Signs of Spring

Signs of Spring

Books:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle	Big Bird Brings Spring to Sesame Street Lauren Swindler
The Cloud Book - Tomie de Paola	Flower Garden Eve Bunting
From Egg to Robin - Susan Canizares	The Surprise Garden Zoe Hall
Wind -Ron Bacon	Hello, Spring! Mary Packard
The Garden in Our Yard - Greg Henry Quinn	When Spring Comes Robert Maass
Spring - Ron Hirschi	That's What Happen When It's Spring! Elaine W. Good
Planting a Rainbow - Lois Ehlert	Nimby Jasper Tomkins
The Wind Blew - Pat Hutchins	My Spring Robin Anne Rockwell
Just a Rainy Day - Mercer Mayer	Make Way For Ducklings Robert McCloskey
Springtime - Ann Schweninger	Clifford's Spring Clean-Up Norman Bridwell
The Grouchy Ladybug - Eric Carle	Curious George Flies a Kite Margaret & H.A. Rey

~ In association with amazon.com ~

Poems & Fingerplays:

Five Spring Things

When I look, I hope to see

Five little things that say it's spring.

One is leaves upon the trees

Two is grass that turns to green.

Three are flowers orange, red, and yellow.

Four is the robin, a worm-eating fellow.

The last spring thing, or number five,

Is the springtime rain that brings it all alive.

Five Little Ladybugs

Windy March Days

On windy March days, I wish that I could be a kite,

Flying in the sky.

I would soar up high to the sun

And chase the clouds. It's so much fun!

Whichever direction the wind does blow

It's the way that I would go.

I'd fly high, high, high.

I'd fly low, low, low.

Then I'd spin round and round and round.

Findally I'd float and lie softly on the ground.

Spring Shower

Rain is falling from the sky.

(flutter fingers down)

Lightning flashes! Hide your eyes!

(cover eyes with hands)

Thunder rumbles in the clouds.

(drum hands on thighs)

Sometimes it is very loud!

(cover ears with hands)

When the storm is over, and puddles remain,

(shape arms into a circle)

It's time to take off my shoes again.

(pretend to take shoes off)

- Marie E. Cecchini

The Caterpillar

Brown and furry

Caterpillar in a hurry;

Take your walk

To the shady leaf or stalk.

May no toad spy you,

May the little birds pass by you;

spin and die,

To live again - a butterfly.

- Christina G. Rossetti

Caterpillars

What do caterpillars do?

Nothing much but chew and chew.

What do caterpillars know?

Nothing much but how to grow.

They just eat what by and by

Will make them be a butterfly,

But that is more than I can do

However much I chew and chew.

- Aileen Fisher

Wonderful Wind

The wind is a helper.

It has much to do.

It works very hard

For me and for you.

The wind dries wet clothes

That hang outside,

And fills bigt sails

So boats will glide.

It pushes windmills

Round and round,

And lifts our kites

Up off the ground.

It scatters seeds

So plants will grow.

Then it moves on

Where did it go?

- Marie Cecchini

Springtime

A small green frog

On a big brown log;

A black and yellow bee

In a little green tree;

A red and yellow snake

by a blue-green lake

All sat and listened

To red bird sing,

"Wake up, everybody,

It's spring! It's spring!"

(From: Mrs. Hick's Spring Unit)

Flying Kites

Flying kites is lots of fun.

To make kites fly you run, run, run.

wind helps keep kites in the sky.

Kites dip and dive and fly, fly, fly.

(From: Mrs. Hick's Spring Unit )

Spring Has Sprung

The birdies sing because it's spring.

And bunnies hop, hop, hop.

From below the grass, the flowers wake,

And up their little heads pop.

They greet the trees and warm spring breeze.

With a cheery spring hello.

To tell the world the spring has sprung

And the winter snow should go.

How wonderful the springtime

With all its life anew.

I hope that this and every spring

Bring happiness to you!

Reading & Language Arts:

Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Sequence the events of the story using picture cards.

Make a "Flower Lotto" game. Program a lotto game on a flower-shaped pattern. Program the card with upper and lowercase letters. Use colorful cereals for the gamecard markers.

~ Picture soon ~

Hooray for Spring mini-booklet. This can be found in Lollipops Magazine, Issue 104, 2001. It is really cute, but short.

High-Flying Beginning Sounds game. Add this game to your reading center. Xerox a supply of spring-colored kites (one large kite, and 4-5 smaller kites for each large one that you make). On the large kite, write a letter. On the smaller kites, add clipart pictures that begin with that same letter (sound). Have children clip the pictures that begin with the sound of the large kite letter onto the "tail" of the kite using miniature clothespins.

~ Picture coming ~

Flowerbox Sounds center game. Make a large brown flowerbox from brown construction paper. Make a collection of flowers and attach them to craft sticks. Program each flowerbox with a letter. Program each flower with a picture that begins with that letter. Have children "plant" the flowers in the correct box.

Over the Rainbow worksheet. Beginning sounds (h,c,g) [www.themailboxcompanion.com]

Sunshine Sweetie worksheet. Color the picture using the sight word code. Words: go, see, the, up.

[Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1999]

Missing butterfly wings center game. Use Carson-Dellosa (or any other type) butterfly notepad. Cut the butterfly shape in half. On one wing, write the uppercase letter. On the other wing, write the lowercase letter. Glue one of the wing sides onto a file-folder or other chart. Have children match the missing wings.

Sequence the order the charachters of The Grouchy Ladybug appeared in the story. [ Teacher's Helper, April/May 2001 ]

Flower Friends worksheet. Cut and glue to match the sight words. Words: play, can, I

[Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1999]

Pitter, patter - Boom! worksheet. Cut and glue to match the beginning sounds (b ,c,d,f,g) [Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1999]

Tweet, Chirp, Tweet worksheet. Circle the letter that shows the beginning sound.(n,r,s,q,p,t) [Teacher's Helper]

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Sequence . (from Creative Teaching Press - Theme: Butterflies & Moths) Make a miniature booklet with the events from the story. Color and put them in order. Add your favorite food to the end to give it a creative twist.

Shaving Cream Clouds. After reading books about and discussing clouds, give your children a "cloud" to play with. Squirt one large shaving cream puff into each child's hand. Let them "play" for a bit forming clouds on their desks/tables. Then after they spread their "clouds" out, have them practice writing sight words in the clouds.

It's Raining Words game. Program spring-colored umbrella cutouts with words that the children can "sound-out." {I use Saxon Phonics, so this fits appropriately with our phonics curriculum.} Next, program a supply of raindrops with the necessary letters to spell each of the words on the umbrellas. Laminate the pieces and add them to a center. To play: students spell the words on each umbrella by piecing them together with the raindrop letters.

Math:

Buzzin' Around center game. Program a bee cutout with a numeral. Program a brown stem with corresponding dots.(the set) Program a colorful spring flower cutout with the matching number word. Children will match the bees with the correct flower and stem.

Spring Bingo Bingo game with numerals 0-20. Use spring-colored m&m's for gamecard markers.

Kite Tails file folder game. In a file folder, draw ten kites (unlabled) with tails. Each kite tail should have a different number of bows (1 - 10). Cut small kites from construction paper and label 1-10. Children will match the kites with the corresponding number of bows.

Ladybug Matching game. Spray paint about 100 large lima beans with red paint. (Some beans for the game and some are extras!) When the beans are dry, add dots with a permanent black marker. Label each of 12 leaf cutouts with the numerals 1-12. Store the ladybugs in a plastic bag. Match the correct number of ladybugs to the corresponding leaf.

Polka-Dot Flyers worksheet. Count, cut, and match the kites and their numerals. (sets) www.themailboxcompanion.com

Kites In The Clouds worksheet. Read the numeral on each kite. Draw that many bows on the kite tail. www.themailboxcompanion.com

April Showers worksheet. Read the number on each umbrella. Color the set with more. [Teacher's Helper, April/May 2000]

Discuss the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." Prepare a cat cutout and a dog cutout. Tape them back to back on each other. Prepare a graphing sheet with 10 grids. Toss the cat/dog piece ten times. Graph how many times it lands on "cats" and how many times it lands on "dogs."

A Ladybug Hug worksheet. Telling time to the hour. Circle the box that shows the correct time. [Teacher's Helper, K, April/May 2001]

***Other time worksheets can be found in this issue of Teacher's Helper

Dreaming of Spring worksheet. Addition to five using pictures. Add the spring items. Write the sum. [Teacher's Helper, Feb/March 2000]

How Does Your Garden Grow? worksheet. Measuring using nonstandard units. (height)

**More measurement worksheets can be found in this issue

Estimate how many gummy worms are in a jar.

Compare 2 bags of gummy worms. Have children "guesstimate" which bag has more. Have them make an estimate as to the number they think is in each of the bags.

April Showers center game. (Number-word recognition game.) For each number that you want to practice, photocopy a umbrella pattern on construction paper. Program each umbrella with a different number word; then cut out a supply of construction paper raindrops. Laminate all the pieces; then store them in a decorated envelope. To play: Place the corresponding number of raindrops over each umbrella.

Ladybug, Ladybug center game. For each number that you'd like to include, xerox a left and right side of the ladybug on red construction paper. Program each left side with dots, and each right side with a numeral. Also cut out a large construction paper leaf; then laminate all the pieces. Place the matching pairs together on the leaf cutout.

[Idea from: Regina Smith, Princeton, West Virginia]

Flower Hours. Telling time to the hour. Match the flower to the pot by matching the times.

Science:

Buzzin' Body Parts worksheet. Insects have 3 main body parts. Color the head, thorax, and the abdomen. Count the wings, antennae, legs, and eyes of the ladybug. [Teacher's Helper, April/May 2001]

Ladybug Life Cycle worksheet. Color, cut, and glue the pictures in order to show the life cycle of a ladybug.[Teacher's Helper, April/May 2001]

Wind. Record ideas about the wind. what is the wind? Can you see the wind? How do you know when the wind is near? Read The Wind by Ron Bacon. Go outside and look at the clouds on a windy day. Observe changes around us that might be because of the wind.

Let the children pretend to be "the wind." Blow cotton ball clouds across the tables with straws.

Rainbows. Identifying the colors of the rainbow. Give each child pipe cleaners in the colors of the rainbow. Give each child two small pieces of play-do or modeling clay. Let them manipulate their pipe cleaners to make rainbows.

Song: I'm a Little Rainbow

I'm a little rainbow,

Way up high.

After it rains,

Look in the sky.

You will see my colors,

Oh so bright!

From end to end,

I'm a lovely sight!

[The Mailbox, Preschool Issue, April/May 2001]

Make a Weather Mobile . Use a cloud or rainbow cutout to hang each of the various types of weather you might see in the springtime.

Social Studies:

A Day of Delights worksheet. Color, cut, and glue pictures to show the time of day in which they occur. [ Teacher's Helper, April/May 2001]

Arts & Crafts:

Crumpled Tissue Paper Kites . Make kites using construction paper kite cutouts. Decorate using crumpled tissue paper in spring colors. Use a long, flowing crepe-paper tail.

Pink Cherry Blossoms

Materials:

10 green construction-paper leaf cutouts

1 sheet of 9" x 12" white construction paper

popcorn and straw

red and white tempera paint

brown tempera paint in a shallow tray

1. Mix together red and white paint to make pink. paint some popcorn and allow it to dry.

2. Paint a brown tree trunk on a sheet of white construction paper.

3. Dip the side of a straw in brown paint. Use it to print the tree's branches. Allow paint to dry.

4. Glue green paper leaves to the branches.

5. Glue popcorn onto the tree to make cherry blossoms.Add popcorn to the bottom of the picture too for fallen blossoms.

Chirpees

Materials:

1/2 sheet of 9" x 12" light blue construction paper

brown construction-paper nest cutout

2 orange construction-paper triangles

2 white cotton balls

4 wiggle eyes

shredded wheat cereal

1. Glue the nest on the light blue paper near the bottom edge.

2. Glue two cotton balls along the straight edge of the nest. (the birds)

3. Glue a pair of wiggle eyes and an orange beak on each cotton ball.

4. Spread glue on the nest and sprinkle on shredded wheat cereal. Allow to dry.

Popcorn Flowers . Allow the children to shake popped popcorn in ziploc bags to which colored powdered tempera has been added. Have them glue the popcorn onto paper in clusters and allow to add stems and leaves with crayons.

Dutch Windmills

Materials:

1 sheet of 12" x 18" light blue construction paper

windmill and blade pattern

1 sheet of orange construction paper

1 sheet yellow construction paper

green, yellow, red, and white tempera paint

brads, fork, cotton balls

1. Cut out the windmill and blade patterns.

2. Glue the windmill on light blue construction paper.

3. To make the grass, use a fork to print green paint on the blue paper.

4. Use the eraser end of a pencil dipped in temepra paint to print yellow and red flowers above the grass.

5. Use a cotton ball to print white clouds on the blue paper.

Cereal Rainbows. Have children make a rainbow shape using a pencil. Next, use fruit loop ceral to glue on the rainbow shape to create their own rainbows.

Caterpillar Paper Bag Puppet

Make thumbprint ladybugs on green grass stalks. (idea from Joaynn@aol.com)

Paper Plate Ladybug. Cut a small paper plate in half. paint the paper plate red. Add black dots and 6 legs to the ladybug body.

Marbeled Kites Use a large kite shape - any color. Add several drops of spring-colored tempera paint to the kite shape. Add a marble in a large box with the kite shape. Roll the marble back and forth in the box to make a marblized kite.

Windsocks.Paint and decorate a paper towel tube. Make a hanger with yarn at the top of the tube. Use bright colored crepe paper streamers to hand down. [Idea from The Virtual Vine

Snacks:

Make a Garden to Gobble . Use graham crackers and flower-shaped butter cookies. Choose there different frosting colors and spread one on each of the three butter cookies. Have children arrange the three cookie flowers on the graham cracker window box.

[The Mailbox - Preschool - April/May 2001, p. 22]

Make kite-shaped sandwiches. Add Twizzler pull-aparts for the kite tails.

Websites:

Going Buggy! - Ladybugs (KinderKorner)

The Virtual Vine

Spring Fling

Sequencing Cards for Very Hungry Caterpillar

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