Role play:

 Little Red Riding Hood: find a little red riding hood costume, a picnic basket, a
wolf (stuffed animal)
 The Three Little Pigs: Three chairs of different sizes, three bowls of different
sizes, etc., stuffed animals which represent pigs (if possible), a wolf...
 Snow white: a beautiful dress, a bed for sleeping, an apple, a mirror...
 Picnic: a picnic basket filled with dishes, a blanket, a radio and a CD with birds
singing! This activity may also be done for lunch time. Simply set your blanket
on the floor in the middle of the room.
 Camping in the forest: a tent, two sleeping bags, utensils, dishes, food,
pyjamas
Regardless of the activity you choose for the role play area, decorate the area with
giant paper trees, illustrations from calendars representing the different seasons in
the forest, fabric leaves on the walls, etc. The goal is to literally "transform" your role
play area to look like a forest.

 Fairy tales which occur in forests (The three little pigs, Little Red Riding Hood,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel, etc.

Motor skills:
 An obstacle course: move like forest animals
 A treasure hunt: children search for pictures of forest animals
 Try whistling like a bird
 Move about the daycare like animals or insects
 Pretend you are firefighters extinguishing forest fires: children stand in line
with a pail full of water. Have them pass the pail down the line to get to the
fire with as much water as possible still in the pail!
 Sing songs while sitting around a pretend campfire. Explain the importance of
properly extinguishing a fire to avoid forest fires

Kitchen:
 Prepare a fruit salad with fruit which grow in trees: apples, pears, plums, even
pineapples!
 Have children cut white and brown mushrooms in little pieces and combine
with sour cream and plain yogurt to make a veggie dip...children may take a
liking to mushrooms ☺
 Prepare a recipe using small fruit, like the ones found in the forest
 Bird nest salad: 1 grated carrot, ½ cup of Chinese noodles, 1 tablespoon of
mayonnaise, a few raisins. Combine all the ingredients. Shape to look like a
nest and add raisins to represent eggs☺

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Wolf, where are you?
Children walk about the daycare singing with the exception of one child who was
designated to be the wolf:

"Let's walk in the woods, while the wolf isn't here. If the wolf was here, he would eat
us up...Wolf, where are you? Wolf, what are you doing?" While the wolf is getting
dressed, he answers, "I am putting my socks on". The game continues with, "I am
putting my pants on, I am putting my shoes on, I am putting my shirt on, etc." The
group repeats the song after each one of the wolf's responses. When the wolf is ready
he calls out, "I am going to eat you up!" He then chases after the children. The first
child to be captured becomes the wolf.

Hideout
Provide children with several different sizes of boxes and let them play a game of
hide and seek in their hideouts, just like squirrels.

Squirrel hide and seek

Fill a small swimming pool or bin with leaves (dried up leaves from trees or fabric
leaves). Hide objects among the leaves. When you give the signal, children search for
the objects. When they find one, they must deposit it in a hideout, just like squirrels
do. They can then continue to hunt for other objects. Once all the objects have been
found, start over.

Leaves in water
Fill a storage bin with water and add leaves. Children blow on the leaves using a
drinking straw to make them move.

Path in the forest

Use adhesive tape to mark off a start line and a finish line. Place leaves
approximately 10 cm apart. Provide children with drinking straws or empty toilet
paper rolls they can blow in to make their leaf move towards the finish line. The first
child to successfully cross his leaf over the finish line wins. The winner can race with
another child. Variation: Deposit various obstacles on the floor (chairs, tables,
bowling pins, mattresses, etc.)

Musical animal
Play music. When you stop the music, show children an animal illustration. Have
them imitate the animal, the sound it makes and the way it moves about. When the
music starts up again, children resume dancing. When you stop the music, display a
different animal. You may use the word flashcards for this activity.

Watch out for the bear

Select a child to be the bear. The bear chases the other children until he touches one.
The child who is touched becomes the bear. Variation: The child who is touched must
stop moving and hold his arms out. The other children can free him by passing under
his arms. Several children can have their arms extended at the same time. Change
bears frequently.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Illustrated walk
While taking a walk in the forest with your group, invite children to collect objects
from nature. When you return to the daycare, hang a large sheet of paper on the wall.
As a group, make a collective mural with the objects you collected.

Squirrel hideout
A few facts about squirrels. Red squirrels build their nests in branches or cavities in
trees. In winter, they live off the food their carefully collected during summer and
autumn. A single hideout can contain several hundred pinecones. Take a walk with
your group in the forest. Give each child an empty tissue box. They can use their box
as a hideout, just like squirrels. Collect as many tiny twigs, leaves, pinecones, and
acorns as you can. These items may be used for crafts throughout the theme.

Relaxation in the forest

Have children make their own beds of leaves. They will love relaxing on their beds.
Ask them to observe the clouds. They will identify shapes which they can later draw
on paper. Also invite them to listen to the sound of the wind and the birds.

ACTIVITY INVOLVING PARENTS

Invite parents to attend a small show during a special Little Red Riding Hood day.
Children will be very proud to serve their parents biscuits they made themselves. See
the suggestion of the week at the end of the theme.