Mardi Gras Theme for Preschool

Transcription

1 Mardi Gras Theme for Preschool Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season. The colors for this celebration are usually purple (denoting justice),green (faith), and yellow (power). Some graphics for this theme were created by Amanda at Creatively Crafting Using the Standards Conversion Chart Type in each of your program s equivalent standards next to my standard. Save to your computer. Refer to this chart each time you use a theme from Preschool Cubby Using the Weekly and Daily Planning Forms In the weekly planning form, ALL of the boxes are editable! Simply print as they are OR move activities to the days you want them or replace activities with your own! You ll find my standards listed under each activity. This is where you will enter YOUR program s standards (that you added to the Conversion Chart) 1. Refer to the conversion chart you completed and look up my Standard Letter/Number. 2. Replace that letter and number with YOUR program s equivalent that you typed into the Conversion Chart. 3. Print! The Weekly AND Daily Planning forms are both 100% editable so you can move the activities to the days you want to do them or even replace them with your own activities! (If you do that-be sure to change them on the daily planning forms as well AND replace the standards in that box with the correct standards for the activity you have replaced mine with!) NOTE: The blue areas will NOT print blue, don t worry! Those areas are the editable areas. They will print with a white background when you print! 1

2 Mardi Gras Theme CIRCLE MON Standards TUES Standards WEDS Standards THURS Standards FRI Standards ART MATH/MANIPULATIVES WEEKLY PLANNER SCIENCE MUSIC & MOVEMENT GROSS MOTOR STORY TIME Floating Beads Mardi Gras Glitter Masks 1,5-7,21,22,26,27, 13-15,25,31,42,43 Playdough 28,29,36,37,44,45 3,23,26,35 Mardi Gras Crystals 3,23,26,28,35 Night Dancing 1,3,5,6,11,12,22, 26,34,35,37 Paper Coin Tossing Mardi Gras and 6,7,9,11,13,14,20, Carnival by Molly Aloian 1,6,38-40,44 21,26 Who Wants a Pancake? 7,13,14,21, 24,38, 41,42,45 Fireworks 13-15, 22,25,27, 31,42,43 Playdough Masks Activity Mat 13,14,23-26,30,35 Fat Tuesday Jazz It Up! Pancakes 1,3,5,6,11,12,22, 2,13,15,21,27,29,42 26,34,35,37 Colorful Parachute Dinosaur Mardi Gras Fun 2,6,10,12,16,17, by Dianne De Las Casas 1,6,38-40,44 20,21,35 Guess How Many 1,7,13-15,20,22, 23,26,27,28 Parade Floats 1,13,14,27,30,31 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game 13,14,24-26,30, 42 **Mardi Gras Color Absorption 3,23,26,28,35 Mini Coin Tossing 6,7,9,11,13,14, 20,21,26 Trinket Tossing 3,6,7,9,20,21, 35,44 Bead Painting 1,13,14,22,27, 31,35 King Cake Cooking Maracas Doubloon Sorting and Counting 2,13,15,21,27,29,42 1,11,25,34 13,14,20,21,24-26,30 Colorful Parachute Good Night New Fun (Again!) 2,6,10,12, Orleans by Adam 16,17,20,21,35 Gamble 1,6,38-40,44 Oh When The Saints Come Marching In 3,4,10,12,34 Tube Fireworks 1,13,14,22,27, 31,35 Lace Masks to Wear Yeast Experiment 3,23,26,28,35 1,13,14,16,17, 20,21,27 Treasure Hunt 2,6,10,12-15,35 Musical Chair Shapes 3,10,11,25,34,42 Jazz Limbo 3,6-8,10,12,34 Down in Louisiana by Johnette Downing 1,6,38-40,44 Mimi's First Mardi Gras by Alice Couvillon 1,6,38-40,44 SUGGESTED CHANGES TO INTEREST CENTERS FOR THE WEEK Block Center: Add cars, trucks and little people Dramatic Play: Dress Up. What a PERFECT theme for costumes! Provide different for a New Orleans Parade! types of costumes, masks, beads etc. Have a parade! 3,6,7,13,22,27,30,36 3,4,6,10,13-15,19,30,36 Sand/Water Table: Treasure Hunt Add colored beads, coins, jewels, sequins and feathers to your sand table for the children to find during your theme! 13,14,25,27,28,30 Preschool Cubby 2 Easel: Color Popping Mix paint with cups of bubbles. Have the children blow bubbles onto their paper at the easel to create some awesome designs! 13,14,27-30,36 Writing Center: Name Crowns - The children trace crowns onto paper using a crown stencil. The print their names on the crowns. Provide misc arts/craft supplies for them to decorate with. VARIATION: I m a huge fan of glitter! Encourage the children to print their name and then cover the letters of their name with glue and then sprinkle glitter on the letters. Tap out extra glitter onto a tray. Let crowns dry. Wear when done! 13-15,30,36,37,42,43

3 MONDAY Mardi Gras Theme You ll Need: Circle Art Food coloring, clear jar, oil; paper, scissors, jumbo craft sticks, tape, large variety of arts and crafts supplies (sequins, glitter, beads, yarn, buttons, stickers, etc.) and glue; Mardi Gras Glitter Playdough recipe from this packet; sugar, flat plate, hot water, food coloring; glow sticks, music; Purple, green and yellow paper plates, tape; Mardi Gras and Carnival by Molly Aloian Floating Beads Pour oil in the jar (I use vegetable oil). Discuss the oil (what it looks like, color, what it s used for, etc.). Ask the children to predict what will happen when you drop food coloring into the jar. Drop a few different colored drops of food coloring and observe. (The food coloring will stay in a circular shape and not mix with the oil because water and oil don t mix) VARIATION: Fill jar half with water and half with oil. Observe (oil will rise to top). Drop in food coloring. When drops of coloring reach the water, the color will disperse because water does mix with water. You might try doing both demonstrations together! (I ve seen another variation with 1/3 karo syrup, 1/3 oil and 1/3 water!). 1,5-7,21,22,26,27,28,29,36,37,44,45 Masks The children cut out a shape they want. Help them cut eye holes into their shape. They use the supplies to decorate and tape on a jumbo craft stick to use as a handle. Encourage them to print their names on the inside. Let dry and use them later this week for a parade! 13-15,25,31,42,43 Math/Manipulative Mardi Gras Glitter Playdough Make Mardi Gras colored playdough to develop math and motor skills. Let children use playdough freely to create! 3,23,26,35 Science Mardi Gras Crystals Mix 4 teaspoons of sugar into 4 tablespoons of hot water. Add food coloring. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Pour into flat plate and let sit for a few days as the children observe each day. The water evaporates into the air leaving only the sugar crystals! Use these crystals to decorate cookies! NOTE: It make take longer depending upon how warm the environment is. It is chilly here in March and the heat is set to go down when the classrooms are not in use, so it took about a week for our water to evaporate. 3,23,26,28,35 Music & Movement Night Dancing Play jazz and other music and provide children with a glow stick. Dim the lights and do some night dancing! 1,3,5,6,11,12,22,26,34,35,37 Gross Motor Paper Coin Tossing Encourage the children to try and toss the paper plates past a taped line you ve placed on the floor. VARIATION: Make these as an art activity first. Have them decorate one paper plate of each color listed above. Encourage them to print their names and decorate. In parades, colored coins are tossed to the crowd. Your students and use their larger paper coins for some games or to toss as they go on a walking parade outside! 6,7,9,11,13,14,20,21,26 Story Time Mardi Gras and Carnival by Molly Aloian 1,6,38-40,44 Preschool Cubby 3

4 TUESDAY Mardi Gras Theme You ll Need: Circle Art Math/Manipulative Science Flannel, scissors; tag board (sturdy paper), crayons, black tempera paint, brushes, toothpicks or small wooden skewers; Playdough Mask activity mat from this packet; playdough; pancake mix & ingredients; selection of jazz music; Parachute, green, purple and yellow balls; Dinosaur Mardi Gras by Dianne De Las Casas Who Wants a Pancake Flannel In advance, cut out circles from tan flannel (pancakes) and toppings (syrup, blueberries, strawberries, butter, kiwi, whipped cream, etc.). Give each child a pancake flannel piece to hold. Say the following rhyme (encourage all the children to say it with you). Chose one or two children at a time to place their pancake on the flannel board and add toppings! Who wants a pancake nice and hot? Here you go! What will you put on top? 7,13,14,21,24,38,41,42,45 Fireworks The children color the tag board with crayons. Encourage them to cover as much as they can! Paint with black paint. Give a second coat when dry. The children scratch out designs with sticks when done , 22,25,27,31,42,43 Playdough Mask Decorating Activity Mat Use the playdough you made with the children (or your own playdough) to decorate the masks in the Activity Mat in this packet. 13,14,23-26,30,35 Fat Tuesday Pancakes Make your favorite pancakes with the children. Why pancakes during Mardi Gras? Many made them on Fat Tuesday to use up their eggs and milk, which were forbidden to eat during Lent in medieval times. 2,13,15,21,27,29,42 Music & Movement Jazz It Up! Provide some fun jazz music for the kids to dance to. Play freeze dance as they use musical instruments that you have made with them in the classroom or already made instruments. Louis Armstrong is one of my favorites! His version of "When The Saints Come Marching In" would be perfect for this theme, as it is a traditional tune played and danced to in the parades! 1,3,5,6,11,12,22,26,34,35,37 Gross Motor Colorful Parachute Fun Use the parachute to flip off (or try to keep on!) purple, green and yellow (or any colored) balls! Try going slow, and then fast. You could try doing this parachute game with different tempos of jazz music playing! 2,6,10,12,16,17,20,21,35 Story Time Dinosaur Mardi Gras by Dianne De Las Casas 1,6,38-40,44 Preschool Cubby 4

5 WEDNESDAY Mardi Gras Theme You ll Need: Beads, clear jar, chart paper, marker; boxes (shoe boxes or other), glue, misc arts/crafts supplies, yarn; Cookie Letter Match file folder game from this packet; white carnations, food coloring, vases, water; pairs of paper shapes, chairs, music; green, purple and yellow plastic coins and plates; Down in Louisiana by Johnette Downing Circle Guess How Many Place beads in a covered, clear jar. Pass the jar from child to child to have them guess how many beads are in the jar. Have them print their name on the chart paper and their numbered guess. (Don t do this for them. Let the print the best they can, even if the numbers don t make sense when printed. This is emergent writing and can help them.) 1,7,13-15,20,22,23,26,27,28 Art Parade Floats In advance, ask parents to save and provide empty food boxes from cereal, breakfast bars, etc. The children decorate their boxes as a float. Help them to attach yarn to the front to pull it with during a parade later this week. 1,13,14,27,30,31 Math/Manipulative Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game Use the file folder game from this packet to work on letter recognition skills. 13,14,24-26,30,42 Science Mardi Gras Color Absorption Have children help you pour water into 3 vases. Add food coloring to each-purple to one vase, green to another, yellow to another. Place one flower in each vase. Ask children what they think will happen. Observe over the next several days. EXTENSION: Create journals for the children to draw their observations throughout the week. 3,23,26,28,35 Music & Movement Musical Chair Shapes Place one shape on each of the chairs. Give each child a shape. Play the music. They dance around the chairs while holding their shapes. When the music stops, they find and sit on the chair with the matching shape. VARIATIONS: Use beads or matching items from the classroom to match instead of shapes. Or, print letters or numbers on pairs of paper and have the children match letters or numbers. 3,10,11,25,34,42 Gross Motor Mini Coin Tossing Encourage the children to toss the coins onto the plates. See if they can match the colors of the coins to the plates when tossing (purple on purple, etc.) 6,7,9,11,13,14,20,21,26 Story Time Down in Louisiana by Johnette Downing 1,6,38-40,44 Preschool Cubby 5

6 THURSDAY Mardi Gras Theme You ll Need: Items to toss, bowl; shallow trays, stings of beads, pincher style clothes pins, paint, and paper; Mardi Gras colored coins, muffin tins or bowls; The King Cake Recipe in this packet; musical instrument maracas or plastic eggs and rice or coins; music; Parachute, green, purple and yellow balls; Good Night New Orleans by Adam Gamble Circle Trinket Tossing After discussing tossing trinkets which happens at Mardi Gras, provide children with some trinkets to toss into a bowl or basket at circle. You might use beads, coins or small balls. 3,6,7,9,20,21,35,44 Art Bead Painting Pinch a clothespin at one end of a string of beads. The children dip the beads into paint. Place the paper in a shallow tray. The children move the beads around the tray using the clothespin to hold it. 1,13,14,22,27,31,35 Math/Manipulative Doubloon Sorting and Counting The coins that are thrown during Mardi Gras are called Doubloons. You can find them in a party store OR use a variety of your own coins. The children can sort by color, size or other attributes into muffin tins, bowls, etc. 13,14,20,21,24-26,30 Science King Cakes This is a TRADITIONAL snack for Mardi Gras! VARIATION: Just make a cake! Separate vanilla canned frosting into 3 bowls and color one purple, one green and one yellow (with food gel) and decorate! 2,13,15,21,27,29,42 Music & Movement Maracas Use maracas from your musical instruments collection to teach children about patterns and beats in music while dancing with the maracas. Or, create maracas with the children to use by have the children place rice, coins, rocks or sand into small plastic eggs! 1,11,25,34 Gross Motor Colorful Parachute Fun Use the parachute to flip off (or try to keep on!) purple, green and yellow (or any colored) balls! Try going slow, and then fast. You could try doing this parachute game with different tempos of jazz music playing! 2,6,10,12,16,17,20,21,35 Story Time Good Night New Orleans by Adam Gamble 1,6,38-40,44 Preschool Cubby 6

7 FRIDAY Mardi Gras Theme You ll Need: Oh When the Saints song poster from this packet; shallow trays, paint, paper towel tubes, scissors, paper; mask shapes, yarn or string; dry yeast, sugar, warm water, ziplock baggies, magnifying glasses, yeast experiment instructions in this packet; music, limbo stick; Items to hide; Mimi's First Mardi Gras by Alice Couvillon Circle Oh When the Saints Come Marching In Sing this traditional Mardi Gras song with the children. There are both Christian and secular versions in this packet. 3,4,10,12,34 Art Tube Fireworks Show children how to fringe the bottom of a cardboard tube. Press the fringed parts facing out from the tube. The children press the tube into the tray of paint and then press onto paper. The fringes make beautiful circular shapes! Encourage the children to use many colors! 1,13,14,22,27,31,35 Math/Manipulative Lace Masks In advance, cut out (with eye-holes precut) or purchase different shapes of masks. Hole punch the edges. Provide string for the children to practice lacing. Attach string or yard to the sides to help them tie their laced masked on. 1,13,14,16,17,20,21,27 Science Yeast Experiment Yeast is used to help cakes and breads rise. Making cakes is common during Mardi Gras so let s find out why cakes get bigger when they cook! Use the experiment in this packet with the children to learn about yeast! 3,23,26,28,35 Music & Movement Jazz Limbo Use a stick, broom, limbo stick, etc. Have a child help you hold the stick at a specific height. The children go under the stick any way they like (does not have to be back bending!). Lower the stick after each child has had a turn going under. Have fun, jazzy music playing! 3,6-8,10,12,34 Gross Motor Treasure Hunt Hide Mardi Gras beads, coins or items from your classroom for the children to find. Variation: In advance, create a paper with pictures of each items. Make copies and give them to the children with clipboards and pens. Also give them a paper bag. Hide enough of each item so that each child can take one. As they find each item, they place one in their bag and then check the item off their list. 2,6,10,12-15,35 Story Time Mimi's First Mardi Gras by Alice Couvillon 1,6,38-40,44 Preschool Cubby 7

8 Mardi Gras Glitter Playdough Recipe 4 c (1000 mg) flour 1 c (250 mg) salt 2 c(500 ml) hot water 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) oil food coloring 4 Tbsp. (60 mg) glitter Mix 2 c (500 mg) of the flour with the salt and glitter In separate bowl, mix hot water and oil. Drop food coloring in This part is very awesome to watch! Use Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and yellow/gold. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Add more flour [1/2 c (125 mg) at a time] until it is the consistency you want. 8

9 Playdough Mask Decorating Activity Mat Print and laminate the following Mardi Gras masks. Use the Mardi Gras Glitter Playdough you made with the children (from this packet) or use your own! The children use the playdough to decorate the mask by adding playdough beads and other shapes and décor to the masks! This provides great fine motor practice, counting practice and one-to-one correspondence practice! 9

10 Playdough Mask Decorating Activity Mat 10

11 Playdough Mask Decorating Activity Mat 11

12 Playdough Mask Decorating Activity Mat 12

13 Playdough Mask Decorating Activity Mat 13

14 King Cake Recipe (for cake) Page 1 of 2 Filling: 4 ounces cream cheese, 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed), 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 cup raisins (soak in hot water for 15 minutes, drain and pat dry) 1/2 cup pecan halves (I have never used these because of nut allergies). Cake: 2 rolls (total of 12 individual crescent rolls) refrigerated crescent rolls in the can Icing: 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar; 3 to 4 Tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, Purple, green, and yellow colored sugar crystals or food coloring 1. Have the children help you to put the cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins in a food processor. Process until combined. Set aside. 2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a pizza pan or baking sheet with butter-flavored vegetable oil. 3. Unroll crescent roll dough and separate into triangles. Position triangles next to each other with the points toward the center, overlapping the long sides about 1/4-inch, forming a large round. Where the pieces overlap, press the seams together only in the center of each seam, leaving either ends of the seams unsealed so you can fold them up over the filling. 4. Spread the filling around in a ring covering the center sealed seam of each triangle. 5. Place a small plastic baby or dried bean somewhere in the filling. (The person who gets this piece will have good luck for the year.) Fold the short side of each triangle toward the center just to the edge of the filling to cover. Then pull the point end of the triangles toward the outer rim of the pan to fully enclose the filling, tucking under the points. Lightly press the seams. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature. 14

15 King Cake Recipe (for Icing) Page 2 of 2 1. Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla until smooth. The consistency should be fairly thick, but still thin enough to slowly drip down the sides. Add more milk as necessary. 2. Spoon the icing in a ring over the top of the King Cake and allow it to slowly drip down the sides. 3. To decorate for Mardi Gras, sprinkle wide stripes of purple, green, and yellow colored sugar crystals. If using food coloring: Whisk together icing as above. Divide icing evenly among 3 bowls. Add 2 drops each of red and blue food coloring to the first bowl to make purple. Use 2 drops each of yellow and green in the remaining 2 bowls. 4. Scrape each individual bowl into its own ziploc bag. Squeeze out all the air and seal. 5. Snip off one corner of the bag and use as a pastry bag to pipe wide stripes of icing on the King Cake. The bags will give you more control than using a spoon or spatula. The icing should firm up a bit in about an hour. 15

16 Yeast Experiment Needed: dry yeast, sugar, warm water, ziplock baggies, magnifying glasses Pour some yeast onto a tray or in a bowl for the children to look at and describe (how it looks, smells, feels). Pour that yeast into a ziplock bag and seal. Print yeast on the baggie. Discuss what yeast is used for (in baking, to make cakes and breads rise). Next, pour some sugar in a bowl for the children to look at and describe. Now mix it with some dry yeast. Have children describe some more. Ask them to predict if anything will happen now that the sugar and yeast are mixed. Pour the yeast/sugar mix into a baggie, seal and print yeast and sugar on the baggie. Now, place 1 teaspoon of yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar into a baggie. Ask the children what they think will happen if you add warm water to it? Add ¼ cup of warm water to the baggie and seal. Print yeast, sugar and water on the baggie. Let all 3 bags sit in a sunny space or under a warm light for about minutes. The when mixed with water, the yeast eats the sugar to grow simply put. There s a great description of a similar experiment here on Education.com 16

17 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game Directions: Print, cut and laminate and cut 2 sets of the following Mardi Gras cookie pages Glue one set of tools into the file folder. The children match the second set. There are several sets for you to choose from here: 1 set has upper case letters. 1 set has lower case letters. Create the game so they are matching upper to upper case and lower to lower case OR upper case to lower case. 1 set has the numbers 1-20 on them. Print 2 sets and have the children match the numbers. There is also a blackline set of cookies for you to program with the concepts you are working on (perhaps color each cookie with a color pattern!). 17

18 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game A B C D E F 18

19 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game G H I J 19 K L

20 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game M N O P Q R 20

21 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game S T U V W X 21

22 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game Y Z a b c d 22

23 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game 23 e f g h i j

24 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game k l m n o p 24

25 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game 25 q r t u v s

26 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game w x y z

27 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game

28 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game

29 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game

30 Cookie Letter Match File Folder Game 30

31 Mardi Gras Calendar Pieces ABCDE Pattern

32 Mardi Gras Calendar Pieces ABCDE Pattern

33 Mardi Gras Calendar Pieces ABCDE Pattern

34 Mardi Gras Calendar Pieces ABCDE Pattern

35 Mardi Gras Calendar Pieces ABCDE Pattern

36 Mardi Gras Calendar Pieces ABCDE Pattern The blank card below is to add the month you would like! Simply cut out, laminate and print the month s name with a dry erase marker so that you can erase and use whenever you like throughout the year.

37 Song Card & Song Poster How to use: Print and laminate the song card below (it is 5 X 3 ). Place in a can or box with other cards of songs your children love! In transitional times (waiting to go outside or wash hands, etc.), pull out your song box or song can (I use a decorated coffee can!). Shuffle the cards in your hands saying Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle and your children yell STOP! When they yell stop, whichever card is on top is the one you sing! The kids LOVE this! Each month you ll receive one of these cards that correspond with the song poster for the month to add to your Song Card Collection! On the next page, you ll find the Song Poster! Print and laminate for use over the years! 37 Preschool Plan It

38 When the Saints Go Marching In (general version) Oh when the saints, go marching in, Oh when the saints go marching in, Oh how I want to be in that number When the saints go marching in. And when the sun, begins to shine, And when the sun, begins to shine, Oh how I want to be in that number When the sun begins to shine. Oh when the trumpet, sounds its call Oh when the trumpet, sounds its call, Oh how I want to be in that number When the trumpet sounds its call. Oh when the saints go marching in, Oh, when the saints go marching in, Oh how I want to be in that number When the saints go marching' in. 38

39 When the Saints Go Marching In (Christian version) Oh when the saints, go marching in, Oh when the saints go marching in, Oh Lord, I want to be in that number When the saints go marching in. And when the sun, begins to shine, And when the sun, begins to shine, Lord how I want to be in that number When the sun begins to shine. Oh when the trumpet, sounds its call Oh when the trumpet, sounds its call Lord, how I want to be in that number When the trumpet sounds its call. Oh when the saints go marching in, Oh, when the saints go marching in, Oh Lord, I want to be in that number When the saints go marching' in. 39

40 Patterns for Games and Activities The following images are from the calendar pieces. You can use these in several ways: Print and laminate several pages for the children to use to create patterns. Either you begin a pattern using 4-5 of these cards and encourage the children to continue the same pattern. Or, have the children create their own patterns using the cards. Print and laminate several pages for the children to use as a matching/memory game. 40

41 Patterns for Games and Activities ABCD Pattern 41