Body Exercise - "Shake & Flop" Stand in the "Shake & Flop" position with your legs straight and slightly apart, your arms out to the sides with palms facing away from you, and fingers spread apart. Have the children join you in the "Shake & Flop" position.
Ask the children to stand very still just a moment until you say, "One, two, three, shake!" On the word Shake, have everyone shake their bodies from head to toe. Tell them to shake really well to loosen up all their wiggles.
When circle time is done, let the children pretend to sweep all the wiggles on the floor into a pile. Then let them scoop up some of the wiggles and pat them all over themselves.
Hand Washing - "Germs All Around Us" This experiment reinforces the important of soap to get rid of dirt and germs. The students who used the soap should have the dirtiest paper towels and the cleanest hands. To make everyone's hands equally dirty, sprinkle cinnamon (as the dirt) on everyone's hands first. Half of the class washes hands according to hand washing procedure, but skip the step of using soap. The other half of the class washes, using soap and water. no one throws away the paper towel till the end of the experiment. Which half of the class has the dirtiest towel?
Materials: White paper towels and cinnamon
Hygiene - "Rub-A-Dub Toys" Here's a way to clean your manipulatives and give your children sorting practice at the same time. Add some antibacterial soap to water in your water table; then dump three or four binds of manipulatives into the water. After a time of free exploration, direct children to sort the manipulatives onto sections of paper towels. Place the manipulatives in the sun to dry; then return them to their bins.
Rub-a-dub-dub, clean toys in my tub!!
Strengthen Facial Muscles - "Move Your Mouth" At the beginning of each day play "Do as I do" with the children. Move your mouth in different ways and have the children copy you. Start with these movements and expand on your own. Ask the children to think of more.
Open your mouth as wide as you can
Make "fish lips"
Keep your mouth shut and stretch it side to side
Stick out your tongue as far as you can, wiggle it like a snake
Open and shut your mouth quickly
Roll your lips around in a circle
Safety
"Safety I Spy" Select objects in the room that should not be placed in the mouth or that are obstacles to oral safety. The teacher gives a hint and the children can take turns guessing. The one who correctly guesses the object or obstacle takes the next turn, or continue till all have had a chance guessing object chosen.
Smoke Detector Scavenger Hunt Take a walk around the building and look for smoke detectors. Talk about what smoke detectors do. Find a smoke detector in the building and trigger it so that the children can hear what it sounds like. NOTE: Be sure to notify the other building occupants before triggering detector.
Playground Safety Discuss playground safety and rules with children. Discuss and model the correct way to use the playground equipment. Point out and name each item. show them how to use handrails, footholds, and climbing equipment for security and safety. Discuss taking turns on equipment and outside items. Have children help (with adult supervision) under equipment before they play each day. They can help remove stones, sticks, or other hazards they may find under climbing equipment and along bike tracks.
Bus Safety Discuss bus safety rules, importance of staying seated, not stand up or move around, they should stand well back from the street at a bus stop. No pushing or shoving and always listen to directions and adults.
Demonstrate bus safety belt/harnesses in seats and let children practice putting them on. Discuss why we have to wear safety belts in cars and buses.
Invite the bus driver to come and talk with the children about bus safety. Give each child a copy of a bus pattern on yellow paper, glue on windows, and draw people in the bus. Attach black circles for wheels with paper brads. Write the work "bus" on the side. Display for all to see.
Materials: yellow, black, white construction paper; glue; paper brads
As the children say the poem, they raise the fingers of one hand to represent the children. The other hand is the bus that the children jump into. On the last line, they should pantomime steering the bus.
Fingerplay: "The Bus Stop" See the children in a line.... One, two, three, four, five. Here's the bus; they'll jump inside, And off the bus will drive.
Buckle Up Bear This "bear-y" special poem will emphasize to parents and children the importance of wearing safety belts. prepare teddy bear cut-outs for each child. Duplicate poem on white paper. Glue copy of poem to each bear cut out. Pass out the Buckle-Up Bears to your children and encourage them to ride safely.
Poem: "When you're in the car," says Buckle-Up Bear "Fasten your seat belt snugly with care. When you're in the car, going here or there, Your seat belt is something you must always wear!"
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