Happy Hearts & Healthy Teeth

Happy Hearts & Healthy Teeth

Bonus Activities for February 2017

? 2017 Gee Whiz Education, LLC

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Happy Hearts & Healthy Teeth

Enjoy the following activities with your children!

Get Moving!

Exploring Together: Lost Valentines (all ages, )

Materials: Construction paper heart "valentines" - Cut hearts from all

colors of construction paper. Write a message on each heart. Hide around the room.

Valentine's Day is a fun event for children. Playing a group game related to this holiday is a wonderful way to promote cooperation and build literacy/prereading skills at the same time.

Move around the room frantically as if you are looking for something. As children notice, explain that your valentines are missing! Invite children to look for the construction paper hearts around the room. As they look, give them clues that incorporate positional concepts such as over, under, behind, etc.

Once the children locate all of the construction paper hearts, count them together to see how many they found. Then, have the children help you read all of the messages on the valentines. Which are their favorite messages?

EXTENSION: Use the construction paper hearts to play the same game in a different way. Hide the hearts, have the children find them and then sort by color. They can then count the number of hearts in each group. Advanced preschoolers can also make additional hearts to add to the game.

Questions to Spur Thinking How do you use these items to take care of your teeth? What community helper helps you take care of your teeth?

Program Symbols for Developmental Areas

= Language Development = Social Studies Knowledge

= Literacy Knowledge

= Social & Emotional Development

= Math Knowledge

= Creative Arts and Music

= Science Knowledge

= Physical Development & Health

= Logic & Reasoning

= Approaches to Learning

Questions to Spur Thinking

Where did you find a heart?

Which message is your favorite? Why?

If you were going to write a message on a construction paper heart, what would it say?

Exploring Together: Brush and Floss (all ages, )

Materials: New toothbrush (in package), dental floss, toothpaste

(in box) in a pillow case

February is Dental Health Month. Numerous studies have linked poor dental health with heart disease and other illnesses. It is very important to help children understand the importance of taking care of their teeth from a young age.

Shake the pillowcase containing the dental health items. As children become interested, invite them to join you. Give them clues about each of the items in the pillowcase. As they guess each one correctly, remove it from the pillowcase. Once all of the items have been removed, invite children to share what they already know about each of them as well as their experiences with each.

Next, introduce the action song, "Brush and Floss" (p. 6). As children sing this song, encourage them to participate in the motions.

EXTENSION: Sing the song, "Brush and Floss" as the children care for their teeth each day.

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Happy Hearts & Healthy Teeth

1 Infant/Toddler Activity + 1 Small Group (2-4 years)

Questions to Spur Thinking How many teeth do you think you have? Was your estimate accurate? Which number card matches the number

of teeth you have? Which number of teeth do the most

people in our group have? The least? When you grow up, how many teeth do

you think you will have? Why do you think that?

You Are My Valentine (Infants & Toddlers - )

Materials: Construction paper hearts, hanging above the

diapering area Point out the paper hearts while diapering each

infant or toddler. Blow on them or tap them to make them move. Watch to see if the infant or toddler tracks the movement with his/her eyes. Sing the following song while the infant or toddler looks at the hearts.

YOU ARE MY VALENTINE (tune: "The Wheels on the Bus") You are my valentine, yes, you are, Yes, you are. Yes, you are. You are my valentine, yes, you are. I love you!

How Many Teeth? (2?4 years, )

Materials: Unbreakable mirror Blocks (all the same size and shape ... Duplos?

would work well) Index cards (labeled 0-32), paper, pencil

This experience helps children learn more about their physical selves while incorporating an element of math.

Look at your own teeth in the unbreakable mirror and start counting. Chances are good the children will become curious about what you are doing and decide to join you. Explain that you are counting your teeth. Have children count with you. Challenge them to remember this number!

Next, show children the numbered index cards and have them help you arrange them on the floor in a long row from 0-32. Ask children to recall how many teeth you had. Then have them put a block directly above this number on the floor. This is the beginning of a simple graph.

Help each child count his/her teeth and then have him/her place a block directly above the numeral that matches. You will obviously need to assist twos/young threes with this part of the activity. If any of the children have the same number of teeth (and they most likely will), have them place their block on top of the ones already in place.

Once each child has added a block to the graph, use it to compare the number of people that have the same number of teeth in your group. They will also discover that adults, like you, normally have 32 teeth and that they, because they are young, are a long way from having that many.

Advanced preschoolers can help count out loud as you count younger children's teeth.

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Happy Hearts & Healthy Teeth

Get Moving!

2 Small Group Activities (Toddlers-4 Years)

Hopping Hearts (2-4 years, )

Materials: Construction paper hearts (from p. 2) Blue painter's tape (or other tape that will not hurt the

floor) Recorded music

This active experience is a great way to get the children moving, practice color recognition skills, counting skills and even pre-reading concepts...all at the same time!

To get ready, use loops of blue painter's tape to attach the construction paper hearts from p. 2 in a path on the floor.

Questions to Spur Thinking

What color of heart did you land on this time? What other ways could you move your body along the heart path? _________________________________________ What other materials should we add to this center

area?

Who is going to get the valentine you are creating?

What do you want to say in/on your valentine?

As children become curious, invite them to join you for a game of, "Hopping Hearts." To play this game, have each child stand on a heart. Then, turn on recorded music and have the children hop from heart to heart while the music plays. Randomly stop the music and have each child stand on a heart. At this point, children who are developmentally ready can name the color of heart on which they are standing.

Turn on the music and repeat. Then, as of incorporating math into the game, stop the music and give the children a specific number of "hops" to take forward (or backward) from where they stopped. Count out loud as children hop. Now what color are they on?

Advanced preschoolers who are developmentally ready can "read" the message on the hearts they are standing on with you.

Valentine Center (Toddlers?4 years, )

Materials: Area designated as a Valentine Center Envelopes, construction paper, stickers, heart-

shaped stencils, precut hearts, doilies, etc. Crayons/markers, child-safe scissors, gluesticks

Setting up a Valentine Center invites children to make valentines for anyone and everyone! It is also a wonderful way for them to practice literacy, pre-writing and small motor skills all at the same time. In addition, it is a wonderful way to promote social and emotional development.

Once the area is ready, explain to the children how it is meant to be used. Review any special rules and ask children if there are additional materials they would like you to add.

Children can then use the area as desired to create valentines for their friends and families. As you observe children using this center, you will gain keen insight into the developmental level of each child in many different areas.

Advanced preschoolers can be challenged to write their own messages on/in their valentines. If they are not ready to do this on their own, they can dictate messages for you to write.

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Happy Hearts & Healthy Teeth

1 School-Age Activity + 1 Infant Activity

I Love (Name) Because... (School-Age, )

Materials: Construction paper Yarn, tape, crayons/markers

This activity is designed to help older children think about how much the people in their lives mean to them. It is also designed to promote language and prewriting skills. In addition, it ties in nicely with Valentine's Day if you are planning to celebrate this holiday with the children.

Provide children with the materials listed above. Before they begin, talk with them about the members of their families. Encourage children to share things they like about each member of their families. For instance, a child might say, "I love my brother because he plays with me." Be sure to give all of the children time to share.

Next, have the children create a construction paper cutout for each member of their families. The children can decide what cutout shapes they want to use. In honor of Valentine's Day, some children may choose to cut out hearts but truly, any shape will work. The choice is theirs! Once all of the cutouts are complete, have the children write (or dictate) something they like about each member of their family to print on a construction paper cutouts. Then provide children yarn and tape. Children can tape the cutouts to the yarn. When finished, children may want to give their creation to their families for Valentine's Day.

EXTEND FOR ANOTHER DAY: Children can create an additional "I Love (Name) Because" display for the children (and you!) in your program.

Questions to Spur Thinking

Who are the members of your family?

What do you like about (family member)?

How do you think your family is going to feel when they receive your "I Love (Name) Because..." creation.

Soft and Spongy Hearts (Infants & Toddlers, )

Materials: Heart-shaped sponges - Use a heart-shaped

cookie cutter or stencil to cut hearts from sponges. Container of water, towel

Infants and toddlers love to play in water and using heart-shaped sponges encourages small motor development.

Place a towel on a low table and place the basin of water on it. Add the heart-shaped sponges.

Invite interested infants and toddlers to explore the water and the sponges. As the infants and toddlers explore, use plenty of language to describe their movements as well as how the water looks, sounds and feels. This is an excellent way to help these children build receptive language skills.

? 2017 Gee Whiz Education, LLC

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