G is for Googly Eyes! Letter G: Preschool Activities and Lesson Plan
Today we are learning all about the letter G and the sense of sight. There are a lot of hands-on learning activities here, including crafts, books, math ideas, free printables, and more. They all center around this free preschool lesson plan Letter G is for Googly Eyes. Who doesn’t love googly eyes?!
This is part of our alphabet lesson plan series, and the fourth in our set covering the five senses. Last time we learned about F is for Fragrance! I hope these plans are helpful for you as you plan full preschool lessons at home or if you are just looking for some fun, educational, and budget-friendly activities for kids. Come along as we talk, sing, read, write, and play our way through the alphabet!
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Visit the Preschool Lesson Plan Index to see what free plans are published or in the works!
Update: You can now get ALL of the Alphabet Lesson Plans, Checklists, and Printables, (plus Bonus Ideas and 75+ exclusive preschool printables!) all in one budget-friendly digital product…A to Z and Beyond! Preschool Curriculum.
INTRODUCTION to Preschool Lesson Plan Letter G is for Googly Eyes
Sing the Welcome Song. As we sing “Hello to All the Children in the World” each week, we are learning greetings in different languages. Going in order of the song, this week we were on Australia! Little #3 was excited to learn about Australia as we have friends from Down Under and family members who have lived there.
Using a World Map, locate your home and Australia. Talk briefly about some traditions in Australia (such as cricket) or interesting facts (like the presence of kangaroos and koalas).
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PLAY: Alphabet Tracing App
We discussed how G is made of a big curvy shape like “half-circle C” and then some straight lines. Little g is made of curvy lines that look kind of like a circle with a tail.
We don’t often use the iPad in preschool, so when we did today, Little #3 was pretty excited. Alphabet Tracing Free is a free iPad app that is just like it sounds…tracing. 🙂
If you’re okay to spend $6.99, LetterSchool is a similar iPad alphabet app that is a little more exciting and has varied levels of tracing (you can see if it is worth it to you with the free version containing A-E).
Alternately, practice tracing G and g through tracing paper or up against a window. Alphashapes are always fun and simple to practice making the letters, as well.
We also traced some of the other letters we’ve learned already.
SING: The G Song
After learning about its shape, we learned about the two sounds of the letter G. We practiced by singing the G song from Alphabet Operetta
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You could also access the songs for free by signing up for an Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial.
When I was little, we would perform full shows to the Alphabet Operetta. (My parents were great sports. 🙂 ) I still use many tricks and rhymes from those songs in preschool with my Littles. The songs are catchy and educational. Win!
When my mom gave us the CD as a gift, I was much more excited than the kids. They all love singing along too now.
We sang the song a few times, while marching in a circle and making actions for the different G characters going to the G Party.
WRITE: Letter G Worksheet
Once in a while, a good old-fashioned worksheet is in order.
I created a free printable Letter G worksheet (also included in the free Lesson Plan Checklist) that helps Littles practice writing G and recognizing its sound.
Little #3 needed a little guidance in finding all the words that started with G, so he could circle them. He did pretty well though and understood the sound better after finishing the activity.
TALK & PLAY: Googly Eyes Math
A fun G-word is Googly Eyes! I pulled out a handful of googly eyes.
I used the googly eyes as manipulatives, as we did some simple math.
How many googly eyes do I have here? If you have four googly eyes (gave him four) and I use two, how many do you have left? If I make three creatures that each have two eyes (set them in pairs), how many googly eyes are there altogether?
Let the Littles make up some math story problems as well.
PLAY and CRAFT: Googly Eyes Sock Puppet
Next it was time to make a fun project using the googly eyes. Ever wonder what to do with those inevitable mismatched socks?
While I have several ideas for them, today we made sock puppets.
I provided the socks, eyes, yarn, pipe cleaners, markers, and glue and let Little #3 do whatever he wanted with them. Other fun craft supplies to include are buttons, bits of fabric, or feathers.
Hot glue works really well on the socks and dries fast. However, it obviously requires more supervision. If you’re outnumbered, don’t mind waiting for them to dry, or want the Littles to be more independent, Elmer’s glue works well too.
TALK: Sense of Sight
Now these googly eyes can’t really see, but our eyes can! We briefly reviewed the other senses we’ve learned about in preschool so far (taste, hear, and smell). Next, we discussed some of the beautiful things we can see with our eyes.
PLAY: I Spy with My Googly Eyes
Using the sock puppets, we played “I Spy with my googly eyes…” We took turns pretending our puppets were spying different things that the other person had to guess. We started with colors, “I spy with my googly eyes, something that is blue.”
Then we did some variations, such as “I spy withy my googly eyes, something that is square” or “something that is smooth.”
(I forgot to take a picture of Little #3’s finished sock puppet. Now it is somewhere in his room, currently unavailable for a photo shoot! His looks a lot less like a girl and a lot more like a creature. 😉 )
READ: Eye: How It Works
I asked Little #3 if he knew how our eyes are able to see things. He didn’t know much, but after reading a nonfiction book about how eyes work, he knew a lot more.
Check your library for nonfiction books about sight. You can read the book or use the pictures to discuss the process in a simplified way.
A great book suggestion is Eye: How It Works
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This book uses the real terms to explain how the eye really works in an understandable way. While all the details might be too old for younger preschoolers, you can read ahead and decide how much you want to share. The pictures and labels are really helpful.
SING: See Me Run
Our eyes are amazing at seeing all kinds of things! My eyes can see you run!
We sang the fun movement song, “See Me Run” by Janeen Brady.
(I pulled out all the childhood favorites today!) In this song we run, hop, skip, whirl, and more. Honestly, I can’t help but move when I hear it.
Again, this is a CD that is easy to get into and full of great songs teaching movement and musicality.
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This song is also available with a Free Trial of Amazon Music Unlimited.
READ: The Grumpy Gargoyle and The Gecko
When we were talking about words that start with the letter g, Little #3 got really excited about gargoyles. I’m not sure why, as I had to explain what a gargoyle was. I guess it is a cool sounding word. But while I was describing the stone creatures, I pulled up a picture of one, and he really wanted to color it.
So, we did.
Being flexible and catering to kids’ interests and excitement are good ways to keep kids engaged.
While Little #3 colored his gargoyle and glued googly eyes on it, I made up a story to go along with it.
Oral stories are good for kids. They allow children to really use their imaginations and learn how to listen.
Afterward, I typed up the story of The Grumpy Gargoyle and The Gecko, so you can share it with your Littles. If you want, have kids color in a picture of a gargoyle, glue on googly eyes, and draw glasses around the eyes, while you tell the story. Both the story and a coloring page are also included in the free Lesson Plan Checklist.
If you feel up for it, let kids choose one or two G-words that interest them and then make up a story about it (either just you or together).
TALK: We All See Differently
After telling the story about the gargoyle that needed glasses, we talked about how we all see things a little differently. Sometimes that is because we have different experiences and opinions, and sometimes that is because our eyes work differently. We talked about how many people use glasses or contacts to see more clearly. Isn’t that lucky! Others cannot see different colors or anything at all.
PLAY: Understanding More about the Blind
While I was typing up this post, I thought of a perfect follow-up activity to the gargoyle story.
Have one child at a time wear a blindfold and pretend they can’t see at all. Have them try different tasks like writing their names, walking around, or finding a toy. Others can help them verbally. How would it be if you could not see at all? Talk about seeing eye dogs, using a cane, and other accommodations.
Both in home preschool and LIFE, it’s important for us to help our kids see things from others’ perspective. This opening their eyes to the fact that people have different experiences from them is an important step in building empathy and compassion.
If you try this activity, let me know how it goes! I know I’ll be trying it when it’s time for the next Little to have preschool!
EAT: Foods that Start with the Letter G
By now, we were both hungry enough to eat a gargoyle! 😉 We enjoyed our snack of grapes and graham crackers.
Of course, you can’t eat graham crackers without milk, even if milk doesn’t start with the letter g. So sorry.
Other snack options are granola, garlic bread, ginger snaps, goat cheese, grapefruit, or anything green (green beans, green peppers, green peas, etc.)
READ: Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?
The last part of our preschool day also came from Little #3’s ideas.
Earlier, he had been riding around the house on his little scooter toy and mimicking the phrasing of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
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In this classic children’s book, animals answer “What do you see?”
Instead of saying Brown Bear, Little #3 was saying his own name, “What do you see? I see a _____________ looking at me.” He was creatively filling in the blanks with rhymes and things he saw around the house.
I thought it would be so fun to make a mini book with his ideas.
So, while Little #3 ate the rest of his snack, I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? to get his thoughts going again.
WRITE: What Do You See? Mini Book
My favorite way to make mini books is from a single piece of paper.
If the video doesn’t load, here’s a link to see how to make a mini book. I don’t have any rights to the video.
We have done this for birthday cards, gifts, book projects, science notes, and more.
Little #3 already had many ideas, but if you want to give some direction, each page could be a favorite thing of different colors. You can write some, have kids use best guess spelling, or make it a picture-only book, like we did.
SING: Goodbye Song
The last G-word for the day was Goodbye! We briefly reviewed what letter G looks and sounds like, and I expressed gratitude for the sense of sight. My Littles are some of my very favorite things to see! 🙂
Lastly, it was time to sing the goodbye song, and see you next week!
Hopefully we’ll see YOU next time also as we finish learning about the senses with touch and H is for Hands.
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