Family Play and Learn

Family. We live in the same house. We surround each other all the time. We're stuck together! There are plenty of fun activities, play and learn style, that can be set up to teach children about their own families and how they are an important member. We came across several great books that show the wide variety of families here in our society and around the world.   Some children may know that they are unique but may not know that every family is too.



Here's the activities we had fun doing to learn about families! Some we came up with and some I found on Pre-School-Plan-It

Books
                   
Love is a Family by Roma Downey
A little girl is disappointed because her family is not like her neighbors family and they other kids in her class.  At family night at school she realizes that there are a large variety of families and none of them are exactly the same.  
         
  
A Family Like Yours by Rebecca Kai Dotlich Illustrated by Tammie Lyon


               
Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney Illustrated by Annette Cable
A little girl explains how she is related to people in her family and extended family.
               
 
Mother's Day by Anne Rockwell Illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
A story about what different kids in a class plan to do for their mothers on mother's day based on different traditions they have in their own home.


Molly's Family- by Nancy Garden
Molly learns that it's okay that she has two moms.


Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman




I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont


Music
In a House by Signing Time
Lean on Me by Bill Withers/Club Nouveau Listen on You Tube
Two Worlds- Phil Collins Listen on You Tube
The Family song- Listen and Watch on You Tube

Dramatic Play

• Play House! (One of Zachary's favorite games.  He loves to play that one of us lives in Amarillo which is where Scott's parents live, and the other comes to visit with our dogs and babies whom all talk).
• Make a baby bath center- I pulled out our old baby bathtub, washcloths, empty lotion/baby soap bottles, a brush/comb. 
• Block houses- Design houses built out of blocks.
• Make houses/huts out of cardboard boxes. You can use just one, make a tunnel with several or create something unique!

Art/Crafts

• Draw a picture of your family.
• Make a family tree. Paint a tree on paper and glue pictures of family members on it. This can also be made into a place mat.
• Family Collage- Make a collage of the family using photos! 
• Family Hand Print Chain-trace everyone's hand prints and write special things about each person on their hand print.
• Make paper doll clothes-Design them to represent what each family member would like to wear.
• Family Popsicle Sticks- Print full length pictures of each person , cut them out and glue on Popsicle sticks. 
• Pictures from shapes-Have shape cut outs and put them together to make different structures.
• Noodle Art- Glue noodles on drawings of houses. Paint the noodles different colors or dye them ahead of time with food coloring.
• I Like Poster- Cut out things from magazines that each family member likes. PreSchool-Plan-It

Activities

• Make a memory game using pictures of family and extended family members.
• Finish the Sentence- We made a page with sentences starting with "I love my family because" and filled the page.  
• Animal Babies- Learn the names of the different types of babies for each animal using pictures and discussion.  PreSchool-Plan-It
• Feelings Discussion- One way to get kids talking about feelings is to have them finish the sentence such as this, "I feel happy when _____", etc.  Examples of emotions used can be sad, silly, scared, excited, joyful.  PreSchool-Plan-It
• Finger Print Examination- Use paint to make finger prints on paper and examine them with a magnifying glass.  Compare with other finger prints to see how each one is unique. PreSchool-Plan-It

ASL for "Family" -Lifeprint.com