Building Blocks

Project
DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES FOR 5 YEAR OLDS

Jazmine Martin, Lindsey Jochum, and Sarah Murphy

NOVEMBER 10, 2014 | GROWTH AND LEARNING: THE PRESCHOOL CHILD BIRTH TO 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Developmental Checklist

Page 3

Play Activities/Games

Page 7

Play Materials/Toys

Page 15

Pictures/Story Books

Page 24

Songs/Finger Plays

Page 31

Reflections

Page 36

References

Page 41

Physical
PBS:
Control and balance while walking, climbing, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and
galloping.
Walks heel-to-toe.
Skips unevenly.
Runs.
Alternates feet on steps.
Travels through space without bumping into others.
Stand on one foot for 5 seconds.
Coordinates movements to climb on jungle gym or jump on trampoline.
Supports weight on other body parts. (balance on hands alone momentarily).
Increase ability to throw, catch, kick, and bounce balls.
Can throw a ball ten feet away.
Engage in long periods of active play and exercise.
Increase ability to use computer keyboard and mouse.
Cut continuously on a line with scissors.
Dress and undress without assistance.
Brush teeth.
Comb hair.
Drink out of cup without spilling.
Preference to right or left hand.
CDC:
Can do a somersault
Use toilet on own
Language
CDC:
Speaks clearly
Simple story with full sentences
Uses future tense
Says name and address
ASHA:
Understand order words (first, next, last)
Understands words for time (today, yesterday, tomorrow)
Follows longer directions (Brush your teeth, put on your pajamas, and then pick out a
book.)
Follows classroom directions
Says all speech sounds in words, may miss a few that are harder to say such as l, s, ch, r,
v, z, sh, and th.
Responds to What did you say?
Talks without repeating sounds or words most of the time
Names letters and numbers
Uses sentences that contain more than one action word
Tells a short story
Keeps a conversation going

Talks in different ways depending on the listener and place. May use shorter sentences
with younger children or talk louder outside than inside.
Approaches to Learning
PBS:
Further expands areas of decision-making (Child may say, This morning Im going to
work on my Lego building.
Has an increased ability to focus attention, and can ignore more distractions and
interruptions
Is increasingly able to complete tasks, even those that are longer-term, and less-concrete
Has greater ability to set goals and follow a plan
Increasingly makes independent choices and shows self-reliance
Asks to participate in new experiences that he or she has observed or has heard of others
participating in
Asks questions about future events, as well as about the here and now
Starts to show more enthusiasm for learning letters, shapes, and numbers (Ex. pointing at
a letter of a word in a book and recognizing that its in their name and then asking what
the word is)
More flexible and able to draw on varied resources in solving problems
Seeks help from both adults and peers, and has a greater understanding of the kind of
help that may be needed
Grows in ability to understand abstract concepts, especially when his or her thinking is
supported by physical interaction with materials (Ex. Pours sand into measuring cups,
then looks at it and comments on amounts)
Engages in most sustained and complex pretend play. Expands the roles acted out in
pretend play. Is less dependent on realistic play.
Offers creative, unusual ideas about how to do a task, how to make something, or how to
get from one place to another
Cognitive:
NAEYC:
Can build inventive models
Begin spelling, writing, and enjoy telling stories to other children and adults.
CDC:
Name colors
Recall a story
Can write some letters/numbers
Common Core Standards:
Identify real-life connections between words and their use
Office of Child Development:
Can identify all letters in alphabet
Social/Emotional:
Become increasingly independent
Will try new activities on their own.
Continues to make friends (builds/expands friendships)
Seeks acceptance from peers
Enjoys interacting with other children and adults. (Social)
Begins to expand trust in adults (trusts teacher, doctor, etc. not just parents and family)
4

Gains self-esteem from demonstrating new skills

Becomes aware of own abilities
Uses more complex language to express his or her understanding of feelings and their
causes (e.g., says, "I sort of want to try riding on that, but I'm sort of scared, too.").
(Emotional)
Shows concern and sympathy for others
Aware of Gender

Toss and Blend: A Carnival Game

Description: In order to play this game, you will need the following materials: Markers, 5 cups,
tape, coins (or anything small to throw in a cup), and paper. This game also requires some
advance preparation. On the inside of each cup you will write a different letter combination such
as Sh, Th, Qu, Ch, or Bl. Then you will tape the cups to the ground so that they are touching
each other, this will also prevent them from falling over once the game begins. With the piece of
paper you will make a chart for your letter combinations. After this you are ready to play the
game. To play the game have you child or children stand so that they can still see the letters, then
take turns tossing coins, or whatever material you decided to use in the cups. Every time a
player gets their coin in a cup, they must come up with a word that starts with those letters and
then the word will be written on the chart. For example if one child makes it in the Th cup,
they must come up with a word that starts with Th such as that. When you are done with the
game, you and your child/student can look at the results and tally up how many of each blend
you made. Then for the next round see if your child can come up with different beginning letter
combinations. The appropriate age for this activity is 5 years old, some may pick it up faster than
others, but there are ways that the game can be modified for different learning levels. The child
will need some spelling skills to play this game. You can find more information about it on
education.com
Justification: This activity is related to developmental milestones, specifically language
milestones. Some language milestones that this game addresses are speech sounds in words,
following directions and naming letters. The child will be focusing on his language skills,
especially beginning letter sounds like Th and Sh. It is also related to Approaches to learning
milestones because the child will start to show more enthusiasm for learning letters. Because

this is a competitive game the child will be more eager to name words that he or she knows. The
child may also seek help from both adults and peers, during this game if they have trouble
coming up with a word. This activity will help promote the childs cognitive and language
development. It will promote the childs language development because the child will be
learning new vocabulary and about how certain letter combinations make different sounds. The
child will be working on his physical development by using motor skills to throw a coin into the
cups, and maybe even working on his fine motor skills by writing the words. During the game,
the child may also be working on his social skills by interacting with other players whether its a
teacher, parent or other student. Parents would interact with their children by playing this game
with them, and helping them with any difficulty that they may have while playing. It would also
be important for a parent to make note of any difficulties that the child has so that those words or
sounds can be practiced in the future.

Build a Monster Game

Description: For this game you will need crayons or markers, 2 dice (preferably different colors),
paper and instructions with the body part key. 1 head, 2 eyes, 3 mouth, 4 nose, 5 arms/hands, 6 - legs/feet. There are several different ways you could set up this game. You
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could start by having each participant draw a simple monster body (without any body parts), or
you could find one online and use that. When the body is done, and you have all the materials
you are ready to start the game. To play the game each player gets a piece of paper with a
monster body and key for body parts. Then players will take turns rolling the dice and putting
down the body parts that corresponds with one di and the amount of that part that corresponds
with the other di. For example if I have two dice one is red and one is blue, and the red di
represents the type of body part, while the blue represents the amount of that body part. If a
child rolls the dice and gets 3 for the red di and 5 for the blue di. This means the child must draw
5 mouths on their monster, and pass the dice to the next player. The first player to have at least
one of each type of body part wins. This game is perfect for the 5 year old kindergartener who is
working on his/her counting skills. This activity will help your child learn how to associate dots
with numbers which is an important skill. More information about this game can be found on
education.com

Justification: This activity will be facilitated by cognitive development because it promotes the
childs ability to learn. The child will be able to relate objects like dots on dice, to
numbers. Then they will have to determine how the number affects what they must draw. This
game also relates to physical development specifically fine motor skills. The Children will have
to draw certain body parts with their hands. Social development may come into play during this
activity, if there are multiple people playing, then the dice may need to be passed and the
students will be working on their sharing skills. When a parent or teacher is playing this game
with their child/children, they should have their child point to the dots as they count, this is a

very important skill, and this activity provides many opportunities to practice. They should also
take this opportunity to support creativity and help build their child self-esteem.

Improvisational Story
Description: This activity or game requires pictures with different emotions on them, and
miscellaneous objects for example a banana, picture of the beach, paperclip, book, shoe, etc.
There is not much advanced preparation needed for this activity/game, just make sure to have a
table where you can place the pictures face down and space for the objects as well. If its the first
time that a child is playing the game, it might be useful to go over the different emotions that you
are going to use for the game and maybe even some of the objects that are going to be
involved. Once this is done you are ready to begin. With all of the emotion pictures facing
down, the first player will pick an object and a picture. They will begin to tell a story that
incorporates both the emotion that they picked up and the object that they picked. Then the other
player will pick a picture and an object and continue the story. This back and forth storytelling
will continue until all of the objects and cards are used. This game can be manipulated so that it
can be used on many different age levels, but the directions that I provided are suited for a 5 year
old child, specifically a child with special needs that has a social disability. However Children
learn at many different paces regardless of their age. For some children it might be easier to
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remove the miscellaneous objects from the game, but for others the objects serve as good tools to
stimulate a childs creativity. It is also important to use emotions and objects that you know the
child can recognize. For example a 5 year old will probably not be as familiar with emotions
such as anxious and confused, so emotions such as happy, sad and angry may be more
developmentally appropriate. This game is great because it can be played multiple times and it
will never be exactly the same, as your child progresses more complex emotions can be added.
You can find out more about this activity http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2011/03/28/12activities- to- help-your-child-with-social-skills/

Justification: This game will really promote your childs emotional and social development. It
requires a child to be able to look at a picture and identify emotions. This will help them identify
emotions in other peoples faces, and even be able to identify their own emotions. Social
development is involved, because this activity requires you to build off the other players part of
the story, just like when two people are having a conversation. Cognitive development and
Approaches to learning are also part of the game, because the players have to be able to connect
the emotions with the item and the story which will take some thinking and of course creativity. I
think that this is great game for parents to play with their children. They will learn so much
about their child and where he or she is developmentally. Parents will interact with their child
with this game by participating and modeling for their child how the game should be played.

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Hair Match Up
Description: For this diversity activity you will need pictures of each childs face (if possible
without hair showing), and either locks of each childs hair, or a pictures of their hair from the
back. You are going to want to prepare for this activity very far in advance because it will
require parents to send in some of their childs hair, and/or permission to take pictures of their
children. When all of the materials are finally gathered, set up the game by laying out all of the
pictures of the childrens faces randomly on one side of the area which you plan to play such as
the floor or a table, and then layout all of the locks of hair or pictures of hair on the other side of
the table/floor. When this is completed youre ready to play. To play the game the students will
work together to match hair types to the faces. They will have to look at their other classmates
and determine what hair matches to what face. Together they will rearrange the pictures and the
teacher will help by asking prompting questions. For example this childs hair seems to be very
dark and straight, who in our class has dark straight hair? This is a good diversity activity for 5
year olds. It requires problem solving skills, and social skills, more information about this
activity can be found at http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/diversity/read_activities.html.

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Justification: Children will be working on their social and cognitive development when they
participate in this activity. They will be working on their cognitive development because they
will be using problem solving skills. They will need to use social skills in order to determine
whose hair is whose. They will also be learning about diversity and how they are similar and
different from their other classmates and/or friends. This activity would probably work better in
a classroom because its more fun with multiple people. Regardless of who is conducting the
activity, the adult should make sure to ask prompting questions to help students complete the
task. At the end of the game the parent/teacher should ask questions about what the child
learned. Throughout the game the individual should prompt the children to use describing words.

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Multicultural Dolls
Description: The first toy I picked for five year olds building blocks were Multicultural Dolls.
This could be any type of different kinds of dolls, from Barbies, to little dolls, to stuffed dolls.
There are many different ways to play with these dolls. For one, these dolls can be used as an
educational purpose while teaching about different ethnicities, or even about different places in
the worlds. Its important for students to know how diverse our world is, and that everyone has
different cultures. These can show students that people from countries other than their own many
not look like them, or dress like them, but we are ultimately all people. Another way that these
can be played with is just by playing for fun. Most children have very vivid imagination, and
playing with dolls gives them the opportunity to create real life situations and act them out.
While researching the price of different kinds of these multicultural dolls, I saw how much the
prices varied. Marvell multiethnic 10 set of dolls cost up to 180 dollars, and is just a set or
small dolls of children with different ethnicities. Compared to another set of multicultural family
doll sets, which is a set of 18 distributed between 3 sets of families of different ethnicities, that
cost 54 dollars, the price range is extremely large. Since there are so many different types of
multicultural dolls, there are plenty of different manufacturers. When looking online, I saw many
different websites and corporations that sold them. Some of these websites are:
lakeshorelearning.com, discountschoolsupply.com, and k12schoolsupplies.net. These toys can be
purchased at almost any toy store, such as toys r us, or any educational toy store. These can
either be for play, and used educationally to teach students about different cultures. Children at
this age are very imaginative, and playing with dolls gives them the chance to explore their
imaginations, while also looking at different cultures while doing it.

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Justification: Dolls are perfect for kids the age of five. At this age, children are starting to
explore their imaginations and creativity. By playing with dolls, they are doing just this. Having
dolls in the classroom will allow students to make up imaginary scenarios and just play.
Especially since they are multicultural dolls, students will be able to learn that everyone is equal
at a young age. Children will use their imaginations to the fullest when playing with these dolls
and they will also become more social by interacting with the other students who are also playing
with the dolls. They can then together create a story and act it out together with these dolls.
Playing with this toy affects many of the developmental domains. First, playing with the dolls
goes right alongside with social. The children are coming up with new ideas and stories together,
then creating the scenario with each other. Theyre communicating through the whole time that
they are playing with each other. Playing is always a social thing. Along with being social, it also
helps children develop language when they are communicating with each other. They are
constantly exchanging ideas, and communicating while playing. Parents could interact with this
toy by playing with their child. They can let the child use their imagination to make up how they
want to play, and as a parent its important to sit there and be engaged while playing with their
child. Students will be playing with multicultural dolls, so theyll be learning the different
cultures, and parents should help them learn this by explaining the cultures and where they are
from to their children. This touches on the social/emotional milestone of children seek to play
rather than be alone, and realizing that being with friends is important.

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Snap Cubes
Description: Another toy that is developmentally appropriate for five year olds is Snap Cubes.
Snap Cubes are a common classroom toy that are perfect for play and educational purposes.
These Snap Cubes are small, around 2 square inch cubes, that either have little circular holes and
one side of a circle sticking out. The cubes come in various different colors, and are made to be
put together either into shapes or lines. This toy can be played with in many different ways. For
one, they can be used mathematically to count and do basic math, like addition and subtraction.
Since they are visual, they make doing and learning the math easier. Another thing that the
blocks can be used for is imaginative play. Students can create things, and decide what they are
and use their imaginations. They can lead to students more social situations and interactions in
the classroom. While looking up the prices of these on the internet, I saw many different sets of
them, but they were often listed at around the same price. Most were listed for sets of 100 for 10
dollars, and sets of 500 for 50 dollars. These snap cubes can be bought almost anywhere, I found
them on websites such as walmart.com, schooloutfitters.com, teachchildren.com, and
k12schoolsupplies.com. I believe that they could also be bought at most teaching stores, and toy
stores, like Enchanted Learning or Walmart. The manufacturer of this toy is called learning
resources. Children at this age have developed most gross motor skills, and are starting to refine

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their fine motor skills. By playing with these small blocks, its helping with their fine motor
skills.

Justification: At this age, most children know how to count to up to at least ten, and they are
starting to learn some basic math skills. By playing with this toy, they can learn a lot about how
to count, add, and subtract. When putting the cubes together, children should be counting as they
add them on. Teachers can also set up activities with these cubes. For example, they can have
everyone get out a certain amount of cubes. She could have them put together ten cubes, and
have them count as they are doing it. Then, she could ask the class to take off three cubes, and
ask the students how many cubes are left. Although the students may not realize it at the time,
they are actually learning subtraction even though its not formally written on the paper. After
that you could ask the students questions like how many blocks do we need to put on to get to
nine? Playing with Snap Cubes goes along with a couple of the developmental domains. First, it
definitely affects cognitive, because children are always counting and learning math as they are
playing with them. Theyre also recognizing colors, and the shapes of the cubes. Theyre
constantly taking in new information the entire time that theyre playing with them. Snap cubes
also go along with the physical domain. Since they are tiny, playing with them helps to develop
their fine motor skills. Students need to put together and take apart the cubes while playing with
them, and sometimes it may be hard to find where the hole is and snap the cube right in. Parents
can get involved by doing the math activity that a teacher may do. They also could just play and
build with their children and let them explore their imaginations. This touches on the cognitive
developmental milestone of children being able to count to at least 10.

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Paint
Description: The third material that we picked was paint. Paint is a great material to have in your
classroom, especially in an early childhood classroom. Its important to get washable paint, since
we know students at this age can be rather messy. There are many different ways to use paint in
the classroom. Students can finger paint or paint with paintbrushes. When painting, they can
paint something that they would like, something going along with a book they read, letters, and
many other things. When looking at different types of paint, it was clear to see that Crayola
Childrens Washable Paint was the most popular. For a pack of ten bottles, each 2 ounces, of
assorted childrens paint, it costs at minimum 5 dollars, or as much as ten dollars. Childrens
washable paints can be purchased anywhere. They can be ordered in bulk online on websites
such as amazon.com, or can be purchased at stores such as Walmart, Target, and Toys R Us. Its
important that when finger painting, children at this age have somewhat developed their fine
motor skills. This way, theyll be able to paint without creating too much of a mess. Also,
children should have reading comprehension skills, so after reading a story theyll be able to
draw a picture reflecting what theyve read.

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Justification: Paint is the perfect material for a five year old. Not only does it let them explore
their creativity and imagination, it helps them to express their feelings. Students can paint in all
different ways, with all different materials and different colors. They have the chance to make it
their own. Even if they are not good with their words, theyll be able to show how they are
feeling through their painting, even if they dont know it. One developmental domain that
painting goes along with is physical. Whether children are using a paintbrush or their fingers,
they are some way using their body and working on their fine motor skills. This coincides with
the developmental milestone of being able to hold a pencil. If children can hold a pencil, they
can also hold a paintbrush and paint with it. Painting also goes along with social-emotional.
Painting can put a child at ease, and help them release their stress. Parents can interact with
painting by encouraging their children to paint. They could buy them an easel and painting
supplies, and even ask their children to paint a picture for them. Parents also should get involved
and paint with their children, children look up to their parents and will want to do what they do.
Children may even grow up to love painting, and continue to do it over time. It is a great form of
self-expression and a great stress reliever. Especially with five year olds, who act out on their
anger physically and verbally, its important that they have something else they can do.

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Playdoh
Description: My final play materials are Playdoh. There are many ways to play with this.
Children can creatively make something from their imagination, or possibly make a replica of
something they have just read in a story. They could also make the Playdoh into letters that they
are learning. The price of Playdoh varies with how many colors you are going to get, and which
size. An assorted pack of 24 colors costs around 14 dollars, and an assorted pack of 36 colors
costs around 20 dollars. You can buy Playdoh at toy stores, or at any other stores such as
Walmart, Target, and Toys R Us. This is age appropriate since at this age, children are working
on their fine motor skills. Playdoh is a fun way to do that. Children also express their creativity
when choosing which colors they would like to use, deciding what they would like to make, and
how they would like to make it.

Justification: Playdoh is perfect for five year olds. What people often do not realize is that there
are so many different ways to play with it. You can add various things into the Playdoh to make
it have a texture, such as rice, sand, or glitter. Children can also explore their creativity by
making things out of the Playdoh, such as animals. They can add things on like buttons, googly
eyes, or feathers. This goes along with the social/emotional developmental domain, since
children are finding new ways to express themselves and be independent. Along with just play,
Playdoh can also be used to develop math and literacy skills. Children can form letters of the
alphabet, spell out their own name, make numbers, form 2D and 3D shapes, compare lengths/
thicknesses/ weights, and match and sort by color. This goes along with the cognitive
developmental domain, since they are learning while having a good time. Parents can become
involved by engaging in the activity with their child. At this age, its so important to encourage
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children to problem solve and become creative, and parents should always do just that. They
should also stimulate their children with questions in every activity that they do- for example
asking what are you making?, Why did you choose that color?, how are you going to make
the birds mouth? They should also encourage the development of self-confidence by offering
children multiple opportunities to make choices.

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Starting School
Description: The first book I chose is called Starting School written by Franzeska Ewart and
illustrated by Leonie Shearing. The story is about two children, Sadie and Sam, when they first
start school. Throughout the story we see the different activities Sadie and Sam do during their
first week of school. They do things like painting, making cupcakes, playing outside and much
more. At the end Sadie and Sam have begun to like school and are excited to keep going. The
books ISBN number is 140545365 and was published by Parragon Publishing in 2006. This
book can be purchased from amazon.com for $4.00 or from Barnes and Noble for $7.95.

Justification: The book Starting School is very appropriate for 5 year olds because it tells about
two children who are about to start school for the first time. Many 5 year olds can relate to this
book because they may be starting school for the first time, just like the children in Franzeska
Ewarts book. This book connects to the social/emotional development of children in different
ways. First, it helps illustrate how a child begins to trust more adults because the story introduces
a new adult into the childrens lives, their teacher. The children must leave their parents, who
they have relied on for safety and security or their entire life up to this point, and now must learn
to trust their teacher to provide safety and security for them while they are away from their
parents. This is exactly what children will be going through when they are starting school, and
this book can help them to realize that their teacher is another adult that they can trust. This book
also touches on the social/emotional process of making friends with other children. In the story,
the children must learn the names of their classmates and learn to play and share with them. At
age 5, children should be able to develop and maintain friendships, and learning the names of
their classmates is the first step to reaching this developmental milestone. Children should also
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be showing concern and sympathy for others at this age, and in Ewarts story the children are
sharing with one another and even has a part where two children fall on the ground and Sadie,
one of Ewarts characters, comes over and helps the two children get up off of the ground. This
book is a great way for a teacher to open the school year and start a discussion about how his/her
students are feeling about starting school.

I Like Myself
Description: The next book I chose for 5 year olds is called I Like Myself and was written by
Karen Beaumont and illustrated by David Catrow. In this story, a little girl explains why she like
herself so much. The little girl explains that she likes everything about herself and, no matter
what anyone says to her, that will never change. She even says that her physical features like her
hair, lips, or nose can change, but she will still like herself because it is what is on the inside that
really matters. The books ISBN number is 0439800978 and was published by Scholastic Inc. in
2004. This book can be purchased from amazon.com for $3.92 or from Barnes and Noble for
$9.34.

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Justification: Karen Beaumonts I Like Myself is developmentally appropriate for 5 year olds
in many ways. First, it touches on the social/emotional milestone of children gaining self-esteem
and becoming aware of their own characteristics. This book is perfect for a teacher to use to talk
with his/her students about self-esteem. This book could even be used to talk about the
differences children see between themselves and their classmates, and can be used to talk about
children with disabilities. This could be a good way for a teacher to talk about children who
dont have the same physical or cognitive abilities, or a special education teacher can talk to
his/her students about the differences they see between themselves and others, but the teacher
should be sure to teach the students that even though everyone is different, those differences
should not make someone feel like they are better or worse than another person. This book can
also be used to focus on the Common Core Standard of phonological awareness because it uses
rhyming to tell the story. After reading the book, the teacher could do an activity with identifying
the words in the story that rhyme and then thinking of other words that rhyme with one another.

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I Can Do It Myself
Description: Another book that is appropriate for 5 year olds is I Can Do It Myself by Emily
Perl Kingsley and illustrated by Richard Brown. This story uses the characters from the show
Sesame Street to show all the different things children learn to do as they become more
independent. Some of these things included cleaning up toys, making up a bed, brushing teeth,
and buttoning up a shirt. The books ISBN number is 0307231046 and was published by Western
Publishing Company, Inc. in conjunction with Childrens Television Workshop in 1980. This
book can be purchased from amazon.com for $4.00.

Justification: I Can Do It Myself is good for 5 year olds because it is all about the
social/emotional developmental milestone of becoming more independent and being more
willing to try new things. At age 5, children should be willing and excited to do things on their
own because they are trying to become less dependent on their parents and other adults. This
book is all about doing things by yourself that adults may have been previously doing for you.
Teachers can use this book to start a discussion about what his/her students like to do by
themselves. They can also talk about the things the children try to do by themselves, but may
have a hard time doing and how to ask for help from adults when they need it. After reading this
book, children can feel motivated to become independent and try new things.

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A Mom Like No Other

Description: The last book I chose is called A Mom Like No Other by Christine Taylor-Butler
and illustrated by Nancy Devard. This book shows an African American girl and her mother
doing many different things together. The girl talks about how she and her mother are the same
and different and explains that that is why she loves her mother so much and describes her as her
best friend. The books ISBN number is 0439568536 and was published by Scholastic Inc. in
2004. This book can be purchased from amazon.com for $5.99.

Justification: This book is developmentally appropriate for children who are 5 years old because
it can help students improve upon their phonological awareness since the book uses rhyming
throughout. While reading the story, the teacher could point out when words rhyme, or could
challenge the children to tell the teacher when they hear rhyming words. This book also shows
cultural diversity because it focuses on an African American girl and her mother. They do things
that people of other cultures may not do such as eating soul food, wearing corn-rows and afros,
and making their own clothes. These cultural differences can be pointed out by the teacher and
he/she can ask his/her students some things that they do with their mothers that other families
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may not do. This book also touches on social/emotional development because it concentrates on
the positive relationship the girl shares with her mother.

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Palo Palo
Description: The song Palo Palo is written by Gerry Dignan. It comes from Music Together
Family Favorites- Songbook for Teachers written by Lili Levinowitz and Kenneth Guilmartin.
Some lyrics are:

Palo palo palo palito palo ay

Enero, febrero, marzo, abril, y mayo
Son los cinco meses primero del a o
Baila con la conga Baila con los bongos
Uno, dos, y tres, quatro, cinco, seis
Ri-qui, ti-qui, ti-jin

Justification: Singing the song Palo Palo with 5 year olds can help build language skills as well
as give the children cultural awareness. The children are learning different things in Spanish
through this song. The song has months of the year and numbers in Spanish which exposes the
children to a language they may not come into contact with outside of the classroom. This songs
helps children with language skills because they are learning words from an entirely new
language. They are building their vocabulary by matching the words in Spanish with words they
know in English. Singing Palo Palo with students allows a teacher to expose their students to
multiple things at once.

Biddy Biddy

Description: This song was written by Lili Levinowitz and Kenneth Guilmartin. It comes from
Music Together Family Favorites- Songbook for Teachers written by Lili Levinowitz and
Kenneth Guilmartin.
Some Lyrics are:
Biddy biddy bum bum bum bum bum bum
Doodle doodle doot doot doot doot doot
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(Make up your own sounds to sing)

Justification: This is a silly song that students can sing and dance along with. This lighthearted
little tune is fun to play with. Like all songs without words, its also great for language
development, since it allows the child to play with different phonemes, or the sounds of
language. Sing it using made-up words of your own, like ba-ba or doobie, or try animal
sounds like moo or meow. You can also sing your each name. This is great for language
development, since that is pretty much what the whole song is. It could also help benefit social
emotional development going around saying everyones names. If you are a creative teacher, you
could even put a lesson plan into the beat, and teach it to the students. Children learn better from
listening to a rhythm and remembering it, so teaching by song could be extremely beneficial.

One Little Owl

Description: This song was written by Lili Levinowitz and Kenneth Guilmartin. It comes from
Music Together Family Favorites- Songbook for Teachers written by Lili Levinowitz and
Kenneth Guilmartin.
Some Lyrics are:
One little owl said whoo whoo two little owls said whoo whoo
Three little owls said whoo whoo
As they sat in the old oak tree
(Change animal)

Justification: This song is a great way for kids to be creative and also review their animal
sounds. It is associated with language development, because the children will be teaching each
other about different animals and the sounds they make, as everyone takes turns adding an
animal to the little oak tree. This is also beneficial for social development, because it is a way of
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getting everyone involved in the activity. Its also a great activity, because its never exactly the
same, every time you sing the song, new animals are added. After a while of getting your
children/students associated with the song, it can be used as an attention getter in the
classroom. For example when you need to get everyones attention, you can pick and animal
such as a cow and say one little cow said and then those who are paying attention will say
moo moo, and you will say two little cows said, and hopefully even more children who have
now caught on to what is going on will respond moo moo and you will all sing as they sat in
the old oak tree. Then next time you need to gain the childrens attention you can pick a
different animal.

Stick Tune
Description: This song was written by Kenneth Guilmartin. It comes from Music Together
Family Favorites- Songbook for Teachers written by Lili Levinowitz and Kenneth Guilmartin.
Some lyrics are:
Hey, hey whatd ya say
Lets all click our sticks today
Ba dum bum bum ba bum
(Substitute lets all click our sticks today with other movements, such as lets all stomp
our feet today)

Justification: Stick tune is a fun way to get everyone involved with instruments. Each student has
a pair of wooden sticks that they click to the beat of the song. At each verse, the one line changes
and it could be anything, such as hitting the sticks a different way like on your feet, or like lets
all run around today. You could even say lets all ride a train today or lets all be a bee today
and instead of saying ba dum bum bum you could say choo choo choo choo or buzz buzz
buzz buzz. The song is upbeat, and keeps everyone singing. It also is very interactive, and gives

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everyone in the classroom a chance to make up a line they want to say. This helps build
cognitive knowledge, because each child must think of something they want to say, and the noise
that it makes. They also need to know rhythm, so they can keep up with the beat of the song with
their instruments. It also is beneficial for physical development since the children start sitting in
a circle, and by the end, everyone is up and dancing. Its also great for social-emotional
development, since everyone is all sitting together, and laughing.

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Sarah Murphy
I thought that finding games developmentally appropriate for a 5 year old would be easier
than it actually was. I found many games, but not many that I liked, or thought were really
beneficial to a childs development. When I found the carnival cup game I was excited because
letter combinations are something that my field experience class is actually working on. I
thought about the centers and how it would be fun to see those kids playing the game and coming
up with different words. I also imagined a mom hanging out on a rainy day playing with her
child and I thought it was such a great idea. The monster math game that I found also reminded
me of my field experience classroom, because they are constantly using dice in their math
centers. During our last field experience my teacher told me how she tries to involve coloring
and drawing in as many ways as she can in order to make learning more fun for her students, and
also so that they can continue to work on their fine motor skills.
Finding diversity games and games for children with special needs was especially
difficult for me. Whenever I found a source that talked about diversity in the classroom, it
typically referred to a book or a song. Then I finally found the hair match game which at first I
thought was a little odd, so I made some changes. My favorite game to learn about was the
Improvisational Story. I just think its a great idea, and that its awesome that there are so many
ways that you can change the game for so many different learning levels. It really is a great way
to work on social and emotional development.
When writing the justification for One Little Owl, I thought about how it could be used
to get childrens attention in the classroom. Teachers are constantly coming up with new ways
to grab their students attention, and I think that this would be a fun and simple way of doing
it. It also provides an opportunity for the children to have fun while learning. By working on this

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project I learned that games are so important for a childs development and that there is much
more learning and developing going on than one would think whenever a child plays a
game. Learning through play is essential.

Jazmine Martin
I found it fairly easy to find books that were developmentally appropriate for 5 year old,
but I found it harder to justify why whose books are appropriate for those children. The first step
to being able to justify the books that I chose was researching the Common Core Standards and
finding out what developmental milestones children at that age should be meeting. Once I
understood the standards and the milestones, I read each book I chose and noted all the things
that I thought matched up with either the standards or the milestones. This seemed a little odd for
me because when reading a childrens book I usually think of how to read it aloud to children
and different questions to ask them once the story is over. I never really thought about the
different things children are learning while they are being read to.
My favorite book to read and write about was Starting School because I thought 5 year
old children would identify most with that book. For many 5 year olds, Kindergarten could be
their first experience in school, so they are feeling a lot of the anxiety Franzeska Ewart displays
in her book. They are also doing a lot of the activities the children do in the book, such as
painting, reading stories, doing puzzles, and playing outside. I thought this book was great for 5
year olds because it could help ease the anxiety they might be feeling about starting school and
help them transition into this new phase of their life.

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From doing this project, I learned that there are many things that teachers can use to
make their classrooms a fun learning environment. Through books, toys, and games, teachers can
always find new ways to make sure their students are having fun while they are learning.

Lindsey Jochum
When first beginning this project, I was kind of overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that
had to go into it. Although the material that is in the project isnt necessarily difficult, it was
somewhat difficult writing about them. When I decided to do the toys and materials, I thought it
was going to be so easy, since five year olds are always playing with toys. After completing the
project, I could see that I actually underestimated how difficult it would be. When picking my
first toy, the multicultural dolls, it was easy to write about how children playing with
multicultural dolls was important. Especially in a classroom setting, which is extremely diverse,
its important for kids to be culturally aware from a young age. While playing with the dolls, I
think its also important to teach the children about each culture, since we are exposed to it every
day.
The next toy I picked were snap cubes. For various reasons, I felt writing about this one
was much easier than the other three. I think it is because Ive always seen these in a school
setting. Teachers are always doing activities and teaching with them. When I worked at a YMCA
afterschool program, we had a giant bin of them for the kids. Every day after the children
finished their homework, they would run to the bin and make these giant elaborate things. It was
cool to see the toy used in two different ways, teaching and playing. Also, I loved being able to
see how creative all of the kids were in making their inventions.

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Paint and Playdoh were pretty easy to write about too. I grew up with both of these, and
they both were two of my favorite things when I was little. I remember buying all these weird
things to play with the Playdoh, like a Playdoh ice cream machine and a Playdoh princess castle.
I think it really brought out my own creativity, and I could see it bringing out the kids. I am a
counselor at a summer camp for kindergarten girls. On rainy days, we would bring out the
Playdoh and the girls would get so excited. They would make the most creative little things, and
make up these long stories about what it was and where it lived. It blows my mind how much
kids this age use their imaginations and come up with things. That is exactly the same with paint.
We had art twice a week at camp, and it was the girls favorite (besides singing, of course).
Being with them all day, there was never a moment of silence, until we got into the art room. The
girls loved doing arts and crafts, and would work so hard on creating the best things that they
could. I also loved to see how proud of themselves they were afterwards.
Coming up with songs was definitely the easiest part. Im in a class called Music and the
Child where I have a giant song book of childrens songs. In class, we act as though we are five
year olds, and do all the song activities just as children would. Afterwards, my teacher explains
to us what each song is teaching them, and its actually really fascinating. Never before did I
think all of those song activities had any meaning, I thought it was all for fun. It turns out that it
actually teaches children a lot of developmentally, and is extremely fun at the same time.

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References
Good toys for young children by age and stage. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2014, from
NAEYC website: http://www.naeyc.org/toys
Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2010, July 20). Developmentally appropriate materials for
preschool and kindergarten children (ages 3-6). Retrieved November 9, 2014, from
http://www.education.com/reference/article/developmentally-appropriate-materials/
Kindergarten developmentally appropriate practices. (2014). Retrieved November 9, 2014, from
Mrs. McHugh's Kinder Kids Genet Elementary School website:
http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/mmchugh/index.cfm?subpage=754536
New jersey core curriculum content standards. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2014, from State of
New Jersey Department of Education website: http://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/
Standards in your state. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2014, from Common Core State Standards
Initiative website: http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/

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