Classroom Activities

Make your own most Magnificent Thing: Provide children with a variety of materials; small cups, craft sticks, straws, construction paper, foil, and tape. Encourage them to think about what they will make. This is a great time to model perseverance as you make your own creations. Talk about your plans and when something doesn’t go as planned, show them are you are going to try something else. For younger children, you can provide materials and encourage them to explore and make a marvelous creation of their own. You can extend children’s learning by asking open ended questions about their creations. This activity is an extended reading activity from the SEEDS for Story Time linked here CD-CP3.3a

Me Too!:One child stands in front of the small group and shares a fact about themselves, like their favorite color or favorite animal. Everyone who also shares that favorite thing stands up and says, “Me too!” For younger children, encourage children to share a favorite toy or object within the classroom. Ask other children if they like that object or toy as well. If so, prompt them to say, “Me too!” Children will enjoy this game because it’s interactive. SED1.3b

Program and Staff Activities

Friendship Flower:Trace and cut out each staff’s handprint from a different patterned paper. Encourage the staff to write some characteristics about themselves on their handprint. This time can be used as an icebreaker to help the staff get to know each other better. Use the handprints to make a large flower on a stem with the saying “We are each unique and beautiful, and together we are a masterpiece!”

People First Language Pledge:Take the Person First Language Pledge to commit to using Person First Language every day with the children and families you serve.

Family Engagement Activity

Reading as a Family:Make various books about friendship available for families to “check out” as a part if a lending library. Add extension activities that families can do with their children after reading the books. You can use the SEEDS for Story Time and Book Nooks linked on DECAL’s webpage as examples.

Classroom Activities

Painting with a Friend: Model how to create a friendship painting using paint and brushes in the art center. Show them how to take turns with their strokes and colors, and talk about what they are doing. Have one large paper on the easel or table instead of one paper for each child. Encourage the painters share their work during large group and tell their painting story. CD-CR2.4c

Who Is Missing?: During Small Group, have the children sit together and close their eyes. A teacher stands behind them and taps a child on the shoulder who gets up and hides behind a box or other area (be sure YOU can see the child!). The children then guess who is missing by looking around! Once the children understand the game, a child can be the one that does the tapping. This would make a great transition activity as well.CD-SS3.4b

Parachute Play: Parachute play is all about teamwork. Lifting the parachute up and down all together so that we can make the balls fly high off the chute requires us to count together, lift together, and not let go of our part of the parachute in the process. Make sure to talk to the children about the process and how we work together before, during, and after the game. Encourage the children to pause and think of new ways to play with the parachute together.APL5.4c

Program and Staff Activities

Encouraging Peer Interactions: Use this checklist to reflect on how you encourage peer interactions in your classroom or program. Identify priorities and make a plan to intentionally support more peer interactions based on your reflection.

Family Engagement Activity

Shopping Partners: Share these Shopping Lists created by DECAL, or create your own! Encourage families to help promote teamwork at home by working together to find the groceries they need at the store. The following Sesame Street Website also has more great ideas to promote learning at home. The toolkits are printable, or you could select a few of the activities for families.CD-SC1.2C

Classroom Activities

Colorful Creations Together: Provide paper plates, butcher paper and paint in the art center. Red, yellow, and blue are great alone but when you mix them with a friend, you can do so much more. Place butcher paper on a table for the friendship mural. Encourage children to pick a friend to work with and give them red, yellow, and blue paint. The children can each use one color and mix the two colors together. Ask questions, “Can you create that color again?” “How many different colors can you make?” and “How can you make that color brighter?” This activity is an extended reading activity from the SEEDS for Story Time linked here. SED5.4b

Fishing for Friends: Cut out pictures of the children and attach a paper clip to each picture. Give the children a “fishing rod” (ex: small stick, dowel rod, or craft stick) with a string tied to it and a magnet attached to the end of the string. Encourage children to fish for a friend and tell how they are alike and how they are different. CD: SS1.3b

Playground Photographer: Take photos of the children (or have the children take photos of each other) on the playground. Print some out, or show children the photos on a phone or computer. Ask, “What are you doing in this picture? Tell us about it.” Encourage children to name friends they are playing with or describe their actions. “It’s Carlos and me sitting in the wagon.” CLL4.2C

Program and Staff Activities

Knowledge is Power: Click here to access videos and printable resources from the Head Start Center for Inclusion to help encourage peer interactions in the classroom.

Friendship Chain: Each staff member is given a slip of construction paper. On their paper, they write what they think is the most important quality in a co-worker. Those slips then get stapled together to form a chain, which can be hung in the staffroom and referred to throughout the year. Have one staff member hold their link together while another person staples it closed to emphasize teamwork.

Family Engagement Activity

Learning to Share: The ability to share, take turns, and manage strong emotions are crucial social skills all children need... Here is a link to the Backpack Connection Series you can provide to families with lots of helpful tips that they can use to help teach sharing at home. SED3.4c

Classroom Activities

I Am Special!: Have each child print their thumb print on a sheet of paper. Explain that each person has a unique thumb print that distinguishes them from all other people. Ask each child to draw talents and qualities that make him or her unique in the classroom then the teacher can write down the child’s descriptions. For example, “I am named Trenton, I can jump rope and I have a pet tarantula”. As each student finishes their list, allow them to place it on display for continued conversations. CD-SS1.2b

Only One You: Read the book Only One You by Linda Kranz (It is read aloud on You Tube if you do not have a copy in your classroom.) Have a variety of materials available for children to decorate their own fish by coloring or painting it or by gluing things to it. Point out and celebrate the different ways the children choose to decorate their fish. SED1.3d

Show and Share Talent Show: Have the children demonstrate what makes them unique by sharing their talent at the Show & Share Talent Show. Have the children plan a talent show, practice their acts and perform it with microphones and costumes. Create a stage area in dramatic play with chairs for the audience. They could also bring props from home or share something they made in class. CD-CR4.4a

Program and Staff Activities

Hall of Fame: Encourage staff to bring in a framed picture, or provide frames and take a picture of each staff. Get them to write up biographies about their education, experience, family, and/or hobbies to put on display.

Family Engagement Activity

My Home: Encourage families to write a letter to their child about the child’s talents and/or what makes them unique. Then share the letter with the class. Families could also share a recording or a picture instead of writing letters. Have the children share on different days and discuss what makes each person in your classroom or program unique. This could be done during large or small group. CD-SS3.4a

Classroom Activities

CALi is a SUPER Friend: Read CALi is a Super Friend, discuss additional ways that the children can be Super Friends in their classroom. Consider charting responses to post in the classroom.SED5.4a

Creating a Painting with Rolling Balls: First, tape poster board or large paper to the inside of a box lid. Put some paint onto the paper. You could use two primary colors so they will make a new color when mixed together. Partner up two children to hold either side of the box lid. Place small balls into the lid and encourage the children to work together to get the balls to roll around the paper together to create the artwork. Introduce the activity to the group by discussing the importance of working together and model the process to help the children understand each step. You could make a separate painting for each group, or use the same paper for each group to take turns. Place the final creation in an area that will encourage children to continue conversations about working together. Ask the children to describe how they created the painting. Asking, “How did you do that?” is a great alternative to “Tell me about your picture.” It focuses children on a whole different set of vocabulary and process words. CLL4.4c

Friendship Parade: Invite guests to participate or watch a friendship parade around the program. Pick a few friendship songs from this attached list to sing or create your own friendship song. Partner up the children to walk together in the parade. SED2.2b

Program and Staff Activities

Teachers Have Superpowers: Using old t-shirts, have the teachers create capes then use permanent markers to decorate and wear. Encourage them to decorate one another’s capes by adding things that they value in each other. Consider taking a picture and posting for continued reminders of how much they are appreciated.

Family Engagement Activity

Supporting Play and Problem Solving: Send home resources to families often to help them understand the many ways they can recognize and support their child’s development at home through play. Here is one example linked here from the Zero to Three that you could share with families. APL1-5 (this activity supports and promotes many indicators within each strand in this domain).