Surprise Box

The surprise box is something I did with 4 year olds in order to reduce the need for show and tell.  They can only bring something that will fit in the box and they have to think about the clues.  It makes children use their critical thinking skills as well as helps children reduce fear of talking in front of others.
First you need a box you can not see through.
I tape these directions on the side.


      Before I send the box  home I send home a note explaining the process to parents and to allow students to come up with the clues.  I also encourage them to help their children write the clues themselves. Then I send it home with each child in alphabetical order by first name. 
That keeps me organized and also helps kids with the letters in the alphabet.
I do an example before I let the kids can take it home.
1. It is pink.
2. I use it in the dark.
3. It lights up.

It is a flashlight.

As the year goes, I hang up some of the clue sheets to show parents what others have been bringing in, but also to show them how they can encourage students to become more involved in the clue making process.
So you get clue sheets like this

and as the kids get better at writing this

Some kids liked giving clues the others could guess easily while others made it more difficult.  All the kids enjoyed the experience
Surprise Box
Directions
Chose something to put in the box.
Write 3 clues to describe the object.
Practice saying the clues so you can
share with the class.

Comments

  1. Deborah StewartJune 17, 2011 at 10:01 PM

    What a terrific way to get parents more involved!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deb ChitwoodJune 18, 2011 at 1:40 AM

    I love this idea! Great alternative to the traditional show and tell - and great way to encourage literacy! Deb @ LivingMontessoriNow.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fr1endly2June 18, 2011 at 5:53 AM

    I like this big time and might implement this to my group activities in my family daycare thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. RadtkecustomsJune 18, 2011 at 10:20 AM

    My girls's kindergarten teacher does something similar. She has a coffee can that she decorated with colorful tape. Then she sends fun pieces of paper home in the tin for the kids to write their clues on.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LeeanneAJune 18, 2011 at 5:43 PM

    This is a must do activity - thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Math Centers- Number work

Image
Children get to explore numbers in a variety of forms.  Numeral to set These types of games are very simple to make.  Pick any theme.  Cut shapes or buy them already cut out.  Then find something that goes with the shape to use as counters.  I like using those shaped erasers you can buy at the dollar store. Here are butterflies cut from the ellison machine. I put numbers 1-10 on the front and 11-20 on the back just so higher level thinkers can have a challenge.  I have snowmen, cars, Christmas trees, hearts, and flowers.  Any little manipulative piece can be paired with a shape to make a thematic game. You can also buy store bought games and adapt them to your needs.  This game is cute but is too easy.  It is set up more like flash cards so that kids can count the number of M&M's on each card.  I use bowls or thought about making candy jars with the little M&M pieces. great number work This site has the cutest printable number games. Fun and good for fine mot
Read more

Changes, Changes- A book of building and a craft too

Image
Changes, Changes is a book by Pat Hutchins This book has no words and I was amazed at how it kept all the children's interest.  We predicted what the people would build next.  At the end of the story we recalled all the different things that were built.  They did great with it.  Some even asked to read it again.  Since we share all our books from Creative Curriculum with another class, we had to give the book up for the day. I decided to let the children make their own structures like in the book. Like the book states, plans change. My lesson plan shows the intent of the activity below. First, we worked together to watercolor paint a large piece of paper.  I then cut out shapes from the paper, and I added some other paper scraps from other cutting projects.  Next the kids were asked to glue some shapes down to make something.  I recorded what they made on each page along with their name. We turned it into a book we will keep in our library.  Now, the kids can read our story. We
Read more

Little Blue and Little Yellow

Image
     We read this book by Leo Lionni about 2 friends, little blobs of color, who are different yet are the best of friends.  They show all the events of their day together after accidentally squishing together becoming green during a hug. While teaching, I would have the kids find a friend to do this art activity.  I would paint one child's hand blue and one child's hand yellow.  Then they squished their hands together representing the hug in the book. Since I only have one child, we adapted it this way to make a book. One hand was painted one color the other hand painted a different color, then rug together. We made hand prints on paper I had printed simple words to recreate the story. "This is Little Red. This is Little Blue.  They are friends.  They hugged, and hugged, and hugged.  They turned Purple. We did all the primary colors and added white to red and black. My daughter loves singing the mixing colors song on Little fingers that play .
Read more