Theme: Ants

Purpose: Insect identification, body parts, etc.

Suggested Stories:
The Ants Go Marching by Nicholas Ian
I Say OOH, You Say AHH by John Kane
Effie by Beverly Allinson (big book)

Flannel board:
The Elephant and the Ants (folklore)

Poem:

Craft:
Supplies needed - photos of picnic foods, small paper plates, glue, markers,crayons, paint or ink pads

Theme: Scarecrows

Purpose: To introduce fall sights and sounds

New words introduced:

Suggested Books:

Crow Made a Friend by Margaret Peot
The Mystery of the Haunted Scarecrow by Fran Manushkin
Harold Loves His Wolly Hat by Vern Kousky
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro
The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown
Scaredycrow by Christopher Hernandez
The Scarecrow’s Dance by Jane Yolen
Barn Dance! Bill Martin Jr.

Rhymes and finger plays:
 

Theme: Teeth

Purpose: To showcase body parts and demonstrate good habits/hygiene

PR:  "Brush up with stories and activities that are all about teeth in celebration of

National Children’s Dental Health Month."

New words: bristly

Suggested stories: 
People Don't Bite People by Molly Idle
The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss
Molly at the Dentist by Angie Sage
I Just Ate My Friend by McKinnon, Heidi
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Higgins, Ryan
My Toothbrush is Missing by Thomas, Jan
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Higgins, Ryan
My Toothbrush is Missing by Thomas, Jan

Flannel Board:

Happy Tooth, Sad Tooth - I wanted to give credit for these, but I can not remember the source.

Songs and Rhymes:
Brush Your Teeth  by Raffi

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to one
And you want to have a little fun
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to two
And you want to find something to do
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch

And when you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to three
And your mind starts hummin', tweedle dee dee
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to four
And you think you hear a knock on your door
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to five
And you just can't wait to come alive
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch

You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch

You brush your teeth, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch

THEME: Feet

Purpose: To showcase body parts, left & right

Reason theme was chosen: Rhyming, movement and rhythm

Suggested stories:

I Like Shoes by Candice Ransom
The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss
Who Has These Feet? by Laura Hulbert

Flannel board:
Pete the Cat and His White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Rhymes:

Wiggle Your Fingers, Stomp Your Feet
Wiggle your fingers in the air.
Wiggle them, wiggle them everywhere!
Stomp your feet upon the ground.
Stomp them, stomp them all around.

2nd time, sing faster.  Third time, faster still.

Songs:
"Hokey Pokey"
"Put One Foot in Front of the Other" 

Craft:
Supplies needed - crayons/markers, colored paper, scissors, glue

Trace foot with shoe on or off.

Theme: Frogs

Purpose: To show frog life cycle

Reason theme was chosen: To focus on gross motor and fine motor skills

New words introduced: Hatched, gills, tadpole

Suggested books:
Am I a Frog? by Lizzy Rockwell (This is non-fiction.)
I'm a Frog by Mo Willems
Frog and Ball by Kathy Caple
I'm On It! by Andrea Tsurumi (a bit longer and focus is more on directions - up, down, in, etc.)
The Wide-mouthed Frog pop up book by Keith Faulkner - This one is a MUST. Make sure to get the pop-up version.

Songs and fingerplays:

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Activity:
Roll the 2 dice and add them. Hop that many times.

Ask:
How many days in the week? Say and count them. Hop that many times.
How many months...
How many weeks...(Yes - you must hop 52 times.)
How many chairs at the tables?

Etc.

Craft
We pre-cut the pieces.

Theme: School & School Buses

Purpose: To show little ones school busses and what they do.

Reason theme was chosen:  It's back-to-school season and they will be seeing busses on the roads.  Also, siblings may be riding the bus.

Suggested books
The School Book by Todd Parr
One Golden Rule at School: A Counting Book by Selina Alko
How to Get Your Octopus to School by Becky Scharnhorst
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? by Jane Yolen
Time for School, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff

Songs and rhymes
Wheels on the Bus

Flannel board - Pete the Cat : I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Craft

Create your own crayon color

Theme: Ice Cream

Purpose: To use math (measuring) and gross motor skills to make our own portion of ice cream

PR: I Scream, You Scream for Stories About Ice Cream!
Share stories, songs activities and maybe even some ice cream.

Reason theme was chosen: End of SLP celebration - It's July!  It's Hot!

Suggested books
Groovy Joe Ice Cream & Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin
Ice Cream Face by Heidi Woodward Sheffield
Pete the Cat Screams for Ice Cream by Kimberly and James Dean
Wemberly’s Ice Cream Star by Kevin Henkes
Should I Share My Ice Cream? Written and illustrated by Mo Willems
The Thing About Yetis Written and illustrated by Vin Vogel
Ice Cream Summer Written and illustrated by Peter Sis
Curious George and the Ice Cream Surprise by H. A. Rey
Ice Cream King by Steve Metzger and Julie Downing
Flora and the Penguin Illustrated by Molly Idle
Ice Cream Soup by Gail Herman
Just One More by Jennifer Hansen
I’m Your Ice Cream Truck by Hannah Eliot

New words introduced
Rock salt, groovy, frustrated, "just chillin'" brain freeze

Songs and Fingerplays

If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops,
Oh, what a rain it would be!
I’d stand outside with my mouth open wide
Going Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!

If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops,
Oh, what a rain it would be!

If all the snowflakes
Were candy bars and milkshakes…

If all the sunbeams
Were bubblegum and ice cream…

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Do you like Ice Cream?
To the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?”

Do you like ice cream? (Hold hands out, palms up)
Do you like it in a bowl? (Use hands to make bowl shape)
Do you like to eat it fast? (Pretend to hold a spoon and eat fast)
Do you like to eat it slow? (Pretend to hold a spoon and eat slow)
Do you like it with some syrup (Pretend to squeeze a bottle)
With some sprinkles, or some nuts? (Pretend to shake a jar)
Do you like ice cream? (Hold hands out, palms up)

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5 Little Ice Cream Cones

5 little ice cream cones so good to eat.
The first one said, “I’m a summer time treat,”
The second one said, “It’s such a hot day,”
The third one said, “I’m melting away.”
The fourth one said, “Don’t lose your top!”
The fifth one said, “Oh dear,”
KERPLOP!
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We All Want An Ice Cream Cone
Tune: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”

We all want an ice cream cone,
Ice cream cone, ice cream cone.
We all want an ice cream cone,
We’ll eat it every day.

(Flavor) is our favorite kind,
Favorite kind, favorite kind.
(Flavor) is our favorite kind,
We’ll eat it every day.
(Credit: Storytime Source Page)
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Ice Cream Cones 

Sung to: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”

We all want an ice cream cone, ice cream cone, ice cream cone
We all want an ice cream cone, we'll eat it right away.
Chocolate is our favorite kind, favorite kind, favorite kind
Chocolate is our favorite kind, we'd eat it every day.
(add as many flavor verses as you like)
Thank you for the ice cream cone, ice cream cone, ice cream cone
Thank you for the ice cream cone, it really hit the spot.

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Take Me Out For Some Ice Cream
Sung to: Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Take me out for some ice cream,
Take me out to the store.
Buy me a triple scoop jumbo cone.
I won't share, I'll eat it alone!
For its scoop, scoop ,scoop up the ice cream--
Give me three kinds I adore!
For it's one, two, three, scoops to go
At the ice cream store!

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Ice Cream Poem

I like ice cream. Yes I do!
One scoop for me?
No! Make it two!
Hmmm two scoops of ice cream,
I want more
How about three?
No, make that four!
1, 2, 3, 4,
Splat! "oh no! It's on the floor!"

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On Top Of My Sundae
Sung to: "On Top of Spaghetti"

On top of my sundae
All covered with sauce
I lost my poor cherry
It really got lost.

It rolled off the table
And onto the floor
And then my poor cherry
It rolled out the door.

It rolled to the garden
And under a bush
And then my poor cherry
It turned into mush.

If you like your sundae
All covered with sauce
Hold onto your cherry
Or it will be lost.

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Activity

Shaving Cream Ice Cream Art
Mix equal parts of shaving cream and glue (you can also add a few drops of tempera paint: brown for chocolate ice cream; pink for strawberry ice cream). Give the children a piece of construction paper and let them 'scoop' some paint onto their paper. Using a brush, spoon, or their fingers, have the children spread the paint around. When they are done, add a brown triangle construction paper 'cone.' It will resemble a dropped ice cream cone. Kids can have a lot of fun adding sprinkles or being creative with the project.    Credit: Childcare Lounge.com

Make Pretend Ice Cream Sundaes
Buy disposable plastic bowls and glue cotton or fiber fill in the bowl to look like ice cream. Put brown and red paints in squeeze bottles. Let children drizzle paint over the cotton to look like chocolate or strawberry sauce. Kids can also add sprinkles and glue a red pom pom ball on top for a cherry. Add a plastic spoon on the side.