A preschool teacher needs your help...thank you

Here are some Community Helper Activities that I've gathered over the years.

Blueprints: Materials: Architect’s Drawing (opt), large white paper, blue pens, pencils, crayons, markers, rulers, yardsticks, empty paper towel tubes.

If possible, bring in an architect’s drawing of a house and show it to the children. Give each child a large piece of white paper. Put blue pens, pencils, crayons, markers, rulers and yardsticks on the tale. Ask the children to use these items to draw a picture of a building that they would like to build, just like an architect would. Roll them up and keep them in empty paper towel tubes.

Preschool Pediatricians: Exercise fine motor skills and start developing hands that are as steady as a surgeon’s. Set up a pretend doctor’s office in dramatic play. Stock the area with plastic containers filled with cotton balls, tongue depressors, and cotton swabs. Place a pair of blunt-edged tweezers near the containers; then add a few baby dolls for patients. Invite each child to use the tweezers to remove a few cotton balls, tongue depressors, and swabs from the containers. Then have her use the items to give the patient a little TLC.

Career Boxes: Gather needed supplies and then place each set of community helper items in a separate box labeled with the name of the career.

Veterinarian: white button-down shirt (lab coat), stuffed dogs and cats, toy stethoscope, gauze, assortment of dog biscuits. Have students sort the dog biscuits by size or color

Chef: apron, rolling pin, plastic mixing bowl, mixing spoon, muffin pans, muffin liners Encourage children to use the muffin liners to create rows of patterns in the muffin pan.

Mechanic: overalls; tools and tool belt; toolbox; large bolts, nuts, and screws; toy cards and truck. Direct student to sort the bolts, nuts, and screws in the tool box. Or have students seriate the tools by size.

Eye Doctor: white button-down shirt (lab coat), empty bottles of eyedrops, eye chart, variety of plastic glasses frames without lenses.

Invite pairs of students to use the prop box. One child play the part of the patient and the other child pretend to be the doctor. Encourage the patient to identify the letters on the eye chart as the doctor points to them.

Business As Usual: Set up a pretend office by stockity it with items such as briefcases, file boxes with hanging files, memo pads, toy telephones, child-size desks, stickynotes, and pencils. Add some “work clothes” such as clip-on ties, dress shirts, sports coats and dresses.

Shelving By Sound: At the classroom store, have the children stock the shelves. Select two or three different beginning sounds and place in a cardboard box grocery items beginning with these sounds. For each beginning sound represented, tape a corresponding picture card to the area where the times are to be shelved. (May wish to use patterns provided) A child transfers the items from the box to the shelves by matching beginning sounds.

Post Office: Postman: Bring in an old metal mailbox (or make your own out of a cardboard box). Show the children how to open and close it to put mail in and take it out. Explain that the red flag on the side of the box is always put up when there is mail for the mail carrier. Encourage the children to “draw” pictures on index cards (postcards)/”write” letters for each other. Give them stickers to use as stamps. Help them put their letters in the mailbox. Let the children take turns being the mail carrier by emptying the mailbox and delivering the “letters”.

•Take a small trip to the post office. Invite a mail carrier to visit your room.

•Encourage parents to write letters and postcards to their children and drop them off in the room mailbox. Fill the box with junk mail for the children to open.

Tell the children riddles about community workers. Have them call out who they think it is. Ask the children if they know anyone who really does that job. Who? Where does that person work?

*I like books. I help people find the books they want. I check out their books at my desk. Who am I?

*I use a hammer and a saw. I build large and small houses. Who am I?

*I take your food order when you come into my restaurant. I bring your food after it is cooked. Sometimes you leave me a tip. Who am I?

*I watch people swim. Sometimes I walk around the swimming pool. If someone is struggling in the water, I dive I and swim as fast as I can to help him. Who am I?

Worker Pantomime: Using workers with whom the children are familiar, give the children directions and let them act out different occupations. Be sure to give the children time to really pantomime each one. Add directions to expand the acting.

You are a grocer putting lots of food in a customer’s grocery bag.

You are a letter carrier walking from house to house putting mail in each person’s box.

You are a firefighter putting out the fire. The fire is out and now you must wrap up your hose.

You are a lifeguard swimming to help a person in trouble.

You are a bus driver driving the children to school. Remember to stop at stop signs and red lights.

Construction Zone Writing Center: word cards for tools, such as hammer, saw, screwdriver, and pliers; stickers or illustrations of the tools used for the word cards; name card for each child in the class; yellow pencils; red, yellow, green, orange, and white duplicating paper (half and quarter sheets), blank books, made with clip art or a sticker of a hammer, saw or other tool on the original, and duplicated on red, yellow, green and orange paper. Containers to hold supplies. May wish to substitute construction vehicle word cards such as backhoe, front loader, dump truck, and crane; Use stickers or clip art for the picture cues on the word cards; blank books can be made with the same illustrations

Community Helper Concentration: Create community helper cards. Shuffle the cards and place them in a stack at a center. Invite a pair of student to the center to use the cards to play a game of Concentration. Ask your preschoolers play the game, they’ll naturally want to discuss the different community helpers that are revealed with each card.

•Community Helper Matching: Create community helper cards (2 of each) and use them for matching.

•Thinking: Use the cards to play a thinking game. Sort a few cards by a commonality; then have students discover how the cards are the same. For example, place the firefighter, police officer, and postal carrier in a set. Then lead the students to discover that each helper in the set wears a hat.

Good luck!

How about something with recycling? You could make a town or city out of large boxes. For a recycling craft, paint with bubble wrap. Paint the bubble side of the wrap with paint, then dab onto paper. It looks like small dots. Use green for alligators and dinosaurs, yellow and orange for suns. Also, is there an area around your school to pick up garbage? Or organize a food drive for the local food pantry.

welll if the theme is taking care of comunity,

theres lots of different things you couldd use.

recycling, even local area people who help the community.

like policeman, doctors, and lots more you could maybe

get some of them to come in. if thats to tricky

the children could maybe put on a play ? featuring

lots of people who help in the community. that would maybe

help them understand more since they are only young.

i hope this helps youu. x

You could focus on community helpers. Talk to the children about who they are and where they work (ie Fireman, pooliceman, florist)

For crafts you could make firehats for the children.

If you can, invite the local fire department to bring their truck to the school. They are usually happy to do it.

I have some really good websites listed for games and worksheet activities on my site. Check it out if you like, I am sure it will help. All the sites are where I get my ideas for the kids I nanny. Good Luck!

you can use community helpers..which has MANY ideas.

or you can focus on what the child can do to help the community...recycling, helping others, ...

i would start by narrowing it down to what you want to focus specifically on. from there you can come up..or ask...for ideas on a narrower theme. here are some great websites that may help you...

everythingpreschool.com

perpetualpreschool.com

lessonplanz.com

good luck!!! :)