Thank you to Cheryl for sharing this unit with me. Please sign my guestbook.

Summer:

The Watermelon Patch Song
tune: Are you Sleeping?

Watermelon, (Make a circle with your arms.)
Watermelon,
On the vine, (Curve hands and arms beside body.)
On the vine,
Sweet and red and juicy, (Rub your tummy.)
Sweet and red and juicy,
Please be mine! (Palms together as though pleading.)
Please be mine!

Watermelon, (Make a circle with your arms.)
Watermelon,
Thump, thump, thump, (Make a thumping movement with thumb and middle finger.)
Thump, thump, thump,
I think you are ready- (Point, resting finger on your temple.)
I think you are ready-
Big and plump! (Make a circle with your arms.)
Bug and plump!

Watermelon Art
Materials:

• Green and red construction paper
• Watermelon seeds

A simple but fun art project to go along with your watermelon day is to give
each child 1/2 of a paper plate. I used small torn pieces of construction
paper- green and red. Have them glue green paper around the crinkled edge of
the paper plate then fill the center in with the red. After eating your
watermelon save some seeds to glue onto your paper plate melon. These are
cute and look very realistic.

Ask your students (in advance) to bring in 2 or 3 lemons each. Cut a lemon
into slices, one into wedges, and leave one whole. Let the children check
out the lemons and verbalize what they see, smell and feel. List the words
offered onto a large lemon shaped cardboard cut-out. Offer some untouched wedges for
brave tasters.

At a center, make available lemons cut in half lengthwise and width-wise,
yellow paint, paper and crayons. Invite the children to make lemon prints.
They can add more detail with crayons or markers if they wish.

Have each child juice one lemon half. Collect the juice in a pitcher. Let
each child dip a clean plastic spoon into the juice for a tiny taste. Ask them
if this is really lemonade. Then, add sugar, water and ice to the pitcher and
try taste testing again.

Sing a Song of Lemonade:

Sing a song of lemonade.
We'll pour it in a cup.
We'll stir it with a straw
And then we'll sip it up.
It will be so refreshing
We'll have to have some more,
And we'll be drinking lemonade forever, ever more!

Have the children paint using lemon juice. Let the painting dry overnight.
It will be invisible. Place each child's paper under several layers of
newsprint. Lightly iron over the paper with an iron set on high (no steam) until the
artwork appears. Ask children to guess why the pictures appeared.

Hello Mr. Sun Sung to the tune of "If you're Happy and You Know It"

Hello, Mr. Sun, how are you?
(Clap, clap)
Hello, Mr. Sun, how are you?
(Clap, clap)
We're so glad you're out today,
And we hope that you will stay.
We just love to see you shine, yes, we do!!!
(Clap, clap)

The Big Round Sun

The big round sun in the springtime sky
(form large circle with arms)

Winked at a cloud that was passing by.
(wink eye)

The little cloud laughed as it scattered rain,
(flutter fingers downward)

Then out came the big round sun again.
(form large circle with arms)

Fill spray bottles with food color water and let the kids spray the sandbox
sand. You'll have your own painted desert. Then show them how to magically
return the sand to normal by turning over with a sand shovel and start
again.

Summer Collage
Talk to your kiddo's about things they like to do in the summer. Then, guide
the children to look through magazines and travel brochures and cut out
pictures of their favorite summer things. Provide glue and paper to make a
collage. Ask the children to tell you about their collage and write down
their words on their paper.

Vacation Prints
Materials:
Construction paper
Transportation shapes cut out of poster board (cars, trains, airplanes, boats, buses, etc.)
Shoe polish bottles filled with different colors of tempera paint
Activity: Talk with the children about where they are going on vacation and
how are they going to get there. Hold up each shape and talk about how each
one could be used to go on vacation. After your discussion, have the children
choose a transportation shape. Guide them to hold the shape down with one hand
and paint around it with the shoe polish bottle to make prints.

Sun Prints
Materials
Objects from the daycare such as paint brushes, blocks, or anything that
would make an interesting print
Dark colored construction paper
Activity-Have the children place the objects on their construction paper.
Take their creations out into the direct sunlight and leave them outside all
day. At the end of the day, go outside and check to see what happened to the
construction paper!

Bright Sun Sung to: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Bright sun shining down,
(Spread fingers and move slowly downward)
Shining on the ground.
What a lovely face you have,
(Make a large circle in front of face with arms)
Yellow, big and round.

Ice Cream in a Bag
Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup milk
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 Tablespoon vanilla Ice
• 6 Tablespoons salt
• 1 large freezer bag 1 small bag

Let's Pretend
Let's pretend we're having fun at a picnic everyone.
Then some picnic pets come ' round..
Birds that flutter to the ground.
Crickets who can jump so funny, and a wiggly little bunny.
Butterflies on lazy wings, squirrels, and lots of other things!
Let's pretend that we are all picnic pets who've come to call.

Lightning Bugs
On a warm, calm, summer night,
You might see a yellow light
Dart in the air from bush to tree.
Whatever can that bright light be?
Go get a jar, with a lid that's tight,
And try to catch your own night light!

Mosquito
He hums and he buzzes,
And on your arm he'll sit.
And just when you think that he's your friend,
You'll discover you've been bit!

On The First Day Of Summer Sung to: Twelve Days Of Christmas
On the first day of summer..a robin in a maple tree.
Second....2 ducks a waddling.
Third.....3 bees a buzzin.
Fourth....4 watermelons.
Fifth.....5 picnic baskets.
Sixth.....6 wormy apples.
Seventh...7 ants a marching.
Eighth....8 swimmers swimming.
Ninth....9 children playing.
Tenth.....10 flowers blooming.
Eleventh..11 mowers mowing.
Twelfth...12 gardens growing.

Picnics
Fried chicken, watermelon, apple pie;
Do you love picnics? So do I!
Lemonade, root beer, chocolate cake,
Lazy canoe rides along the lake.
Games and singing -- let's square dance!
And don't forget, at picnics, you'll have A N T S!

Summertime Snack
Strawberry week - serve strawberries in a variety of ways. Plain, dip in
sugar or melted chocolate for an added treat. Strawberry pancakes,
shortcake, strawberries on ice cream. Make some freezer jam.
Raspberry week - these tiny fruits are a little expensive so maybe you
could have raspberry day. Make freezer jam, eat them plain, sprinkled
over yogurt or with a dollop or whipped cream.
Blueberry week - go wild for blue. Make muffins, pancakes, cakes, bread,
sprinkle them over ice cream or breakfast cereal.
Cool week - ice cream, popsicles, chilled fruit...watermelon.


Sun Day
Have a sunny summertime snack day. Serve only yellow food today. Cheese,
bananas, yellow Jell-O. Let the children brain storm for ideas.

Sunflowers
Materials: Black 3 or 4 inch circle, 8 yellow peddles, sunflower seeds,
green strip for stem
Have the child clue the yellow peddles onto the black circle. The
child's work is more important than the finished product. If it doesn't
look like a flower that is fine. Now have the child glue the sunflower
seeds onto the middle of the black circle.

All about the beach:

To The Beach
Sung to: London Bridge
We are going to the beach, To the beach, to the beach,
We are going to the beach, In our bathing suits.
We will find there rocks and shells.........
To gather by the water.
We will build a sand castle.....With bridges and a tower.
We will have a picnic too....With sandwiches and oranges.
Home we head with sunburned cheeks......
And treasures from our visit.

Swimming
I can dive. (Move hands flattened together.)
I can swim. (Swimming motion.)
I can float. (Hands out to side with head thrown back.
I can fetch.
But dog paddle. (Paddle like dog.)
Is the stroke that I do best.

Sandy Beaches
Materials: Paper, sand, white glue, glue brushes, pie tins, precut sun,
beach balls, buckets, etc.
Preparation: Assemble materials and pour glue into pie tins. Invite the
children to paint pictures using white glue for paint. Then let them
sprinkle pinches of sand over the glue. Wait a few minutes until the
material has had a chance to stick, then shake of excess. Have the
children make beaches by brushing glue across the bottom of light blue
construction paper and sprinkling sand on the glue. When their papers
are dry, let them paste on precut sun and boat shapes to create summer
beach scenes.

Let's Go To The Beach
Be sure to wear your suit
And bring along your float.
We'll ride so far out in the surf
Pretending it's a boat.
We'll find some pretty shells
And throw the gulls some bread.
Put on a lot of suntan oil
So that we don't turn red.
We'll never want to leave.
Such fun this all has been.
But we'll come back another day and do it all again!


Let's Go To The Beach (A Hunting We Will Go)
Let's go to the beach
To swim and play and run.
Building castles in the sand
Is ever so much fun.
We'll fix a picnic lunch
And eat it when we like.
And when we all are nice and full
We'll take a nature hike.


Day At The Beach
Ocean breeze blowing,
feet kick and splash,
Ocean waves breaking,
on rocks with a crash.
Boys finding seashells,
Girls sifting sand,
Friends building castles
As high as they can.
I stretch my arms out
Far as they'll reach
Oh, my what fun
On this day at the Beach.


Beach Scene
A fun way to make a beach scene is to fill a baby food jar with sand.
Arrange pebbles, shells, and twigs on top and put a lid on it. The lid
can be sprayed gold. Pasta shells can be used to represent real shells.

At The Seashore
Holding up a seashell (hold fist tightly to ear)
Tightly to my ear.
Shh! It's telling me a secret (Other hand holds finger to lips),
That only I can hear!

Seashell
One day a little shell washed up (hold shell)
Out of the waves at sea.
I held the shell up to my ear, (hold shell to ear)
And I heard it sing to me. Sh...Sh...Sh...Sh...
A little shell washed up one day,
And lay upon the sand. (hold shell in hand)
It sang a song about the sea,
As I held it in my hand. Sh...Sh...Sh...Sh...
(This is excellent for practice on the 'sh' speech sound. Bring in a
conch shell and let the children take turns holding it to their ears to
hear the sound of the sea.)


Have lots of sand box activities, sand art, look at sea shells, fish, sea
animals, hermit crabs. You can make neat critters by gluing eyeballs on
seashells, or glue pics of the kids into fan shaped shells and hang up.

Five Little Seashells

Five little seashells sleeping on the shore--
(Hold up 5 fingers, bending down one for each verse.)
Swish! went a big wave, and then there were four.
(Move arms, palms up, to make the waves.)
Four little seashells quiet as can be--
Swish! went a big wave, and then there were three.
Three little seashells pearly and new--
Swish! went a big wave, and then there were two.
Two little seashells having great fun--
Swish! went a big wave, and then there was one.
One little seashell lying in the sun--
Swish! went a big wave, and then there were none.
Five little seashells gone out to sea,
(Point out to sea.)
Wait until morning and they'll return to me.
(Point to self.)

Sand Castles
I dug in the sand,
And I carefully made
Five sand castles
With my pail and spade.
I felt like a king (queen)
In a golden crown
Till the blue sea.
Washed my castles down,
So I dug again
In that sandy shore
Till I had TEN castles
And was king(queen) once more.!

Actions:
Digging motions
Hold up five fingers.
Stand tall
Hands form circle over head.
Hold up five fingers.
Other hand makes waves.
Hand making waves
Closes fingers at other hand
Digging motions.
Hold up ten fingers
Stand tall
Hands form circle over head

Get a small blow up swim pool (about 2 ft.in diameter) with sea creature
theme on the bottom. Put it on top of a low table & put sea creatures from the
dollar store in it with water. The children can play with the creatures &
also use small nets to catch them. Set up small beach chairs, beach umbrella,
assorted sunglasses & have beach towels for outdoor play..let the children
set up their beach site. Add a cooler with ice & juice boxes. Do water
play...kids wear swim suits to school & bring a change of clothes. Set up small wading
pools , water tables, bubbles outside.


Put out shells with the playdough & the kids may choose to make imprints of
the shells.

Beach Ball!
Write a different numeral (using a permanent marker) on each section of an
inflated ball. Toss or roll ball to a child. Have him name & show one of
the numbers & give an activity - such as clapping, jumping, etc. for the group
to do. Another idea is to have each child name the two numbers closest to his
hands. Write them on a board, count out the manipulative, decide which is
grater, or add them together.

Use light blue const. paper to make the water & edge it with tan for sand.
After the ocean is done have the child draw fish in the ocean.

Play with beach balls & served snack in pails.


A good cooking activity for beach week would be sand pudding.... Make
vanilla pudding... Have the children crush up vanilla wafers in a plastic bag and
then put on the pudding.... Add a gummy fish or worm or any beachy thing.


Edible aquariums- use graham crackers, colored cream cheese, goldfish and
cheerios.

Beach Concentration Game (Matching Game)
Make up several cards about the beach. For example, coral reef, beach,
clam, wave, starfish, island, surf board, dolphin, beach ball, umbrella, etc.

Sandwich Sailboats
Need: Hot dog buns (separated), tuna or chicken salad, lettuce leaves,
and plastic straws.
Use a sharp knife to cut out the inside of the buns, 1/2" from edges
(careful not to cut through bottoms). Let children fill the buns with the
salad. Help each child thread straw through the lettuce leaf and place in
the salad to make the sail. Enjoy!


Make Sunglasses
Cut sunglasses shape out of cardboard. Glue on colored saran wrap to make lenses.

Pretend to be swimming in the ocean.
Jump over imaginary waves, pretend to surf, listen to Beach Boys while doing
this.


Make pails out of Styrofoam cups and pipe cleaners. They decorated the
outside with cut-out ocean animals and a little glitter. Bring shells for them to
clean and let them take a few home in their pails.

In and Out
Explain to your children that when the tide comes in, the animals in the
tide pools are busy eating and collecting food. When the tide goes out, the
animals keep still to conserve energy. Have your children pretend to be
animals in a tide pool. When you say "In", have your children move around,
pretending to collect and eat food.
When you say "Out", have them lie still.


What's in It?
(Sung to : "Skip to My Lou")

See the tide pool, what's in it?
See the tide pool, what's in it?
See the tide pool, what's in it?
What's in it today?
I see a sculpin in the tide pool,
I see a sculpin in the tide pool,
I see a sculpin in the tide pool,
In the tide pool today.

Repeat, substituting sculpin with the names of other things you might Ocean Beach Art
Set out pieces of light-blue poster board, paintbrushes, glue and a box of
sand. Let your children make "beaches" on the pieces of posterboard by
brushing glue across the bottoms of them and sprinkling on sand. Have them
shake off any excess sand into the box. Then give your children small
shells,
shell pieces and rocks to glue on their beach scenes. If desired, give each
child a yellow construction paper to make a sun to glue on the top of their
paper.

Sand Dough
1 cup sand
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 cup hot water

Mix sand, cornstarch and cream of tartar in an old saucepan. Add hot water.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is very thick and
can't be stirred further. Cool slightly and mold into various shapes use
plastic molds or let children create their own designs. Allow to dry.
Paint if desired. (Store left overs in airtight container.) What a fun way to make
permanent sand castles for your sandtable (with those sandcastle/beach
plastic pail sets). Add some plastic people figures and instant kingdom!


Use shells at the balancing scale. The children compare the weights of
various shells, predict which ones are the heaviest and lightest, and try to find
combinations of shells that, when placed on the scale together, will balance.

Packing up
A trip to the beach means planning ahead and packing necessary items to
make it a fun day in the sun. Engage youngsters in some critical decision-
making and organizational skills by having them pack a baby for a beach adventure.
To prepare, gather a large beach bag and an assortment of items that may be
used at the beach- such as sunglasses, sunscreen, a beach towel, a
swimsuit, a pail, and a shovel. Add some other unrelated objects to the collection,
also---such as blocks, a flashlight, and a coat. Invite each student in
turn to select an appropriate item from the collection to take to the beach. Ask
him to explain why he made his choice; then have him put the item in the
bag.

SUN VISORS
Cut the center of a paper plate out. On another sheet of construction paper
make a visor shape and cut out. Let the children decorate and glue on ring
from paper plate. Now you have a visor.

Sand Stepping
Prepare a tray of tempera paint mixed with sand and dish washing soap. Place
the paint at one end of bulletin board paper; then place a dishpan of water
and an old towel at the other end of paper. Have each student take turns
stepping in paint and walking across paper. Have them rinse feet and dry
them. Label each child's foot prints with their name. Paint glue on the
areas of the paper surrounding the footprints; then sprinkle sand over the glue.
You can also make a bulletin using this paper.


5 dish pans
1 - with sand in it (beach)
1 - with dry navy beans in it (pebbles)
1 - with cooked green spaghetti ( sea weed)
1 - with shaving cream with a little blue food coloring (sea foam)
1 - with salt water ( ocean)

The children took off their shoes and socks and waited patiently to walk on
the beach. I explained that when you go to the beach you first walk on the
beach then through pebbles and crushed shells then some sea weed as the wave
splash they create sea foam and then you finally reach the ocean. They could
not stop talking about it. I placed everything in a line on long white
paper. You have to add a little water to spaghetti to keep it moist. I used towels
at the end to step on and wipe feet off.

Large motor skill game-Take a blue blanket and pretend it is the ocean. Two
children hold it by two sides at one edge. Two other children stood in front
of the blanket. Then say "the waves are coming in don't get wet" and the
children with the blanket would sway and move the blanket forward trying to
get the other two children. When they got to the other edge of the room the
wave would go back out to sea ( back to the opposite edge) and the children
could come back down the beach. The kids loved it. At first I had two adults
doing the blanket part but the kids took over and had more fun.

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