Active! Inside and Out!

1. Active! Inside and Out! Summer Reading Activities for 3-5 year olds

2. Activities that promote health, fitness and the five early literacy practices TALKING READING PLAYING SINGING WRITING

3. Talking Sink or Float: Have a variety of sports balls (tennis ball, baseball, soccer ball, football, ping pong balls, etc.) and a large tub of water. Give each child one of the balls and ask him/her if she/he thinks it will sink or float and why. Then, have them (one at a time) place their ball in the water and see if their prediction was correct. Discuss in simple terms why the ball sank or why it floated. Graphing: Make a large graph with different sports listed at the top. Ask the children what sport they like to play the best and then let them put a colored square (small post it notes work well) on the graph. They can then make comparisons to see which sports are liked best, least and count how many like each sport. Play dough Balls: Have assorted colors of modeling dough. Show children how to roll it into a ball shape. Let them continue to play by making balls of different shapes and sizes. Have them group the balls according to size and color.

4. Writing Roll the Ball Painting: Use small balls (like bouncy balls), shallow trays, paper, and a variety of paint colors. Place a piece of paper in a shallow tray.  Drop a few drops of different colors of paint (I find that watering the paint down a bit works best).Place 3 balls in the tray. The children roll the balls through the paint and round the paper by moving the tray. Letter Toss: Use magnetic letters and a magnet board. Give each child a bean bag and have them line up shoulder to shoulder. Put random letters on the board. Call out a letter and have the children toss their bean bags at the correct letter. (be sure to stand out of the way). Alphabet Ladder Game: Make a ladder on the floor using painter’s tape. Use a set of foam letters and put either the upper case or lower case letters on the rungs of the ladder . Children will climb up and then back down the ladder on their hands and knees while matching the upper and lower case letters. This can also be done by spelling words or matching letters to pictures depending on the age and abilities of the children.

5. Writing Activities to do at Home • Make a list of your favorite fruits and vegetables. Draw a picture of each one next to each word. • Help your grown up plan a healthy meal. Read the recipe and write a list of the ingredients that you need to buy at the grocery store. Help your grown up find the items at the grocery store by looking for the words of the foods and using the signs at the grocery store. Write and design a menu for that meal to share with the family. • Write a story about your favorite sport or sports star, or draw the pictures for what happens first, second and last in the story, and have a grown up write the captions for you. • Go on a walk around your neighborhood and find the letters in your name on signs and in other words you find outside. • Visit the park and write the letters of your name in the sandbox sand or on the pavement with sidewalk chalk. Draw numbers for hopscotch. Look for shapes around you. • Write a letter inviting a friend to play outside with you. In the letter, list your favorite outdoor games, sports, and activities. • Alphabet Jogging Game: http://www.toddlerapproved.com/2013/09/alphabet-jogging-game-for-kids.html?m=1

6. Reading Cereal/Food Box Books from PLAY-GROW-READ – Simple Crafts and Activities for Early Literacy http://www.kdl.org/kids/go/pgr_development_activities#reading Materials: Food and cereal box fronts (i.e. the front of a macaroni & cheese box; fronts of small boxes of cereal work really well for this) Directions: 1. Cut the front off of cereal, macaroni and cheese, frozen food, healthy snacks or any other food boxes you use in your house 2. Find about 5 to 8 fronts that are approximately the same size and punch a hole in the top left-hand corner of each box front.3. Then just thread a rubber band through the holes to attach the box fronts to each other and you have a flip book ready to read of healthy foods Life Sized (Healthy) Candyland Game: Make a giant candyland game with large foam color puzzle pieces. Move from piece to piece by rolling two foam dies. Place special pictures along the path of healthy foods. Make cards that the player will choose if he or she rolls a certain number or lands on a certain color. Each card should contain a picture of a physical activity: jumping up and down 3 times, run in place and count to ten, bend and touch your toes, etc. or one of the healthy food spots. There are no winners or losers. Everyone who finishes wins.

7. Healthy Books to Read Anna Brushes Her Teeth/Kathleen Amant: After getting ready for bed, Anna picks out the right toothbrush, has her Mom add some toddler toothpaste, and brushes her teeth with Mom’s help, in this book that includes information for parents on helping children brush their teeth. Ready, Steady, Grow/Sophie Piper: Explains, in easy-to-read text, the importance of food, sleep, good hygiene, and exercise to grow and be healthy. Little Pea/Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Little Pea hates eating candy for dinner, but his parents will not let him have his spinach dessert until he cleans his plate. Pete Won’t Eat/Emily Arnold McCully: Pete the pig does not want to eat his slop, but cannot go out to play with his brother and sisters until he does.

8. More Healthy Books to Read I Will Never Not Ever Eat A Tomato/Lauren Child: A fussy eater decides to sample the carrots after her brother convinces her that they are really orange twiglets from Jupiter. How Martha Saved Her Parents From Green Beans/David LaRochelle: A young girl must face her least favorite food when a mean gang of green beans kidnaps her parents. Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late!/Mo Willems: A pigeon comes up with many reasons why he should not go to bed. Hop, Skip, and Jump, Maisy!/Lucy Cousins: Maisy is full of energy and explores stretching, jumping, running, playing ball, jumping rope, somersaulting and lots more.

9. More Healthy Books to Read The bouncing, dancing, galloping ABC / by Charlotte Doyle ; illustrated by Julia Gorton: Presents an ABC of action words starring energetic children who climb, hop, and zoom their way through the alphabet. If you're a monster and you know it / by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley: Monsters sing their own version of this popular song that encourages everyone to express their happiness through voice and movement. Get up and go! / by Nancy Carlson: Text and illustrations encourage readers, regardless of shape or size, to turn off the television and play games, walk, dance, and engage in sports and other forms of exercise.

10. Singing/Dancing The Banana Song Clap hands together over headBanana’s unite! Twirl hands down one at a timePeel bananas, peel peel bananasPeel bananas, peel peel bananas Make a slicing motion with handsSlice bananas, slice slice bananasSlice bananas, slice slice bananas Clap HandsMash bananas, mash mash bananasMash bananas, mash mash bananas Make an eating motion Eat bananas, eat eat bananasEat bananas, eat eat bananas Twirl around in a circle and go CRAZYGo bananas, go go bananasGo bananas, go go bananas The Hokey Pokey You put your right foot in,You put your right foot out,You put your right foot inAnd you shake it all about.You do the Hokey PokeyAnd you turn yourself around,That's what it's all about. Repeat with left foot, right hand, left hand, head, backside… You put your whole self in,You put your whole self out,You put your whole self inAnd you shake it all about.You do the Hokey PokeyAnd you turn yourself around,That's what it's all about.

11. Singing/Dancing Let’s do Some of Our Jim Gill Favorites The List of Dances Song The Silly Dance Contest Jim Gill Music Play for ALL Young Children http://www.jimgill.com/ Music Play with Purpose It’s all about the rhythm and the beat. Here are some fun ways to help children explore music: Keeping the beat: • Make shakers • Use sticks or jingle bells • Use or make simple drums • Clap hands Keep Them Moving: • Use scarves • Add movement and actions to favorite songs and rhymes

12. Playing Hockey: Use pool noodles as “hockey sticks” and a small beach ball as the “puck”. Have children move the “puck” from one side of the room to the other using only their “sticks”. Bowling: Make your own bowling pins by using two liter bottles and colored paper. Write the numbers 1-10 (one number on each piece of paper). Wrap the numbered paper around each pin. Put a little sand or water in the bottom of each bottle (leave them empty if you want to make it easier for the children to knock them over). Playground balls make good bowling balls. Let the children take turns knocking down the pins. For older children, you could keep score by having them add the numbers on the pins they knocked over. Ice Skating: Wrap wax paper around the children’s shoes and secure with rubber bands. They can then slip and slide around the room like they have on ice skates. Preschool Olympics: The following site gives great ideas to set up your own Olympic games . Could be a theme for storytime or day camps. http://www.childcarelounge.com/general-themes/olympics.php

13. Playing Catch and Do: (Teamwork, Gross Motor Skills, Hand-Eye Coordination, Silly Fun) Write silly instructions with a marker on each color of the beach ball. Then have the children start to play toss. As they catch the ball, they check what color their hand lands on, and do that action. The funny part: They have to keep doing that action until they catch the ball again. You can be as simple (or as SILLY) as you want with what you write. Here are some ideas: • Do a silly dance • Turn around • Bark like a dog • Jump up and down • Hop on one foot • Spin around in a circle Tip: You can use a washable marker. It’ll wipe right off with a wet paper towel, so you can change up your phrases the next time you play.

14. Activity Kits Build your own kits using a variety of items that promote movement. Kits can be used during storytime, or other preschool programs. Suggested items to include: • Parachutes both small and large to be used indoors and outdoors • Rubber playground balls • Small cones • Bean Bags of various colors • Small rings for tossing • What else might you include?

15. Games for Use with Activity Kits Parachute Games: • Popcorn: Put ping pong balls in the center of the parachute have the children hold the edges and raise it up and down while trying to keep the “popcorn” on the parachute. • Listen to What I Say: Have children hold the edges of the parachute then have them follow these directions: Raise the parachute up, put it down turn to the left turn to the right and repeat. • Ball Roll: Have the children try to roll the balls into the hole in the middle of the parachute. (Or have children try to keep the balls from going into the hole in the center.) • Making Waves: Children can make small, medium, or large movements to make various types of "waves." You can incorporate a story about a ship on the sea, weather, etc. &/or use your voice as a tool to emphasize directives. Add a beach ball and let it “ride the waves.” • Merry-Go-Round: Children turn their bodies sideways and hold the chute with one hand. They then walk around in a circle, making a "Merry-Go-Round." For variety, children can hop, skip, jump, etc. You can stop music as a cue to reverse and go the other direction. • When the Parachute Goes Up Song Sung to: "If you’re happy and you know it“ When the parachute goes up Stomp your feet-When the parachute goes up Stomp your feet- When the parachute is high and floats up in the sky- When the parachute goes up Stomp your feet. Additional verses: Lift one leg...Shout hooray!...Bend your knees...Wiggle your bottom...Shake your head-and so on...

16. Games for Use with Activity Kits Bean Bag Games: • Tic Tac Toe: Using chalk or tape, create a large tic tac toe field on the ground. Take turns with two different colored bean bags (you will need five of each). Place them into each square, trying to get three in a row. For an added challenge, create a tossing line a few steps back from the tic tac toe field and require players to toss their bean bags in each square. • Letter Toss: Use magnetic letters and a magnet board. Give each child a bean bag and have them line up shoulder to shoulder. Put random letters on the board. Call out a letter and have the children toss their bean bags at the correct letter. (be sure to stand out of the way). • Shape Toss: Cut out different shapes heavy colored paper. Give children bean bags and have them name the shape they are throwing at and then try to get the bean bag to land on it. You could also have them name the color or the color and the shape. This could be done with words, letters and numbers also. • Bean Bag Hot Potato: Have children sit in a circle and pass a bean bag from one to another while music is playing. When the music stops, the child holding the bean bag gets “burned” by the hot potato.

17. Games for Use with Activity Kits Playground Ball Games: • Over, Under: Have children line up one behind the other. Divide into teams if you would like. Give the first person a ball. Have that person pass the ball over their head to the person behind them, then have that person pass it under their legs to the next person. Continue going over and under until the last person in line gets the ball. That person takes the ball to the front of the line and play continues until the ball gets back to the first person. • Color Roll: Have children sit in a circle. Pick someone to go first. Have that child roll the ball to someone wearing green, then have that person roll the ball to someone wearing pink and so on. Cones: • Use cones to designate start/finish lines • Use cone with rings to make ring toss games. Have children start close and then move further away as the are successful • Set up cones in different shape configurations and have children walk around the square, triangle, circle, etc.

18. Early Literacy Kits Five Early Literacy Practices: Reading Writing Playing Singing Talking • One Theme • Five Books • A Sheet of Songs and Fingerplays • A Toy • A Music CD

19. Cindy Mahaffey cmahaffey@clermontlibrary.org Kim Smithers ksmithers@clermontlibrary.org