Rain Drop Splash, by Alvin Tresselt

This is the story of rain that falls and makes its journey from a small stream out to the ocean. It grows and changes and sees many things along they way. This story simply tells the progression of rainfall from mountain to sea.

Materials

Pipes for pipe game
Life preserver
Ping pong ball
Variety of substances (old coffee grounds, cornstarch, flour, veggie oil, sand, dirt, salt, etc
Hula Hoops or taped squares on the floor
Raindrop page
Cloud with raindrop poem on it, one per child

Vocabulary

Docks (Where the captains park their boats, a parking lot for boats)
Evaporation (to disappear or vanish)
Repel (to resist and not mix into)

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they like rainy days (why-why not?). Explain that rain is very important to people and the environment. Ask the children to help make a list of why water is important (fish live in it, animals and people drink water, you can swim in a lake, birds and animals live near the water, it makes plants grow, you can use a boat, we bath, brush teeth, etc.) The idea is to show the children that water is very important and that people and animals and plants need it to live and do things.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge if and ability to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

Note all the important and interesting things that happen along the water’s edge as you read. On the page that starts with “Still it rained”, stop and ask the children if they can see what is happening t the water?(Point out how the water continuously moves and grows larger). When the lake takes over the farmers meadow, ask the children what they think is going to happen?

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

After Reading the Story

Say to the children that that was a very busy story. Ask the children if they can remember some of the important things that happened in and on the edge of the water? Make a list that you can later hang on the wall.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in 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.

Talk to the children about water safety. The importance of wearing a life preserver when you go to the lake, bring in a life preserver if you have one. Talk about how children should not play in or near water without an adult. Depending upon where you live and the kinds of water that your children might visit, lead your discussion.

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.

Discovery

Let the children explore how water mixes with other ingredients. On a tray place an eye dropper or small spoon along with several bowls containing a variety of substances (old coffee grounds, cornstarch, flour, veggie oil, sand, dirt, salt, etc). Let the children pour a bit of this and that into a cup and see how it mixes. Does the ingredient mix with the water or repel the water?

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

Music and Movement

Bring in hula hoops and ask the children to pretend that they are puddles. Tell them that we are going to dance around the puddle and when the music stops everyone must jump into a puddle, careful because we will have to share the puddles. You can also jump around the puddle, over the puddle, through the puddle.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness. AND Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, and behind.

Teach the children the poem, Rain

When the rain comes down drip drop drip drop,
(flutter fingers down in front of you)
Windshield wipers flip flop flip flop,
(bend arms in front and move them side to side)
Boots in puddles plip plop plip plop,
(move feet up and down)
I wish the rain would never stop.
Drip drop drip, (use motions as you say it)
Flip flop flip,(“” )
Plip plop plip plop, (“”)
PLOP! (do the motions and jump)

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, abd poems.

Play Don’t Fall In The Water. Put two pieces of tape on the floor about 5 feet long. These will make the river. Cut out large organic shapes from brown construction paper. These are the rocks in the middle of the river. On each rock write a letter, number, or shape depending on the concept you want to reinforce. Have the children stand on one side of the river. As they take their turn crossing call out what letter you want them to step on. If they get it wrong or miss then they fall into the river.

Language Development/.Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions. AND Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name.

Sing, If All the Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gum Drops https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNvL_5COPtM. Just sing the first verse about raindrops. After the children get the hang of the song, you can have them help name kinds of candy, dinner foods, snacks, etc that the raindrops could be.

Approaches to learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one answer to t a question, task, or problem.

Blocks

Encourage the children to make a river with their blocks. Encourage them to make the river bend and change direction. Show them how to blow the ping pong ball down the river. Explain that they can pretend that the ping pong ball is a boat sailing down the river.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop follow through on plans. AND 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.

Art

Give the children a page with raindrops on it. Let them use watercolors to paint them. When they are dry, have older children, or teacher cut them out. You can punch a hole in them and hang them from the ceiling over the table. For older children you can draw and cut out several raindrop shapes out of a manila folder and the children can use this for a stencil to draw around and cut out and then paint.

Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills;grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Library and writing

Give the children a copy of the Rain, Rain Go Away poem. Show them where the blank is for them to write their name. After they have written their name, let them color the cloud. Hang these on the wall so that people can see how hard the children are working on writing their names.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from scribbling, shapes, or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their own name.

Sand and water

Water play

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; demonstrates increasing capacity to follow rules and routines and use materials purposefully, safely, and respectfully.

Dramatic Play

Bring in the life preservers and the children can pretend to be on a boat going down the river. Bring in boots and rain jackets and the children can pretend to be going out in the rain. Or just have your basic home center and the children can pretend that it is a rainy day. Ask them to think of things that could act out in each scenario.

Creative Arts/Dramatic PLay; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and Manipulatives

Play Pipes. Make several copies of the pipes cards. Cut them out and contact them so they will last. Tell the children that water comes into your home and school through pipes under the ground. Have the children use the pipes to connect and make an ongoing connection.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills;grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Outdoor play

Water play on the playground. Set a hose on trickle and let the children put the end in the dirt or sand to make rivers, lakes, and an ocean. Add plastic animals and boats if you have them. As they play, the water will evaporate. Teach them the definition of.

Transitions

Play 1-2-3 what number do you see? Call on a child and then make two fists with your hands and say,”1-2-3 __________ what number do you see”? At the see part hold up 0-10 fingers. The child must name the amount before they can move onto the next activity.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Resources

The Golden Egg Book, by Margaret Wise Brown

A little bunny finds an egg, what could be inside? How will he find out? This is a classic first mystery story for children.

Materials

Pictures of 5 animals that come from eggs
One hard boiled egg
Lots of plastic Easter eggs
Enough plastic eggs for everyone in the class to hold one. Fill them with rice, penny, paperclip, etc. You will need two of each egg. Tape them closed so the children can not open them.
Duck-Rabbit flannel
Pre-made egg shapes 1-10 and many paperclips.
Several plastic cups, a piece of string and small sponge for each, a bowl of water.

Vocabulary

Mystery (something secret)

Before Reading the Story

Put a hard boiled egg inside of a small bag. Tell the children that you brought something in your bag but it is a mystery. Shake the bag; can anyone guess what it is? Give the children clues and see if they can guess (it comes in many colors and sometimes is even speckled, we can eat it, it’s shaped like an oval, it comes from a reptile or a bird). Have a child put their hand in the bag and feel the egg. If they still do not guess, have a child pull it out of the bag. Tell the children that birds like chickens and cardinals/bird in your area come out of eggs. Show the children several pictures of other animals that come from eggs like alligators, turtles, snakes, birds, and spiders, frogs.

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

Reading the Story

After reading the page about what the bunny thought might be in the egg, ask the children what they think is inside? After reading the part where the bunny threw a little rock, ask the children if throwing a rock at it was a good idea? What could the bunny have done besides throwing a rock?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; predicts what will happen next in a story. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

After Reading the Story

Cut out the animals that come from eggs and cut a piece of construction paper into an oval. Lay the animals where the children can see them. Tell the children to close their eyes and count to five. While they are counting, cover one of the animals with the egg shape. Can they guess which one is hidden? Go around your circle letting each child have a turn and play until the children get tired or can easily name the missing animal.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in playing games or using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Discovery

Put the plastic eggs into a basket and tell the children that there are pairs that when shaken will make the same sound. Ask the children to try to find the pairs of eggs by listening carefully while they shake them.

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.

Music and Movement

Sing some of your favorite songs while everyone shakes an egg. Use your eggs from science or fill enough with rice so that every child has an egg to shake.

Creative Arts/Music; experiments with a variety of musical instruments.

Sing Shake Your Egg to the tune of Jingle Bells

Shake your egg, shake your egg,

Shake it very high

Shake it low, shake it fast,

Shake it very slow

Shake your egg, shake your egg

Shake behind your back

Now shake your egg, shake your egg

And put it in your lap.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress infollowing simple and multiple-step directions.

Make the duck/rabbit from resources and use it to teach the children the poem; My Little Yellow Duck

My little yellow duck,

Is really very funny

When you turn him over,

He becomes a little bunny!

(The first time you read the poem…When you turn the duck over to become a bunny, go slowly and see if the children can guess what the duck will become).

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.

Blocks

Put several eggs into the center. Ask the children to build ramps for them to roll down. Will the egg roll faster or slower if the ramp is higher/lower? How can you make it so the eggs won’t fall off the ramp?

Art

Cut out egg shapes from manila files. Put out tissue paper squares and a bowl of glue mixed with a little water to thin it out. Give the children paint brushes to paint the glue onto the egg. Stick the tissue paper squares on top and add another layer of glue. The colors will blend to make new colors.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including, pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Sand and Water

Put egg halves in the sand or water. The children can use them to scoop/pour and to fill and put together.

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

Library and Writing

Ask the children to draw an animal that might be inside an egg. After they have drawn, place a construction paper egg over their picture. You can cut out a hole in the egg so it makes a peek through picture. On the bottom of the egg write; What’s inside Kerry’s egg? The children can write their own names and these can be stapled together to make a book.

Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic. AND Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying and writing familiar words such as their own name.

Dramatic Play

Let’s cook eggs, either pretend or real.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Cut out 1-10 eggs from manila files. Label them 1-10. Put the appropriate number of dots along the edge. Show the children how to put the appropriate number of paperclips onto each egg. Ask them to place them on the table in the proper 1-10 order.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Outdoor Play

Chicken noise makers. https://allfortheboys.com/chicken-in-a-cup/ Take a plastic cup and poke two small holes into it. String the yarn through the holes and tie a knot. Wet the sponge and run it down the length of the yarn while another child holds the cup. As you jerk the sponge down the yarn, it makes it squeaky, clucking sound.

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

Transitions

Play I’m Thinking. Let the children take turns guessing what you are thinking of. Always start out with a shape. If they cannot come up with something that shape, add more details. (I’m thinking of something that is shaped like an oval, I’m thinking of something that is square that we use to watch videos on).

Who’s Hatching Here? by Alma Flor Ada

Not just chickens hatch from eggs. This is a riddle book of oviparous animals.

Materials

Plastic Easter eggs
Oviparous animal pictures to sort/ not oviparous/chicken, alligator, turtle, mosquito, frog, penguin, lizard, snake
Life cycle cards of the above animals
A box big enough for a child to hide inside
Several shirt boxes or low open boxes
Bag of chicken corn or bird seed

Vocabulary

Oviparous (animals that hatch from eggs)
Oval (the shape that looks like an egg)

Before reading the Story

Play a shape game. Introduce the oval shape to the children.

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

Reading the Story

Read this like a riddle book and let the children see if they can guess what each creature is before you turn the page.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

After Reading the Story

Put an oviparous animal picture inside enough plastic eggs that everyone may pick one out of a basket. The children pick an egg, try to guess what is inside their egg and then open it up and see and name what they have.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken vocabulary.

Discovery

Color and contact the life cycle cards and ask the children to try to put them into their correct orders of egg-adult. If you can not make seperated cards, put the pictures out for the children to discuss and compare. Have them note that ALL the oviparous animals hatched from an egg and then grew.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Music and Movement

Bring in a box that is large enough for a child to scrunch inside. Say the following poem, Peck, Peck, Peck. Before the child gets into the box, ask them what kind of oviparous animal they are going to be. Fill in the blank as you recite for each child. Encourage them to make the animal sound as they come out of their shell.

Peck, peck, peck

On the warm hard egg

Out come a head, out comes a leg

How can a _________ that’s not been about

Discover the secret of how to get out?

(Now ask the child what kind of an oviparous animal they are, or have the child make the animal sound as they come out and see if the other children can guess.)

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Blocks

Add several plastic eggs to the center. Put a small cube inside of them to make them heavier and tape it shut. Show the children how to roll these. Encourage them to make a ramp that they can roll their eggs down. Can the children find other objects that will roll?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences and comparisons among objects and materials.

Art

Fill several plastic eggs with sand and tape them smoothly shut. Bring in several shirt boxes. Give the child an egg and let them dip it into a bowl of paint. Put a piece of paper in the box and the egg on top. Let the children roll the egg about making a rolling art picture.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Library and Writing

Give each child a large egg shape and ask them to draw an oviparous animal on it. Cover it with another egg shape and ask the child to tell you three things they know about the animal that they drew. Write these on the front into riddle form (What has feathers and says cluck, cluck and lives on a farm? A Chicken) Hang the riddles up and read them during a down time to the other children.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Sand and water

Add chicken corn or birdseed to the table to pour and scoop.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; demonstrates increasing capacity to follow rules and routines and use materials purposefully, safely, and respectfully.

Dramatic Play

Bring in several egg cartons that have been sanitized and plastic eggs.

Math and Manipulatives

Play an animal match game by making two sets of the picture cards. Glue them to index cards so that the children can not see through the backs. Turn the cards face down and have the children take turns picking up two cards. If they find a match they get to keep them. Play till all the matches have been found.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activites, projects, and experiences.

Outdoor Play

Bring your easel paint outside today and use it to paint any trees that might be on your playground.

Creative Arts/Art;gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Look for living creatures on your playground. Can the children name them? Do they know if it is an oviparous animal? (ants, crickets, lizard, bird, cat next door, dog on leash)

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken vocabulary.

Transitions

Hold up a picture of an oviparous animal, or open the book and show the children a picture. As they go off to the next activity repeat the chant with each child.

It started as an egg then it hatched and grew

Now it’s a (hold up a card and point to a child)

______ so smart because ____knew.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being overly directive or submissive.