Activities

Engage children with meaningful constructive play! This book provides educators of young children with guidance in how to create early childhood environments that support children's natural need to play. It includes strategies for creating and scaffolding the block play experience, recommends children's books that support the learning, and outlines ways to match behaviors, content, and concepts to learning standards. Lesson plans include: Thanksgiving -- sharing and giving; our families and ourselves; winter and winter animals; large buildings around the world; birds, insects and spiders; the ocean and ocean life; amphibians and reptiles; ways to travel; and wild animals. 128 pages. Paperback.

With new activities and explorations, tips and information to help you understand how to support the littlest learners, and research nuggets to enhance your own professional knowledge, the Encyclopedia of Infant and Toddler Activities, revised, will be your go-to resource! Activities will help you support curiosity, play, exploration, persistence, emerging foundations in literacy and math, problem solving, and so much more! Paperback. 288 pages.

Young children are naturally interested in their world. With Social Studies and Me!, you can support children's curiosity by using storybooks to engage them in social studies and literacy learning. Each storybook exploration includes: Social studies standards and learning objectives, ways to link the book to children's experiences, ways to foster standards-based discussion about the book, ideas for extending, observing, and assessing the learning, and ways to connect with families.

Fun activities to develop the fine motor skills preschoolers need for school success! Teachers know how important it is to develop children's fine motor skills as a stepping stone to future learning, and Mighty Fine Motor Fun provides you with the tools and information you need to teach fine motor skills to children ages 3 to 5. The activities in Mighty Fine Motor Fun are organized by age; they are useful and creative, but most important, they are fun! With few materials needed, the activities are perfect for both large and small groups and are easy to integrate into any curriculum. Activities include: Moving Bubbles, Hide-and-Seek Playdough, Tape It Up!, Shape Person, Itsy Bitsy Writing Utensils, Paper Mobile, and many more! Paperback.

When a story comes to the end -- it does not have to be the end of the story. Instead, teachers can continue the learning with activities and experiences to promote conversation about that story. Story Play encourages even the most inexperienced teacher, librarian, child care professional, or family member to become a storyteller with ideas for expanding stories into meaningful learning experiences. With stories, poems, songs, chants, and fingerplays, as well as ideas for working with puppets and props, Story Play brings all the fun of storytelling into the classroom in new ways. These easy-to-follow ideas focus on literacy skills and are perfect for engaged, active learning. 224 pages. Paperback.

With the help of the stories and activities in this book, take the time to watch, wonder, ask questions, talk about, and explore the world of science with your child. Use favorite children's books to investigate animals and insects, learn how plants grow and change, and discover how shadows grow and shrink. With four chapters that cover a multitude of themes, it's never been easier to deepen your child's understanding of important science and reading concepts at the same time! 144 pages. Paperback.

Build the home-school connection to prepare for Kindergarten! Studies show that parent and family involvement with school is an important factor in children's later academic success. Many families of young children want to learn ways to support their little ones in preparing for and getting the most out of kindergarten. With easy-to-share parent letters and simple, fun activities for families to do together at home, Kick-Start Kindergarten Readiness is the perfect tool for early childhood teachers to involve families in understanding and supporting the rich learning taking place in your preschool classroom. Paperback. 120 pages.

Children love outdoor play. Now teachers can combine the magic and excitement of the outdoors with activities that encourage and support learning! This book includes more than 100 new teacher-created, classroom-tested outdoor activities that engage children's minds and bodies as much as they explore the limitless bounds of the outdoors while also building key skills in areas like math, literacy and language, science, art, and music. Perfect for ages 3 - 6. Activities include: counting, alphabet, colors, shapes, art, touch, sound and sight, plants and gardening, bubbles and air, light and shadow, animals and insects, dramatic play, and large motor skills. 144 pages. Paperback.

Rainy Day Activities has everything you need to make being stuck inside fun! This resource is filled with quiet games to create relaxing moments, active games to get the wiggles out, and games that require no materials at all. 64 pages.

Now more than ever, adults must help children develop the skills necessary to navigate through life successfully. By focusing on building social and emotional strength, we increase children's resilience and prepare them to handle the challenges in life. The strategies and activities in "Socially Strong, Emotionally Secure" help children become socially and emotionally healthy for life. Organized into five chapters, the activities support and build resilience in children ages 3 to 8. 160 pages. Paperback.

Recent research has drawn the link between children's brain development and time spent in the natural environment. Every child deserves a safe play to play, supportive adults to watch him grow, and an environment that offers them endless possibilities. In "Seasons of Play," Rusty Keeler takes readers on a photographic journey through real child care centers that have embraced his philosophy that natural play environments create new opportunities for children to explore and grow. This book illustrates how to design natural play environments that encourage exploration and creativity in all seasons of the year. Keeler's own drawings complement the photos with renderings of how the play spaces were designed. Interviews with center directors add a personal touch to how the spaces improve learning at the centers. Paperback. 216 pages.

More than 300 theme activities written by teachers for teachers! Actively engage children's imaginations with more than 300 activities for young children organized into a variety of popular themes -- from the alphabet to the weather. The result of a nationwide contest among teachers, the classroom-tested activities in Another Encyclopedia of Theme Activities for Young Children provide many months of learning fun! Each activity is complete with learning objectives, materials list, related children's book suggestions, step-by-step instructions of what to do, teacher-to-teacher tips to expand on children's learning, assessment strategies, and related songs, poems, and fingerplays. 448 pages. Paperback.

Turn stressful transition times into fun learning experiences with practical, simple activities. From Good Morning to Circle Time to Clean-Up, every part of the day is addressed with appropriate, imaginative activities. Periods of time between planned activities will become teachable moments using this invaluable resource. These easy-to-use transition activities will take the teacher smoothly throughout the day, week, month and year. Contains over 400 activities and ideas. 288 pages.

This book features classroom activities from teachers around the globe, all focused on topics that teachers use every day. Organized by curriculum area, Learn Every Day® About Colors has 100 activities for children ages 3-6, providing teachers with innovative and fun ways to introduce and reinforce learning about colors. Each activity features learning objectives, related vocabulary, related children's books, materials needed, directions for preparation, instructions for each activity, and an assessment component. Many activities also feature teacher-to-teacher tips that provide additional ideas for expanding the activity in new ways, or suggestions about finding materials. 128 pages.

From 'The Alphabet Song' to 'The Nursery Rhyme Rap', children will sing and learn about a place they spend much of their time: school. The enclosed CD features 28 fun songs, old favorites and originals. The book offers more than 300 activities that teach children about starting school. All children love to sing and learn, so the book includes both English language learner strategies and special needs adaptations.

This new book features 100 activities all about shapes! Contributed by teachers, these activities are organized by curriculum area and offer fresh ideas that provide hours of engaging activities. Complete with learning objectives, related children's books, and an assessment component, teachers will find everything they need to teach children ages 3-6 all about shapes. 128 pages.

This block play guide enhances the classroom block corner with over 50 great activities. Clear description of what children learn by playing with blocks accompany the activities. Each suggestion encourages problem solving, the development of math, science, language, and social skills.

Enrich classroom learning centers with lively, fun activities designed to stimulate exciting learning for young children. This critical resource includes over 200 activities for the following centers: Manipulatives, Construction, Woodworking, Blocks, Music, Gross Motor, Library, Science, Dramatic Play, Art, and Sand and Water. Over 200 easy-to-plan learning center activities for language and literacy, science, manipulatives, art and more. 272 pages by Sharon MacDonald.

Enjoy five-minute fun from the author who brought you the popular series Games to Play with Babies, Games to Play with Toddlers and Games to Play with Two Year Olds. These games are easy, fun, developmentally appropriate and promote learning in just five spare minutes of the day. Children unwind, get the wiggles out, communicate and build self-esteem as they have fun. Each game indicates the particular skill developed. 272 pages.

This resource book is full of attention-grabbing, creative activities that provide children with an outlet for wiggles, while giving their brain a jumpstart with cross-lateral movement games. Includes songs, games, and finger plays for anytime of the day. Paperback. 208 pages.

Movement-inspiring activities reinforce good nutrition, health and motor skills! Young children learn best when they connect physical activity with learning! Up, Down, Move Around is packed with fun, simple activities that will have your children jumping, shaking, rolling, dancing, and clapping as they learn! From the Healthy Food Obstacle Course to the Bendy Bodies Stretch, children ages 3 to 6 will get moving as they learn and support an awareness of nutrition and health concepts as well as fine and gross motor-skill development. Paperback. 144 pages.

Play is learning! But play in the early years is endangered by the emphasis on push-down academics, mounting parental expectations, and pressures on early childhood teachers to prepare young children for the rigors of kindergarten and beyond. With all of that, gains made by play experiences, including readiness skills and social-emotional development, have fallen away. Young children learn best through play. This book helps educators understand the different types of play and the rich opportunities offered through carefully planned time and environments designed for valuable pre-K play experiences. Paperback. 184 pages.

Now teachers can bring the magic of each season into their classrooms with these activities that introduce children to the wonder of the seasons with a year full of fun! Classroom-tested teacher favorites, this book features activities that teach children to understand the difference between the seasons, as well as activities that can only be done during certain seasons. Children will love making paper cutout fall leaves, suns, and snowflakes as they celebrate the joy and excitement of the world outside all year long! 128 pages. Paperback.

Children are innately interested in their world. The activities in this book invite children to explore the world around them, learn about different cultures, enjoy a variety of careers, and discover the uniqueness of their very own neighborhood. From the many ways we are alike and different to the variety of homes around the world, children will delve into these social studies activities that are perfect for children ages 3 to 6. 128 pages. Paperback.