Easter

Happy Easter

Books:

:Poems & Songs:

Five Little Bunnies - Diane Thom One little bunny wondering what to do, Another bunny came along, then there were two. Two little bunnies hopping like me, Another bunny came along, then there were three. Three little bunnies jumping by my door, Another bunny joined them, then there were four. Five little bunnies ready for some fun, Hopped away in the warm, spring sun.	Jelly Beans [from: KinderKorner List] Five little jelly beans; I wish I had more! I'll eat the (color word) one; Now there are four. Four little jelly beans; Tasty as can be. I'll eat the (color word) one; Now there are three. Three little jelly beans; Only a few I'll eat the (color word) one; Now there are two. Two little jelly beans; Eating them is fun. I'll eat the (color word) one; Now there is one. One little jelly bean; The last one is for me. I'll eat the (color word) one; I'm as happy as can be!
Jelly Beans Jelly beans are fun to eat. Share them with the friends you meet. Eat a few, they sure are yummy. But ... not too many, They'll hurt your tummy!	Counting Jelly Beans One little, two little, three little jelly beans. four little, five little, six little jelly beans. seven little, eight little, nine little jelly beans. ten yummy jelly beans to eat!
Little Bunny -author unknown There was a little bunny who lived in the wood. He wiggled his ears as a good bunny should. He hopped by a squirrel. He wiggled by a tree. He hopped by a duck. And he wiggled by me. He stared at the squirrel. He peeked around the tree. He stared at the duck. But he winked at me!	I'm a Little Chicken - Susan Peters [tune: "I'm a Little Teapot"] I'm a little chicken, Ready to hatch, pecking at my shell, scratch, scratch, scratch. When I crack it open, out I'll leap, Fluff up my feathers and cheep, cheep, cheep!
I Love Eggs [tune: Frere Jacques] I love eggs, I love eggs, Yum, yum, yum, in my tum. Scrambled, boiled, or fried, Anyway I've tried. Yum, yum, yum. Yum, yum, yum!	Easter Eggs [tune: "Jingle Bells"] Easter eggs, Easter eggs, hidden all around. Come my children look about and see where they are found. They're a sight see. One for Enrique and one for Michaela and a special one for me!
Five Little Easter Eggs Five little Easter eggs lovely colors wore, Mother ate the blue one, then there were four. Four little Easter eggs, two and two you see, Daddy ate the red one, then there were three. Three little Easter eggs, before I knew, Sister ate the yellow one, then there were two. Two little Easter eggs, oh, what fun! Brother ate the purple one, then there was one. One little Easter egg, see me run! I ate the last one, and then there were none.	Little Chick - Colraine Pettipaw Hunley Snuggled down inside An egg that was white, Was a tiny little chick With its head tucked in tight. Then it lifted its head, Tapped the egg with its beak, And quickly popped out - With a peep, peep, peep!
Bunnies Bunnies are brown. Bunnies are white. Bunnies are always An Easter delight. Bunnies are cuddly The large and the small. But I like the chocolate ones The best of them all!	Little Rabbit - author unknown One little rabbit Underneath a tree. One little rabbit As "hoppy" as can be. Two long ears. Two big back feet. One wiggly nose And whiskers so neat. Two front paws. Two eyes that shine. One furry body And a fluffy tail behind.

:Reading:

Musical Jelly Beans

Write a letter on a jellybean cutout. Put patterns on the floor in a large circle. Play music while the class walks around the jelly bean circle. When you stop the music, have them stand where they are and say the rhyme below. Then, pick up his/her jelly bean and give the letter name/sound/word, etc. Repeat play until all have had a turn.

Jelly beans, jelly beans jump and hop. Jelly beans, jelly beans reach to the top. Jelly beans, jelly beans stretch very far. Jelly beans, jelly beans, Stop where you are!

Peter's Adventures

After reading a version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, have students sequence the events of the story. There is a cute worksheet in The Teachers Helper, TEC8683, June/July 2001. Students will sequence six scenes.

Bunny Trails

Practice recognizing pictures that belong with certain word families (-at, -ot) with this cut and glue worksheet. (Teacher's Helper, April/May 2004)This issue also contains several other worksheets that focus on additional word families.

Easter Egg Words

Program 10-20 mini sentence strips or small pieces of paper with a sight word or decodable word on each. Fold and tuck inside a plastic Easter egg. Add all the eggs to a large decorative basket. Have a small group of children pass around the basket. At each person, an egg will be chosen, opened, and the word inside read to the group.

Quacked!

Use a set of your dolch sight words on index cards, six index cards with a picture of a duck on it, and a cute Easter type basket. Place all the cards inside and mix them up. Pass the basket around the table. The child will take out a card (without looking inside) and then read it to the group. If he/she gets it correct, he/she will keep the card. If he/she pulls out the duck card, he/she gets QUACKED and must put all the cards back. My kids LOVE this game!

Egg Rhymes

Prepare a set of construction paper Easter eggs with rhyming word pairs. Students will play the game by turning cards face down on the table and mixing them up. Played like "concentration," children will try to find the rhyming pairs.

Which Nest?

Program several construction paper bird nests with an initial sound/letter. Add a picture to a Carson-Dellosa chick cutout for each lettered nest. Have students work in a group or literacy station to match the pairs.

:Math:

Jelly Bean Patterns

Use small paper jellybean cutouts to have students complete and extend a color pattern. Add the jellybeans to a small sentence strip.

Bunny hops ...

The June/July 2001 Teacher's Helper (TEC8683) has a cute positional minibooklet that can be read in conjunction with The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Students will place bunny cutouts in different positions: under, between, in, over, beside, on, and into.

Counting Eggs By Twos

Prepare a yellow "egg-strip" pattern for each child. The strip is created like a paper doll to create six conjoined eggs. On the first strip write "Counting by Twos." On the five additional eggs, have children count by 2's to 10 - writing a new number on each egg. After writing the number, children will go back and draw that many eggs on each page.

A pattern can be found in The Mailbox, Kindergarten, April/May 1999 but can be easily adapted.

Number Eggs

Program some construction paper eggs by cutting a crack across the middle (cute craft scissors would make interesting patterns). One one half of the egg, write the numeral. On the other half, write the number word. Students will match the egg halves.

Egg Addition and Subtraction Stories

Create storyboards of different Easter or Spring scenes on half sheets of paper. One storyboard I use is a rabbit leaned against a tree with grass along the bottom of the board. I spray painted some lima beans with yellow and pink paint. The beans are the Easter eggs. My students create stories to practice combining and separating sets.

Plastic Egg Sort

Gather a collection of plastic Easter eggs (you probably have tons from years gone by!) and mix them up. Have students explore ways of sorting them. Ex: some have glitter, some are small, some are large, some are brightly colored, some are pastel colored, etc.

Cottontail Totals

I adapted this idea that was in The Mailbox, April/May 2004 issue to include a recording activity and a specifc set of numbers to combine. Provide an Easter basket full of jumbo cotton balls (bunny tails). Spin a spinner and see how many bunny tails you need to take out. Write that number on your recording sheet on the first line. Draw how many bunny tails you took out in the first circle. After two spins, the students will then total their bunny tails to see how many they have all together and write the appropriate number.

Egg Roll

Another fun addition activity is found in The Mailbox, April/May 2004. You will need: 3 easter baskets filled with easter grass; one die (pattern in the issue); a styrofoam egg carton filled with plastic eggs, a white board, and a dry erase marker. Students will roll a die and put the right number of eggs in the first basket. Continue by filling the second basket. Encourage students to create oral story problems as they combine the two sets of eggs to answer "how many eggs are there in all?" When counting the eggs the students will then move the eggs to the third basket. Variation: Students can write the number sentences on the white board as they fill their baskets.

Spill The Beans

Use paper jelly bean cutouts. Children will color the jelly beans their favorite color. On the other side they will pick a different color to color the jelly bean. Add the jelly beans to a ziplock baggie. On the count of three, students will spill their beans and create a number sentence using the two colors of beans. Students will write the number sentence that they spilled on a sheet of paper of white board. Students will choose one number sentence to draw and represent on paper.

Estimation Station

Estimate how many jelly beans are in a jar.

M & M Graph

Students will graph Easter m&m's by their colors

Easter Candy Sort

Students will sort Easter candy by various attributes.

Eggs ... more or less

Fill a set of plastic Easter eggs with a number of items in each. Two blue eggs will be compared to see which blue egg had more/less. Continue for the pink eggs; yellow eggs, etc.

Egg Order

Program a set of plastic Easter eggs with sticker dots from 1-12. Using an egg carton, students will put the eggs in order from smallest to largest number.

Bunny's Money

Students will match the written amount on the bunny with a card showing the correct coins. Make this into a file folder game or center activity.

:Social Studies:

The Ugly Duckling

Read The Ugly Duckling. Discuss feelings. Also discuss how it is important not to judge another person because of the way they look.

Easter

Read Today is Easter!. Discuss some things that people do to prepare for and celebrate Easter.

The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings

After reading the story, discuss with students the importance of being unique and special. See writing for a follow-up.

:Science:

Rabbit KWL

Throughout your Easter or Rabbit unit have students work on completing a KWL about what they have learned about rabbits.

What animals are oviparous?

In conjunction with a reading of Chickens Aren't The Only Ones, have students brainstorm (and chart) a list of animals that lays eggs from which its young hatch. After the reading, students will add animals to the written class list.

Egg Hatching Sort

Students can sort pictures of animals by those that are oviparous and those that are not. (birds, snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turles, frogs, fish, insects)

All About Eggs

Prepare two large egg-shaped pieces of paper. On one egg, write all the things that the children know about eggs. On the other egg, write things that we want to know about eggs.

Eggs-amination

In a large group, crack open a raw egg carefully and have children look at the three parts of the egg. Have the students draw and label what they observed on their own sheet of paper. Label the parts as shell, white, and yolk.

Chick Sequence

Talk about hwo chicks hatch from eggs. Use a set of sequence cards showing the different stages of a chick hatching.

Eating Like A Rabbit

Explore the concept of herbivore with your students by letting them sample some "rabbit food" for a day. What kinds of plants do you like to eat that rabbits do too? (Examples: lettuce, cucumber, celery, carrots, apples, pears, tomatoes).

:Art:

"Stained Glass" Egg

For each child you will need: large construction paper egg shape, glue, color chalk, and hair spray. Give each child a construction paper egg. glue curvy lines on the egg so that it is divided into sections. When the glue is dry, color in the spaces with color chalk. Use lots of different colors! Spray when finished so the project will last longer.

Paper Plate Bunny

For each child you will need: large paper plate, small paper plate, glue, pink construction paper, cotton ball, crayons or makers. Using paper plates, glue the small one to the top of the larger one to form the head and body. Cut out bunny ears from pink paper. Glue or staple to head. Draw eyes and nose on face of palte with crayons or markers. Glue a cotton ball on the back for a tail.

Easter Sponge Prints

Collect various Easter and spring-type sponges from your local craft store. Allow children to use the sponges in pretty spring colors to create a bright Easter scene.

Easter Bunny Party Bag

Use a white gift bag to create a bunny bag to used for your Easter party. Add a bunny face, whiskers, wiggle eyes, carrot ears, green bows/bow ties, and bunny feet to the front.

Marble Painted Jelly Beans

Give each child a pre-cut jelly bean pattern to place inside a shallow box. Drop 4-5 drops of different colored paint on the jelly bean. Add a marble to the box and allow students to roll the marble back and forth through the paint. When the paint is distributed, take out of the box and let dry. Have students come up with a creative new "flavor" for their new jelly bean.

Easter Chicks

Use yellow pom-poms or yellow cotton balls for the chicks. Cut a half-circle from brown construciton paper for a nest. Glue the chicks in the nest and add small wiggle eyes and an orange construction paper beak. Allow children to crush some shredded wheat and glue on top of the nest to resemble the straw.

:Writing:

My Little Red Wings

After a reading of The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings, students will write and draw about the ways that they are unique and special.

:Snacks:

Jelly Bean Cookies

Give each child a piece of sugar cookie dough and have them shape their dough like a jellybean. After the cookies have baked, have students frost their cookies with vanilla frosting and add jelly beans on top.

Chicks in the Nest

For this snack, you will need chow mein noodles, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, jelly beans, coconut, reen food coloring, Peeps chicks, and wax paper. First, mix 6 oz. chocolate chips and 6 oz. butterscotch chips on a double boiler until melted. Add enough chow mein noodles to make it shapeable. Shape mixture into nest shapes big enough to hold chicks. Place them on wax paper to cool. Next, mix a bit of green food coloring and coconut together. Sprinkle on top of nest. Add a couple of jelly beans and a chick.

:Websites:

ABC Teach Easter Ideas

A to Z Teacher Stuff

Teaching Heart - Eggs & Chicks

Easter at The Virtual Vine

It Started as an Egg Resource

Mrs. Pohlmeyer's Kindergarten

www.jellybelly.com

No-Sew Felt Bean Bag Chick

Chicks in a Nest

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