Neighborhood Unit Study

Here is another unit study for September.  Later I'll divide this into 5 days as well.

Topics to learn about:
Grocery Store
Bank
Post Office
Restaurant
Garbage Man - Coloring Sheet
Policemen - Police Coloring Sheet
Firemen - 32 page coloring/activity book to print 
you'll need to do Image Resize and resize it to an 8.5x11 page - the
pages are zipped and when unzipped, are only a couple inches big.
Library - Coloring Sheet  

Math
Mail Carrier
Duplicate
and cut out mail carrier hat.  Copy houses and letters, let her
color them.  Laminate and cut out.   Put the mail hat
on.  Line up the houses in a row.  Look at the numbers on the
houses, and find the matching letter.  Deliver the letter to the
house.

Play grocery store with her play food.  Use money to buy things.  Play with her money flashcards.


Science
Have dh bring home some blueprints.  Show her what they are.  Learn what the lines and symbols mean.

Learn about water.  Gather various items that absorb water and
items that don't.  Put them in water and see what happens.

Crafts
Make a fire collage using red, orange, and yellow bits of torn paper.
Rub-A-Dub-Dub Nursery Rhyme
Paint a plastic bowl.  Cut out images of 3 people and place inside the tub.
Duplicate coloring page. Baker TP roll craft

Fire Painting

Directions:
Using colors associated with fire (red, orange) squirt or
draw thick lines of paint on paper and add a few drops of black
paint here and there. Press clear plastic wrap onto the paper
and squeegee the paint around. Pull plastic off of the paper
using a strong vertical pulling action. (This will cause the paint
to look like fire.) When paint is dry have the children glue a
black cutout of a house (windows cut out) and/or a black cutout of
a fire truck.

Food/Cooking

Fire Truck Cookies
Ingredients

Graham Crackers
Black licorice
Oreos
Red icing
Have
her spread icing on cracker.  Put oreos on for wheels.  Put
licorice horizontally, halfway down the cracker, as a hose.

Bake some cookies or muffins

Misc. Activities
- Teach her our address and phone number.
- Cut out a shape of a traffic light and a red, yellow and green circle.  Use with matchbox cars.
- Play "Red Light, Green Light"
- Learn fire safety rules: never
play with matches; if clothes are on fire, stop, drop and roll; to
avoid smoke, stay low and go; keep away from hot appliances; and
practice home fire drills.
- Learn about 911
- Make a mail box out of a cardboard box.  Make letters and 'mail' them.
- Play restaurant - have her help with dinner, make menus, etc.

Matching Game
Find object or pictures that correspond with different community
helpers (mailbox, dentist chair, firetruck, etc.). Additionally find
pictures of community helpers in uniform. Let your children match which
object goes with what helper.

Baker
Doctor
Firefighter
Mailman

Books to Read:

There is an excellent series I found, called the Community Helpers
series.  They are published by Bridgestone Books, and are perfect
for preschool/kindergarten age.   A lot of the Dee Ready
books on this list are part of that series.  


You're a community helper / Karen Bryant-Mole J 331.7 B
Community helpers from A to Z / Bobbie Kalman J 331.7 K
Fire fighters ; by Dee Ready J 628.9 R
Police officers ; by Dee Ready J 363.2 R
Richard Scarry's busy workers E S
Richard Scarry's postman pig and his busy neighbors E S
Michael Berenstain's When I grow up : Oh, the things I can be! /E B
My teddy bear at work / Irwin Jorvik, Ltd E M
Mail carriers / by Dee Ready J 383.145 R
Librarians / by Dee Ready J 023.2 R
Garbage and recycling / Rosie Harlow, Sally Morgan J 363.728 H
Where does the garbage go? / by Paul Showers J 628.44 S
Field Trip possibilities:
Visit a bakery
Watch the butcher at the grocery store
Have her go with me to a dr. appointment
Go to the post office.

Good Links

Fingerplays and Songs
Coloring Pages
Unit Study Planning Sheet
Community Unit Study links

Books I used:
Let Loose on Mother Goose by Terry Graham
Instant Science for Primary Grades by Sam Ed Brown