A theme day all about ducks is a great addition to a spring preschool lesson plan. Duck or Duckie day can include such things as fun facts, crafts, books, songs and games all surrounding the topic of this lovely bird.
Introducing the Duck Theme
To begin the theme, a teacher can send a notice within the parent newsletter or post a notice on a parent board, and suggest that the children wear yellow on this particular day. In addition, she/he could inform the families that the preschool children may bring in any toy ducks they have at home for this special event. Simply setting up a theme day in this manner begins creating a fun experience for the children. On the day, the teacher can introduce the theme at circle time by asking the children what they know about ducks, and record their answers. This process honours the children's ideas and allows them to take ownership of their learning process. Some fun duck facts for children are:
- ducks are birds and are called waterfowls since they are predominantly found in the water
- they are related to swans and geese
- their webbed feet help them paddle in the water
- ducks are found all around the world, except for Antarctica where it is too cold
- some ducks migrate to warmer places
- a duck's mouth is called a bill
- there are many different breeds of ducks with different looks
- ducks lay eggs
Duck Preschool Crafts
The side view of a duck swimming in water is an easy shape for the teacher to create for young children to decorate. One suggestion on how to decorate the duck shape is to trace a child's hand onto yellow construction paper with his/her fingers closed or the child can make the same shape with yellow finger paint. This hand print can be glued onto the duck creating a side feather. In addition, full hand prints can be used for the feathers on the back.
Find different color feathers, which are available in most craft stores, and allow children to glue them onto a duck shape or just a few to make the feather on the back. This works well after singing or listening to the song " Six Little Ducks " with the lyrics, "but the one little duck with the feather on his back, he led the others with his quack, quack, quack".
A paper plate works well for the duck's body. A yellow circle cut out from construction paper can create the head, along with an orange bill and webbed feet to finish the art project.
"Five Little Ducks": Preschool Song
" Five Little Ducks " is a popular preschool song that can be sung with visual aides, such as felt pieces for a flannel board or a glove puppet. The song includes counting and number recognition for young children.
Five little ducks went swimming one day,
Over the hill and far away.
Mama duck said " quack, quack, quack"
But only four little ducks came swimming back.
Four little ducks…
(continue until you get no little ducks came swimming back)
Sad mama duck, said “QUACK,QUACK, QUACK”
And all the ducks came swimming back!
Duck Duck Goose Game
A duck theme day in an early childhood setting must include the game duck, duck, goose. To play this game, the children will sit in a circle, and it is best when there is a fair amount of room to run. One child is chosen and he/she will walk around the outside of the circle, tapping the children's head saying "duck" each time.
When the child chooses, he/she will tap a child's head and say "goose". This child will then jumped up from his/her position and try and chase the other child back to the spot. The two children have to run in opposite directions. The child who does not make it back to the space is "it" and the game continues with the same format. With younger ages, it is a good idea to simply let everyone have a turn at being "it" which not only provides some exercise, but an opportunity to feel chosen.
Creative Movement for a Duck Theme
A creative movement suggestion is for the teacher to play the song, "Little White Duck", a song that was originally written by Walt Whippo with music by Bernard Zaritzky from 1950. A popular version is sung by Raffi and can be found on his album titled, Everything Grows released in 1987. One child will be chosen to be the duck sitting in the middle of the circle. Then children will be chosen for each animal in the song to play out the actions sung in the lyrics.
Suggested Children's Books for a Duck Theme
Ducks are a popular topic for children's books. The following list contains a few suggestions:
- One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root and Jane Chapman (Candlewicks, 2003)
- Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle (Harper Collins, 2005)
- Duck, Duck, Goose by Tad Hills (Schwartz&Wade, 2007)
More Duck Themed Ideas for the Preschool Classroom
On duckie day, the sensory table could have blue water which is created by placing a few drops of food coloring into the water with a heap of rubber duckies. The room could be decorated with a yellow theme, thus holding yellow streamers and balloons, and yellow toys placed out on the tables. The paint activities might contain yellow with other colors so the children can learn about color mixing, and the art shelves could be filled with yellow collage material.
Duckie day is an easy theme to incorporate into an early childhood curriculum as there are an abundance of ideas and material established for children following this theme. This article provides some ideas for a duck theme day, and there are many more to choose from simply by visiting some of the online preschool websites or visiting a local library.
Christine Moore - Early Childhood Educator, Preschool/Daycare Resources, Online Workshop Instructor, ECE, BGS
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