CIRCLE TIME ACTIVITIES:

Flower Power
1. Pick a child to be the botomist for the day.
2. Have a variety of real flowers with a magnifying glass and have the child examine them and describe to class.
3. Child can then pick three other children one at a time to be his/her assistant and examine the flowers.
4. Children then go to art table and draw some pretty rainforest flowers.

Pass The Python:
1. Children sit in circle.
2. Adult shows wrapped paper stick.
3. Explain that under the stick is a paper python. The layers of paper is the skin that it sheds.
4. Adult hands the stick to a child and plays jungle music. When the music stops, the child who has the stick peels off a layer of skin.
5. Continue until all the layers are off. The last child to peel off the skin places the python in the middle and all the children go hide.
6. When the python is put away the children come back to circle for a short rainforest story.

MUSIC:

Bug Collector:
1. Adult places a variety of bugs in the middle of the circle.
2. Children form a circle around the bugs.
3. Adult passes out a fishing net and children sing the following song as they pass around the net:
   Don't squish the bug
   Don't squish the bug
   I'm going to look very carefully
   To catch a little bug.
4. Child holding the net at the end of the song, goes into the circle and catches a rainforest bug.
5. Game continues until all bugs are gone or all children have had a turn.

Social Studies

Habitats:
1. Have children go to the block are during circle time.
2. Each child is asked to get a block and help make a giant square.
3. Children sit inside the square.
4. Adult explains that they could pretend that the blocks are a house. A house is a habitat where people live.
5. Ask the children to think of the habitats where different rainforest animals live (monkeys, alligator, parrots, bugs, pythons, anteaters, etc.).
6. Read a simple story on where animals live.

SOCIAL/GAME:

Pin the Scale on the Eel:
1. Adult makes a Giant Eel made of two-faced contact paper
2. Children rip tissue paper in art area.
3. Have 2-3 children at the same time cover their eyes and try to put a scale (tissue paper) on the eel.
4. When turn is over, they each give the blindfold to three different children.