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The GIANT Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for 4-Year-Olds

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The GIANT Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for 4-Year-Olds

Materials

  • Camera and film
  • Laminate or clear contact paper
  • 4" x 7" (10cm x 17 cm) index cards
  • Glue

 

What to do

1. Ask the children to take off their shoes and place them side-by-side.

2. Take a photograph of each child's shoes and a photograph of each child.

3. Mount the photos on index cards and cover them with clear contact paper or laminate them for durability.

4. Depending on the age level of the children, play the game two different ways.

For older fours
Turn the cards face down on a table like a regular memory game. Put photographs of the shoes on one area of the table and the photographs of the children on another. Ask a child to turn over a Shoe card and a Child card. If they match, the child keeps the set. If they do not match, the child turns them back over and tries again. Continue until the children have matched all the cards.

For younger fours
Place the Shoe cards face up on the table and hold the Child cards in your hand. Show a child one of the Child cards and ask, "Who is this?" After the child answers, ask her to find the shoes that belong to the child on the card. Offer help and encouragement until the child makes a match. Continue until the children have matched all the cards.

 

More to do

  • Games: Play a rousing game of Shoe Scramble! Ask the children to remove their shoes and put them in a pile. Then, ask two or three children at a time to scramble into the pile and find their own shoes and put them on. (Tying is not required.) Younger children might enjoy the game more if only one child at a time scrambles for her shoes while the others cheer her on.
  • Math: Play Shoe Match. Ask the children to remove their shoes. Line up one shoe of each set on the floor. Put the other shoes in a pile. Each child takes a shoe from the pile and then matches it to the same shoe on the floor.

 

-Virginia Jean Herrod, Columbia, SC

Instructions

1. To create a classroom community, develop some rituals for special days,
including birthdays.
2. Collect books, a banner, materials for making birthday crowns, and birthday
cards and put them into a special birthday bag. This special bag only comes
out on each child's birthday.
3. Make playdough birthday cakes and decorate cards for the special child. (I
once overheard a child who had been in the class a while tell a new child,
"We always put up the birthday flag and sing when it's your birthday.")

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.