Note: This resource is modified from a lovely poem derived from the internet several years ago. Unfortunately the original link is no longer operative
(http://workofheart.bravehost.com/easter.htm) making it difficult to give full credit to the original author.
The
Hunting for Eggs Animated Step-by-Step poem is designed
to address
counting (1 to 5),
colors (red, blue, yellow, green, pink
… purple and orange in added extension activities) and five
farm animals hidden in the eggs
(cow, horse, pig, cat, chicken). A portion of this activity is a guessing game. The child is instructed to 'Shake and listen'. He/she first hears a rattle and then an animal sound. "Guess what animal?" The program then instructs the child to 'Open it' and the mystery animal is revealed.
Here is a peek inside the pages of the
Regular
Version of this resource. If you are displaying this resource on your interactive whiteboard, the pen tools can be used to fill in the spaces provided to answer the question, e.g., How many eggs did you find?
This resource is available in three versions: Regular (no symbols), SymbolStix (n2y), Picture
Communication Symbols (Dynavox/Tobii). It can be displayed on an interactive whiteboard, a computer monitor, a large screen TV using Apple TV/Chromecast, as well as iPad/Android tablets using the free Microsoft PowerPoint app.
Although at first glance, the poem would appear to be an 'Easter
poem’, it really can be used to address a variety of academic and therapeutic
goals throughout the school year. I recall as a young girl going with my grandmother to gather eggs in the chicken coop. Finding some eggs was always a joy. Breakfast would be just around the corner.
This resource ‘sets the stage’ beautifully for a real world egg hunt within the classroom,
playground or motor gym. In many classrooms it can provide a much needed ‘motor break’, simultaneously addressing
a host of motor goals (ambulation, squat
to pick up, opening containers, one or two-hand shaking, grasping objects, opening/closing
the eggs). The Internet offers plastic eggs in different colors and sizes … so you can also add size (big/little
or small/medium/large) to the roster of concepts being stimulated when conducting this activity.
The materials/rewards
you choose to hide in the eggs can be varied in keeping with individual interests and/or academic needs. Here are a few
suggestions:
- Plastic
dinosaur figurines
- Lego
people needed for the child’s lego project
- Letters needed to spell the child’s name, e.g., K A T H R Y N
- Mister
Potato Head parts
- Stickers
- Raisins/gerber
puffs/ popcorn
- Numbered Face Puzzle
Start out presenting the
eggs
partially-hidden within the
environment. Later you may be able to advance to
completely-hidden eggs. You may wish to add a
literacy agenda to
the latter by providing written clues (that must be deciphered) for the hiding spots, e.g., Look in the
red box in the hall. If you are working on
core
words consider using notes written with symbols.
LOOK BEHIND the GARBAGE
CAN
IN THE BATHROOM.
The eggs can be numbered to reinforce counting (e.g., How many do we have? 1 - 2 - 3 . Now we are looking for number 1 - 2 - 3 - ..... 4!
To promote
collaboration, encourage students to work
in pairs. Each team is encouraged to randomly select a
predetermined number of notes from a grab bag. It’s a race against the clock.
Set the timer! Ready, set, go!
Here are a few links
to get you started with your extension activity:
Hunting for Eggs is a nice complement to two other Animated Step-by-Step Activities:
CVC Mystery Balls http://bit.ly/CVCMysteryBalls(TpT) blog post: http://bit.ly/2ass4Hq
Dying Eggs http://bit.ly/DyedEggs (TpT)
Happy hunting …’til the
next post … (new posts every Monday)
Email
me canadiangoosse@gmail.com
©2016 Carol
Goossens’, Ph.D.
Augmentative
Communication Consultant
Speech-Language
Pathologist
Special
Educator
