Help pre-K students feel comfortable in their new classroom and introduce themselves with a "hands on" bulletin board. You will need a digital camera and photo printer (both can be borrowed for the day), enough photo paper to print a picture for each child, a teacher photo and a class photo, scissors, construction paper, glue and a black marker. Help each child trace their hand on the construction paper, cut it out and write their name on it, leaving enough room for the photograph. Take pictures of the children (and the teacher!), sharing the viewfinder image with the class after each one. Print the photos right there in the classroom. Cut each photo small enough shot to glue on the child's hand print. Let the students tack their hand prints to the bulletin board. When all the hands are on the board, including the teacher's, take a class photo, print it and place it in the center of the board.
Ask the children to form a circle--all sitting or standing. Explain that each time you clap your hands, the student holding the ball will toss it to another student. Then show them the ball--a soft, stuffed globe. Talk about the planet Earth, about how children must take good care of their home and name some of your favorite things about the Earth. Hand the ball to one child, remind them of the clapping rule and explain that the catcher must say their name and one thing they love about the Earth. (Favorites can be anything, from ice cream to clouds to baby brothers.) Control the exuberance with claps when it is time to toss the ball to someone new. Prompt shy students who become tongue-tied so that everyone participates.
Read a picture book about Johnny Appleseed from your classroom or from the school's library. Talk about how apples grow and bring out a bowl or small basket of apples. Use your classroom scale to weigh the apples, letting the children guess the weights in advance. If you don't have a scale, scramble the apples and invite two or three children to place them in "small-to-big" or "largest-to-smallest" order. Now ask the children to guess how many seeds are in one of the apples. Write their guesses on a piece of paper. Cut open the apple (cut it into thick slices) and count the seeds together. The closest guess gets to eat the first piece of apple. Pass the rest of the slices around. Continue guessing, cutting up apples until every child has had a slice.