Preschool Express by Jean Warren

ZIPPITY DO FINGER PAINTING
	Place a table spoon of two primary colors in a zip-lock bag and close tightly.
	Let your child squish it and poke it and blend the colors.
	What color did they make?
Variation:
	Place black paint in the bag and lay a bright colored piece of paper under the bag.
	As children run their fingers over the top of the bag, clear places will show up as the colored paper.

ZIPPITY DO GLITTER BAGS

	Place glitter in a zip-lock bag.
	Then have your child brush glue over objects (such as pine cones, or paper shapes) and then drop them into the glitter.
	Carefully remove objects and set on a paper towel to dry.

ZIPPITY DO PLAYDOUGH
	Place small balls of two or three different colors of play dough inside a small zip-lock bag and let your child squeeze the bag making a rainbow of colors.

ZEBRA STRIPES

	Give your child a cutout of a zebra shape.
	Then give him a wide black marking pen and have him make stripes on his cutout to resemble the stripes on a zebra.

ZOO STAMPS
	Set out some stamps of animals that your might find at the zoo and a stamp pad.
	Give your child a piece of paper and let her stamp on some animals.
	Then give her some colored marking pens and encourage her to draw bushes and buildings she might find at the zoo.

Z GAMES

Z COUNTING RHYME
Here is a counting rhyme that emphasizes the letter Z and also teaches the number “0”.

THREE LITTLE ZEBRAS
Three little zebras went out to play
One of the zebras galloped away.

Two little zebras out at play,
Another zebra galloped away.

One little zebra out at play.
Finally, that zebra galloped away.

Zero zebras out at play.
Now all the zebra’s are far away.

Jean Warren

COLOR ZONES

	Set up color zones in your room.
	Tape a piece of red paper in one area, a piece of blue in another area, and yellow and green in two more areas.
	Encourage your children to look for items that are that color and place them in the proper zone.
Variation: Occasionally, tell your child or children to go to their color zone. What zone they will go to, will depend on what they are wearing that day.

ZOO TRAIN

Have your children pull a small wagon around in a circle pretending to be a train and pick up small stuffed animals along the way.

Teach them this song to sing as they go around.

LITTLE ZOO TRAIN
Little zoo train chugging ‘round the track.
Picking up zoo animals, then taking them back.
Blowing his whistle at each stop.
So the animal, aboard will hop!

Jean Warren

ZOO ANIMAL SORT
	Have your children gallop like zebras.
	Ride like Zorro
	Be zany!
	Zig-zag across a room.

ZIP-LOCK BEAN BAGS There are a number of ways you can turn zip-lock bags into bean bags.
	Fill with dried peas or navy beans.
	Fill with old, clean panty hose.
	Fill with packing peanuts.

Z LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

ZOO PLAY Have your children pretend to be Zoo animals.
	Make up names for your Zoo character.
	Make up mini-plays about zoo animals.
	Ask the Zoo animals questions.
	Act out animal actions. Identify the movement.

ZOO BOOKS
	Go to the library and look for stories about zoo animals.
	Read one story each day this week.

ZIP-LOCK BOOKS You can make simple picture books for your children using zip-lock bags.
	Glue pictures on the front and back of a piece of paper that fits into your bag.
	Do a number of these pictures around a certain subject, such as Zoo animals.
	Then staple all the bags together leaving the zipper side of the bags on the outer edge. (So you can replace pictures, if you want)
Variation: Place sequence story pictures in zip-lock bags. Have your child arrange the bags in the proper order of the story on a table or on the floor.

Z INSTRUMENTS
	Bring in a zither for your children to observe or strum, if possible.
	Put small bells in a zip-lock bag for your children to shake.

Z WRITING

ZORRO Z's

	Give your children large pieces of paper and a black crayon or marker.
	Show them how to make large Z shapes on their paper, just like the mark left by Zorro.

CIRCLING ZIP-CODES

	Save up old envelopes that you get in the mail.
	Let your children use a thin marking pen to circle any zip code numbers they find.

Z SNACKS

Z SNACKS
Here are some ideas for snack time while studying the letter Z.

	Zucchini Bread or Muffins
	Zucchini Soup
	Zucchini Boats (cut small zucchini's long way and scoop out seeds, fill with cottage cheese, or cheese spread)
	Zoo Cake or Cookies (decorate with animal crackers in frosting on top)

ZIPPITY- DO PUDDING Let your children make their own pudding for snack.
	Pour ½ cup milk and ¼ of a package of pudding mix in a small sturdy zip-lock bag.
	Zip the top and let your child, push, poke and squeeze his bag until the contents turns to thickened pudding.
	An easy way to take the pudding out is to cut a slit across one bottom corner and let your child squeeze their pudding into a bowl.

Z SCIENCE

FUN AT THE ZOO Don't forget the Zoo when emphasizing the letter Z.
	Go on a sign search at the Zoo, looking for the word “Zoo”.
	Make a special trip to see the zany Zebras.

ZIP-LOCK SCIENCE Here are some fun science ideas using zip-lock bags.
	Give your child a zip-lock bag to put nature treasures while on a nature walk.
	Let your children experiment with some small zip-lock bags at the water table. What happens if you blow in the bag, before zipping and then place it in the water? What happens if you fill it with small toys?
	Grow grass in a bag. Place some cotton in the bottom of a bag, then dampen the cotton with water. (Wet but not soggy). Add grass seeds. Remove excess air in the bag and seal. Place in dark place until the seeds sprout. Then place in a sunny spot to watch them grow.

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