow-up Ideas
-Create a felt board for songs and rhymes. Print out characters for songs like "Mary had a Little Lamb" and "Three Little Monkeys" and put Velcro on the back of the characters. Then create a felt board with poster board and felt, and place the characters on the board when singing the different songs.
-Implement finger play in the classroom. Songs like "Where is Thumbkin?" implement fine-motor skills while aiding communication development.
Originating Idea
This is a creative way to get the infants involved in songs and music. Rather than singing songs or playing music at them, your incorporate the children into the music.
How to Make Activity
The teacher should pick out the different animals she wants to implement in the song. She should make sure there are enough animals in the basket for each child to chose at least one animal. Then she should place them in the basket. The basket then needs to be placed in the middle of the carpet.
How to Implement Activity
After morning snack, the children should wash their hands and sit down at the carpet for circle time. The teacher should point to the basket and say, "This morning we're going to do something special for circle time. We're going to sing 'Old McDonald' in a new way! You get to chose the animals we're going to put in the song! I'll call on you one-by-one to pick out an animal. Let's get started!"
The children then sing 'Old McDonald' with their teacher. After the teacher sings the "...and on that farm he had a--" she'll call a student's name. That student will stand up and pick an animal out of the basket. He will hold onto the animal for the rest of the song.
Once the song is done, the teacher will say, "Ok, friends, the animals need to go back to the farm! We'll see them again another day!" The students will put the animals back in the farm, and then the teacher will go over morning work.