THEME: Time (Open Thematic Poster)

THEME: Time (Open thematic poster)

CIRCLE TIME

Nancy Hamelin suggests an imaginary game to begin each day. (Open thematic letter-Tic-tac Time) Print the letter. Prepare a special sparkling envelope. Place the envelope in an easy to find place in the daycare. During circle time, have the children find the letter and read portions of the interactive story to them. Follow the instructions.

AREA SETUP

Organize the birthday wall with the monthly balloons. (Open birthday chart) Print and laminate.

PICTURE GAMES

The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with the group. Use them to decorate the daycare or a specific corner.

(Open picture game-time) Print, laminate, and store in a “Ziploc” bag or in your thematic bins.

ACTIVITY SHEET

Activity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions. (Open activity sheet-time)

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS

Have fun with these great workshop ideas provided by Caroline Allard.

Construction or building blocks:

Divide the area into four sections to represent the four seasons. Children may build and create on the surfaces they prefer. For winter, cover the floor with cotton padding. For summer, install a piece of green outdoor rug to imitate grass. For fall, scatter fake leaves on the floor or have children cut some out of construction paper. Finally, for spring, use metallic paper or a blue canvas to resemble water.

Arts & Crafts:

Craft a clock with popsicle sticks and a paper plate
Use fluorescent paint to represent nighttime
Use brightly colored paint to create daytime scenery

Drawing:

Coloring pages related to time
A clock model which can be drawn

Role Play:

Set up the role play area with a bedroom and a kitchen to emphasize the difference between night and day. For the bedroom, include a small mattress, stuffed animals, blankets, an alarm clock, a night light… and a window made with a black piece of construction paper, stars, and a moon. For the kitchen, use a table, chairs, a stove, dishes…and a window made with a blue piece of construction paper, a few clouds, a big sun, and a few birds.

Manipulation:

Memory game about time with Educatout pictures
Association game of hours and periods of the day
Clocks of all kinds
A difference game played with suns and moons…

Pre-reading:

Books about seasons, time, night and day
Headphones with stories to listen to
Add a timer

Pre-writing:

Days, months, and numbers to trace
Games with Educatout word flashcards
Add an hourglass

Motor Skills:

A little game with musical rhythms…black notes, white notes, round notes. Find a tambourine and ask children to create rhythm. Their peers clap their hands in time to the music.
Count dance steps…that is time too!
Use various musical instruments to create rhythm
If you can get your hands on a metronome, children will be fascinated!

Science:

Paint using various methods. Have children determine which method dries fastest with an hourglass or other instrument
Plant seeds and keep track of how many days it takes them to grow. If possible, take pictures of every stage. At the end of the experiment, children can draw each stage and place them in order
Create dyes with food as our great grandmothers did! Red cabbage juice, mustard powder, blueberry juice, etc. Find scraps of white cotton and enjoy!

WORD FLASHCARDS

The flashcards may be used during circle time to spark a conversation or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins.

(Open word flashcards-time) Watch, clock, morning, noon, afternoon, night, lunch, dinner, breakfast, calendar, day, hour

In the Olden Days

(Open old and modern objects) Gather old objects or pictures of old objects. If possible, invite a grandparent to visit the daycare to explain how things were in the olden days.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

It is dark

Give children flashlights. Close the lights and the curtains to make the daycare as dark as possible, like night-time. Children walk around the daycare using their flashlights to observe objects. Suddenly, turn on the lights back on and say, “Good morning!”

Before, during, and after

Touch a child with a magic wand. Transform him into a baby, child, parent or grandparent. The child who has been transformed must perform the assigned role.

The grand ball

Just like in medieval times, plan a grand ball. Children dress up in long gowns and jackets and dance to classical music.

Day and night

(Open moon and sun) Print and laminate. Sit in a circle with the group. When you display the sun, children stand up, dance and move about. When you display the moon, children lie down on the floor and pretend to sleep. Alternate the sun and the moon, this activity provides exercise.

The months of the year

Print the months. (Open twelve months of the year) Laminate and tape to the floor. Play music. When the music stops, children must sit on a month. (Variation of musical chairs)

Body hour

Hold a clock in your hands. Stand before the children so they can all see the hands on the clock. Place the hands at a specific time, 3:45 for example. Children must position themselves like the hands of the clock using their arms and legs. Variation: This game may be played with children lying on the floor.

Hidden clock

This game requires an old clock (tic-tac). Blindfold two or three children. Hide the clock in the daycare. Upon your signal, players attempt to find the clock by listening to the tic-tac sound.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Explore the future

Bring your time machine outdoors. Children dress up to travel into the future. See craft below.

Outdoor relaxation

Lay a blanket on the grass. Hold a timer in your hands. Children lie down on their backs and relax until your timer rings. Encourage them to admire the clouds and use this time to listen to the wind, the birds, and all the wonderful sounds which surround us. Enjoy!

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Puzzle race

Give each child a puzzle. Start a timer or play a song. Children work on their puzzles. When they are done, they shout out their names. The game continues until all the children have succeeded.

The twelve months of the year

Practice recognizing the months of the year with this activity. (Open twelve months of the year) Print and display on the wall one after the other at children’s eye level. When you are ready to begin, give children instructions with respect to their ages and knowledge. (Example: Have them stand in front of their birthday month or in front of the first month of the year, etc.)

Days of the week

(Open days of the week) Print, laminate, and cut out. Children have fun associating the days of the week to the colors on the xylophone.

Time of day

(Open routine game) Print, laminate, and cut out. Associate each pictogram to the correct time of day: morning, noon, afternoon, or evening.

My clock

(Open I’m learning to tell time) Print, laminate, and assemble the clock. Place the small cards indicating times face down on the table. Children pick a card then adjust the hands of the clock to the correct time.

SEQUENTIAL STORY

(Open visual routine) Have children place the pictograms in the order in which they normally take place at the daycare.

Which objects have moved?

Children walk around the daycare for a few minutes (use a timer). They must observe where everything is placed. Have them close their eyes or go to another room momentarily. Make changes in the daycare. (Example: move a chair, hide a lamp, place a picture upside down, etc.) Have children reenter the daycare and ask them to find as many changes as possible within a timed period (using the timer again). When they find the changes they return the objects to their original state. See if they can find all the changes before the timer rings.

Musical clock

Children sit in a circle. Play music and have a children pass a clock around the circle. It is important that the clock has hands which turn easily. When the music stops, indicate a number. The child holding the clock must point either the hour hand or the minute hand to this number.

SOCIAL AND MORAL ACTIVITIES

Pajama Day

Ask children to attend daycare in their pajamas. They can also bring along a teddy bear or a blanket they loved when they were babies. Greet them in pajamas yourself. For lunch, serve breakfast. We suggest doing this activity at the beginning of the theme to help children situate themselves in time.

Plan games around the daily routine and the order in which activities take place. (Visual routine acted out with mimes)

My Day

(Open night and day) Print the sun and the moon. Use adhesive putty to display the sun on the wall. Leave a space, and do the same with the moon. Have children draw the part of the day which they prefer. Once finished, they hang their drawings on the wall between the sun and the moon in the order in which they occur during the day. The final result will be the schedule of children’s favorite activities from morning till night.

Time goes by so fast

Have children bring pictures of themselves at various ages to the daycare. Prepare a chronological display for each child. Have children notice that they are growing very fast.

EARLY SCIENCE

Hourglass

Use two plastic bottles. Block the end of one bottle. Make a hole in the center to enable the sand to descend. Put sand in the second bottle and attach the two bottles together with adhesive tape.

CULINARY ACTIVITY

Invite a grandmother to come bake old-fashioned cookies with the children.

ARTS & CRAFTS

Teddy bear clock

(Open clock craft) Print and cut out the different pieces. Give each child a paper plate and have them position the numbers around the contour. Make sure they place number “12” at the top and number “6” at the bottom. Cut out the two arrows. Make a small hole in the center of the plate to insert the fastener which will hold the hands in place.

Cut out the head, arms, legs and ears. Glue them on the plate to create the teddy bear. The plate represents the teddy bear’s stomach.

Hurry, hurry, lets paint!

Provide paper, paintbrushes, and paint for the children. Set the timer for five minutes. Children begin to paint when you say, “Go!” When the timer rings, they must stop, even if they have not completed their painting.

Futuristic craft

Find a large cardboard box (refrigerator or dryer for example). Children decorate their time machine as they wish. Don’t forget to make a control center…covered with aluminum paper. Use small empty cream containers, buttons, or small beads to create command buttons. Half of a Styrofoam ball painted red makes the perfect light for the control center. When the time machine is complete, children can create their very own futuristic gear using plenty of aluminum paper. Use your imagination and better yet, children’s imagination.

COLORING PAGES

(Open coloring pages theme-time)

SONGS & RHYMES

Hickory Dickory Dock (verses 1 to 6)

Hickory dickory dock

The mouse ran up the clock

The clock struck one

The mouse ran down

Hickory dickory dock

The bird looked at the clock

The clock struck 2

Away she flew

Hickory dickory dock

The dog barked at the clock

The clock struck 3

Fiddle-de-dee,

Hickory dickory dock

The bear slept by the clock

The clock struck 4

He ran out the door

Hickory dickory dock

The bee buzzed round the clock

The clock struck 5

She went to her hive

Hickory dickory dock

The hen pecked at the clock

The clock struck 6

Oh fiddlesticks

Hickory dickory dock

There are 7 days in a week

There are seven days, there are seven days

There are seven days in a week

There are seven days, there are seven days

There are seven days in a week

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Thursday, Friday, Saturday

There are seven days, there are seven days

There are seven days in a week

There are seven days, there are seven days

There are seven days in a week

Marie-Josée, Karine, Nancy, Sonia, Magalie, Patricia, and all our collaborators.

Our job is to make yours easier. Do not hesitate to suggest themes you would like to see us develop. Let us know of any printable documents or tools which could be useful. Send us your comments and suggestions!

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