#893. Surprize Box

Reading/Writing, level: Pre-School
Posted Mon Mar 15 20:59:51 PST 1999 by Laura Sandeen (Sandeen@lewiscounty.com).
Morton Elementary, Morton, Lewis
Materials Required: 18" boxes and items of the week
Activity Time: 5 minute circle activity
Concepts Taught: Colors & Letters

From September to the end of November I choose a "color of the week" and place a box painted that color on the shelf filled with items of the choosen color. I always add in one or two unique items the children may not be able to name. At circle time we take down the surprize box and I pull the items out one at a time. We talk about the item, what it is used for, where we would find it etc. Great time for working on articulation and sentence structure as well as building vocabulary. We end our color work with rainbow week right before Thanksgiving.
In December we start our letter box. Inside I have paper and markers, we talk about how to make the letter. As I pull items out of the box the children guess its label, it must begin with the the sound of that letter. I add pictures of children who's name begins with that letter, sometimes there is an edible treat we share or a fun activity like during K week we find Kazoo's in the box. The children can add their own toys to the boxes.
The boxes are kept in reach and the children can play with the items but must return them to the proper box at clean up. Every 6 weeks the boxes are clean out and we re-start.