Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh

3 mice find primary paint and jump in the jars to see what will happen. Follow along on this colorful mouse adventure.

Materials

11 paper plates. One colored red, one yellow, pink, green, purple, orange, blue, black, brown, white, and gray. You could have the children color the plates for you a day or so ahead of time.
Finger paints in red, yellow, and blue
White coffee filters or white paper towels
4 eye droppers
Food coloring
11 index cards or pieces of paper cut the size of index cards. On each one write the name of a different color using a crayon or marker of the color name (write red with a red crayon, yellow with a yellow crayon).
The night before, make ice in cube trays adding food coloring to the water.
Laundry basket
Many pairs of colorful socks

Vocabulary

mix (to stir together)

Introducing the Story

Put a large piece of paper on the wall and mark down 6 columns. At the bottom of each column make a colored mark. One red, yellow, blue, green, orange, and purple. Ask the children to name their favorite color and mark the column graph. Then show the children the cover of the book and ask them if they can guess what the story might be about (mice, painting, colors).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Reading the Story

Each time the story names a color, point to it. On the pages where the mice are mixing two colors, ask the children if they can guess what color the mouse is mixing. As you read, encourage the children to use their hands to help mix and stir the paint.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children if they can remember what colors mix together to make purple, green, and orange. Ask them why think that the mice left part of the paper white? Can they make up a new ending for the story? (The cat couldn’t find the mouse, the mouse painted the cat when it was asleep, the cat ate the mouse).

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.

Music and Movement

Get out the scarves today and put on fun music to dance to. Have the children stir and mix with their arms and swirl their scarves in the air.

Creative Arts/Movement; expresses through movement and dancing what is felt and heard in various musical tempos and styles.

Sing What Are You Wearing by Hap Palmer. You can find different versions of the song on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zMOmzaDc7U

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

Sing The Rainbow Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOmDYt2a9Gw. After the children have introduced to this song, I cut out circles of all the colors and pass them out. The children then hold them up as their color circle is called.

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

Discovery

Mix food coloring and water into small cups. Put out the eyedroppers and the white coffee filters. Show the children how to drop the colored water onto the filter. As the water hits the paper, the colors will begin to bleed together and mix.

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

Or; have the children color white coffee filters with red, yellow, and blue magic markers. When they have colored the entire filter, give them a squirt bottle filled with water. Have them squirt their coffee filter three times. This will cause the magic marker colors to bleed into each other and make new colors.

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

Blocks

If you have colored blocks, put these out for the children to play with or to embellish your wooden blocks. As the children build, ask them how many red blocks they have had to their structure or how many blue blocks. Help the children to count if necessary.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond.

Art

Finger paint today using primary color paints. Let the children choose two to mix and stir. While they are finger painting, challenge them to draw shapes and/or letters on their paper. I used to like to let the children finger paint directly onto the table as it allowed much larger movements and drawings. These can be preserved by gently rubbing a piece of paper on top. If you use the table for your base, give yourself plenty of time to wash the table, it can be messy but it is fun.

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

Sand and Water

Let the children choose two colors of food coloring to add to the table today. If you have two separate containers, put one color into each and allow the children to mix as they play.

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

Add ice cubes that you have put food coloring into. As they melt, they will release their colors slowly into the water.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect.

Library and Writing

Put out the index cards with the colors written upon them. Encourage the children to copy the color words onto a piece of paper using pencils or markers.

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

Dramatic Play

Tell the children it is laundry day. Set out a laundry basket, or box, and many pairs of colorful socks. Show the children how to find a pair of socks and roll them together.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Any counter-sorters such as bears that the children can sort by color. Encourage the children to put all the reds together and all the yellows in a different bowl or pile.

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

Outdoor Play

Play Cat and Mice. The teacher is the cat and chases the mice. Have a tree or piece of equipment be the safe space, mouse hole, where the children can run to get away from the cat. If the cat catches a mouse, the mouse must sit off to the side until another mouse is caught. Then the 2^nd mouse sits out and the first mouse reenters the play. As the children become familiar with the game, they can take turns being the cat.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

Play I Spy. Say; “I spy with my little eye…”. Think of something in the room and describe it by color first. Then add shape and function until the children can guess. (I spy with my little eye something that is yellow and round. It has numbers all around the edges and we use it to tell us the time. I spy with my little eye something that is blue and has silver legs. The blue part we sit on at the table and it has four silver legs.).

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

Resources

Dear Parent- today we read the book, Mouse Paint. This story is all about colors and color mixing. Do a color walk with your child. Pick a color that you think your child needs help with and have them walk with you through the house looking for that color.

Put Me in the Zoo, by Robert Lopshire

This is a fun rhyming book that incorporates color and size. It is a Dr. Suess Beginner Book and children all delight in this funny animal’s spot adventure.

Vocabulary

Spots (little daubs of color)
Zoo (a wildlife park where you can find many kinds of wild animals)

Materials Needed

Cardboard or poster board
Music cd
Non-fiction animal book
Bag of M&M’s or colored marking chips
Bar Graph
Picture of animal without spots

Introducing the story

Begin a conversation about the clothes that the children are wearing. Is anyone wearing red? green? blue? Is anyone wearing stripes? spots? a pattern? Show the children the cover of the book and ask them if they can guess what the story might be about. Can you guess which shape our story is about? (circle). Can you tell me anything else? (It’s about an animal, it has colors).

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

Reading the Story

Slow down at the end of each page to see if the children can guess the rhyming word by listening to the clue.

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; progresses in recognizing matching sounds and rhymes in familiar words, games, stories, songs, and poems.

After Reading the Story

Talk about spots. What animals can they think of that have spots? Do people have spots (freckles, birthmarks)? What else can you think of that has spots? Make a list of all the things they think of and attach it to the wall.

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

Music & Movement

Use any color or shape songs that you have taught the children. Three Primary Colors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu44JRTIxSQ Shapes Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6eTDfkvPmo

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

Ask the children to make a large group circle and then do group circle songs such as Looby Loo or Hokey Pokey. Can they form a circle with only verbal cues?

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multi-step directions.

Discovery

Bring in non-fiction books about animals. Challenge the children to look at the various animals for comparisons. (Can you find two animals with stripes? Can you find two animals with bumpy skin? Can you find some with spots?).

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

Blocks

Make a sign that says ZOO on an index card. Show it to the children and tell them that you are going to put it in the block corner for the day. Encourage the children to make a zoo by sorting like animals together and making enclosures around them.

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 Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; shows growing capacity to maintain concentration over time on a task, question, or set of directions or interactions despite distractions and interruptions.

Art

Ask the children to draw a picture of where they would put their spots if they could put them anywhere. After they have drawn their picture, use a stamp pad to make finger print dots on top. Dictate their responses. (I would put spots on my baby brother. I would put spots on the car).

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

Sand & Water

Cut out a variety of circle sizes from cardboard. Put these in the sand table. Ask the children to sift through the sand to find all the circles. Have them sort them by size. With younger children you could cut out various color poster board and have them sort by color.

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

Library and Writing

Cut out several 2 inch circles from cardboard. Show the children how to hold it on a piece of paper and trace around it. Encourage them to name the shape.

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

Before the children begin cutting out circles, remind them about how to carry and use scissors correctly.

Physical Health & Development/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 to write one letter from their name on each circle as they cut them out (Kerry would need to cut out 5 circles).

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name. AND 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.

Math and Manipulatives

Bring in a large bag of M&M’s, or a variety of colored chips. Give each child 10 and a bar graph. Ask the children to sort the M&M’s onto a graph. Ask them which color has the most? How many greens do you have? How many altogether? Who in the group has the most brown’s? Which is your favorite color? When you are finished you can have them eat and count.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color or size. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, and equal to.

Outdoor Play

On the playground lay hoola hoops on the ground. Encourage the children to jump from hoop to hoop. Play in the hoop, out of the hoop.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

Dismiss the children to the next activity by color. If you’re wearing yellow go wash your hands, line-up, or choose your center.

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

Resources

Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

This book has bright lively pictures and a simple planting information to help children understand the world of gardening.

Materials

Seed catalogs of any kind
Silk flowers. If you do not have stems, attach pipe cleaners
Small paper plates, one per child
Many triangles cut in rainbow colors. They will be the pedals of the flowers
Long strips of construction paper about ½ inch wide
Large sheet of paper where you have drawn a simple rainbow: using the colors in your color strips.
On a large piece of paper draw a red circle, an orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple circle.

Vocabulary

Catalog-a directory magazine
Soil-dirt
Seedlings-baby plants
Sow-to plant
Petals-a part of the flower on a plant.

Introducing the Story

Show the children the front and back covers of the book. Tell the children that the title is called, Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. Ask the children what they think the author meant by planting a rainbow? Ask the children if they have ever helped to plant flowers before? What do they think flowers need to grow? (Dirt, water, and sunshine).

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

Reading the Story

As you read, stop occasionally on pages and ask the children to name some of the colors that they see. On others, point to a color and name and ask the children if they are wearing that color.

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

Put the sheet of paper on the wall with the colored circles. Ask the children which color flower they would be if they were a flower. Write their name inside the circle. Count how many of each color flower you would have in your garden. Act out the poem, Dig a Little Hole.

Literacy/Print Awareness & Concepts; develops growing understanding of the different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newsletters, lists, messages, and menus. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness if numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Music and Movement

Dig a Little Hole

Dig a little hole and put the seed in. Act out digging a hole with your hands.

Cover it with dirt and let the sun shine in. Pretend to cover the hole and lift arms over head.

Add a little water and keep it fed Wiggle fingers like rain

Pretty soon a little plant will show it’s head. Use one arm to grow up towards sky.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes. AND Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Discovery

At the easel put out red, yellow, and blue paint and encourage the children to mix the colors as they paint. What colors did you make?

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.

If you have extra monies to spend, there is a fun science experience using a bag of M&M’s, a plate, and water. Have the children line the edges of the plate with M&M’s. Carefully pour a little water onto the plate so that all the M&M bottoms are standing in it. Then wait. As the color starts to dissolve and run towards the center of the plate, a rainbow will appear.

Blocks

Let the children use colored blocks today and challenge them to make a flower. How many shapes did they use? What shapes did you use? Show me the stem, the leaves, or the petals.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take shapes apart.

Art

Give each child a paper plate and show them how to glue the triangle pedals onto it. When they have dried you can cut out stems and leaves or let the children cut out stems and leaves. These make a cute wall display. As the children are gluing the triangles on, ask them about the colors that they are using. If by chance you have foam squares, the colors are much more vibrant.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrates care and persistence in a variety of art projects. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, experiences, and projects.

Sand and Water

Add dampened sand or dirt to the table and the silk flowers. The children can pretend to plant a garden. Give them spoons or small shovels and watering cans. Do not let them add any more real water or you will have a mess.

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

Library and Writing

Put out colored markers or crayons and encourage the children to draw flowers, around shapes cut from cardboard, or to practice writing their names.

Literacy/Early Writing;experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers.

Dramatic Play

Take some of the silk/plastic flowers that you have and put them into dramatic play along with a plastic vase (a mayonnaise jar works well). Remind the children that in the story they picked the flowers and took them home. Encourage the children to make a bouquet for the vase. This can then be left on the table for future arranging.

Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and Manipulatives

Give the children the long strips of construction paper and the large rainbow design. Let the children snip the paper into little squares and glue to the coordinating rainbow arch.

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

Outdoor Play

If you are working on a school garden, let the children help by watering and /or planting seeds. Remind the children that in the story, the narrator and mother dug holes to plant the bulbs. Give the children shovels or spoons and let them dig holes in the sand or dirt. How big a hole can you dig? Encourage the children to work together to dig a really big hole

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

Transitions

Dismiss the children to the next activity by naming colors. Put one of each color strip that you made for manipulatives, or puffballs, under a blanket or into a sack that the children cannot see through. Have a child pick out a strip and name the color.

Or have the child find something in the room that is that color.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.