Community Helpers Theme

Community Helpers are something that students are often interested in so they are often one of the themes that we participate in during the school year. We usually take a field trip or two during this theme also and there are so many places to visit for a Community Helper theme. Think Fire Station, Police Station, local restaurant or grocery store, bakery, hair salon, library, Post Office or even a different classroom. There are so many activities that will interest students as they are introduced to their community and the many helpers in it. Place different uniforms in the Dramatic Play Center. Place tools or vehicles in the Block Center. I collect many different tools and then we sort the tools by which helper would use them. We do this together at Circle Time and then it can also be used in the Science Center. I use Community Helper puzzles and games in the Math Center. There are many fun books that can be read together as a class and also placed in the Reading Center. Some of those books include:
*"Librarians Help"
*"Teachers Help"
*"Police Officers Help"
*"Firefighters Help"
*"Firehouse"
*"Dentists Help"
*"Doctors Help"
*"Whose Tools Are These?"
*"Whose Hat is This?"
In the Writing and Literacy Centers students can draw and write about what they want to be when they grow up. Word cards of Community Helpers can be posted for students to copy. The Fine Motor/Sensory Center can have tools for children to use. Place a bucket of nuts and bolts for students to put together and take apart. A hammer and golf tees can also be placed there and students can hammer the tees into Styrofoam or cardboard. Papers can be fringed by the teacher and then students can practice cutting the fringe as if they are a hairdresser or barber. This also lends itself to whole class or group baking and cooking activities. Parents are invited to come in and share their job with us.

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Pumpkin Theme

Every October we learn about pumpkins. Mini pumpkins are brought into the Science Center for every child and we investigate them with magnifying lenses and our senses. We also cut the top off of a large pumpkin and scoop the seeds out to investigate as well. I allow every child who is interested, a turn scooping seeds out. I never require the students to help if they are not interested. In the Literacy Center, we use mini pumpkin erasers to trace around letters. Pumpkin stickers can also be used. We take a field trip to a local pumpkin patch where every child is allowed to pick a pumpkin to take home. In the Fine Motor/Sensory Center, we make pumpkin pie with orange playdough and rolling pins. We also count and make patterns in the Math Center with pumpkin erasers or manipulatives. In the Pumpkin STEAM box, I include mini pumpkins, leaves, acorns, magnifying lenses and orange slices of pool noodles that the children can play and experiment with. The Dramatic

Cookies Theme

Who doesn't love cookies? We have an entire theme based on cookies and it is one of my favorites! We incorporate a lot of counting into our cookie theme. We count chips onto cookies in our Math Center. We count cookies and clip the correct numeral in our Fine Motor/Sensory Center. We serve cookies at the bakery in the Dramatic Play Center. We also practice numeral recognition and matching and fine motor skills using cookies and pom poms. We have taken a field trip to a local bakery some years and other years made cookies together as a class but in both situations, we have decorated them and enjoyed eating them. There are several cookie stories we read including: *"The Gingerbread Boy" *"The Gingerbread Girl" *"Whose Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?" *"The Doorbell Rang" *"May I Please Have a Cookie?" *"The Duckling Gets a Cookie" *"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" At our A

Apple Theme

Another theme we cover in the fall is Apples. In our Math Center, we make Apple Stew using apple erasers, bowls, ladles, and recipe cards. We also use apple manipulatives to count and sort. In the Science Center, I place apple slices, apple seeds, whole apples and magnifying lenses. The students are able to investigate the apples. We practice gluing by placing just a dot of glue inside each dot on an apple. This strengthens their hands and we use glitter glue in red, yellow and green to make it more interesting. At the Writing Center I have the students draw apples and add details. Words related to apples can be posted in the Writing Center for children who are ready and interested in copying words onto their paper. Apple shaped papers can also be placed at the Writing Center to make it more engaging. In the Fine Motor/Sensory Center, children try stacking apples and counting to see how high they can go. Some books about apples that we read include: *"

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