We are in the second week of our Sights and Sounds of Winter theme. The weekly focus is on the sights and sounds found outdoors. The daily focus is on animal tracks.
We started our day with a quick coloring sheet featuring snow prints made from animals and then updated our calendar and discussed the weather. We then talked about shapes. Using the shape builders (plastic shapes including squares, circle, triangles, etc. that connect) provided as a manipulative from Mother Goose Time, we made tracks in flour. I also made some tracks and had the kids figure out if they could identify which shape manipulative made the track.
We went outside and make some tracks in the dirt. We made some footprints with and without shoes. Then, we went back inside and compared our feet with the tracks on our coloring sheet. Ladybug could tell one of the tracks, likely a bear on the the tracks coloring sheet had toes and she counted her toes to see if they had the same number.
We then sang a simple song called “Walk Like a Bear” and acted out the the action we were describing. The words to the song are listed below and are sung to the melody of “Frere Jacques.”
Walk like a bear.
Walk like a bear.
In the snow, in the snow.
Walking like a bear,
Walking like a bear,
Here we go, here we go.Hop/hopping like a bunny.
Run/running like a fox.
Reindeer Headband
My three year old loved making her own reindeer headband. All the supplies we needed were provided by Mother Goose Time with the exception of scissors, tape/stapler, and markers. To make antlers we traced her hands on paper and cut them out. She insisted that they should be colored with crayons 🙂 We had googly eyes and a pom pom for a nose.
Tracks in the Snow
Mother Goose Time offered an absolutely wonderful participation story called “Snow Tracks.” We created a circle path using painter’s tape (I couldn’t find the masking tape…lol) and the kids and I pretended to be the different animals mentioned in the story as we walked, ran, and hopped along the tape path. This was tons of fun and kept the kids interested and engaged in the story.
Animal Tracks Game
The children used the enclosed spinner and placed cards that matched the results of the spinner on the appropriate place on the game board. This game provided a great chance to discuss the prints that animals leave behind and what they look like. For example, bears have toes and walk on hind legs sometimes and all four legs at other times, but people walk on two legs and their toes are rarely seen in their footprints, because most people wear shoes outside in the winter. My two year old was especially fond of this game and we used it as a chance to review his colors and matching ability.
Making Tracks
We created tracks using play dough. Using enclosed story cards from the participation story as examples, we created bear, skunk, and rabbit foot prints. The suggested supplemental reading for this day was, “Big Tracks, Little Tracks: Following Animal Prints” by Millicent E. Selsam. This book was a little above the kids’ level, but gave beautiful examples of how to interpret commonly seen footprints for species such as dogs, cats, rabbits, foxes, etc. We also practiced making these prints.
To complete the day we talked about what animal tracks we would like to follow. Both kids passed on following bear tracks, but stated that they would love to follow rabbit tracks and owl tracks. We also listened to the song, “Follow the Tracks” and moved like the many animals we had discussed.
Are you home schooling a preschooler?
I’m looking to connect with other parents who are homeschooling preschool and I’d love to hear from you!
As a blog ambassador for Mother Goose Time, I am happy to share preschool curriculum ideas, activities, and crafts with my readers. Mother Goose Time provides our family the opportunity to use their curriculum free of charge in exchange for honest and authentic stories based on our personal experience. 
