Materials

• Poster Board with a simple rainbow design drawn across (see blocks)
• Books or pictures off the Internet that show animals camouflaged into the environment.
• 26-52 Popsicle sticks
• Insect page
• Chameleons page

Vocabulary

• Camouflage (when an animal blends in with the world all around him)
• Mixed-up (to be confused about something)

Before Reading the Story

Put a piece of paper on the wall and ask the children what their favorite animal is. Ask them to tell you something that makes that animals really special. Write their response on the paper. I would like to be a ________because______ (A big dog because I could jump on my brother, A butterfly because I could fly).

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 introduce the story, hold up the cover and ask the children what do they think it means to be a mixed up chameleon. If no one can answer, explain that to be mixed up means to be confused about something. Ask the children if they can predict what the chameleon might be confused/mixed-up about. As you turn to each new page and the chameleon wishes to be another animal, pause and see if the children can name the animal first.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to describe and discuss predictions, explanations, and generalizations based of past experiences.

After Reading the Story

Go to the last page of the story (the one with the rainbow). Can the children name the animals and the colors? Ask, “Which animal is the color blue? Which animal has wings? “ Look on your chart from before reading to see if any of the children’s animals matched the ones in the story.

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.

Discovery

Bring in pictures or books that show animals camouflaged in nature. Use these to generate discussion of different ways that animals camouflage into their environment.

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

Sing Everybody Do This to the tune of Mammy’s Little Baby  (Pick a motion/action for all to follow)

Everybody do this, do this, do this,

Everybody do this just like me.

Everybody do this, do this, do this,

Everybody do this just like me.

(Now choose a child to lead)

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

Sing The Rainbow Song (bring pieces of construction paper to hold up as you name the colors while singing) https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/songs/childrens/sing-a-rainbow/index.htm

Red and yellow and pink and green,

Purple and orange and blue,

Black, brown and white

I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow,

Sing a rainbow. Can you?

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

Blocks

On a piece of poster paper make a simple rainbow using the colors of a block set you have (Legos, Duplo’s, unifix cubes, or small colored wooden blocks). Put out the blocks and encourage the children to match the colors and fill in the rainbow.

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.

Art

Ahead of time, use the chameleons’ page to make chameleons of different colors and cut out. Put these out on the art table with plenty of supplies for the children to collage. Explain to the children what the word camouflage means. You might even bring in a picture of an animal/s that are camouflaged in natural settings. Give each child a chameleon. Challenge the children to camouflage their chameleon within their picture?

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

Library and writing

Use the list that the children made during the ‘Before Reading the Story’ Session. Encourage them to draw their animal. Write the name of their animal on a piece of paper and ask them to try to copy the animals name onto their picture.

Literacy/Book Knowledge and Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading-related activities, such as asking to have a favorite book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books home.

Cut out/around each insect on the page. Write an alphabet letter on each one. Take a loop of tape and attach to the insect at one end. Attach a loop of tape to the end of a Popsicle stick. Explain to the children that the chameleon has a very long and sticky tongue like a frog. Tell the children that they are going to pretend the Popsicle stick is their long and sticky tongue and to see if they can pick up letters with it. Make small cards ahead of time with a letter written on it. The child can match the letter to an insect. Ask the child to find a letter that is in their name. To make this more challenging, we have done this with party blowers by attaching the tape to the end and then the children blow it causing it to unroll and catch an insect. You can also include several numbers to see if the children can distinguish letters-numbers.

Literacy/Alphabet knowledge; knows that letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.

Sand and Water

Put small animals and sand in the table today. Give the children tongs to use to poke around in the sand and pick up the animals. Can they name the animals that they have picked up?

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

Dramatic Play

Put out any dress-ups that you might have that represent animals. (We have tiger striped gloves, a scarf with a snake looking skin design, several animal tales, and a chicken suit.)  Again, take your list of the children’s favorite animal and why. This time ask them to act their animal out. Can they remember any of the animals in the story? What did these animals have that made them special? Can the children act out these animals?

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.

Math and Manipulatives

Make many chameleons and color them in 1-3 different colors. Use these to make patterns for the children to copy. ABAB, ABCABC,ACCBACCA. Encourage the children to try to make their own pattern for you to copy.

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

Outdoor

Play Simon Says using colors. “If you’re wearing red, jump across the yard. If you’re wearing purple skip across the yard.”

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

 Transitions

As the children go to the next activity, ask them to think about and respond to the following sentence; ‘I like to be me because I can__________. ‘ Write their responses on another piece of large paper and hang next to the first chart.

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

Dear Parent- Today we read a story that involved many colors. Think of two colors that your child may not be too sure about and go together on a color hunt looking for that/those colors around the house.

Resources