Materials
Bags
Books
Puppets and stuffed animals
Instructions
1. Choose a small, inexpensive, non-fragile gift that a typical three-year-old
would enjoy.
2. Put the gift in the box and wrap it, making sure it is free to move and "rattle"
a little.
3. Introduce the wrapped gift to the children and explain that it is a "mystery
gift" for the class. Explain that they will get to open it in a few days, but that
until then they will get to guess what it is.
4. Let each child hold the box, shake it gently, and talk about what it might be.
5. Place the gift on a shelf near the paper and markers where the children are
free to examine it as they did in the small group.
6. Ask the children to draw pictures of what the gift might be. Encourage each
to tell you what they have drawn. Write down their dictated "guess" beside
their picture. Children can make more than one drawing with different
guesses if they wish.
7. After the allotted time has elapsed, assemble the children in a small group
and look at the drawings of the guesses together, reading their dictated words
aloud.
8. Open the gift so they can see what it really is. Explain that it belongs to
everyone in the class and make it available for them to share and use.
More to do
If someone in the class is expecting a new baby in the family, wrap a baby gift
such as a teething ring or a rattle using "baby" gift wrap. Encourage the child to
guess what it could be. Let the child unwrap the gift and take it home as a gift
from the school. This would be a good starting point for a discussion of what
babies need, what they can and cannot do, and what to expect when the new
baby arrives in the home.
Art: Invite the children to draw a picture of the gift they would most like to
receive if they could have anything in the world. Write their verbal descriptions
to go with the pictures. Then encourage them to draw a gift they would like to
give to their mom, dad, or a friend if they could give anything in the world. Write
their descriptions to go with the pictures.
Holidays: Wrap a gift suited to a special occasion, such as Christmas, Hanukkah,
Valentine's Day, Easter, and so on. Even "Earth Day" could be included to
encourage the children to think about what would be a good gift for the "Earth's"
birthday (such as a package of seeds or a small bottle of water).
