All the Colors of the Rainbow (Session leader: Christine)

This week, our lively group of toddlers learned about all the colors of the rainbow!

The session started with a welcome song, sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," called (appropriately) "Hello":

Let's see who is here today,
Who has come to join our play?
Everyone sit close at hand,
Say your name, then you can stand,
Let's see who is here today,
Who has come to join our play?

 

After all the toddlers introduced themselves (well, their moms introduced them!), we warmed up by dancing to "If You're Happy and You Know It" and then reading "Hey! Wake Up!" (Sandra Boynton).








Since the focus of the session was on colors, we used balls--a favorite of toddlers the world over--to introduce color names in English. Our little babes then tried to find certain balls, with a little help from their mamas, while we sang "I See Something Blue" from Simple Songs. Our next activity had the kids sort colors by running around and matching them to construction paper of the same color that had been placed around the room.

 

 

 

With the kids a bit tired from all the activity, we settled down to work on our bead bottles. We used small, colored and sparkly beads, tinsel, buttons, and pom-poms, poured a bit of salt in (to ward off mold as much as possible), added a bit of water, and voila! An instant snowglobe for any season. Parents reiterated the colors as the kids poured things into the bottles, which tied it in well to the session's theme.

 

 

After we finished with our bottle-making, we sat down to read, "How Do Dinosaurs Learn their Colors?" (Jane Yolen, Mark Teague). And then came the best part of the day...PARACHUTE PLAY!

 

The kids put the colored balls that were scattered around the room onto the parachute and we made "popcorn" using the parachute. A bit of "Ring Around the Rosy" and the kids were well on their way to a quick lunch and a LONG nap.

We ended the session with a farewell song, Until Another Day" sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell":

Now our day is done.
We've had a lot of fun.
It's time to go
So don't be slow
Goodbye to everyone.
Put your things away,
It's time for us to say,
"Goodbye, goodbye,
Goodbye, goodby,"
Until another day.

It was a wonderful session and I hope that all the kids went home with an appreciation for the beautiful colors that surround them every day.