For this lesson you will need:
Paper sack
J words (see letter of day)
Stickers
Map of continents (see below)
Paper (a few pieces)
Suitcase
Clothes from your child's dresser to wear in each kind of weather
Dining room chairs
Trailmix (or other snack) in baggies
Ice cube
Rock
Umbrella
Seashell
A Piece of art (or wood or brick)
Small amount of sand
Small container of water
camera and binoculars
Welcome Song: (To tune of Old MacDonald):
Welcome, welcome everyone
So glad that you are here.
Today we’re gonna have some fun
So let’s give out a cheer
Woo hoo!!
Clap clap clap clap
Slap(legs) slap slap slap
Clap clap clap let’s go! (when you shout “let’s go!”, do a group high five in the center)
Question of the Day: “Have you ever been on a really fun family trip? Tell me about your favorite one.” Allow each child to share their answer. Share the story of your favorite trip as well
Number of the Day ‘10’: Display the number 10. Have one child (or you) hold up both hands and spread their fingers out. Have another child point and count how many fingers that child has aloud. Switch roles and have one count the other’s toes. Have one child open their mouth wide, while the other child counts their teeth aloud. Switch roles until each child has had a chance to count. Write numbers 1-10 on a piece of paper and have the children count backward from the number 10 while looking at the paper. Have them try again with their eyes closed. High fives (or high tens) for everyone! Count out 10 stickers to put on sticker chart.
Letter of the Day ‘J’: In a paper lunch sack, place pieces of paper with the following words written on them.
Joke
Juggle
Jumping Jacks
J-word
Jig
Jog in place
Jiggle
Have each child pick a piece of paper out of the sack and perform whatever action is written. After they do it, you may want to put the piece of paper back in the bag to give someone else a chance to do the same action. Allow each child a few turns. (You’ll need to have ready something for them to juggle and a few jokes handy in case they can’t think of any on their own.)
When finished with the game, demonstrate how the letter Jj is written and allow them to practice in their writing notebooks. Teach the ASL sign for the letter J and the signs for
Jump, juice and journey (or 'travel'.
Introduction of Topic: Refer back to the children’s answers to the question of the day. Ask: “Before you went on vacation, what was one of the first things you had to do?”
(You had to figure out where you were going!) Hold up a map of the world and say: “Today we’re going to take a trip or JOURNEY around the world!” (make sure they understand this is only pretend so as not to get their hopes up :) )
“Now that we know where we’re going, we probably should get packing!”
Activity: Bring the suitcase and clothes out of hiding and allow them to fold, pack and organize their belongings into the suitcase. Ask what else they think they might need on their journey. Have them gather the items they thought of and pack them into the suitcase as well.
“I think we’re ready to go!”
Hand each child a ‘ticket’ and lead them to an area of the room where you have set up several chairs in a row. This will pose as the airplane! Act as the flight attendant while leading them to their seats and instructing them on how to fasten their seat belts. Inform them that there will be snack and beverage service shortly. (My girls love that part)
Tell them to get ready for takeoff.
After ‘Takeoff’ make your rounds as the flight attendant and make sure all passengers are comfortable. Pass out a baggy full of trail mix items and offer a few different beverage options.
Show map of continents and tell them we’re going to visit each one of these continents today, to learn a little bit more about them. Point to each continent and have them repeat after you as you introduce their names. Do this a couple of times.
Landing: You will land on each 'continent' for only a couple of minutes. Use a different area of the house to represent every continent. (Getting on and off the plane 7 times will get old, so after the first landing, you may just want to walk, take a 'row boat', skip, jump or cartwheel to each of the other continents.
After arrival, have children dress in the clothes they packed that best fit the continent's climate. A few facts will be shared about each continent, and one souvenir will be taken away so children have something to remember it by. (You’ll need a box to collect your souvenirs in) Use binoculars and a camera and really play it up! Explain your surroundings the best you can. Have children take pictures of each other posing on each continent.
South America: Mostly hot weather, home of Amazon river, and every few years there is what we call El Nino, where the weather changes and they get lots and lots of rain. Animals include jaguars, anacondas and piranhas! (Souvenir: Umbrella or big snake)
Antarctica: Located on the bottom of the Earth. Mostly covered in ice. No humans can live there. Home for penguins and polar bears! (Souvenir: An ice cube)
Asia: Continent that has the most people, and the highest mountain in the world—Mt. Everest, People there eat a lot of rice. Rhinos, pandas, Macaques (monkeys) and Komodo dragons (big lizards) live here.
(Souvenir: rock)
Australia: Smallest of all continents, is known for The Great Barrier Reef (explain what coral looks like and how it forms a barrier and is surrounded by water and sea creatures). Not many mountains. Home of the kangaroo, koala and Tasmanian devil. You may want to demonstrate the accent heard from Australians "G'day mate!" (Souvenir: shell)
Europe: Known for big beautiful buildings, art and yummy food. (expound on this) St. Bernards, Lemmings and Musk Ox’s live here. Teach them to say Hello in different European languages: Bonjour (French), Hola (Spanish), Guten Tag (German). (Souvenir: a piece of art, brick, or wood)
Africa: home to the largest 'hot' sand desert in the world, the Sahara. Also has the longest river,the Nile. Elephants, giraffes, lions and zebras live here. (Souvenir: baggie of sand)
North America: Most lakes in the world, lots of mountains, People of all colors and all languages..and it’s where we live! (Souvenir: container of water)
Now that you’re back in North America you can relax. “What a fantastic journey! It’s fun to visit new places isn’t it?” Show the map of continents again and have them repeat after you as you re-introduce each one. Test them to see how much they remember by pointing at a continent and asking them to name it. Use souvenirs to remind them of what they learned about each one.
Art/Craft: Make paper airplanes. Allow children to decorate them, then have a flying contest.
Snack: trailmix or other 'air plane food'(See above activity for details)
Service: Lead a brainstorm session on how you all can help make the world a better and cleaner place to live. (At some point in the day, do one of those things)
Goodbye song: To the tune of “If You’re Happy and you Know it”
If you’ve learned a lot today, clap your hands (clap clap)
Here’s the letter of the day (sign the letter J), clap your hands (clap clap)
Oh, we’ve had a lot of fun,
Now our preschool time is done (tap index finger to wrist)
See you next time (wave) and we’ll do it all again! (Clap clap.)
