What Can We Do?

BY DORIS ALLEN AND ANGELA COLLINS

What can we do today, today? What can we do today? We played with the blocks, We found our names. We cleaned up the paint-- May we play some games?

Look and Run

Make ready a supply of pictures of typical clothing (hair ribbon, jeans, sneakers, sweater, etc.) and also a stack of strips of colored construction paper. Put these in a box or other container where they cannot be seen. Have the children sit in a big circle on the floor. Choose one child to draw a picture or strip of paper out of the box. Tell the child to look around the circle of children. Can he or she find someone wearing clothing like that in the picture? Clothing the color of the strip? If so, he or she may go around the outside of the circle and tap that child lightly. The one tapped must give chase while the tapper runs back to sit in the circle. If the tapper doesn't sit down before being tagged, he or she must go again. Otherwise the new child is "It."

What Am I?

Tack up a series of pictures on the bulletin board, such as a ball, a bird, a cat, a jumping jack, a top. Seat the children in front of the board and tell them they will play the game "Can You Do What I Do?" Each child then studies the pictures and tries to illustrate what one object can do, such as roll, fly, mew, jump, spin, etc. Other children guess which picture is being il- lustrated.

Recognizing Textures

Use two large cardboard boxes. On each one paint a picture of an animal with a large, open mouth. Cut a hole where the mouths are. Make a sign on one box that says, "Feed me rough!" On the other box put "Feed me smoothi" In a third box have a variety of objects such as a pebble, sandpaper, button, bead, piece of wood, shredded wheat bit, piece of leather, tree bark, velvet cloth, etc. Children take turns feeding the animals. Other children check to see if the correct choices were made. Did the animals get stomach aches because they were fed the wrong "food"?

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Letter Perfect

On a large sheet of cardboard draw small squares at different angles, leaving plenty of space between the squares. Write a letter of the alphabet on each of the small squares. In a box put squares of paper with letters of the alphabet that match the ones on the card- board. As each child draws a square from the box, he or she can try to identify the letter. Then the child must find one that matches on the cardboard and pitch a penny or a plastic Bingo chip on the matching square. (If it lands touching the correct square, the child gets an extra turn.) For more mature children, the squares in the box may have pictures on them instead of letters. For example, if there is a picture of a turtle, the child says "turtle" and then decides what letter represents the beginning

sound. He or she must then pitch the penny or chip on the "T" o'n the cardboard.

Who's Missing?

Group the children in a circle. Tell them to look at their friends carefully and to notice where each one sits. Then choose one child to leave the group and cover his or her eyes. Choose one child from the seated group to hide in a large box beyond the circle of children. Make sure the box is tipped in its side so the "hider" is not enclosed entirely. Now invite the child who left the group to return. Tell him or her to guess which child is the "Jack-in- the box." Do the children know each other's names? To make it easier to begin with, choose best friends for the ,one who guesses and the one who hides.

Keeping Time

It's easy to make homemade rhythm-band instruments. Use two pot covers for symbols. Dress up the symbols with bright yarn bows. Make a drum of an empty oatmeal box. Paint the box or decorate it with colored designs. Fill a paper bag, box, or tin can with pumpkin seeds, for a rattle. Nail metal bottle caps onto a stick, driving the nail only half-way in so the caps can rattle. Use two Tinkertoys for rhythm sticks. Now, put on your favorite record and keep time with the music!

Spice Is Nice

Mix various spices with tempera paint--cinnamon, ground cloves, celery seed, ginger. Have the children paint "spice" pictures. Then let the children sniff the spices and match the smells with the unused spices in their boxes. Who could identify his or her spicy- smelling picture correctly? [ ]

Doris Allen is a career teacher in early-child- hood education and a contributingauthor to textbook companies and magazines. Angola Collins is a kindergarten teacher in Oswego, New York, and during the summers teaches remedial reading. Correspondence may be directed to Doris Allen, P.O. Box 274, Pine- bluff, North Carolina 28373.

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