Three Little Kittens

Materials

Mittens (one per child)

Chocolate cream pie (one piece per child)

Camera and film

Large tubs filled with soapy water

Clothespins and clothesline

Instructions

1. First Day Name Tags: To prepare for the first day of class, I prepare sticky label
name tags to put onto children's clothing to help me learn their names.
2. My Name Is... : At the beginning of the first day of class, sit in a circle and get
to know each other's names by:
* Going around the circle, one child at a time, and clapping the syllables
of their names. Children love to hear their names repeated. In addition,
rehearsing each child's name helps you learn their names quicker,
too!
* When working with an especially young group, attendance time can be
more fun and interesting by singing a song about a color a child is
wearing that day, for example: (tune: "Mary Is Wearing a Red Dress")
Mary is wearing a red shirt, red shirt, red shirt.
Mary is wearing a red shirt to school today.
3. First Day Story Ideas:
Who's Going to Take Care of Me? by Michelle Magorian
Will I Have a Friend? by Miriam Cohen
4. First Day Song Ideas: (keep it simple by singing just a few on the first days)
"Where Is Thumbkin?"
"If You're Happy and You Know it"
"Open, Shut Them"
5. First Day "Homework" Assignment: Some children have difficulty adjusting to
being away from home. Even well-adjusted children experience home sick-
ness from time to time. A good way to help bring a little bit of home into the
classroom is to give the children an 11" x 18" (27 cm x 45 cm) piece of construction
paper to take home and create a family picture collage with their
parents. Ask the children to bring the collage back to school. Hang the collages
on a wall at the children's level, so they can look at their pictures from
time to time as they need.
6. Class Picture: Take a picture of the children. Put a copy of this picture along
with the emergency cards into a zipper closure plastic bag. This way, if a child
gets separated from the rest of the group during a class field trip, you can use
the picture to show others what the missing child looks like. Also, place a few
coins in the bag in case you need to make an emergency call. (Better yet,
carry a portable telephone when leaving the building for field trips.)
7. Transition Warnings: Children need a signal that the current activity is about to
end. I've found that giving the children two-and one-minute warnings helps.
(Note: They don't have to be exact minutes). Giving them the warning helps
prepare them for the upcoming change.