Resurection Eggs

Supplies: package of plastic eggs and clip art

Process: Keeping the true meaning of Easter can stay alive with reading the Bible along with your own Easter egg hunt at home or in the classroom. Print clip art on the computer of the Easter story. Fill each egg with the pictures and then hide them. Begin reading the Easter story and open each egg as a transition to the next part of the story. When you are finished, fill eggs with candy and goodies for a local egg hunt. Leave some eggs empty with sentence strips that say, "Jesus is alive!"

 

Teach Well:  Find out if there is a local women's shelter in need of eggs for their own egg hunt. Donate your eggs to children in need. 

Cross Fingerpainting

Encourage and develop small motor skills by having your child paint with their pointer finger only. When painting try and be eco-friendly by reusing plastic container lids that usually can not be recycled. It takes a bit more clean up to rinse and dry these off, but think of how much a classroom or school could keep from wasting daily by doing so!

Supplies: pink and magenta paint, dish soap, white crayon, and black construction paper

Process: Squeeze a little bit of both colors onto your paint palette. Add a bit of soap for easy clean up. Give each child a piece of black paper. Encourage the child to use one finger to create crosses on their paper. Use the white crayon to write their name on the paper.

Teach Well: Have extra paper on hand for those children that learn kinetically. These children will want to continue painting, put their hands into the pallet, and paint over their original art. This is how they learn and explore! If you want to keep their art, have scrap paper on hand to give them to continue their sensory experience. Hang the crosses on a bulletin board with an Easter verse as the title.

Creation Inspiration

I can't help but love this special cup of cocoa found at Apartment Therapy! What a great and unique treat for your classroom's Easter party! Click at the link above to find out all the details!

Egg Soccer

Supplies: plastic egg and four cones

Process: Set up your field in a gym, large room, or hallway. Use the cones to create goals on either side of your field. Make sure there is enough room to run around. Have the children stand on one end of the field. Give each child a plastic egg and have them kick it to the goal. When they reach the other side, have them stop until everyone has kicked their egg to the goal. Remind them that they must use their feet only and have them kick their egg again to the other side of the field.

Teach Well: I love to use the plastic eggs that come in play food sets for this game. You can use plastic Easter eggs if you use clear packing tape to seal them closed. This game can easily be adjusted for older children by having multiple smaller fields and sharing eggs like a real soccer game. If you are playing this game with preschoolers, do develop their gross motor, social, and emotional skills leave it uncompetitive.

April Inspiration

Well, April is here and finally signs of spring are everywhere! In April, my theme is He's Alive! Here is my list of things I can't live without this month!

1. I couldn't help myself and had to include a rubber chicken in this month's lesson plans.



2. Plastic eggs



3. Cleaning sponges for creating handmade stamps



4. The Story of the Resurrection Eggs in Rhyme & Song



5. Resurrection Eggs



6. Jelly Beans



7. Jelly Bean Prayer



8. The Miracle Maker
   
9. 
   
   

9. The Bunny Hop

10. Everyone loves The Chicken Dance!

Wooly Lamb Puppet

Supplies: white construction paper, paint brush, cotton balls (or Poly-fil), craft stick, stapler, glue, and black paint.

Process: Use a paint brush and paint the child's hand, palm up. Carefully lay the hand on the white paper and press to make the hand print. The thumb is the head, and the four fingers are the lamb's legs. Have the paint dry. Cut the hand print out. Have the child squeeze glue onto the body of the lamb and place the cotton on top. Let the glue dry. Staple the craft stick onto the bottom of the lamb.


Teach Well: Try and use a stapler for the craft stick. If you need to use glue instead of a stapler use wood glue. Elmer's glue will not last for long on wood and has a long drying time. For easy clean up squeeze some liquid soap into the paint.

Where or Where Has My Little Sheep Gone?

Supplies: yarn, stuffed sheep or clip art, prize

Process: Before the lesson make a trail-like obstacle course with yarn or string. At the end of the trail have your stuffed sheep with a prize for the class sitting with it. Have it winding around the room in and around items. Read a book about sheep, or read about The Lost Sheep in the Bible. Afterwards, sing Where or Where Has My Little Sheep Gone. Then follow the trail to find the sheep.

Where or Where Has My Little Sheep Gone

Where oh where has my little sheep gone?

Oh where oh where can he be?

With his wool so soft,

And his tail so small.

Where oh where can he be?

(sung to Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone)

Teach Well: Play this game to reward a class for good behavior. Prizes don't have to be sweet; you can use farm stickers or tattoos instead. To make this game even more fun have a child be the leader with a shepherd's staff. If you are playing this game at home try to set it up during your child's nap time, then have snack at the end of the trail for fun!

Flower Picking

If you haven't had a chance to make the playdough in my previous post, this activity will give you another chance! Find silk Easter lilies at your local dollar or craft store. I use them for many activities and have several on hand. This makes for a fun center and great for those small motor skills.

Supplies: Silk flowers cut into single stems, brown playdough

Process: Place the playdough on the table and have flowers next to it. Have the children explore and plant their flowers how they like.


Teach Well: Have dice on the table along with this center. Have the children roll the dice and place that many flowers in thier soil. Before this activity read The Parable of the Lily.

Number Egg-travaganza

This game can be used as a center or in your dramatic play area. I kept this in our dramatic play chicken coop in the classroom. But, getting it out to have as a one to two person center is just as fun!


Supplies: plastic eggs, egg carton, Sharpie marker

Process: With your Sharpie marker write a number on the plastic egg and also in the egg carton. Place eggs in the lid of the carton and have the children find the correct spot for each egg. Have them say the numbers out loud.

Teach Well: Instead of writing numbers on the inside of the carton, draw dots to correspond with the egg that goes there. Keep extra plastic eggs on hand. If any break you can replace it quickly.