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Community Helpers Songs Workers, Workers, Workers, Workers, Workers, Workers Workers, Workers, Workers Let's talk about the workers. Teachers and Lawyers Teachers and Lawyers Teachers and Lawyers Let's talk abot the workers Doctors and Medics Doctors and Medics Doctors and Medics Let's talk abot the workers Continue with other workers Fire Fighter Submitted by Betsy Fire Fighter, Fire Fighter, hear the alarm Save the building, from any harm. Fire fighter, Firefighter, no time to rest Wake up, Wake up, do your Best! Workers at the Airport Submitted by Linda Workers at the airport, Whom will we see? Whom will we see? Workers at the airport, Whom will we see? Pilots flying the plane for me Workers at the airport, Whom will we see? Whom will we see? Workers at the airport, Whom will we see? Ticket agents giving tickets to me Other Endings: Luggage carriers taking bags for me Attendants bringing food for me Controllers watching planes for me. Johnny's Hammers Submitted by Tonya Verse One: (Make hamering motion with one fists) Johnny had one hammer, one hammer, one hammer Johnny had one hammer then he had Two Verse Two: (Make hamering motion with both fists) Johnny had two hammers, two hammers, two hammers, Johnny had two hammers then he had Three. Verse Three: (Makre motion with both fists and one leg.)

Johnny had three hammers, three hammers, three hammers, Johnny had three hammers then he had Four Verse Four: (Makre motion with both fists and both legs) Johnny had four hammers, four hammers, four hammers, Johnny had four hammers then he had Five Verse Five: (Makre motion with both fists and both legs and head.) Johnny had five hammers, five hammers, five hammers Johnny had five hammers, then he went to sleep (lay hands like sleeping) The Mailbox Poem Submitted by Paige I went to mail a letter and slid right in the box All that you could see of me were my tennis shoes and socks. I self addressed my elbow and air-mail stamped my knee. Soon I would be ready for the next delivery. I folded like an envelope and in a day or so. . . I'll go with all the letters to Japan or Mexico The Dentist Says Submitted by Jen The dentist says, please brush your teeth The dentist says, please brush your teeth The dentist says, please brush your teeth And you'll have a healthy smile. The dentist says, please floss your teeth The dentist says, please floss your teeth The dentist says, please floss your teeth And you'll have a healthy smile The The The And dentist says, dentist says, dentist says, you'll have a please eat good food please eat good food please eat good food healthy smile

Walking Down the Street Submitted by Lisa When I went walking down the street, down the street, down the street A community helper I did meet, Heigh ho, heigh ho, heigh ho a ridgety jig and away we go, away we go, away we go, a ridgety jig and away we go, heigh ho, heigh ho, heigh ho Construction Worker Song Submitted by Debby This is the way we pound our nails, pound our nails, pound our nails, This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning. This is the way we saw our wood, Waw our wood, saw our wood. This is the way we saw our wood, so early in the morning. This is the way we use a screwdriver, use a screwdriver, use a screwdriver, This is the way we use a screwdriver, so early in the morning. This is the way we drill a hole, drill a hole, drill a hole, This is the way we drill a hole, so early in the morning.

Addition Verses: Saw The Wood Turn the Screw Stack the Bricks Paint the walls Stir the paint Noisy Nails Submitted by Rebecca I use my hammer and five nails (Hold up Five fingers.) That s too noisy, my neighbor yells (Yell) I ll hammer them now before it s night! 1,2,3,4,5 (Pretend to hammer.) And to my neighbor I ll be polite! (Bow) The Veterinarian (Sung to: Oh, My Darlin) Submitted by Ann Bring your dogs, bring your cats, Bring your hamsters one by one. I take care of the animals, I'm a veterinarian. Communtiy Helper Bag (Doctor, Mailman, etc) Submitted by Freta What You Need: Paint Paper Magazine Clippings (of community helpers and their tools) What You Do: Give the children the materials and let them design their own community helper's bag. Dental Floss Painting Submitted by an Unknown Friend What You Need: Paint Dental Floss Paper What You Do: Cut out large teeth out of poster board or construction paper. Let your children string paint with the dental floss Fix My Wound Submitted by Brenda What You Need: Paint Band-aids Paper What You Do: Trace the child's arm on a piece of paper. Then have them paint the arm. They ca n then put a band-aid on it and make up a story as to how their arm got hurt. Community Helper Collage Submitted by Jen What You Need: Paint Paper Magazine Clippings (of community helpers and their tools) What You Do:

Give the children the supplies and let them create their own collage Doctor Collage Submitted by Torrie What You Need: Paint Doctor Supplies (Cotton Balls, band aids, gauze, etc.) Paper Magazine Clippings (of doctors, and supplies) What You Do: Give the children the supplies and let them create their own doctor collage. Policeman Badge Submitted by Linda What You Need: Paintbrush CardBoard Paper Aluminum Foil What You Do: Cut out badge shapes out of the cardboard. Next cover the cardboard with Aluminu m foil. Finally the kids can use the non-brush side of a paint brush to etch a b adge into the aluminum foil Idea: have your children paint with toy bulldozers or use craft sticks like bulldozers . Just have them push finger paint around on their paper, to make a creation. Submitted by Michelle Blueprints Submitted by Ketura What You Need: Blue Paper White Colored Pencils/Crayons Rulers What You Do: Provide your children with the materials along with some real blueprints to look at. Then let them create their own blueprints Idea: Provide as many different construction vehicles as possible. Let you children ma ke tire prints (roll vehicle through paint and then on paper) on their paper Matching Game Submitted by Nita Find object or pictures that correspond with different community helpers (mailbo x, dentist chair, firetruck, etc.). Additionally find pictures of community help ers in uniform. Let your children match which object goes with what helper. Dentist Approval Submitted by Judy Cut out two large teeth, as well as several examples of good and bad food. Let t he children sort the food as to which one's the dentist would approve of. Mailman Submitted by Linda Cut out several shapes (triangles, squares, etc.). Cut enough so each child will have at least one of every shape. Next from a bag or shoebox. Make Mailboxes th at have the same shapes on them. Let the children deliver the mail to the correc t boxes. Mailbox Match Submitted by Julie Cut out several mailbox shapes. Put a number, letter, or symbol on the flag of t he mailboxes. Next get several envelopes (or cutouts) and put a corresponding nu mber, letter, or symbol on the mail. Have your children match the mail with the corresponding mailbox. Note: To make this last longer attach the mailboxes to a

manila folder and laminate them. Blue Prints Submitted by Rebecca Provide your children with blueprints and explain to them what the lines and sym bols mean. Changing Heart Beat Submitted by Linda Have your children listen to each others hear beat and count the number of beats in a fifteen to thirty second interval. Then have them do jumping jacks, or run in place for a minute. Now have them listen again. If you have older children y ou can even graph the results. Bad Food's Effect on Teeth Submitted by July Take several pieces of an eggshell. Soak one piece overnight in the following li quids: orange juice, soda, milk, and water. The water and milk will have little effect, while the soda will cause brown spots to appear on the eggs. This is a g reat segue to talking about cavities and relate to the need for dentist and dent al visits. How the Mail Works Submitted by Carla Talk to your children about how the mail works. Tell them that it is all just a big matching game. The sorters match the city/zip code to the proper location. T hen the mailman sorts them and matches (delivers) them to the proper address. Scales for Mail Submitted by Julia Bring in scales and let your children weigh mail (and boxes you provide) just li ke they do in the post office. They can then add correct postage (how much they feel it should have) For added fun have them deliver the packages to different a reas of the classroom Put the Flames Out Submitted by Carrie Get red and yellow sidewalk chalk. Draw flames on a sidewalk and let you childre n put them out with water bottels. In Room Post Office Submitted by an Unknown Friend Paint a big box blue. Then cut it out so that it is 3-sided with a window. You c an them make it a Post Office by puttin gup a sign. For additional touches inclu de envelopes, stamps (stickers), a scale, a mail carrier uniform, pens (crayons) , paper, and ink pads. Plumbing Ideas Submitted by Barbie 1. Give the children several plastic plumbing pipes to play and build with 2. Painting with small plungers FireFighter Ideas Submitted by Leslie 1. Make a FireTruck out of a large box and an old water hose 2. Create a firman uniform (a yellow raincoat and plastic firman hat) 3. Make a Fire Truck Cake 4. Have the fire department visit (if you call they are usually more than willin g) 4. Draw chalk flames on a sidewalk and let the children put them out (water bott le) Pretend I am Submitted by Create large children can a Community Helper Peggy headless paper dolls dressed like different community helpers. The hold them up to themselves and pretend they are a firefighter, post

man, etc. Stuffed Animal Hospital Submitted by Debby To let you children pretend to be doctors or vets set up a stuffed animal clinic in your classroom. They can pretend to give surgery or comfort the animals. Construction Visitor Submitted by Jenni Invite a construction worker to come and talk to your children about their job. Have them bring their tools. Gingerbread House Submitted by Debby Make a gingerbread house with your class! Construction Trip Submitted by Pam If you have a place that is under construction ask if there is any safe place yo u can take your class so they can watch the construction. Construction Zone Submitted by Bonnie Make your dramatic play area a construction zone. Put up caution tape and signs saying construction area. Add extra blocks and construction vehicles so your chi ldren can pretend to be construction workers. Add hard hats to the area to compl ete the effect. Rub a Dub Dub Nursery Rhyme Doctor Foster Nursery Rhyme Doctor Foster Went to Gloucester In a shower of rain. He stepped in a puddle, Right up to his middle, And never went there again! Note: Gloucester is a two-syllable word (Glouce-ster), and is pronounced rhyming with Foster. Songs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Doughnut Shop: traditional song Brush Your Teeth, by Raffi on the Singable Songs CD World Family, by Dr. Jean on the Kiss Your Brain CD Doin Good in the Neighborhood, by Jack Hartmann on the Construction Activities

Gloster ,

Colors All Around CD

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Play Dough Construction [Fine Motor Skills] Wooden craft sticks can be added to the play dough for children to construct hou ses and other buildings.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tool Grid Game

[Math] To play a grid game, children roll a game die, identify the numeral and count ou t that amount of manipulatives. Each manipulative is placed over one picture in the grid. Children play until the whole grid is full. This grid game uses metal nuts for manipulatives. (The game in the photo was made using stickers bought at Michaels.) Tool Grid Game 10 Spaces Tool Grid Game 20 Spaces Counters: Metal Nuts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Block-Building Art [Literacy] Children glue pieces of paper blocks onto their page to build something (house, sc hool, skyscraper, church, etc.) The children s names and what they built are writt en on each page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Block Game [Math] Children take turns rolling the die, and counting out that amount of blocks from the pile. As they take the blocks from the pile, they construct a tower. After all the blocks are gone, we compare the towers to see whose is the tallest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Construction Worker Prop Box [Dramatic Play Center] Tools, Belt, Hat, Toolbox, Orange vests, Blueprints, Safety glasses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Doctors/ Health Care Activities Doctor Foster Nursery Rhyme Doctor Foster Went to Gloucester In a shower of rain. He stepped in a puddle, Right up to his middle, And never went there again! Note: Gloucester is a two-syllable word (Glouce-ster), and is pronounced Gloster , rhyming with Foster.

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Stethoscope [Science] We use a paper cup with the bottom cut out. Children press the big end of the cu p to the heart area of a friend s chest, and press an ear against the small end. ( Works best if you don t hold onto the cup.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Health Care Prop Box [Dramatic Play Center] Doctor s or Nurse s Coat, Scrub shirt, Stethoscope, Cloth bandage wraps, X-rays, Emp ty medicine bottles, Shot syringes (without needle), Bandaids -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Post Office Activities -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Post Office [Literacy, Social Skills] A small post office is set up at the table with paper, envelopes, and stickers. A poster shows the cost of each item (pennies taped beside each item). Children have to count out the correct amount of pennies to buy the materials they want to use. Children write a letter to someone using the materials they buy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Post Office Prop Box [Dramatic Play Center] All size envelopes, Bubble mailers, Stamps (canceled), Priority mail envelopes, Cardboard boxes, Packaging tape, Tube mailer, Mailbox, Paper, Pens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Firefighter Activities -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stop, Drop & Roll [Safety, Large Motor] Paint red flames onto an adult size (Large or X-Large) white T-shirt. Choose a chi ld to put on the T-shirt over their clothing and have the child practice stop, dr op, and roll . When they have gotten the pretend flames out, they take off the shi rt to show that the flames are gone. Make sure each child has a turn.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stay Low & Go [Safety, Large Motor]

A white sheet is used for the pretend smoke. My assistant and I hold the sheet l ow near the floor, and the children practice stay low and go by crawling underneat h the sheet.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Firetruck Stamping Game [Math, Literacy] Write a letter or numeral on each firetruck, and make a copy for each child. Chi ldren will draw a number or letter card from a stack (or roll a die), find that letter/numeral on their mat, and stamp it out. You can use rubber stamps or bing o dot markers. As an alternative, you can have children draw an X over the firetru ck if stamps or bingo dot markers are not available. Firetruck Game Printable

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Firefighter Prop Box [Dramatic Play Center] Fire hats, Black boots, Oxygen tanks (made from 2 liter bottles), Raincoat, Shor t pieces of hose, Hand bell, First Aid kit

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Police Officer Activities Police Officers: License Plate Game [Literacy] Each child has a turn to be the driver . A piece of paper with a letter written on it is clipped to the driver s back (we used the beginning letters of the children s names). The child drives around the table, and parks in his seat. Children find the letter among a small set of foam letters (only the necessary letters, not th e whole alphabet).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Police Officers: Fingerprints [Science] Each child s hand is traced on a sheet of paper. Children color heavily with a pen cil on an index card to make a layer of graphite; they rub a fingertip on the gr aphite; stick clear tape on that fingertip and press; pull the tape off and stic k to the finger on the hand outline. We look at the fingerprints with a magnifyi ng glass, and talk about ways police detectives use fingerprints.

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Police Officer Prop Box [Dramatic Play Center] Walkie-talkies, Blue shirts, Notepads, Pens, Badge, Hat

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bakery and Restaurant Activities -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Restaurant Menus [Fine Motor Skills] Children make a restaurant menu by cutting pictures of food from grocery store s ale folders from the newspaper and glue the pictures onto file folders. Each chi ld makes up a name for their restaurant, which is written on the front of the me nu. These menus are used in the children s pretend play restaurants.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Creating a Bakery [Fine Motor Skills, Art] Children made their own bakery in the classroom by making cookies, cakes, cupcak es, bread, cinnamon rolls, and other bakery foods with Model Magic. The Model Ma gic was painted after it dries, and the children s bakery foods were placed on dis play using trays. Children also made a sign for the bakery, and had a cash regis ter with paper for writing receipts, and small bakery bags for their purchases.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Play Dough Bakery [Fine Motor Skills] Add bowls, spoons, plastic knives, cookie cutters, muffin tins, mini bread loaf pans, small cookie sheets, spatulas, rolling pins, and pots and pans to the play dough area. I also have a George Foreman playdough grill and a baking rack from a real toaster that were donated to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Play Dough Cookies [Math, Fine Motor Skills] Write numbers on paper circles and attach them to a cookie sheet with clear cont act paper. Children make cookies with play dough, count out the correct amount o f chocolate chips (brown beads), and place them on a number on the cookie sheet.

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Lemon Pie [Cooking] Children pretend to be chefs. Ingredients/Materials: Mini graham cracker pie cru st, whipped topping, frozen lemonade concentrate, sweetened condensed milk, spoo ns, disposable bowls Put one spoonful of whipped topping, one spoon of frozen le monade concentrate, one spoon of sweetened condensed milk into a bowl, and mix. Scoop the mixture into the piecrust.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mini Pizzas [Cooking] These are made by spreading Ragu Pizza Quick sauce on an English muffin half, th en adding shredded mozarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minu tes (or less). You can also use a toaster.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cake Decorating [Cooking] Children can help mix the cake batter and scoop the batter into individual cake baking pans. Bake them according to the directions on the package. Children choo se a color for their icing and stir a few drops of food coloring into the icing. They decorate their own cake with icing, sprinkles, and squeeze tubes of decora ting frosting.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bakery Prop Box [Dramatic Play Center] Rolling pins, Aprons, Oven mitts, Cupcake tins, Cake pans, Mixing bowls, Hand he ld manual mixers, Measuring cups, Cookie sheets, Paper cupcake cups, Measuring s poons, Spatulas, Wooden mixing spoons, Dishcloths, Towels, Empty food containers , Empty milk cartons

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Restaurant Prop Box [Dramatic Play Center] Menus, Table cloth, Serving plate, Cloth napkins, Silverware, Dishes, Aprons, Pl ay food, Notepads, Pens, Silk flower centerpieces, Play credit cards, Play check s, Chef hat, Place mats, Serving tray

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Mailing Letters - sung to "The Mulberry Bush" This is the way we mail a letter, Mail a letter, mail a letter. This is the way we mail a letter, So early in the morning. I'm a Firefighter - sung to "I'm a little teapot" I'm a firefighter Dressed in red, With my fire hat On my head. I can drive the fire truck, Fight fires, too, And help to make things Safe for you. Arts & Crafts Mailboxes Make mailboxes out of old shoeboxes. Each child can decorate his/her own box. Na mes can be added by the children or teacher. Game Ideas Do As I Do Play the game using the occupations of the children's parents. Pretend that you are working at an occupation, such as a carpenter. The children do the same. As everyone is pretending to do a specific job, chant several times, "I'm a carpent er, hammering and sawing." Switch to another occupation, such as a typist. Chant while pretending to type, "I'm a typist, typing, typing, typing, typing." Conti nue the game using other familiar occupations. Theme Ideas My prechool children have been INTERESTED in building so I setup a table in the room with black dirt, rocks, and construction vehicles, I also added the constr uction hats so they could be the workers. ~Submitted by Michelle from Edmonton, Canada Doctor Begin by showing the photo-illustrated book When I See My Doctor. Invite the chi ldren to share their experiences about visits to the doctor's office. If possibl e, show the children some real medical equipment borowed from a parent or a loca l medical ofice. Then invite each child to create his own doctor's bag. For each child, fold and cut 12" x 18" sheet of black or blue construction paper in half and glue on handles (thick C shapes but straighter on top). Have each child glu e a red, construction paper cross to the outside of his bag. Use a white crayon to write "Dr. (Child's Name) above the cross. Then provide each of your doctors with some tools to store in his or her bag. Thermometers- Create pretend thermom eters by cutting clear plastic straws into halves. Use a permanent black marker to make lines on one side of each straw half. ~Submitted Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare Circle Time Idea Before circle time, gather as many tools as you can that represent the occupatio

ns of the parents - hammer, wheel, typewriter, chalk, mailbag, shovel, etc. Let the children identify the tool and then tell in what occupation that tool is use d. After circle time, put the safe tools on the Discovery Table so that the chil dren have an opportunity to explore them. ~Submitted by Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare Discussion Talk about: Discuss what the children's moms and dads, and other adults wear to work. Why do they wear certain types of clothes? Have different uniforms for the children to see. Maybe they can guess from the uniforms what some of the differ ent jobs are that people have. Are some of the clothes specially designed for sa fety? For warmth? To be easily seen? Etc. ~Submitted by Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare Post Office Ink The post master cancels mail with an official post office stamper. -1 tsp. food coloring -3 TBS. liquid starch -1 TBS. water Mix the ingredients to use as ink for rubber stamps. Have the children "cancel m ail." ~Submitted by Cheryl's Sweethearts ChildCare While I did my community and community helpers unit with my pre-k classroom i ma de a road on the rug with masking tape, the children were able to practice looki ng both ways and crossing the road in our classroom. They loved it!! For a fine motor center I used tweezers and gauze. The students had to use the t weezers to pick up the gauze and put it in a bowl of colored water. We later use d the gauze to make a picture. During community helpers week we talk about many community helpers, but we have noticed that some of our children feel left out because we can not talk about ev ery parents occupation. We decided to include two days at the end of the unit fo r "occupation in a bag day" each child talks to their parents about their job an d then they can bring in anything that fits in a brown bag to describe the mom o r dads job, each child empties the bag at circle and wears the uniform or shows the rest of the class the items that mommy and daddy use at work, the children a re always prepared to talk about the occupation and we are also there to help ou t, we have videotaped this and ran it on parents night and the parents love it. First we were architects and we drew up our plans for the play house. On the se cond day, I brought in a large box and they pretended to be builders and built t hemselves a playhouse. We had on construction hats and they had a blast. On the third day, they were painters. We put on painting clothes and hats and painted o ur playhouse. On the fourth day we were postal workers and we wrote letters to e ach other and delivered them to the mail box at our play house. Then on our last day, We went on a journey around the town. We took a community book with us and searched out bankers, postal workers, shoe store workers, waiters, etc. It was a wonderful week. Using white strips of paper, make several copies of badges, fire hats, red cross

es, etc. Have the children cut and paste the symbols to their armbands and let t hem color and decorate them. when they're done tape the band into a loop (to mak e it an armband and let them wear it at circle time. During circle time, each gr oup of symbols may be pointed out and reviewed. make a mailbox and have the children write letters to home and school and allow people to write back

I like to make a post office box for the children to sort the mail into. I take half gallon milk cartons and staple 5 together side by side. I then add another row of 5 stapled milk cartons on top of the first row and again staple them all together. You can add as many as you like on top of one another and then you can take some contact paper with a design on it and wrap around the outside of your post office box to hide all the milk carton writing. I then use sticky labels t o label each "box" with the children's names so their mail can be delivered to t heir PO box. During Community Helper Week we discussed several helpers. Two of which were the grocer and a chef. We took the preschoolers to the grocery store to learn what a grocer does and also to purchase groceries. The following day they became chef s themselves by preparing their own dinner. We made mini-pizzas from the groceri es we purchased. The children got to create and eat their own pizzas. They loved it.