Preschoolers will find out what color the sun really is and try to catch the reflection of its rays. They will solve a few riddles and practice dividing the words into syllables. They will also improve their math skills by arranging the sun’s rays from the longest to the shortest and vice versa.

Materials:

rainbow parachute, riddles, picture cards for riddles, sack/back/box, emblems for riddles, cards with numbers (1-5), a song entitled “Yellow Song”, a song entitled “The Rainbow Colors”, books/albums/photos showing the sun in its various phases (dawn, noon, twilight), an educational movie entitled “The Sun Isn’t Yellow Or Orange; It’s White”, bells/flute/keyboard, yellow circle, yellow stripes of various lengths, colored stripes of various lengths for each child, 2 small mirrors.

Activity description:

1. “Hello to those who …” – greeting – everybody holds the scarf at waist level and gently moves it. Teacher says the next sentences, and children who have the color that teacher is talking about change places while running on the outside of the circle. Teacher lists all the colors so that all children are greeted:

• Hello to those who have orange color,
• Hello to those who have red color,
• Hello to those who have purple color,
• Hello to those who have blue color,
• Hello to those who have green color,
• Hello to those who have yellow color.

2. “Yellow riddles” – solving riddles – teacher asks children the riddles, children guess. After each correct answer, teacher places a picture card with the solution to the riddles on the carpet. Children divide the word into syllables one after another. Then, teacher asks children what all these things have in common – yellow color.

1. You see it rise in the morning and set when the day is done. It provides us with light and heat. It’s a star that’s called the … (Sun)
2. This is something yellow. But it is not a light. It is a citrus fruit. That’s a flavor in Sprite. (lemon)
3. I am something that is yellow. And I grow tall like a tower. I am used for seeds and oil. I sound bright – I’m a … (sunflower)
4. This popular grain is yellow. And is grown outside in a field. Many people add some butter. Once it’s cooked and the husk is peeled. (corn)
5. There are millions of these things. Which are seen in the sky at night. The closest one to planet Earth. Is called the sun which shines so bright. (stars)
6. I am a fruit that’s curved. Although I am not round. Don’t slip up on my skin. If it’s dropped on the ground. (banana)

3. “Syllables” – movement activity – teacher places the cards with numbers from 1 to 5 in different places in the room (you also intentionally place a card with numbers 1 and 5, even though there are no words with such a number of syllables). Children pull out the emblems from the sack/bag/box with the items from the previous game. Then, children march, jump or run around the room to the rhythm of the song entitled “Yellow Song”. During a break in music, children are asked to stand by a cardboard box that defines the number of syllables of the object in the picture they are holding. After checking the correctness of the task, children return to the center of the room and exchange the cards with each other – you cannot exchange the same picture. Repeat this game several times.

4. “Yellow associations” – dictionary activity – teacher asks children: “What else do you associate with the yellow color?”. Children take turns giving their answers – all answers are correct.

5. “Yellow game” – movement activity – children move around the room to the rhythm of the song entitled “The Rainbow Colors”. During a break in the music, teacher gives the name of a color that children have to find in the room and touch it. If the name “yellow” is mentioned, children stand still. Repeat the game several times.

6. “What color is the sun?” – didactic activity – children look at the albums/books/photos depicting the Sun in its various phases (dawn, noon, dusk). Teacher explains to children the concept of the horizon (the line that separates the Earth from the sky – the line along which the sky seems to touch the earth’s surface) – it is best to return to the topic during the walk and show children the horizon. Then, teacher asks children the following questions:

• What color is the sun when it appears on the horizon?
• What color is the sun when it is high in the sky?
• What color is the sun when it hides behind the horizon?
• Is the sun really yellow?

After that, the teacher presents the educational movie “The Sun Isn’t Yellow Or Orange; It’s White”.

7. “Sun’s journey” – movement activity – teacher plays the C major scale on the bells/flute/keyboard. Children are Suns who lie huddled on the floor. With each subsequent note, they float more and more – so that with the upper note C, they will be able to get on their toes. Repeat the game several times, playing sounds from the lowest to the highest and vice versa.

8. “Sunbeams” – didactic activity – teacher places a yellow circle on the carpet and stripes of various lengths extending from it. Children are asked to look closely and tell which radius is the shortest and which is the longest. Then, teacher asks children to arrange the rays from the shortest to the longest. Successively, each child receives a set of colored strips of various lengths, which are to be arranged from the longest to the shortest. After completing the task, everyone checks the correctness of its completion together.

9. “We catch the Sun’s rays” – movement activity – teacher moves the mirrors so that the sun’s rays reflected from them appear in the room. The task of children is to catch “Sun’s rays” – touching the place on the wall/carpet where the light appears.

10. “Horizon ” – educational walk – teacher shows children the horizon and reminds them that it is the line that separates the Earth from the sky.

* You can ask parents picking up their child from the kindergarten to dress their child colorful tomorrow – or at least to have any rainbow accent.

Attachments:

Picture cards for the “Yellow riddles” activity

Emblems for the “Syllables” acitivity

Photos for the “What color is the sun?” acitivity

Picture cards for a song entitled “The Rainbow Colors”

Pages used:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03n6_3ZNs-8&ab – a song entitled “Yellow Song” to the activity “Syllables”
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRNy2i75tCc – a song entitled „The Rainbow Colors”
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fl1JXesYhc&ab – an educational movie entitled “The Sun Isn’t Yellow Or Orange; It’s White” for the “What color is the sun?” activity