E

My camera is broken, so I couldn't take any pictures today, which really is too bad because the kids were adorable and had SO much fun!

E is for 'e e e..e e e e e - Exercise!" (we sang the 'e' sound in a sing song pattern doing exercise moves then shout out Exercise!)

• I love correlating lessons to books and I've actually done this one before and loved the way it worked so did it again with a few changes. The book I use is Sesame Street Happy Healthy Monsters. It is very interactive and the kids were giggling non-stop 

-It introduces the characters and what they like to do-try doing what they like
-You start with a warm-up: march in place with them... jump, etc
-Talks about how exercise is good for your bones and muscles and that your heart is a muscle. They can feel their heartbeat *my little boy has been running around jumping all day telling me to feel how fast his heart is beating! :)
-Exercises like swimming, running, dancing, playing ball, etc
-Teaches you need to give your body a break and eating a healthy snack can boost your energy; what foods are good for you, what are their favorite foods?
-Talks how you need to exercise your brain too and does imagination play

• We decided to practice everything we learned and started with a warm-up

-We did a few stretches-up high, touch toes; arm circles, neck, ankles, etc

• For exercise you can play some games - sports, races, clean-up relays. We watched a few segments from Barney and Friends movie- Hop To It and did the exercises and dances with them. It is about a girl who wants to be big and strong. Some of the best songs are Exercise Song; Move Your Body; Shape-up and Freeze.

• After all their exercise they decided they needed to give their bodies a little rest and we went to the kitchen to make a healthy snack. I just got a new toy from Pampered Chef- the simple slicer and microwave chip maker, so I wanted to use that. :) The kids were amazed by the apple slices and we microwaved some to make apple chips and tried some apples plain. While they ate their snack I read them another book - Mercer Mayer books are so fun and this one was Good for Me and You all about exercise.

• We tried doing sit ups and push-ups like in the book and made the 'e' sound during our repetitions instead of counting.

• Next we decided trying exercising our brains and did a little imagination song rhyme-I thought it was popular, but I couldn't find something online, so here is what it is. You can make your own actions. (We just pat our legs during the first part, look around, hands on hips while shaking head, shimmer hands up and out above head)

Going on a Treasure Hunt (me)
Going on a Treasure Hunt (them)
Going to Find some Treasure
Going to Find some Treasure
We're Not Scared
We're not Scared
It's a Beautiful Day
It's a Beautiful Day

OH NO! I see a big ugly swamp with crocodiles in it!
Can't go over it
Can't go over it
Can't go under it
Can't go under it
Have to go through it.
SWIM SWIM SWIM SWIM
WHEW! Made it! (Ask if everyone is okay, let's keep going)

(It just repeats and you come across long swishy grass with snakes (RUN)- icky sticky mud with mosquitos and bugs (SHLOP) -  and a cave with treasure in it (SPARKLE)

TREASURE!

Went on a Treasure Hunt
Went on a Treasure Hunt
We found some Treasure
We found some Treasure
We weren't scared
We weren't scared
It's a beautiful Day
It's a Beautiful Day

• Next we played a memory match game with the letters of the alphabet. They had to make the sound of the letter each time they picked a card

• We then did a worksheet (I'll have to upload a picture once I get my camera working)

-I had 4 letters down the center of the page - Red N Blue P Green H Orange E and 4 pictures on each side. They had to draw a red line to the words that started with N, blue line to the words that started with P, etc.

• We ran out of time but some other moms have worked on sorting so I wanted to incorporate a little of that and planned pictures of healthy foods, snack foods, and exercises with a board and the letter - "H"  "S" and "E" - H is for Healthy and Happy, S is for Sick and Sad and E is for exercise. They needed to decide if it was something that made you healthy and happy, or sick and sad (if you eat too much of it), or if it was an exercise.

If your library has these things, I highly recommend this lesson as it is good for the kids, they enjoy it, and requires very little effort or prep!