Activity Plan 5-6: Here I Am!

Children hunt for names and find friends

• PRINT
• EMAIL

Ready-To-Use Teaching Ideas: Science

Materials:

• name tags written in permanent marker on 4x7 tagboard
• markers
• watercolors
• stickers

Developing Skills:

• number concepts
• letter-recognition
• name-writing
• fine-motor

In Advance:

Make name tags with each child's first name (printed in capitals) on a piece of tagboard.

ACTIVITY

Explain to children that they will be playing a special name game. They will be letter detectives and find out how their friends' names are similar to their own.

Begin a discussion by writing "NAMES ARE SPECIAL" on a piece of tagboard. Talk about how special each one of the children's names are. Allow time for children to share any information they know about their names. This might include what it means or if they are named after anyone.

As you pass out name tags, hold them up and read each child's name aloud. This will help the other children with pronunciation. When each child receives his name tag, the group says: Hi, ___________, and the child sits down.

Ask a number of different questions. Invite children to find a friend with that description. Ask children to:

• Find a friend whose name begins with the same letter as yours.
• Find a friend whose name has a letter that is also in your name.
• Find a friend who has two of the same letters that are in your name.
• Find a friend who has the same total number of letters as in your name.
• Find a friend who shares the same last letter of his or her name with you.

Allow time for children to have a couple minutes of conversation before suggesting the next letter hunt. This will give them the opportunity to establish a small bond and begin to build a comfortable environment as a class.

Come back to a circle. Ask children to share something they discovered about their names.

Have art materials available for children to decorate their special name tags to hang in their cubbies.

Remember: Cultural awareness is important to each child's self image. Be sure to give guidance when children are saying each other's names. You might model how to speak in a kind tone and how to pronounce a name properly.

Curriculum Connection: LITERACY

A Birthday Banner is a wonderful way to spotlight new friends. Pass out a pennant-shaped construction paper triangle to each child. Invite children to write their names across the top of the triangle. Write the child's birth date below his name. Invite children to decorate their triangles with things they do on their special day. When children complete their triangles, tape them in calendar order on a long piece of yarn and hang it across the classroom.

Risa Young is the former director of two early childhood programs in the New York City area, the Children's Aid Society's Greenwich Village Center and the Innovative Learning Center at the Long Island College Hospital. She has been a consultant to Early Childhood Today for more than eight years.

Robin Smith teaches K-1 at Chilmark School on Martha's Vineyard, MA. Her school has 58 children, grades K-5. 

Activity Plan 3-4: Sprouting Seeds
Children work in groups to grow their own sprouts.

Activity Plan 5-6: Plant Detectives
Children discuss the importance and relevance of plants, and then create their own plants from clay.

Activity Plan 4-5: Behold the Mold!
Children experiment with growing their own mold on food.

LESSON PLAN	Shadow Hunting A lesson plan for preschool teachers to do with his/her students outside.
ONLINE ACTIVITY	Dirtmeister's Science Lab Bring hands-on science into the classroom with these guided experiments from the Dirtmeister! Plus, find great ideas for science fair projects.