Morning ring:

• Call the children together using their special morning ring signal
• Sing good morning to the children (the children join in)
• Say a short prayer of gratitude
• Tell the children that, as it is Thursday today, the Thursday helpers have a turn to tell news
• Ask the children what the weather is like today – decide together what the weather feels like
• Ask the children if they know what colour trees and grass are? They are green
• Ask the children if they can eat fruit like oranges or bananas or tomatoes when they are still green – no, it means that they are not ripe yet!
• Ask the children if they can eat beans or green cabbage? Yes – when they are big and green they are ready to eat
• Show the children what happens when you spin the yellow and blue colour whirly – it goes green! Let the children look through both the green and the blue colour glasses – when you put them together the world turns green
• Tell the children that today they are going to make green crocodile faces! Show them the one you made yesterday
• To end: Let the helpers go to the main art activity first. The other children can go in groups to the other art activities

Art Activities

Main activity: Construction activity: A green crocodile face

Other activities: Playdough, painting, drawing with chunky pencil crayons

Green crocodile face:

What you need:

• 1 egg box for each child in your class
• white paper cut into strips (about 4cm in width and the length of the paper) • scissors
• green and red paint
• paintbrushes
• glue and glue-spreaders

Method:

1. The children cut teeth into the papers with scissors
2. They stick the teeth strip of paper along the top edge of the egg box with glue
3. They paint the inside of the egg box red and the outside green. They paint on brown or black eyes

How to lay out the main activity:

Music: movement

• Call the children using their special music signal. (claps or songs, etc.)
• Go outside (unless it is rainy)
• Sit in a shady spot in a circle. With the children, look around at all the green in nature: trees, grass, weeds, bushes. Ask the children if they like sitting on green grass in a park. Tell the children that the colour green makes us feel calm and peaceful. That is why we try to have plants around us
• Tell the children to follow you in a long line (but not holding hands as this is a recipe for children getting hurt) and copy what you do. Walk around the playground making different movements like hopping on one leg, skipping, marching, tip toeing. As you go, touch the green things you pass and say ‘GREEN’ loudly so that they copy you. (Touch green grass and other plants.)
• To end: Say that all the children wearing green can walk like an old grandfather to wee and wash their hands for tea. And then the other colours…

Outdoor play

Observe the children’s play. Observation can teach you many things about the children you teach. Always talk to children if they want to talk to you. It helps them to practice their language skills. Encourage the children to do the interest/discovery activity of mixing colours if you have set it up outside. Encourage children to look for insects and to think about whether they are camouflaged well.

Indoor play

Show the Thursday helpers how to use the stacking sorting toys.

Story time

• Call the children using their special story time signal
• Try to find stories about colour
• To end: Tell the children that when you touch their elbows they can go and wee and wash their hands for lunch

Prepare for Friday on Thursday afternoon

1. Make sure you have enough oranges so each child has ½ an orange. Have two boxes of orange jelly. If you have an orange squeezer at home bring that to school.
2. Prepare and set out the art activities.
3. Make sure you know what to do for all the rings.
4. Wear something orange on Friday.