### Lesson Plan: Pests: Control
#### Age Group: Toddlers (Ages 2-3)
#### Duration: 30 minutes
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**Objective:**
To educate toddlers about common household pests, such as ants and flies, and introduce simple ways to prevent and control them to maintain a healthy environment.
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**Materials Needed:**
- Picture cards or puppets of common pests (e.g., ants, flies, mosquitoes)
- Large poster board for drawing (with markers/crayons)
- Toy broom and dustpan
- Toy spray bottle (filled with water for safe play)
- Simple animated video on household pests (3-5 minutes)
- Healthy snacks for reward
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**Introduction (5 minutes):**
1. **Welcome and Warm-Up**: Gather the toddlers in a circle and sing a simple welcome song.
2. **Introduce the Topic**: Show picture cards or puppets of common pests. Briefly talk about each one, using simple language.
- Example: “This is an ant. Ants can come into our homes looking for food.”
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**Interactive Activity (10 minutes):**
1. **Role Play with Puppets:**
- Use puppets to demonstrate how pests like flies and ants can come into the home.
- Encourage the children to help "clean up" to keep the pests away using toy brooms and dustpans.
- Show how to use the toy spray bottle to “shoo away” pests (stress that in real life, adults should handle pest control products).
2. **Drawing & Coloring:**
- Provide a large poster board and markers/crayons.
- Ask the children to draw or color pictures of their homes and include one or two pests.
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**Video Time (5 minutes):**
- Show a simple animated video about household pests and basic cleanliness to prevent them.
- Example video content: A cartoon showing a little character cleaning up food crumbs to prevent an invasion of ants.
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**Discussion (5 minutes):**
- Ask simple questions to reinforce learning:
- “What kind of bugs did we see?”
- “What can we do to keep the bugs away?”
- Praise the children for remembering the information and participating.
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**Conclusion and Snack Time (5 minutes):**
- **Healthy Habits Wrap-Up:**
- Recap the main points: Keep areas clean, pick up crumbs, and let adults know if they see pests.
- Hand out healthy snacks as a reward for participation.
- Sing a goodbye song to conclude the session.
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**Follow-up Activity:**
- Send a simple handout home with pictures and tips for parents to reinforce pest control habits at home.
- Encourage parents to practice cleanliness routines with their toddlers in real-life scenarios.
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**Notes:**
- Ensure activities are interactive and engaging.
- Be mindful of any allergies when giving out snacks.
- Use repetitive language to help toddlers retain information better.