Eggs & Easter

Learning goal: Mammals give birth to live offspring; oviparous animals lay eggs.

• Reading= Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones by Ruth Heller, Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs by Janet Morgan Stoeke, Bounce by Doreen Cronin and It's Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler. Letter of the day= E is for Easter & egg.
• Art= Show Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. Adhere butcher paper to the underside of a table, and color or paint upside down just like Michelangelo. Draw your favorite creation or a scene from the Bible. Need inspiration? I recommend reading Adam, Adam, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson.
• Science= Talk about who lays eggs and who doesn’t. Compare and contrast mammals (e.g., bunnies) with egg-laying animals (e.g., birds, reptiles and fish). Build a nest with pillows and blankets. Or, make a raw egg float by pouring salt (one tablespoon at a time) into a tall glass of water. Explain that many fish lay their eggs in the salty ocean water. Alternatively, talk about who hops and who doesn’t then have a jumping contest. How far can you jump? What might help you jump farther? (My son chose to test his superhero cape, compare two different pairs of shoes, and see if running first helped. Good ideas!) Test your ideas and mark each jump with sidewalk chalk. Measure your farthest jump with a measuring tape. Compare your jumping distance with that of other bouncing animals. And don't forget to wear your bunny ears!
• Play= Visit your local pet store, play the game Bunny, Bunny, Rabbit (a variation of Duck, Duck, Goose), or hold some egg & spoon races. For example, carry an egg on a spoon or use a spoon to roll an egg across a finish line.
  

Rainbows & Potatoes (St. Patrick's Day)

Learning Goal: Light can be reflected, refracted (bent) or absorbed by an object. Rain bends and separates sunlight into colors of the rainbow.

• Reading= Green as a Bean by Karla Kuskin, Pigs Love Potatoes by Anika Denise and What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Schwartz (or A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman). Letter of the day= Sh is for shamrock.
• Science= Experiment with light, rainbows or color mixing. 1) Place a variety of long, narrow objects into a glass of water. Observe how the objects appear to bend at the surface of the water. (Light changes speeds as it passes through different mediums, making objects appear bent.) 2) Squirt water from spray bottles into the sunshine to make a rainbow (or use a prism). 3) Rainbow in a bag. Fill a sealable plastic bag with stripes of paint (blue, yellow and red) then squeeze and squish to mix the colors. 4) Use droppers to mix colored water. (Provide only blue, red and yellow.) How many different colors can you make? Tip: Fill a white ice cube tray with your unique mix of colors.
• Art= Use potato stamps to make shamrocks. Carve heart shapes into halved potatoes. Dip in green paint and stamp three times to create shamrocks in a variety of sizes. Add stems using your finger.
• Music= Play hot potato as you listen to Debussy’s Three Nocturnes, Clouds or your favorite bagpipe melodies. Tip: When the music stops, the child with the potato can remove a layer of foil from a baked potato. When the potato is finally unwrapped, break for lunch and enjoy!
• Play= Have a gunny sack race to Ireland, dress up Mr. Potato Head, or make shamrock pretzels (coated with green colored sugar and cinnamon).

Fun fact: St. Patrick was a Catholic missionary in Ireland who often used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Trinity. St. Patrick's Day commemorates his death on March 17 in AD 461.

Dr. Seuss's Birthday

Learning Goal: Nutrition is essential to health. Recommendations for good nutrition include eating a variety of foods (fruits, vegetables, grains and protein).

• Reading= Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, There’s a Wocket in my Pocket and other favorite books by Dr. Seuss. Letter of the day: Y is for yes & yummy.
• Science= Present fruits and vegetables that represent all the colors of the rainbow. Let children predict whether each food will have seeds or not, then cut open several fruits and vegetables. Count the number of seeds in each food and record it on a chart. Explain that both fruits and vegetables come from plants, but fruits have seeds and vegetables do not.
• Food preparation= Help children make green eggs and ham by adding green food coloring to scrambled eggs. Explain that eggs, milk and ham come from animals and contain protein our body needs to maintain health. Add a breakfast muffin (grains), fruits and vegetables to make a well-balanced meal. Encourage kids to try new foods and eat a rainbow of colors every day.
• Art= Cut and paste a collage of food pictures onto a paper plate. Make sure you have a well-balanced meal, or try to find foods representing all the colors in a rainbow. Alternatively, decorate a placemat with Dr. Seuss theme stickers. Trace a plate, knife, fork, spoon and cup onto the placemat to help your child properly set the table.
• Play= Draw cat whiskers onto your cheeks and wear a striped hat. Kids can be Thing One and Thing Two! Then have an indoor treasure hunt to find party balloons or breakfast muffins topped with birthday candles. Create clues using rhymes from There’s a Wocket in My Pocket. For example: “The next clue is hiding behind something that rhymes with jurtain (or bofa, nupboard, ghairs, etc.).”

Fun fact: Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He wrote over 40 delightful books for children under the penname Dr. Seuss.

Oceans & Fish

Learning Goal: The world has many different environments, including oceans that support a large variety of life.

• Reading= Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, Rub a Dub Sub by Linda Ashman, Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle and I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry. Letter of the day= O is for ocean & octopus.
• Art= Decorate rainbow fish with tissue paper, sequins and silvery foil scales, make sea urchins with Styrofoam balls and colored toothpicks, make shark puppets out of envelopes or make an octopus mobile from a paper plate and 8 purple crepe paper streamers. Cut off rim of paper plate except for four inches; this will be the neck.
• Music= Listen to Bach’s Bradenburg Concerto as you make the ocean crafts.
  
• Science= Gather a variety of objects and try to predict whether they will sink or float. Test your hypotheses. Liquids will sink or float in water too. Try this experiment with liquid layers. Gather a variety of liquids with different densities: honey, corn syrup, glycerin, maple syrup, liquid detergent, water, vegetable oil and rubbing alcohol. Which liquids sink in water and which liquids float? How many liquid layers can you make? Add liquids in the sequence listed above to build a density tower with eight layers! Tips: Add food coloring to the water and glycerin for a more colorful density tower. Use medicine droppers to add the liquids; fix medicine droppers (or clear straws) into play dough to make faux test tubes.
• Play= Fish with a magnet and homemade fishing pole, go swimming at an indoor pool, or visit an aquarium or beach at low tide to observe sea life first hand.

Fun fact: Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface area is covered by ocean. The average depth of the ocean is 12,430 ft.

Presidents & Pennies

Learning goal: Every country has a leader (president, king or queen). National leaders appear on coins and money.

• Reading= Duck for President by Doreen Cronin (or Follow the Leader by Emma Chichester Clark), The Princess and the Pea by John Cech and Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. Letter of the day= Q is for queen and quarter.
• Art= Make silhouette self-portraits by tracing a shadow of your profile. This should look similar to presidents' faces on American coins. Paste child's silhouette onto a large paper circle. Fine art: Show George Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze and the Lincoln Memorial by Henry Bacon. Tell a story about these presidents. I recommend reading The Story of George Washington (and Abraham Lincoln) by Patricia A. Pingry.
• Science= Learn the value of different coins. Sort coins into piles of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Count out the number of pennies that match the value of one nickel, dime, quarter, etc. Then clean your dirty pennies using a Q-tip and a variety of liquids (vinegar, lemon juice, soda, water, pickle juice, pineapple juice, milk, tomato juice, etc.). Which solution made your pennies the shiniest? Does adding salt or soap make a difference? Have a penny toss with your shiny new pennies!
  
• Play= See how many caps you can balance on your head then assign a price to them and pretend to sell them to someone you know. Or, play follow the leader, build a log cabin with Lincoln logs, and put together a puzzle of the United States of America.

Fun fact: Abraham Lincoln appears on the penny and five dollar bill. George Washington appears on the quarter and one dollar bill.

Love Your Heart (Valentine's Day)

Learning Goal: Exercise and good nutrition are important for a healthy heart. The heart shape is a symbol of love.

• Reading= The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond, Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier and The Very Ugly Bug by Liz Pichon and The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell. Letter of the day= H is for heart.
• Art= Draw a picture of yourself then use red ink to stamp fingerprint hearts falling from the sky like rain. Or, provide hearts in a variety of sizes and colors. Make love bugs (ladybugs, butterflies and caterpillars) and animals by pasting heart shapes onto paper. Try adding googly eyes and fanned strips of paper for arms and legs.
  
• Science= Locate your heart and listen to it beating. Show a picture of your body’s circulatory system. (I recommend The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell.) Use a bike pump and squeezable water toy to demonstrate how a pump moves air and water. Similarly, the heart pumps blood through your body to give you energy. Test things that affect your heart rate (e.g., body size, rest and exercise). Who's heart beat is faster, yours or Mom's? Does your heart rate change after doing jumping jacks? Yes! Exercise makes your heart happy.
• Music= Exercise as you listen to Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. Stretch, do sit-ups, jump rope, climb stairs, run in place and pretend to ride a bike or go for a swim.
• Play= Wait for the mail carrier to arrive and surprise him or her with a frosted cookie or homemade valentine to express your thanks. Find the numbers on your house; match them to the address on the mail you receive. Decorate your mail box, or take a tour of your local post office.

Fun fact: The smaller an animal is, the faster its heart rate. The heart of an adult human will beat approximately 70 times a minute; an infant's heart will beat 130 times a minute.

Music & Sound

Learning Goal: Music brings us joy. Sound is produced by vibrating objects.

• Reading= Animal Orchestra by Scott Gustafson, Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss. Letter of the day: V is for violin.
• Art= Use a favorite drawing to decorate a drum made from a formula or coffee can. Or, make rainmakers by hammering nails (1 lb of 1 ½ in. nails) into a 15 X 1 ½ inch mailing tube. Fill with rice, beans, macaroni or popcorn seeds. Decorate the mailing tube with wrapping paper or colored electrical tape.
• Science= Use an elastic band to demonstrate how sound is produced by a vibrating object. Then experiment with sound, hearing and music. 1) See sound travel. Cover a formula can with plastic wrap and secure with elastic. Sprinkle salt on top. Pound a drum over the top of it. Watch the salt dance when the plastic (representing your ear drum) catches the sound. 2) Name that sound. Make shakers by placing beans, rice and water in clear containers. After showing them to the children, ask them to close their eyes and name which item is making the sound. 3) Sounds make music. Fill glass cups with different amounts of water and tap with a spoon. Try playing Mary Had a Little Lamb. 4) Sound scavenger hunt. Collect sounds from household items and the outdoors as you record them on a tape player. Or, walk around the house tapping objects with a wooden spoon to find that each material has a unique sound.
• Music= Listen to the violin concertos from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Move your arms like a violinist.
• Play= Play a game of musical chairs (with plenty of seats for everyone). Invite someone to play the violin for you (or other instrument) then try it yourself. Or, attend an evening band concert at your local high school.

Fun facts: The pitch of the sound can be varied by changing the rate of vibration. The eardrum is a thin membrane that spans the ear canal and catches sound waves.