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"Where else would I guide a chubby little hand that may someday write a book or an important document?"(From the poem "Yes, I Teach Preschool") LESSON PLAN ACTIVITY OPTIONS (APRIL)

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SHAPE: Oval

From Stormie:

Puzzle Center Activity: "Egg Puzzles":

In keeping with our themes for April, cut egg (or oval) shapes from paper or thin cardboard, all in the same color. Then, cut each oval in half varying the cut through the center: Use a jagged cut for one, a straight line cut for another, a wavy cut through another, etc. Mix up the egg halves then put them in the Puzzle Center. Children put the puzzles together by matching the cut edges.

The word I use with the children for the small motor area of the classroom is Puzzle or Game Center.

Ollie or Olivia Oval: Give each child one large construction paper oval. Also provide collage materials for creating facial features, arms, legs, hats, etc for a take-home "Ollie or Olivia Oval."

Stormie's Games: By the way, I offer a game called "Crazy Shapes" in the "Teaching Aids" section of "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers."

Ovals & Circles: Gross Motor: Create two large shapes on the floor using rope or tape -- one oval and one circle. Have five children at a time stand together outside the shapes. They must listen to the words in the following song then go to the correct shape and do the action the words in the song call for as you sing them. I love creating preschool songs from ones we already know -- the following is to the tune of "Skip To My Lou" but you can use any tune and create your own song.

"Five litttle children jumping in an oval, five little children jumping in an oval, five little children jumping in an oval, jumping in an oval shape." (For additional verses, change the word "oval" to "circle" and "jumping" to another gross motor activity -- hopping, skipping, crawling, etc.)

Extension: Create a square and rectangle, or if your floor is large enough, include a variety of shapes children have already learned about.

Oval or Circle: One way to demonstrate the difference between an oval and circle is to let children see and feel a small egg (plastic or boiled) and a ping-pong ball.

*Extension from Nikki:
Children LOVE language and knowing the proper names of things. So, when having them "feel" the 3-dimensional egg and ping-pong ball, you can introduce the words "ovoid" and "sphere."

*From Glenda Thrower, teacher in Maryland: Sing this song while holding an oval and moving your fingers around its edges forming an oval shape.

Oval Song
(Tune: Are You Sleeping?)
Here is an oval, here is an oval
How can you tell, how can you tell?
It looks just like an egg, it looks just like an egg
It's an oval shape, it's an oval shape.

*From Julaine, in Cincinnati, Ohio: I put a dozen plastic eggs in a clean egg carton so that children can "manipulate" the shape of an "oval."

Suggested Books:
From Stormie:
Ovals, by Jennifer S. Burke
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