This is a great riddle book.  The children must look through a little peephole and guess the object.  The pictures are photographed in black and white to add more mystery to the object.

Materials

            Toilet paper tubes

Manila file folder with a 1-inch hole cut out of center. Interesting pictures that are large enough to use with your homemade peep file.

Animal “hand” pictures

Water beads

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

Start by playing I Spy with my Eyes (think of something in the room and then begin to explain it. The children must guess what you are looking at (I spy something that is red and has a white lace running through it and it is one Gerry’s foot. I spy something that is round and has numbers all around the edges. We use it to tell time). Explain to the children that today’s story is a guessing book. The children will look at a picture and then have to guess what it is. Introduce the book.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Reading the Story

            Give the children plenty of time to guess the object behind the peep hole.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

After Reading the Story

For older children you might allow them to try to describe objects around the room playing I Spy.

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 Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness.

Discovery

            Put the toilet paper tubes into the center to look through.  Also include any binoculars and magnifying glasses that you have.  Add objects from nature such as seeds, flowers, leaves, or add interesting yet unusual objects such as things made from stone, wood, or grasses. Encourage the children to look at objects closely.  Can they describe what they see?

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. 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.

Make a copy of each animal hand picture and tape them to the wall. Ask the children to tell you what they all have in common? (They are hands painted to look like animals and are amazing).

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute.

Music and Movement

            Sing My Eyes Are Little Windows to the tune of All Around the Cobbler’s Bench chorus. https://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/music/pop-goes-the-weasel-sing-along-song-video/

My eyes are little windows and through them I can see

The birds and bees and flowers that are beautiful to me.

(the children can help make up other verses)

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops the ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

            Cut out a triangle, a circle, a square, and a rectangle.  Do the following movement riddles with the children.

(Put the circle on the board)  What is a circle?  A circle is round.  Here is a circle go round and round and round.

(put the rectangle on the board)  What is a rectangle?  It has four sides.  2 long and 2 short make your finger slide.

(put the square on the board) What is a square?  It has for sides too.  But all the sides are equal, ready zippity, zippty, zippty zoo.

(put the triangle on the board) What is a triangle?  Watch me, it has 3 sides.  Count them all 1,2,3!

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.

Blocks

Ask the children what we look out of in a house? (Windows). Challenge the children to build a house with at least three windows.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape.

Art

One a piece of white paper draw a black line about 4-inches long. Ask the child, “What can you draw with a single black line”? Give them magic markers and let them draw. Try with a circle or zig-zag line as a challenge to the children.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops the ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem. AND Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Library and Writing

            Bring in a variety of pictures that have lots of action going on (from magazines, center signs, a book with busy illustrations.  Ask each child to choose a picture to look at.  Have them describe 3-5 things about the picture.  Help them to tell details.  (The girl is wearing a sweater = the girl is wearing a red sweater that has one button buttoned.  She is smiling because she can do the buttons.  She is sitting on the chair next to the door).

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.

Sand and Water

Put dried water beads into the table and allow the children to add water. Ask the children to watch the beads, what is happening?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Dramatic Play

Bring in 6 chairs and make two rows of three. Pretend to be riding the bus to school. What are some of the things that you see on your way? You can make a list of what the children say they see and hang it on the wall. Later you can read the list with the children and ask them if that is something that they could really see or was it something made up? (On our way to school we saw; a person walking their dog, a garbage truck, a dragon, Spiderman, my Grandma’s house).

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops the ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness.

Math and Manipulatives

Bring out your container of unifix cubes (Or other interlocking cubes). Ask each child to take a handful and make a tower. How many unifix cubes do you have? Can you make a tower with one more cube? Let the child build another tower. Can you make a tower with less cubes? Can you make a tower that is equal to your first cube?

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

Outdoor Play

Have a scavenger hunt. Ask the children to find something that is round, flat, tall, made of wood, flexible, curved, etc..

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops the ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem. AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Transitions

            Play What’s Missing? using the animal hand pictures. Put three pictures where everyone can see them (I tape these to a large flannel board). Cover the pictures (turn the flannel board around so the children can no longer see the pictures) and remove one. Turn it back so the children can see the pictures left on the board. Can they guess which is missing? If they can guess easily with three pictures, try 4, 5, etc..

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; grows in recognizing and solving problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and interactions and discussions with peers and adults.

Resources