Sunday April 12th Egcellent Eggs Game Day
You will need hard boiled eggs or plastic eggs / Large kitchen spoons
Egg Race: Try to balance the egg on the spoon and run around with it falling off. This can be inside or outside. It can also be a race or a free for all running around game.
Egg Hunt: Hide eggs filled with candy around your yard. Have a egg hunt / treasure hunt and collect the eggs. Remember to count the eggs before you hide them so you know if you have found them all!
Monday April 13th Let's Play Ball / Ball Challenge
Toddler and Preschooler
You will need one ball.
Challenge your child to move the ball in different ways and with different body parts. This is an activity rich in language and movement.Can you kick, push, throw, bounce, sit on, roll...the ball? Can you push it with your nose? Bounce it off your head? Kick it with your knee? Can you move the ball with your ear? hands? elbow? toes? feet?
Be prepared to demonstrate!
Tuesday April 14th Music / Tune In!
You need one radio.
Toddler: Turn on the radio. Go through different stations and move to the music. If it is classical slowly sway and try to have your toddler mimic your movements. If the music is upbeat clap, dance to the rhythm. This is difficult for toddlers. They may become more interested in turning the dial or pushing the button to change the station! Keep introducing movements related to the music.
Preschoolers: If you take your preschooler to a music or dance class or a large focus will be on distinguishing rhythm and following directions. You can do the same activity as the toddler but with more directions. Try to have your preschooler keep the beat with stomping, clapping, and swaying, tapping, etc. Have them try to mimic what you are doing. Watch and see how long it takes them to pick up the differences in movement based on what they are listening to. Once they have it, change stations, wait to see what they do, and now you follow their lead!
Wednesday April 15th Young (Mad?) Scientist / Simple Machines
Toddler: Ramps
It is easy to build a ramp from materials in your house. You can prop a book on top of a block and let cars and other objects roll down it. If you have a large book prop it on the couch and send your cars down. This is simple to build and use. Look around for other materials to build a ramp with, get creative! You may find your toddler building their own ramps all over the house.
Preschooler: Levers
You need one round object shaped like a stick and one ramp shaped object. Our favorites are a rhythm stick and a shimmy. This is wild and crazy fun. Place the stick down and the rectangular object on top. The official names here are fulcrum and lever. I love hearing my preschooler ask for his fulcrum and lever (it cracks me up!) You could also call this a catapult. We place little people on one side and see if we can catapult them to the ceiling by hitting the other side with our hand.
Thursday April 16th Raid the Kitchen/ Stop and Smell the Spices
Toddler and Preschooler
Take down your spice rack and sit on your kitchen floor. Smell the spices one by one. They may want to help take the caps on and off or hold the spices. This can be messy! They will be amazed and surprised at all the different smells. Discuss your senses and how you smell through your nose and taste with your mouth. You can tell them this is only smelling time or open it up to the sense of taste as well.
Extension- This became a favorite activity for my kids. I started saving all my old spice jars and put them in a large plastic bin with a top. I also asked friends to give me their empty spice containers. Then I can take out the bin and let them open and close the containers and smell them on their own. They love the smelling of the spices and the challenge of trying to open and close the containers.
Friday April 17th Bath Time / Water Play
You will need several inexpensive sponges and a bathtub.Toddler and Preschooler:Show your child how the sponges work. They soak up a lot of water and can be squeezed out. They can soak up water from a cup until it is empty and then be squeezed out to fill it up again. The can float like a boat in the water. They can be squeezed to pour water onto your body. (remember all those parts we talked about with the ball?) elbow, knees, etc and now add tummy and back, name the body part and squeeze water over that part. Let your child find different ways to get water in and out of the sponges. If you don't have a small basket for bath toys, start one now.
Saturday April 18th It Takes Time
Preschooler: This is an activity that takes time and patience, good things to start to learn at this age. Take your child outside with a small paper cup. Fill the cup with dirt and plant a few small seeds. Explain that seeds need three things to grow; dirt, water, and sun. It is a good time of year to start your seed because you will be able to transfer it outdoors into a larger container or garden in a few weeks. Then put the cup in a window sill. This will take some explanation, especially if they have seen a seed grow in a few seconds on TV. (like my son had) The concept of time and waiting is developing in your child and they will need help to understand why it didn't grow "right now". We used sunflower seeds and had small buds in a few days. We also needed to discuss how much water a small seed needs. :-)
Saturday April 18th Lap Sit
Toddler: This day is a completely separate activity for toddlers. You can certainly plant a seed in a cup with them and they will enjoy digging in the dirt but the whole concept of what a flower needs and how long it takes to happen is a little too advanced at this point.
Grand Old Duke of York / Lap Sit Song
You sing this song while you have your child on your lap. I suggest sitting on the floor with legs straight out.
Sing Actions
The Grand Old Duke of York -small bounces
He had 10,000 men -small bounces
He marched them up to the top of the hill -alternate legs (up and down) and "march" your toddler up til your knees are bent
and he marched them down again -alternate legs (up and down) and "march" your
toddler down till your legs are flat
And when your up your up -lift knees until bent up (you can lift with arms if you
are strong enough)
and when your down your down -straighten your legs flat
and when your only half way up -lift your knees half way up
your neither up -bend knees and lift toddler up
nor down -straighten legs straight infront of you
Remember to Read 15 Minutes
a Day to Your Child!
"It is a happy talent to know how to play"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher, poet
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