Let's Talk Nutrition!

Helping children grow and develop is your mail goal as a teacher or parent. Each week you spend time doing activities such as reading stories and singing songs to help your children develop verbally, cognitively and socially. But it is also important to focus on an area of development that we often overlook – nutrition.

Spend some time this week talking to the children about the importance of eating healthy foods. Explain to them that eating healthy foods like fruits and veggies will help them grow up to be strong and healthy!

Activities
Allow the children to create their own “meals”. Provide pictures of fruits, veggies and meats, paper plates and glue sticks. Encourage the children to glue the pictures of the foods to their plates. Talk to the children about the pictures they are using. Are they pictures of meats, vegetables, or fruits?

Make construction paper hot dogs, hamburgers and lettuce and tomatoes. Help the children create a paper hot dog or hamburger and glue it to a paper plate. Use yellow paint for mustard and red paint for ketchup.
Read the book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”.
Teach your children the following song sung to the tune of “Skip to My Lou”.

Too many sweets aren't good for our teeth.
Too many sweets aren't good for our teeth.
Too many sweets aren't good for our teeth.
Let's eat our fruits and veggies!

“Don't Spill the Milk” sung to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”.
Don't spill the milk.
Don't spill the milk.
Heigh-ho, the derry-o,

Don't spill the milk.
The milk helps our teeth.
The milk helps our teeth.
Heigh-ho the derry-o,
The milk helps our teeth.

The milk helps our bones.
The milk helps our bones.
Heigh-ho the derry-o,
The milk helps our bones.

Don't spill the milk.
Don't spill the milk.
Heigh-ho the derry-o,
Don't spill the milk.

Circle Time Poems

In kindergarten, as in preschool and pre-k, circle time and morning group is one of the most important times of the day for students. It is during this time that many kindergarten teachers introduce the class to the alphabet, primary colors, shapes, and literature in the form of stories and poetry.

Most children enjoy hearing poems read aloud over and over again, and they will be excited to hearn a few of their favorites by heart.

Little Bo Peep
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone and they'll come home.
Wagging their tales behind them.

Rain, Rain, Go Away
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

My Nose
By Dorothy Aldis
It doesn't breath;
It doesn't smell;
It doesn't feel so very well.

I am discouraged
with my nose;
The only thing it
Does is blow.

Giving Thanks

Easter means spending times with family and lots of Easter fun! It's time for giving thanks to God for all of the wonderful things he has blessed us with.
Take the time this month to help the children understand what it means to be thankful. Asking your children to tell you what they are thankful for will help them focus on the positive things in their lives.

The “Thank You” song is sung to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
I can say a big “Thank you”
Big “Thank you”
Big “Thank you”
I can say a big “Thank you”
For all this Easter fun.