This week, Isla had a preschool theme of opposites. As an adult, it seems so basic, but it’s important to talk about it because sometimes the opposite comes out of their mouth as, for example, the opposite of hot is “not hot”. While true, I’m glad this was a theme we tackled, and introducing the vocabulary is key. Isla had a lot of ‘it’s just something else’ moments when we were reading all our opposite books. There are many books out there on the topic with one word on a page and the opposite word on the next. We did some of our own little crafts to go with them. It was loads of fun.
Some of the hands-on activities we did was just sorting and gluing. I always like to throw some of those in. Not everyone likes worksheets and paper but both my girls have had a nice balance between the big creations and the simple worksheets. Sometimes they like to sort and trace and complete a sheet that stays around. I found some images online and made some big and small ones and sorted them. We also enjoy finding all the opposites on this worksheet from Tot Schooling. These can be laminated and reused but Isla really enjoys the glue stick, so we made a poster with it.
Left and Right
Left and Right can be a little above the age, but it is an important opposite. Left and Right feet are the easiest way to show it and goes along with lots of the opposites in the Foot Book by Dr. Suess. We traced her hands and feet and colored them in different colors. She also mentioned that her hands are the opposite of her feet.
Hot and Cold
Sensory boxes are always a hit and a perfect way to keep her busy and entertained when trying to work with older children. For this one I filled three containers with water. One had ice cubes, one regular tap water and the other was pretty warm tap water (make sure it’s not too hot!). We then talked about the way they feel and how hot and cold are opposites. We then added some dollar store measuring cups and other containers and let them have fun!
Open and Closed
We read a few different opposite books with garden themes so I thought a garden-related opposite would be fun. I traced a small circle inside and a larger circle. She colored it and then I cut curved lines between the two circles. I added a stem and some leaves and you have an OPEN flower. Fold over all the petals and then you have a CLOSED flower. ( Add template ?)
Big and Small
We love The Bear Books series. Big Bear, Small Mouse was perfect for opposites. All the animals in the book are doing the opposite things. What better way to end it then with making a big bear and a small mouse! We used a paper plate for the bear face and a toilet paper roll for the mouse.
