Y = Yes I Can
This unit is designed to determine exactly how much a child understands and can follow directions. Remember, not all children learn at the same pace and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. This is a unit that be used over a long period of
time as they children grow and learn. There are not many activity sheets included in this unit as you can’t learn to tie, button, or zip on paper.
Many of the activities are designed to make a child aware of themselves in many different ways and gain confidences they grow and learn. Basic skills are taught and or perfected in this unit.
YES I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT ME
I Can Draw
Make a paper bag self-puppet. Use crayons to make the facial features. We use yarn for the hair. I have various fabrics, and the children can dress themselves.
I Know What I Look Like
Use shiny tinted window and cut out a square shape for each child. Place it on the table in front of them so they can see themselves reflected in the mirror paper. Have them use finger paints to fill in their facial features, according to the color of
our eyes, hair, etc.
I Can Tell You About Myself
Make a ME book, make a page each day for one week. The first day make a handprint along with the words to the words I Am Special written around the handprint. The second page, make fingerprints in the shape of a circle, with the words inside My
fingerprints are different from everyone in the whole wide world. The third day make a page with a self-portrait. The fourth day make a page about how old am I, how tall, and how much do I weigh. The fifth day make a page about their favorite color and
the kids cut/glued misc. collage materials and/or colored things with their favorite color(s). On the last day put hole punches along the side and wove yarn through the holes to complete the book.
I Know All About Myself
Help the children learn:
Their first, middle and last name.
Their address, city, state, zip
Their phone number
Their parents and grandparents names
The names of the business their parents work for
I Can Tell You My House Number and Street
Set out shapes such as squares, rectangles and triangles and have the children glue them on a piece of construction paper to make a house. Add doors, windows, chimney, etc. (A large triangle shape can be the roof) Then talk with each child to see if
they know their street address. Using number stickers have child their house number on the house they created. (An alternate idea is to draw house shapes on paper, make copies, let the children color or embellish the house to look like their own.
About Me Mobile
Trace child’s hands and feet on construction paper and cut them out. Look through magazines and cut out 4 pictures of things the child likes. Glue 2 of them together back to back, so you end up with 2 pictures. Give each child a 4 1/2" x 6" piece of
paper and have them draw themselves on it. Tie varying lengths of string to the hand, foot, self-portrait and the 2 magazine pictures. Hang them from a clothes hanger.
I Know Myself Inside and Out
Trace each child’s body on huge rolls of white butcher paper. On each day of the week learn about and add different things to their body.
Monday: the heart
Tuesday: the lungs
Wednesday: the ears, eyes and mouth
Thursday: the bones
Friday: the stomach
Be sure to learn about each component as you go. You may substitute other parts if you wish
I Can Tell You About My Family
How many brothers, sisters, cats, dogs, grandparents, who I live with, etc.
I Know My Phone Number
Practice the child's phone number (sing it to a familiar tune), be to add the area code.
YES I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF
I Can Brush My Teeth By Myself
Have each child bring a toothbrush and toothpaste. Practice brushing their teeth by themselves. Make sure to get the back, front, top, and gum area. Read a book about good dental health or visit a dentist.
I Can Brush My Hair By Myself
Have each child practice brushing their hair. Learn how to brush out tangles the easy way, from the bottom up. You could also incorporate washing hair if you desire.
I Can Wash My Hands By Myself
Practice handwashing, using soap. Practice turning on and off the water and learn about the cold and hot handles.
I Can Make My Bed By Myself
Practice putting on and taking off bed sheets until the child can do it themselves (it need not be perfect). Once the sheets are mastered, try the blanket and bedspread. Learn hoe to put on and take off a pillow case.
I Can Get Dressed By Myself
Have the child dress themselves with as little help as possible. Let them pick out their own clothes. This is a good time to learn about matching colors.
YES I CAN HELP
I Can Vacuum The Floor By Myself
Help the children learn how to vacuum and sweep the floors. You could also add mopping. The take for granted skills can a little troublesome for little ones. They enjoy helping out when they have the chance.
I Can Turn Off The Lights
Help children learn the importance of saving electricity. Practice turning the lights off each time they leave a room.
I Can Help Pick Up
Have the child assist in cleaning a room, putting each item where it belongs.
YES I KNOW MY COLORS
Using color flash cards, see what colors the child can identify. Help them learn the colors they do not know.
Have the child color a picture as you state what color to use for each object: color the ball red, the grass green etc.
Have the child put the crayons in order by color, all the blue shades together, the green shades together, etc. this helps them learn that there are multiple shades of one color.
YES I KNOW MY SHAPES
Using shapes flash cards or cut out shapes , see what shapes the child can identify. Help them learn the shapes they do not know.
Have the child look at a shape and draw the shape on a piece of paper.
Look though magazines for specific shapes, let’s find circles, squares, rectangles, etc.
YES I KNOW MY ABC’s
Sing the ABC’s together, have the child sing them alone. Help them learn the letters they may miss/
YES I KNOW MY LETTERS
Using letter flash cards, magnetic letters, or cut out letters see which ones the child can identify. Help them learn the ones they do not know.
Look through magazines to find different letters.
Take a walk and look for letters on license plates, street signs, etc.
YES I KNOW MY NUMBERS
Using number flash cards, magnetic numbers, or cut out numbers see which ones the child can identify. Help them learn the ones they do not know.
Take a walk and look for numbers on license plates, houses, buildings.
Practice dialing their phone number on a real phone. If their parents are work no one will be bothered if the phone rings.
YES I KNOW HOW TO USE SCISSORS
Practice using scissors to cut out simple shapes. If the child is just learning how to use scissors, let them cut randomly, if they are more advanced, have them cut pictures from magazines.
YES I CAN BE SAFE
Practice crossing the street
Practice dialing 9-1-1
Practice telling strangers no
Practice fire safety
Practice bad weather safety
Practice getting in and out of a car, making sure the seat belt is properly adjusted and latched.
Practice what you say if you are home alone and a stranger calls or knocks on the door.
YES I CAN GET READY TO GO OUTSIDE
Have the child practice and learn how to put on, tie, zip, button, etc their outdoor gear. Also have them practice taking their gear off and putting it where it belongs.
YES I CAN EXERCISE
Teach the children the importance of exercise. Practice jumping jacks, sit ups, running in place, skipping, rolling, running, jogging, etc.
YES I KNOW OPPOSITES
Teach the children about opposites: up / down, left / right, big / little, top / bottom. Have them come up with some opposites on their own.
YOUR OWN IDEAS
There are so many I CAN activities that this unit could go on forever, as children are always learning. Add your own activities to coordinate what you may learning at this time. Ideas
Baking
Manners
Reading
Planting flowers
Matching
Identifying
Weeding flowers
Separating
Describing
Health
Adding
Creating
Safety
Building
So on and so on......
Nutrition
Clean Up
Swimming
Organizing
Swinging
Braiding
Climbing
Knots
YES I CAN MEASURE
Measure several small objects using a 12 inch ruler. Next measure several longer objects using a tape measure.
Measure each child using a yard stick or tape measure.
Ask the children how much dirt is in a hole. This is kind of a trick question, if there is a hole, there is no dirt in it.
Measure using measuring cups. How many 1/4 cups does it take to fill a 1 cup container.
How many 1 cups does it take to fill a gallon.
Use a scale and weigh a few small objects (approx. 5 lbs each). Now put them on the scale together and see how much the total weight is.
YES I CAN
Have the children tell you 5 things they can do by themselves without the help of an adult.
Have them tell you 5 things they need an adults help to do, help them learn to do these things by themselves.
Have the child draw a picture doing something they are proud to be able to do by themselves.
Have the children pick a room in the house and see if there is something they could in that room to make it safer or more fun.
Have the children clean their toys, give them all a bath. This will teach them about getting rid of germs.
YES I CAN USE THE BATHROOM BY MYSELF
Practice good bathroom habits. After using the potty by themslef (use a small step stool if necessary) remind them to wash their hands using both soap and water, dry off their hands, turn off the water and the light before leaving the bathroom.
YES I CAN CHART
Month ____________________________ Year _________
Copy off 12 of these charts. The first week of each month document the progress of the child.
I can say my abc’s YES NO
I can identify these letters (circle
)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z
I can count
I can count to 5 YES NO
I can count to 10 YES NO
I can count to 15 YES NO
I can count to 20 YES NO
I can identify these numbers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
I can identify these colors (circle)
red yellow blue green brown black white
purple orange pink ______ ______ ______ ______
I can identify these shapes (circle)
circle square triangle oval rectangle star
heart clover diamond other ___________
other ________ other _______ other ___________
I can dress myself
underclothes top pants socks shoes coat hat
mittens boots zip button tie velcro remove
Make additional charts for additional goals