Barney and Friends . Parents and Educators . Lesson Plans

lesson plans

House Plays

Suggested Grade Level: Preschool-K

Based on: Barney & Friends #720: "BJ's Really Cool House"

Objectives:
One of the most exciting, as well as most meaningful, topics for young children is their home. A home is a source of security - a place to eat and sleep with people that love you. There are many types of homes (house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, townhouse). Children are interested in learning about all kinds of homes.

The children will:

know that a home is where a family lives, eats, and sleeps (some children live with divorced parents in two homes)
learn that there are many types of homes: house, apartment, mobile home
understand that homes may be made from many materials - wood, brick, stone, mud
learn that most houses have one or more rooms - named for how it's used - bedroom, living room, bathroom, dining room, kitchen
know that a group of houses where families live near each other is called a neighborhood
Skills:

Art
Role-playing
Language expression
Materials:

Crayons and markers
Paper
Scissors
Directions:
Discuss the many types of homes children live in. On a large map, locate the school, neighborhoods, and even individual homes. After discussing the many types of homes, divide students into four groups. Each group will present their own play.

They can make backdrops to define the house they are demonstrating.

Here are four nursery rhymes, one for each group:

"Peter Peter, Pumpkin Eater"

Peter, peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.

"There Was a Crooked Man"

There was a crooked man,
And he went a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence
Beside a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat,
Which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
In a crooked little house.

"There Was An Old Woman"

There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children
She didn't know what to do.
She gave them some soup
And slices of bread
She hugged them and kissed them
And put them to bed.

"A Cat Came Fiddling Out of a Barn"

A cat came fiddling out of a barn,
With a pair of bagpipes under her arm
She could sing nothing but fiddle-dee-dee,
The mouse has married the bumblebee.
Pipe, cat;
Dance, mouse;
We'll have a wedding at our good house.

Extension:
Set up the block center as a construction site. You may include props such as a construction hat and hang up pictures of different types of homes. Encourage students to build a neighborhood full of as many different types of homes as possible.