Farm – 3.2 – Add A Little

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Add A Little – 3 Year Old Curriculum – Unit 2

Farm

Disclaimer: All activities require adult supervision and discretion. Read more...

Want to learn more about Add A Little Curriculum? Check out the Parent / Teacher Guide

Movement Moment

Animal Herding

Supplies:

  • Toy farm animals or alternative. Consider:
    • Stuffed animals
    • Plastic animal toys
    • Balls
    • Balloons
    • Pompoms
  • A large basket, or hula hoop, etc. (See Prep)

Prep:

  • Designate an area as the “animal pen”. This could be a large box, a fenced-off area, a hula hoop, or a couch.

Time to Play:

  • Gather your children and explain that on a farm, farmers build fences to keep animals safe from getting lost or getting into other mishaps. Sometimes, however, the animals escape and the farmer has to herd them back into the pen.
  • Show your children the animals and the pen. Explain that their job is to herd the animals back into the pen when they escape.
  • Have fun running around to gather the animals into the pen.

Art Activity

Old McDonald Farm Puppets

Supplies:

  • Colouring sheet of several farm animals. I have a free two-page colouring sheet below for you to download and print. It contains eight farm animals.
  • Crayons (or pencil crayons)
  • Scissors
  • Optional: Popsicle sticks
  • Optional: Tape

Download the Old McDonald Farm Puppets Colouring Sheet – S J Little

Prep:

  • Print the colouring sheet – one copy per child

Time to Create:

  • Invite your children to the table and encourage them to colour the farm animals.
  • Once your children are satisfied that they have completed colouring the farm animals, cut them out. This could be done by the adult or by the child with supervision. (For tips on teaching children to use scissors, click here.)
  • Optional: Tape a popsicle stick to the back of each farm animal to give them handles.
  • Now you have farm animal puppets.
  • Sing Old McDonald Had A Farm using the farm animal puppets to indicate which animal is being sung about.

Five-Minute Focus

Let’s Learn the ABCs

Letters of the Unit

  • D E F

Letter Activity

  •  Air Tracing – Using your finger, reach up and write the letter in the air. Encourage your children to copy.

For other letter teaching techniques, visit: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/teaching-the-abcs-at-circle-time/

Let’s Sing

Old McDonald Had a Farm

Let’s Read

Oh Dear!: A Farm Lift-the-Flap Book

By: Rod Campbell

For other farm book recommendations, visit: https://ca.pinterest.com/sjlittleauthor/books-for-preschoolers-and-toddlers/farm/

Let’s Sing

Christian Song

Read Your Bible Pray Every Day

For lyrics and actions visit: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/7-simple-christian-songs-for-preschoolers/

Let’s Read

BIBLE

Read the next story in the picture Bible you are working your way through. Need recommendations for a good Children’s picture Bible? Click Here

Tinted Windows?

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

My husband opened his office door at the end of another work-from-home day.

“Hello!” I gave him a hug, then stepped back. “You’re boiling.”

“It’s a sunny day,” he replied.

I stepped past him into the office. “It’s sweltering in here. I don’t know how you function.”

He shrugged. “My computer blacked out in the middle of a call again today.”

I glanced from the wide open window to the temperature sensor on the shelf. “31°C (88°F). There must be something we can do to make it better.”

“Daddy!” Our daughter ran towards him for a hug.

Our 1 year old toddled along behind.

“It’s time for supper,” I announced.

My husband glanced over the kids’ heads. “Yay. I’m hungry.”

Later that evening, as our fans hummed trying to bring the cooler evening air into our house, my mind wandered back to the challenge of the too-hot office. What could we do about it?

We had looked into air conditioning. Several of our neighbors had it. We went so far as getting quotes.

The extreme price tag for having air conditioning installed made us question whether it was worth it for us. Maybe there was something less costly we could try first?

In some locations, air conditioning, or other strategies for handling heat, is critical. Where I live, the outside temperature rarely passes 31°C (88°F), and the nights are always cooler. While air conditioning is a convenience, it is a luxury, not a necessity for me.

I was determined that there must be something more cost-effective we could try.

After some research, we came up with the idea of UV blocking window tinting film. It was far less expensive.

We ordered a roll.

When it arrived, my husband put it up with the help of our 3 year old, while I did my best to keep our 1 year old out of the way.

“Well, it’s up,” my husband called from the office.

I scooped up my 1 year old and crossed the hallway.

“Good,” I said, stepping into the room.

My husband was trying to rub the last few stubborn bubbles out of the tinting film.

My 1 year old wiggled to be put down. I hesitated, trying to decipher what had caught his attention.

He wanted the spray bottle my daughter had just put down.

I decided to let him down. He hadn’t figured out how to squirt spray bottles yet. Besides, the spray bottle was filled with water and a hint of dish soap – nothing too harmful.

I moved to inspect the tinted window more closely. The film hampered the view more than I’d hoped. The tree across the way looked blurry and was tinted blue.

“Definitely makes it harder to see out.” I commented, knowing how much my husband enjoyed having a window in his office. “If it’s too bothersome, you can take it off.”

“We can wait and see how much of a difference it makes.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” 

In the following days, it did seem that the tinting helped reduce the heat of the sunshine streaming into the office.

Why do I share this? Because a couple of weeks later, I found myself thinking of the hidden allegory in this story. It is a sober reminder for me.

If I think of the sunshine as Son-shine, or God at work in me, and of my life as a house, the allegory begins to form.

In the story above, I wanted to keep the warmth of the sunshine out of our house.

When I first thought of this allegory, I right away reasoned that this is the opposite of what’s true in our lives. We want God in our lives.

But do we?

What if there is a room in my life I have decided I would prefer to keep luke-warm? Have I put up a tinting film to keep much of God’s Sonshine out?

True, it can get uncomfortable when God focuses on an area of my life that needs to improve. It can hurt.

Yet the reward of peace and joy that follows when I fully surrender that area to God is so worth it. The fruit that comes is wonderful.

God wants all of me. He doesn’t want me holding back.

I am instructed to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'” (Luke 10:27 CSB)(Similar to Deut. 6:5)

Okay, that’s a very familiar verse. The question is, do I live it? If I am being honest with myself, do I love God this fully?

No. I need to keep growing in my love for God. I need to be asking God to help me clear those tinted windows to let His love and truth come in.

He will help me.

Transportation – 3.1 – Add A Little

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Add A Little – 3 Year Old Curriculum – Unit 1

Transportation

Disclaimer: All activities require adult supervision and discretion. Read more…

Want to learn more about Add A Little Curriculum? Check out the Parent / Teacher Guide

Movement Moment

Walk or Wait

Prep:

    • Print the pedestrian crossing signal picture below (choose the image that best suits your neighborhood) or draw your own.
    • Optional: Print (or draw) additional road signs (See image below).
    • Colour and cut out the images.
    • Prepare an area for running.
                

Free Downloads

Select the image you want above to access the downloadable PDF.

Time to Play:

  • Introduce your child to the images. Explain where to cross the road and which picture means wait or walk.
  • Play “Red Light Green Light” with the pedestrian crossing signal pictures.
  • Have all the children start at one side of your running area. You stand at the other side with the signs.
  • When you hold up the walk sign, all the children can move towards you.
  • When you hold up the wait sign, all the children must stop.
  • Play until all the children reach the other side of the running area. Repeat as desired.
  • Optional: Make the game more interesting by adding other road signs.
    • U-turn sign = spin around
    • Arrow sign = move in the direction the sign is pointing
    • Stop sign = stop
    • School zone sign = go slow
    • Speed Limit sign = run

Art Activity

Make a Car Map

Supplies:

  • Sheet of cardboard or at least 2 sheets of thick paper
  • Masking tape or painters’ tape
  • Paint (2 colours)
  • Paintbrushes (ideally thick paintbrushes but other methods of painting work too)
  • 2 Small containers to put paint in (alternatively pour the paint directly onto the paper)

Prep:

  • Decide what size of car you want to make the map for. Check to see if your tape is wide enough. You may want to use two strips of tape to make the roads wide enough.
  • If using sheets of paper, tape them together to create a bigger surface.
  • If you have several children, decide whether to:
    • give each child a sheet of paper that will join to create a bigger map
    • create one large one-piece map all together
    • or each make their own personal map
  • Use the tape to create a network of roads and parking spots on the paper.
  • Consider covering your table if you are concerned about getting paint on it.
  • Consider using paint shirts.

Time to Create:

  • Invite your children to the table. Show them the taped map. Explain that their job is to cover the entire map with paint, especially on the edges of the tape.
  • Chat with your child while they paint.
  • If needed pick up your own paintbrush and help paint directly around the tape so that there will be a clear boarder when the tape is removed.
  • Allow the paint to dry.
  • Remove the tape from the painting. It should reveal the car map.
  • Optional: Use a marker to add dotted lines to the roads or numbers to the parking spots.
  • Let your child have fun playing with the car map.

Five-Minute Focus

Let’s Learn the ABCs

Letters of the Unit

  • A B C

Letter Activity

Let’s Sing

The Taxi Song
By: S J Little

For actions and additional verses, click here.

Let’s Read

I’m the Digger Driver

Little Genius Books
Illustrator: David Semple

Let’s Sing

Christian Song

Walking With Jesus

Let’s Read

BIBLE

Read the next story in your picture Bible. Need recommendations for a good Children’s picture Bible? Click Here

Parent / Teacher Guide – Add A Little Curriculum – 3 Year Old

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Add A Little – 3 Year Old Curriculum – Intro

Parent / Teacher Guide

 

Intro

Why name a curriculum “Add A Little”? Because that’s exactly what this curriculum is designed to do – add a little enhancement to your child’s development by providing ideas and activities for you to do with them. This light curriculum was developed with the busy parent or caretaker in mind.

 

Activities for 3 Year Olds

3 year olds are entering a brand new stage of development. They are curious and ready to learn, but still have a lot of wiggles to get out. Imaginative play is taking off, and they want a sense of confident control. With this in mind, the Add A Little curriculum for 3 year olds is designed with three main components to help meet your preschooler right where they’re at. Keep reading to learn more about each component.

  • Movement Moment
  • Art Activity
  • Five-Minute Focus

Don’t forget to read the Tips for Success below.

 

Table of Contents

Each Unit Includes:

  • Movement Moment
  • Art Activity
    • Supplies
  • Five-Minute Focus
    • Let’s Learn the ABCs
      • Letters of the unit
      • Letter Activity
    • Let’s Sing
    • Let’s Read
    • Let’s Sing a Christian Song
    • Let’s Read the Bible

Units

Tips for Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

Disclaimer

Helpful Links

Each Unit Includes:

Fun Theme

Every unit has an engaging theme selected specifically with a 3 year old’s development in mind.

 

Movement Moment

This is the get up and move activity. Studies have shown that physical exercise boosts overall brain development and good health. That’s why every unit includes a Movement Moment.

 

Art Activity

One of the big focuses of the preschool years is the development of pre-writing skills. This includes strengthening fine motor muscles and so much more. Each Art Activity is designed to enhance fine motor development and provide a creative outlet, all while being a relatively simple, low-prep activity.

– Supplies

While additional supplies may be required, here are some general art supplies that may be used in the lessons:

  • Basic white paper (printer paper)
  • Coloured paper
  • Thick paper (cardstock)
  • Washable paint
  • Crayons or washable markers
  • Tape that can be used on walls and removed (consider masking tape or painter’s tape)
  • Scissors
  • Recyclables such as cardboard boxes and various washed plastic yogurt or margarine containers, etc.

 

 

Five-Minute Focus

In preschool teacher lingo, this is circle time. It is a time when the child(ren) and parent/teacher sit down for an intentional time of learning. It doesn’t have to be long.

For greatest success, build a routine around your Five-Minute Focus.

  • Make it regular – choose a consistent time in your daily schedule. In a classroom, it could be just before going to outside time. At home, it could be just after putting the baby down for their morning nap, or immediately following supper.
  • Make it different – sit on “Five-Minute Focus cushions” or have a “Five-Minute Focus box”. Something to visually signal to your children that this is a sit down and focus time.
  • Make it custom – your Five-Minute Focus should be adapted to the needs of your children. Do you have advanced 3 year olds, or have your children only just barely turned 3? Your focus time will need to be tweaked to suit your children.

– Let’s Learn the ABCs
3 year olds still have two years until kindergarten. This part of the unit is intended to help them gain familiarity with the letters, but they are not expected to memorize all the letters until they are older. Keep it fun, engaging, and short (think 1-2 minutes).

If you don’t already have one, consider printing, purchasing, or creating an alphabet poster that shows all the letters of the alphabet. If possible, put it on the wall near where you will be doing your Five-Minute Focus.

  • Letters of the Unit
    Every unit is assigned 3 letters. These have intentionally not been closely linked with the unit itself to provide you with flexibility. The goal is to introduce your children to every letter of the alphabet. Many preschools do this by having a “letter of the week”. If your children already have a letter of the week, feel free to use the AAL Letter Activity to reinforce the letter they are already learning rather than the ones listed with the unit.
  • Letter Activity
    A fun, low-pressure activity to help familiarize your child with the letters.

 

Let’s Sing
3 year olds love songs they can sing and engage with. These songs often teach useful concepts. Each unit includes a song suggestion. Many of these songs are demonstrated using a video sourced from Youtube. The video is intended to teach the parent or teacher the song so that they can then sing it with their children.

Want more songs or don’t like a suggested song? Check out this list of Simple Preschool Songs: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/big-list-of-simple-preschool-songs/

 

Let’s Read
The value of reading good books to your 3 year old is tremendous. Not only is it widening their vocabulary and feeding their imagination, they absorb pre-reading skills and a greater appreciation for the world around them. Every unit includes a book recommendation. The book can be read during the Five-Minute Focus, or can be included in the schedule at another point in the day. Regardless of when, be sure to include book reading in your regular routine. Your children will benefit from it.

Also, check out my board, “Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers”: https://www.pinterest.ca/sjlittleauthor/books-for-preschoolers-and-toddlers/

 

Let’s Sing a Christian Song
For those using AAL who are Christian, a Christian song suggestion has been included in every unit. It’s a great way to begin Bible memorization or simply to remind ourselves of who God is.

Want more Christian songs? Visit: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/7-simple-christian-songs-for-preschoolers/

 

Let’s Read the Bible
3 year olds are ready for regular children’s Bible reading. There will not be specific Bible stories suggested with each unit. Instead, pick up “The Beginner’s Bible” and make a habit of reading one story per day, or one story per week, and read your way through the whole Bible.

For more information visit: https://www.thebeginnersbible.com/products/

Units

Every month, one new unit is released. Here is a list of units that have already been released:

3.1 – Transportation

3.2 – Farm

 

Tips for Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

  • Join In
    3 year olds engage better in new activities if someone else is doing it with them, so join in and have fun.
  • Be Flexible
    Every child is different. You know your circumstances and your children’s abilities and interests. Take a moment to consider the suggested activity, then adapt it to your own situation.
  • Remove Distractions
    Did you know that young children play better with less toys at a time? Try putting away most of their toys before attempting to engage them in a new activity. Putting most of their toys away also allows you to do toy rotation. If you haven’t tried toy rotation, read this article https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/toy-rotation/. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to your child’s play.

Want More?

Do you want to receive notification of each new unit of the Add A Little 3 Year Old Curriculum when it is released? Join S. J. Little’s preschool email list today.

 

 

Disclaimer

All activities require adult supervision and discretion.

Every aspect of the Add A Little Curriculum is suggested with the expectation that it will be done under adult supervision. Some activities include potential hazards. You and your child(ren) participate at your own discretion.

Every child, family, setting, and circumstance is different. Recommended tips and/or activities in this curriculum may work well for some children but not for others. Adult discretion is required. In some cases, you will need to adapt the curriculum to fit you and your child(ren)’s specific needs.

 

Helpful Links

Smoother Transitions: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/smoother-transitions/

Choosing Excellent Books: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/choosing-excellent-books-for-preschoolers/

Big List of Simple Preschool Songs: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/big-list-of-simple-preschool-songs/

Toy Rotation: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/toy-rotation/

Ice Cream Coated

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

A cheery melody floated through the open window as my daughter and I sat playing.

I glanced at the hot sunny day outside.

A minute later, my daughter perked up having caught wind of the music.

“What’s that?” She asked.

By now the melody was getting louder.

“It sounds like an ice cream truck is coming.”

My daughter jumped up and peered out the window. “Where?”

“I hear it coming, but we might have to wait a little until we can see it.”

We waited at the window, looking for the truck as the music became louder still.

I glanced down at my little one. “When the ice cream truck comes, we won’t wave at him. Otherwise he will think we want to buy ice cream, but we already have ice cream in our freezer.”

“Okay,” she replied easily.

Suddenly she pointed. “There it is! There’s the ice cream truck!”

“I see it too!” I said.

As the large truck came around the corner, its friendly tune blared.

My daughter bounced on her toes.

“It’s green and blue.” She exclaimed.

We watched eagerly as the truck rolled lazily along. He stopped near our window for a long pause, but when no customers came, he moved on. Soon he was out of sight.

As we listened to the last strains of the cheery music, I scrunched up my nose.

“What’s that stinky smell?”

I glanced over at my husband as recognition dawned. “The ice cream truck must have been diesel.”

I closed the windows on the side of the house where the truck had idled, but left the windows on the other side of the house open to allow the fresh air to push out the diesel smell. 

As the dense diesel stench continued to linger, I frowned out the window. I was rather displeased with that ice cream truck. So much for being sweet and child-friendly. It had filled our home with nasty fumes.

Eventually the stink faded and I forgot about the incident. I forgot, that is, until later that evening when I took my daughter upstairs to bed. Her room still held a distinctive diesel stench. Her window had been open when the ice cream truck went by.

So what? Why share this unpleasant story?

This moment has stuck in my head as a clear allegorical warning.

Watch out for false teachers.

Not everyone who presents themselves as a good clean wholesome instructor is good. Some may simply be sugar-coating, or in this case, ice-cream-coating toxic ideas that cause great harm.

This is true as we look at the world around us.

There are so many ideas and perspectives out there. We run into them on social media, in the news, in books, in music. Some are good and helpful. Others lead to terrible trouble.

Discernment is needed to sort through the good and the bad.

As Christians, much discernment is needed in regards to those who teach about the Bible.

Even in Bible-times there were false teachers. Those who would take Scripture and twist it in order to get across the message they wanted to share rather than honestly seeking to share what God was saying in that passage.

Peter tells us, “there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.” (2 Peter 2:1b-3a NIV)

So how do we spot these false teachers?

Looking at how they live their life is a huge clue.

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7NIV)

Along with watching how they live their lives, we must know the Bible for ourselves.

How do I know if a Bible verse is out of context? By being familiar with the chapter it was taken from.

When was the last time you read the whole Bible?

Did you know that by reading one chapter a day you can read the entire Bible in just over three years? To help you out, I have a DIY Bible Reading chart to help track your progress. It’s free for everyone on my email list (click the subscriber freebie link in a recent email). Not on my email list? You can sign up below. 

With so many Bible teachers available to us online, how do we choose which to listen to? Here’s a link with some of my favourites when I’m looking for a short devotional to read or listen to. Like with all teachers, use your discretion.
Grow Your Faith: 5 Inspiring and Free Christian Devotionals