More Frogs - Gang Goo Went the Little Green Frog

Every day before sleep time we sing the same song. It is called Gang Goo when the little green frog! The kids never get tired of it and despite the fact we have sung it daily for months and months now they still demand it before they go to their beds. It is an action song with lots of big body movements. We sing the song three times each day at different speeds. We do normal, fast and then slow. The song doesn’t really make any sense and the actions are kind of made up but they love it and it lets them get some energy out before they sleep.

I can write down the words for this but the actions are a little hard to explain . . . I will do my best!

 

Gang goo went the little green frog one day (touch head, knees then toes)

Gang goo went the little green frog (head, knees, toes)

Gang goo went the little green frog one day (head, knees, toes)

And they all went ging gang goo (head, shoulders, knees, toes)

But we all know frogs go

La-dee-da-dee-da, la-dee-da-dee-da, la-dee-da-dee-da (do jazz hands and shake one leg to the side)

We all know frogs go

La-dee-da-dee-da, la-dee-da-dee-da, la-dee-da-dee-da (do jazz hands and shake one leg to the side)

They don’t go

Ging Gang Goo (head, shoulders, knees, toes)

Ohhhh (hands in the air)

Five Green Speckled Frogs

To go along with Froggy Gets Dress I have been using these puppets during circle time.

 

These frogs are finger puppets. I either let each child hold one or I let them take one as we do an activity. I use the frogs to sing . . . 

Five Green and Speckled Frogs

Five green and speckled frogs

sat on a speckled log

eating some most delicious bugs

Yum Yum

One jumped into the pool

Where it was nice and cool

Now there are four green speckled frogs

Glub Glub!

(4,3,2,1, no frogs)

I have also used them to do the activity . . .

Down Around the Corner at the Corner Shop

Down around the corner at the corner shop

There were five little frogs waiting to be bought

Along came (child’s name) with a nickel to pay

s/he picked out a frog and took it away

Both of these activities work on children’s math skills including counting, subtraction, and one-to-one correspondence! They also work on turn taking skills since children have to wait for you to call out their name.

Books I love!

Froggy Gets Dressed written by Jonathan London and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz

My kids are all over this book this week. They love the great sound effects, the fact they get to guess what happens next, and the fact that there is an underwear joke! I have read this book hundred times this winter.

I like this book because it is fun to read! I get to yell out the Froggy part and sound annoyed when Froggy answers. I like that the kids work on their predicting skills by guessing what Froggy forgot this time. I like that they book helps kids remember what clothing they need to put on to go outside and in what order.

The kids I have this year are not really interested in hibernation but you could definitely use this book to talk about hibernation and what frogs do for the winter.

You are Hurting My Ears!!

If you have ever been in a preschool room you know it is NOISY!!! I am constantly asking children to quiet down and talk instead of yelling. However, it can only get so quiet especially when someone is sad or angry and they are crying. We have a couple kids in our room who do not handle the noise well. For a number of reasons they are very sensitive to lots of loud noise. This is especially true for our children with Autism. These children yell, cry, or become violent when the noise in the room gets too high.  

These were our solution . . .

We got these noise canceling headphones from a surplus store for like $2! We have two pairs that are out in the room and any child can wear them. Often they get used for dramatic play but when I see a child covering their ears I hand them the headphones. This has not fixed all the problems but it does offer children a way to quiet down what they hear without a teacher having to step in. This allows children who need a bit of quiet to get it for themselves without being singled out of the group.  

I like these headphones because they don’t really block that much noise. I have worn them around the room and you can still hear what people are saying just quieter.      

Peg People

I made this peg in the bottle game for the kids to work on fine motor skills.

The pegs are old fashioned clothes pins that I painted with watercolour paint and sealed with wood finish. I used food safe wood finish for butcher blocks because some of my kids still chew on everything so I wanted something non-toxic.

I made the pegs look kind of like people but with no real faces. This type of doll is taken from the Waldorf philosophy. I don’t know a lot about this philosophy but I thought the idea of the dolls that have no gender and no expressions interesting. The idea is that the children get to decide who and what the doll is. Of course so far the kids in my group have been more interested in seeing how many they can jam into the old juice bottle then in playing dolls!

 

This activity is a math activity since only so many pegs can fit in the bottle, and how many fit depend on how they are placed in the bottle. I get the kids to count and estimate while they are putting pegs in. Also the opening of the bottle is narrow so it can be hard to get the pegs out so the children need to use their problem solving skills!       

Roses and Dot Painting

Well it is just after valentine’s day so I thought I would share this art project with you. This is dot painting using those plastic vial things that florists stick on the ends of roses (hence the Valentine’s reference.)

 

I used liquid paint (you can use food colouring but I always worry about staining) and water. I just fill like a quarter of the vial with paint and add water and shake the heck out of it.

 

Now I usually do this activity as a group project to that I can cover the whole table with paper cause my guys always end up with puddles of paint on the table otherwise. This way the paper soaks up the water and clean-up is easier. Of course, you can use individual paper if you want but be prepared for some of the papers to turn into soggy piles of mush! I talk to the kids beforehand about being gentle and thoughtful about paint placement ie. Not just banging one colour over and over onto their paper until the container is empty. However some of the kids do it anyway and honestly I don’t stop them since it is their art. You should also beware of the splatter effect. This project is pretty messy when they are still banging the vials on the table and paper when there is already a good puddle of paint. We all know that some kids turn all art projects into a sensory experience.

Okay so the vials . . . I did not collect them off of flowers! I simply went to a florist and bought them. They cost like $0.25 each and have lasted awhile now (we have done this activity at least four times with the same vials.) You might be able to get a florist to donate them but I had to pay for them. They are not something that florists usually sell apparently so you may have to do some searching to find a place that will either give them to you or sell them to you.  

Welcome and Monkeys

Hi all,
I am a registered Early Childhood Educator in Ontario, Canada. I have been working in the field since April 2010. I have mostly worked with preschoolers during this time. I like to make many of the materials that I use in my classroom so I will share some of these things here...

One of the first things I made is this set of puppets . . .

 

I made these monkey finger puppets and the crocodile hand puppet out of felt. I have been using them in my class for circle time almost everyday. They are a favorite with every group of children I have ever had! Children love having the monkeys snapped off their fingers by the crocodile. They go with the song

Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree

teasing Mr. Crocodile "Can't catch me, Can't catch me"

Along comes Mr. Crocodile quiet as can be (whisper this part)

SNAP!!! (yell this part)

Four, three, two, one . . .

No more monkeys swinging in the tree

away swims Mr. Crocodile full as can be  

 

Of course kids love this song without the puppets but I find they like to have something to hold during circle activities. I usually end the song by having the crocodile snap the kids faces, hands or legs! Be warned though you will grow to hate this song well before the kids do!