Spring Books

"When will it be Spring?" By Catherine Walters
"Whoosh Went The Wind" By Sally Derby C.D.
"Spring Is Here!" by Joan Holub
"Robins" by Melvin and Gilda Berger
"Clifford's Spring Clean-Up" by Norman Bridwell
"Frogs" by Elizabeth Carney
"Spring for Strawberry Shortcake" by Monique Z. Stephens
"What's the Weather?"
"The Dark, Dark Night" by M. Christina Butler
"Easter Babies" by Joy N. Hulme
"Spring is Here" by Will Hillenbrand
"Quiet Bunny's Many Colors" by Lisa McCue
"Noah's Bark" by Stephen Krensky
"Storm is Coming" by Heather Tekavec
"Frog and Toad are Friends" by Arnold Lobel
"From Chick to Robin" by Melvin Gilda Berger
"Mud!" by Wendy Cheyette Lewison

Back To School Books

"I Love School!" by Hans Wilhelm
"Blue Goes To School" by Angela C. Santomero
"Take Me to School With You!" by Sonali Fry
"Mouse's Frist Day of School" by Lauren Thompson
"Dora's Backpack" by Sarah Wilson
"Froggy Goes To School" by Jonathan London
"Miss Bindergarten Stays Home from Kindergarten" by Joseph Slate
"The Berenstain Bears Go To School" by Stan and Jan Berenstain
"Dora Goes To School" by Leslie Valdes
"If You Take A Mouse To School" by Laura Numeroff
"The Wheels on the School Bus" by Mary-Alice Moore
"I'm Your Bus" by Marilyn Singer (C.D.)
"D.W.'s Guide to Preschool" by Marc Brown
"David Goes to School" by David Shannon
"Preschool Day Horray!" by Linda Leopold Strauss
"Cool Dog, School Dog" by Deborah Heiligman
"Llama Llama Misses Mama" by Anna Dewdney
"Ready, Set, School!" by Jacquelyn Mitchard
"The Best Teacher Ever" by Mercer Mayer
"Never Ever Talk to Strangers!" by Anne Marie Pace
"Scaredy Squirrel" by Melianie Watt
"Words are Not for Hurting" by Elizabeth Verdick
"Big Kid Shoes" by Tori Kosara
"A Teacher for Bear" by Anne Marie Pace
"Huggapotamus" by Steve Metzger

Number Books

"Maisy Drives the Bus" by Lucy Cousins
"Piggies" by Audrey Wood
"Naughty Little Monkeys" by Jim Aylesworth (C.D.)
"My First Counting Book" by Lillian Moore
"Chicka Chicka 1-2-3" by Bill Martin Jr.
"Too Many Frogs!" by Sandy Asher
"Click, Clack, Splish, Splash" by Doreen Cronin
"The Wide Mouthed Frog" by Ana Martin Marranaga
"Over In The Meadow" by Ezra Jack Keats
"A Band of Coyotes"
"Counting Sheep" by Dr. Julie Glass
"Counting Kisses" by Karen Katz
"Ten on the Sled" by Kim Norman
"Numbers" by Parenting Magazine
"This Tree Counts!" by Alison Formento

St. Patrick's Day Books

"Happy St. Patrick's Day, Clifford!" by Quinlan B. Lee
"The Leprechaun Who Lost His Rainbow" by Sean Callahan
"Looking for Leprechauns" by Sheila Keenan
"Leprechaun on the Loose" by Marcia Thornton Jones
"Jack and the Leprechaun" by Ivan Robertson
"The Leprechauns Gold" by Pamela Ouncan Edwards
"The Luckiest St. Patricks's Day Ever!" by Teddy Slater
"The Night Before St. Patrick's Day" by Natasha Wing
"Green Shamrocks" by Eve Bunting

Snow and Ice Group Time

What would you do if a snowman came to your house?

How much water is in the snowball?
What happens when the snow melts?
Melt a snowball and watch what happens.

Frozen Bubbles
If the temperature is 32 degrees or below you can freeze a bubble. Blow a bubble and catch it on the bubble wand. Give the bubble a minute or two and then the bubble will freeze and then shatter like glass.

Snow and Ice Fine Motor

Dress the Snowman
Give each child 3 sizes of paper plates.
Supply enough carrot noses, eyes, mouths, hats, scarfs, mittens.
Have the first child roll a dice and follow the numbers.
1- Carrot Nose
2- Coal Eyes
3- Mittens
4- Hat
5- Mouth
6- Scarf

Snowball Sorting
Place several small cups and tweezers out for the children. Provide them with pompoms and let them sort them into colors and size.

Ice Fishing
Turn a box into a fishing adventure. Wrape the box in white paper to represent ice. Cut a small hole in the middle of the box. Place several fish cutouts inside the box that have a paper clip attached to them. With your magnetic fishing pole in hand, see what you can catch!

Blindfold Snowball Game
Place 2 bowls on a table filling one with cotton balls. Chooose who will go first and blindfold that player. Set the timer for 60 seconds. Say Go, the player must then transfer as many cottom balls as he can into the other bowl with a spoon. When time is up, count the cottom balls and record. Play continues until everyone has had a turn.

Snow and Ice Art Projects

Snowman Name Graph
Have the children cut out a circle for each letter of their name and one extra for the hear. Have the children write a letter of their name on each circle and decorate the head as desired.
After arranging the snowman, glue the circles together.
Use the snowmen to compare more or less, biggest and smallest or tallest to shortest, etc.

Ball Snowman
Using three different sized balls. (tennis ball, playground ball, basketball) Create a snowman. Use the smallest ball for the head, medium ball for the middle and the largest ball for the bottom. Dip each ball in white paint to make a print on the paper. After the paint is dry add the rest of the details.

Blizzards
Have the children draw a winter scene on blue paper without the snow. Paint on bubble wrap with white tempra paint and press onto the picture. Carefull lift up the bubble wrap to reveal a snowy blizzard!

Q-Tip Snowflake
Cut 3 Q-tips in half. Lay them out in the shape of a snowflake on a piece of wax paper. Put a large blob of glue in the middle where all the q-tips meet. Let dry for 24 hours. Remove from wax paper and hang with a string.

Frosy Friends
Draw a picture with crayons on light blue construction paper. Paint over with a muxture of Epsom salt and water.

A Winter Book
Have the chilrend create a book about winter. Let each child compose a page. Ideas could be: When is the first day of winter? How does my neighborhood change in the winter? What happens to the plants in the winter? What is the best thing about winter? What are the best games to play in the winter? Have the children dictate and illustrate.

Ice Rainbows
Provide the children with a scoop of crushed ice. Let the children use eye droppers and colored water. Put drops of water onto the crushed ice and watch as the colors travel down through the pieces and blend with the other colors.

Cool Carriers
Materials for one project:
•9" white paper circle
•9" white paper semicircle
•2 colorful earmuff patterns
•orange nose pattern
•2 wiggle eyes
•2" x 12" length of colorful fabric
•two 12" pipe cleaners
•hole puncher
•stapler
•crayons or markers
•scissors
•glue

Steps:
1.For the pocket, run a trail of glue around the curved edge of the semicircle and then align the semicircle atop the circle.

2.For the handle, hole-punch two holes in the carrier as shown. Securely hook one end of one pipe cleaner through each hole. Twist together the two unattached ends.

3.For the scarf, flip the carrier over. Keeping the handle at the top, staple the middle of the fabric strip near the bottom of the circle. Knot the fabric and fringe-cut the ends.

4.For the earmuffs, cut out the patterns and add desired details. Glue in place.

5.For facial features, cut out the nose pattern. Glue the nose cutout and wiggle eyes in place. Draw a big smile.

Snow and Ice Gross Motor

Winter Pokey
You put your right mitten in,
You take your right mitten out.
You put your right mitten in ,
and you shake it all about
You do the winter pokey, (shiver)
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!

Additional Verses:
Left mitten in...
Right boot in...
Left boot in...
Hat in...
Snowsuit in... (whole body)

Dance like Snowflakes (Tune: Frere Jacques)
Dance like snowflakes
Dance like snowflakes
In the air
In the air
Whirling, twirling, snowflakes
Whirling, twirling, snowflakes
Here and there
Here and there.

Keep Warm
Show the children how to keep warm when it is cold outside by moving arms and fingers, jumping or running. Show and describe the things you can do, "When I am cold I stomp my feet and rub my hands together."

Snow "Sock"Balls
Ball up socks and have a snowball fight!

Winter Clothes
Have a relay race by having the children put on winter clothes and then run over and take them off. Then put them back on.

Freeze Dance