What happens when sheep go out to eat?  A restaurant disaster and a very silly story.

Materials

•  Restaurant signs
•  Schedule a field trip to a local restaurant if possible
• Pictures of a variety of foods
• Several nail scrub brushes

Vocabulary

• Tea shop ( a restaurant where you can get tea to drink and little cakes) Menu (a list of foods that you can order)
• Appetite (the desire to eat)
• Tips (the money you leave on the table at the restaurant for the waiter or waitress)

Before Reading the Story

            Ask the children how many of them have ever been out to eat at a restaurant.  Talk about their experiences and help them learn the names of objects found in a restaurant (menu, booth, waiter, and tip).  

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; develops growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Reading the Story

            Stop on each page and talk through the pictures.  What is happening?  Do you see what the words are talking about? 

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction,and non-fiction books, and poetry.

After Reading the Story

            Use the restaurant signs to make a graph and ask the children to label their favorite restaurant.  Which one has the most votes?

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, and equal to.

Discovery

Bring in pictures of different kinds of foods.  Can the children name the foods?  Talk about the colors of the foods and where they fit on the food pyramid.  Ask the children to sort the cards by foods they like and foods they do not like.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Music and Movement

Play the song, Tea Party by the L. Berkner and act out as she sings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLOkR_IP1w0 This could be done in the dramatic center today.

Sing I’m a Little Teapot and teach the children the movements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB4vzj93OGY

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

Blocks

            Challenge the children to build a restaurant.  Can they build the tables and add people to fill it in?

Creative Arts/ Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with peers.

Art

            Make placemats with the children.  Take a piece of construction paper and do an art activity of choice on it.  Then cover each with contact paper. Use these at meal time to determine who will sit where for the meal.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities. AND Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art projects.

Library and Writing

            Have the children help create a name for their dramatic play restaurant and a sign.  This could be a group coloring project.  Also have the children cut out food items and glue them on a poster board.  You can add amounts and this could be a billboard sign like many fast food restaurants.

Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.

Sand and Water

            Add water and nail scrub brushes along with some plastic vegetables and fruits.  The children can pretend to clean them for cooking. If you do not have nail scrub brushes use rags or paper towels.

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.

Dramatic Play

            Play restaurant.  Add some carry out menus, a cash register, an apron, and a pad of paper to write the orders on. 

Creative Arts/ Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Math and Manipulatives

            Bring in several dollars worth of change for the children to sort.  Add magnifying glasses and talk with the children about what they see on each coin and the coins name.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size. AND 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.

Outdoor Play

            In the story the sheep ended up eating the grass outside the restaurant.  On the playground sit in the grass and smell it, touch it, chew a piece.  Help the children to become aware of grass using all of their senses.  Put a thick blade of grass between your two thumbs and make a whistle from it.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Transitions

            Ask the children to help you recall the story.  Who went to the restaurant, what kind of restaurant was it?  What did they order, then what happened?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction, and poetry.