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Sand Treasure Sorting

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The GIANT Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for 3-Year-Olds

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The GIANT Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for 3-Year-Olds

Materials

  • Sand table filled with sand (or substitute a tub of sand)
  • Various blue and yellow small, plastic toys and manipulatives, such as counting
  • bears, buttons, pattern blocks, and jar lids
  • Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
  • Sieves, optional
  • Blue and yellow construction paper

 

What to do

1. Prior to reading the book, hide the blue and yellow treasures under the sand in the sand table. Also, cut out 6" (15 cm) squares of blue and yellow construction paper.

2. Read Little Blue and Little Yellow to the children.

3. During free choice, encourage the children to scoop into the sand with their hands or sieves to discover "a little blue and a little yellow."

4. Encourage the children to name and sort the treasures by color and put them onto the squares of paper.


More to do

  • Language: Use this activity with other units to encourage vocabulary development. For example, hide shells for an ocean unit; acorns, leaves, nuts for a fall unit; and so on. Changing the treasures on a weekly basis keeps interest in the activity at a high level.

 

-Ann Wenger, Harrisonburg, VA

Instructions

1. Show the children a large plastic dinosaur and ask them to tell you about it.
Encourage their input by asking questions such as "Is it big or small? What
color is it? Does it have a short or long tail?"
The GIANT Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for Three-Year-Olds
Language
411
The GIANT Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for Three-Year-Olds
Language
412
2. Write the children's descriptions on a piece of paper.
3. Ask the children to describe a different dinosaur each day for four days, and
continue the process of writing their descriptions for each dinosaur.
4. Display the children's descriptions in a prominent place in the classroom.
5. On the fifth day, hide the dinosaurs that the children have described.
6. During circle time, explain to the children that they are "dinosaur detectives"
and they need to find the missing dinosaurs using the descriptions. Give them
magnifying glasses to add to the fun.
7. Read the children's descriptions out loud and encourage the children to work
together to find the missing dinosaur. Continue the process until they have
found all four dinosaurs.
More to do
Dramatic Play: Ask the children how they could use descriptions to help find a
lost pet. Hide a stuffed animal and ask the children describe what it looks like.
They can make posters (with pictures and descriptions) that will help other
classmates find the lost stuffed pet.

Elevate your lesson planning: Download this easy activity today!

Make the most of your instructional time with this fun and adaptable activity. Crafted from our experts in early childhood theory and best practice, this downloadable resource offers play-based activities that will help your students reach learning objectives.