COMMUNITY
HELPERS
The Postman
Materials: Provider picture of postman, large grocery bag, blue construction paper, scissors, and crayons (All of these materials came with
my preschool program, but you can easily use your own.)
1. Explain to the children that
today you want to talk about a community helper that brings us our mail.
Ask the children,
"Who can tell me the name of this helper?" (THE POSTMAN).
Show
the children the picture of the postman.
2. Tell the children that this is a very special helper because no matter
what kind of weather is outside (rain, snow, windy, or hot sunny days)
the postman always delivers the mail. He can use a truck, car, or most
of the time he walks to every house in the neighborhood carrying the mail
in his mailbag. The postman must get up very early in the morning to get
the mail ready for his route. He puts the mail in his mailbag according
to the addresses and streets he will be going to on his route.
3. Tell the children that they are going to make a mailbag and a postman's
hat. Have the children cut out the blue postman's hat first. Set it aside
for a moment.
4. Cut a large brown paper grocery bag in half for each child. Save the
bottom half of the bag for the mailbag and use the top half of the bag
to cut out two long strips. One will be used for the shoulder strap on
the mailbag and the second strip will be used as a headband for the postman's
hat.
5. Tape and adjust the shoulder strap to each side of the brown grocery
bad. Let the children decorate their mailbags.
6. Tape and adjust the headband on the postman's hat.
Postal Slogan (easy version)
Rain or snow,
Sleet or hail,
A postman always
Delivers the mail.
7. Let the children cut out colorful "envelope" shapes from magazines and
put them into their mailbags as letters. They can then deliver their "letters"
to the other children
8. Explain to the children that the red-white-and-blue mailbox that we
see today on street corners was invented by a Black American man named
P.B. Downing. (We did this project during Black History Month!!)
"Pass the Letter"
1. Explain to the children that a letter goes through many steps after
it is written and put into a mailbox.
2. Say, "One way to talk to someone without calling them on the telephone
is by writing them a letter. It can be a ling letter or a short letter
that just says - I love you, Grandma!"
3. Say, "Today, we are going to talk about the way a letter travels from
one place to another. Sometimes a letter travels very far from one place
to another."
4. This story that I am going to tell you is about a little girl and the
letter she wrote to her grandmother, who lived very far away.
Angela
and Her Grandmother's Letter
by Melissa M. MacNeal, Ph.D.
Angela missed her grandmother. Before her family
moved to their new house, she could see her grandmother every day. Sometimes
she could go over to her grandmother's house and help her bake cookies.
Now she lived too far away to see her grandmother every day. Angela wanted
to tell her grandmother how very much she missed her and decided to write
her a letter and decorate the envelope with colored flowers. When Angela's
letter was finished she folded it very carefully and put it in the envelope
that she had decorated with tiny flowers. She wanted the letter to get
to her grandmother as soon as possible, so she and her mother walked to
the mailbox at the corner of their street. Angela was too small to reach
the top of the mailbox to put her letter inside, so her mother lifted her
up, and she opened the mailbox and dropped her letter inside. Soon the
mail truck would come to pick up her letter. Angela hoped that it would
not take too long before her grandmother would get her letter. Soon the
mail truck came to take all the letters that were in the box to the post
office. When Angela's letter arrived at the post office it was sent to
the city where Angela's grandmother lived. From there, it went to the post
office near her grandmother's house. When the postman saw Angela's letter
to her grandmother he knew just where to take it. On the letter was her
grandmother's address. That afternoon the postman brought Angela's letter
to her grandmother's house. When Angela's grandmother saw the letter she
was very happy because she knew it was from Angela. She saw the flowers
that Angela had made on the outside of the envelope. That afternoon, Angela's
grandmother wrote a very special letter to Angela and went to the mailbox
to mail it. Can you guess what happened to Angela's letter?
Play- "Pass the Letter"
with the children. Have the children sit in a circle and pass around an
envelope as the music is playing. Stop the music. The child holding the
letter sits in the middle of the circle. Continue this way until there
is only one child left holding the envelope. 6. Here is a fingerplay that
is fun to do with the children:
"Any Mail For Me?" Five
little letters lying on a tray. (Hold up five fingers.)
Mommy came in and took the first away. (Take away a finger.)
Then Daddy said, "This big one is for me." (Take away another finger.)
I counted them twice; now there were three. (Count fingers.)
Brother Bill asked, "Did I get any mail?"
He found one and cried, "A letter from Gale!" (Take away a finger.)
My sister Jane took the next to the last. And ran upstairs to open
it fast. (Take away a finger.)
As I can't read, I'm not able to see Whom the last one's for, but I
hope it's for me! (Remove thumb.)
Bakery Shop
Give the children a large batch of play dough that you could scent with
cinnamon, and cookie cutters. Let them have fun making bread, cookies and
cakes.
Beyond The City Limits
Materials: colored chalk, throw-away objects
On a sunny day, take a box of colored chalk outdoors and let the children
create a town or city with buildings, roads, intersections with traffic
signs,railroads leading out of town past the factories and farms, lakes,
streams, and other interesting roadside attractions - simply by drawing
them to life on the sidewalk, Various 'throw away' items may be used to
build bridges, tunnels, caves, waterfalls, and mountains. A rock may serve
as a car, or a leaf may be an airplane. The children's imaginations will
lead the way.
Chef Hats and Aprons
¥Paper Grocery Bags or Butcher Paper ¥Paper Napkin ¥Stapler
or Tape
To make a chef-type hat, make a band of paper to fit around the child's
head; unfold the napkin and staple or tape in along the inside of the band
to be the top of the hat. To make an apron, cut an apron shape out
of the grocery bags or butcher paper. Use a hole puncher to make holes
to attach strings so they can tie the apron on. For added strength, put
a piece of tape over the spots where you will punch a hole. Let the children
decorate their aprons.
Cobbler- (Circle
activity) Mend My Shoes
Sit the children in a circle. Select one child to sit in the center. This
child gives a shoe to a child in the circle, and then closes his eyes.
The children pass the shoe around the circle while chanting this rhyme.
When the chant is finished the child holding the shoe puts it behind his
back, the child in the middled trys to guess. Then they switch places.
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe.
Have it done by half past two.
Stitch it up and stich it down.
Now see with whom the shoe is found.
Fireman-DIAL A
PICTURE
MATERIALS: *3" x 5" notecards *pictures of children's friends, relatives,
a fireman or policeman *colored markers *paper punch *ribbon or string
Glue the picture of the child's friend or relative on a 3x5 card. Do the
same for each picture. Do one card with a fireman on it and one with a
policeman on it. Next to the pictures, write the telephone number of that
person in large numbers with colored markers. Punch two holes in the top
of each card and string the book together using ribbon or string.
Fire Engine
You'll need some precut circular and rectangular shapes from construction
paper. Have the children glue the precut shapes on to a piece of construction
paper to resemble a fire truck. They may add yarn or string for the fire
hose and use straws to make a ladder.
Fire Painting
Using colours associated with fire (red, orange) squirt or draw thick lines
on the paper and add a few drops of black paint here and there. Press clear
plastic wrap onto the paper and squeegee the paint around. Pull plastic
off of the paper using a strong vertical pulling action. (This will cause
the paint to look like fire.) When paint is dry have the children glue
a black cutout of a house (windows cut out) and/or a black cutout of a
fire truck.
Firehouse
Invite the children to set up a firehouse. Allow the riding toys to be
the fire engines, ambulances and the fire chiefs car. Set up a sleeping
area, boots with pants can be set up next to the bed. Give the children
a bell to sound the alarm and let their imaginations run wild!
The Fix-It Shop
Materials: 'broken' items, tools (pliers, screwdrivers, etc.), tape
Find something broken - an old appliance, a chair, or a vehicle (wagon,
tricycle, bike, etc.). (Perhaps a trip to Wastewise.) Let the children
fix it with pliers, screwdrivers an masking tape. Let each child work on
a different broken item. When they're finished, they'll charge you for
'parts and labor,' so be ready to pay plenty.
What I Want To Be
Materials: large white butcher paper, tracing crayon, crayons or paints,
scissors
Have each child lie on a large piece of butcher paper and outline the body.
When complete, have the children dress themselves in appropriate attare
for what they want to be when they grow up. A firefighter? They will need
a red suit, heavy black boots, and a firefighter's hat. A mommy? They might
have a baby in their arms or at their side and wear pretty earrings and
carry a purse. A doctor? They might have a white coat and wear a stethocscope.
Cut out the life-size pictures and mount them for display.
Homemade money banks
Let the kids pretend to be bankers! I save my empty frosting tubs. You
know the ones from cake frosting. I wash them out and take off the labels.
I then give the kids a piece of construction paper to color and decorate
how they want. We then cut and glue the paper around the tub. Cut a circle
shape to glue on the lid, then cut a little slit in the top. This makes
a great bank! I always add a few pennies in it for the kids. My daycare
kids like this.
Photographer-Camera
The kids can become photographers when they make these fun cameras. Cut
a small piece of cardboard about 4"x5". Hot glue a black 35 mm film holder
on the cardboard, decorate the camera with buttons and pieces of construction
paper and tie a string to hang the camera around the neck. On back glue
rectangular piece of paper on three sides. Cut pictures out of a magazine
or draw pictures of /c/ sound and have an instamatic camera. Have one picture
thatÕs a clown to have fun with someone. Take a walk outside, take
pictures of anything. Let children discover the sites outside and encourage
to tell when they take a picture of a /c/ sound. Remember to tell the children
to say CLICK when taking a picture. (even though there is a "K" at the
end of click the purpose is for the children to develop phonemic awareness
for the hard sound of letter "C".
There may be a activity/color sheets to go with this lesson. Click on the bag to see.
click on the grocery
bag above.
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