Using the Sandbox for Pretend Play
Building Oral Language and More
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 0: Foundation for LiteracyStage 1: Beginning Literacy
Stage 2: Consolidation / Fluency
Ages:
3-6
Grade Range:
PreK K 1stFood Groups:
Primary: Oral Language & ELL, Vocabulary Secondary: Motivation for Literacy
Transcript
Teacher: Girls and boys, today, weve been talking about spring, and about planting seeds, and the weather has been so beautiful. And Im sure that lots of you are planting your gardens at home. And one of my favorite little planting poems is about planting a seed in the dark, dark ground. And we know the poem because were working on it! So Im going to point to the words, and I want you to read the poem with me, and then the second time we do the poem, were going to do the actions. Here we go! Teacher and Students: I plant a little seed in the dark, dark ground. Out comes the yellow sun, big and round. Down comes the rain, soft and slow. Up comes the little plant, grow, grow, grow! Teacher: Well since you did such a good job with the poem, and since weve been talking about planting, I thought it would be fun to use the sandbox in our classroom, and turn it into a garden. And Ive brought lots of tools like rakes, and hoes, and seeds, and sunhats, and garden gloves that we can use in the classroom, and its going to be lots of fun to pretend that were all gardeners.
Related References
Activity Objective
The goal of Using the Sandbox for Pretend Play: Building Oral Language and More is to introduce children to gardening through poetry and pretend play. This teacher begins by reading a gardening poem and then transforms the classroom sandbox into a gardening center to inspire the students to pretend to be gardeners.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- You could take your class on a community walk or field trip and ask students to collect items to add to the gardening center. - You could extend this activity into the drama center by making a flower shop or a vegetable stand. - Incorporate a science activity by asking children to plant various seeds in a transparent container so that everyone can watch them grow.
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