For three long days the sun has not come out to shine its warmth and light upon the earth.  Follow the adventures of 5 little chicks to set out to see if they can help the sun begin to shine again. 

Materials

• 2-4 beach balls.
• Several pair of sunglasses, sun hats, and empty sunscreen container

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

            Bring a pair of sunglasses, a hat, and an empty sunscreen container to the carpet.  Hold up the items and ask the children what they all have in common (these two are red, they came from your house, my Dad has those).  After the children have had the opportunity to guess.  Tell the children that they all help keep you safe when you are in the sun.  Explain how each item keeps your safe.  Ask, who uses each item?

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions, and for other varied purposes. AND Physical Health & Safety/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

            Ask the children who likes sunny days?  What do you like to do on sunny days?  Show the children the cover of the book.  Tell them that today’s story is about the sun.  Look at the sun’s face, how do you think he is feeling?  I wonder what made him so sad.  Read the title.  I wonder where the sun had been? Let’s find out.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to the attributes of time and temperature.

Reading the Story

            On the page that shows the animals climbing the mountain, take a moment to show the children what a long way the chicks have traveled to try to help the sun.

After Reading the Story

            Talk with the children about how the animals helped the sun to shine again.  Do you think that they were being good friends?  Do you ever help your friends or your parents?  When you help people it makes them feel loved.

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy for others.

Discovery

            Make small weather signs that will fit onto your calendar.  Count how many sunny days there are in a week, a month.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to the attributes of time and temperature. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Music and Movement

            Teach the children the song, Mister Sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlzvrEfyL2Y

Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun

Please shine down on me.

Mister  Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun

Hiding behind the tree.

These little children are asking you

To please come out so we can play with you

Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun

Please shine down on me.

            Sing You Are My Sunshine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh7LJDHFaqA

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are grey

You’ll never know dear

How much I love you

Please don’t take my sunshine away.

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Blocks

            Cut out a yellow circle from construction paper.  Put this on the floor of blocks and suggest to the children that they use the blocks to make rays coming off the sun in a pattern. (You might have to make the first ray to get them started).

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Art

            Give each child a piece of yellow construction paper.  Ask them to trace around a paper plate and then cut out the circle.  Ahead of time cut out plenty to yellow triangles.  The children can collage the triangles around their circle to make a sun shape. 

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Library and Writing

Talk to the children for a moment about what they like to do on sunny days. (I like to play outside, I drink lemonade, I wear my baseball hat). Encourage the children to draw a picture about what they like to do. Under the picture write, Dear Mr. Sun, Please come out so I can _________________. Have the child then sign their name.

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Sand and Water

            In the story the animals polished the sun.  Put a small amount of water in to the table.  Add sponges or rags and beach balls.  The children can pretend to be polishing the sun.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Dramatic Play

            Bring in sunglasses and sun hats for the children to use in their play.  Clean and empty sunscreen bottle. Watch and listen to see if the children recall your talk about sun safety in their play.

Physical Health & Safety/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Math and Manipulatives

            Have the children collect all your old crayons and peel the paper off of them.  Sort the crayons into a muffin tin or paper drinking cups according to colors.  Place the muffin tin out on a hot sunny day (this is a summer activity).  Observe over the next hours to see if the crayons have melted.  If not, this experiment can also be done by placing the muffin tin in the oven.  Bring inside and let cool down some so that a large crayon starts to form in each muffin tin.  Turn the crayons out and let them finish cooling. Save them to use on another day.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to the attributes of time and temperature.

Outdoor Play

            Step out into the sunshine, now step into the shade.  Can you feel a difference, see a difference? (The sun will feel warmer and makes everything very bright).

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to the attributes of time and temperature.

Transitions

          Cut out a simple sun shape. On the wall where all the children can see, tape a piece of rectangular construction paper. Move the sun about the construction paper and ask the children to tell you where/what position the sun is in. Encourage the children to use whole sentences. (The sun is under the rectangle. The sun is behind the rectangle. The sun is on top of the rectangle.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, under, over, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, and behind.

Resources