Sunday May 24th / Sponge Bomb Splat
Toddler and Preschooler
You need a bucket or buckets of water and sponges. We each had our own bucket. This is an outdoor activity!
Fill the buckets and soak the sponges until they are full of water.
Demonstrate to your children how to take the sponges out of the bucket (quicker is better but it doesn't matter) and throw them.
The sponges will SPLAT! After trying this numerous times, we found the higher in the air, the bigger the SPLAT. Water goes everywhere and leaves a great water mark.
Get sponge, soak up water in the bucket, repeat as many times as you want. My personal scale is if an activity is entertaining for 15-20 minutes it is a winner or if they ask for it later. This one hit on both scales.
Extension: We added chalk circle to the driveway and tried to throw the sponges in the circles. Our toddler spent most of her time taking the sponges in and out and squeezing the water in the chalk circles then yelling, "Look it!" and laughing.
Tip: Remove shoes if they can't get wet. Learn from our mistakes. Also wear a swimsuit unless they can get their clothes wet.
Monday May 25th / Old Fashion Fun / Clothes Pins
Toddler and Preschooler:
You need: Clothes Pins and a jar. I suggest a large empty pickle jar.
I remember playing this game at one of my birthday parties as a child!
Turn a chair around and have your preschooler kneel on it with arms over the back. Try to drop the clothes pin into the jar. Pick them up and do it again! Toddler, I would not suggest kneeling on a chair. Have them stand next to it and try to drop them in.
I attach all the clothes pins to their shirts and pants and they pull them off to drop them. Sometimes I just attach them all over their clothes and they pull them off, end of game! We also add the pins to the side of the jar and build a tower until it falls over.
Opening and closing clothes pins is a really good fine motor activity.
Tuesday May 26th / Totally Terrific Tunnel Tube
Todddler and Preschooler and Dad
You will need a mailing tube or something like it.
We have an expanded collection of tubes: one long mailing tube, one short fat mailing tube, one clear plastic tube from the hardware store ( I have no idea what it is really for!), and the inside tube from home decorating fabric from the fabric store. We tried the inside tube from gift wrap but it was not sturdy enough.
Idea #1
Attach the tube to your railing on the steps. Show you child how to put small balls or match box cars in the "top side" and watch them come out the bottom. You will be pleasently surprised at how exciting this is to a child. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
Idea #2
Same mail tube. Just place this one in the middle of your couch. It will stay because you balance it on the back of the couch and secure it between the couch cushions. Now place a hat, bucket, bin, anything and catch all the objects that roll out. I let me preschooler climb on the couch and do this one. His favorite thing to put through the tube is small cars and he figured out that if they are "wheels side down", they go much faster!
Idea#3
My daughter is a toddler and too young to climb up on the couch, for her we got a shorter fat mailing tube. We put it at a shorter height for her as well. She can fit many different items through it!
This one deserves a video! If you video your little ones playing this send me your youtube link and I will insert it here!
Wednesday May 27th Toesies / Large Motor
You two people, toes, and the ground
Lay down in the grass feet to feet with barefeet.
Touch toes.
Try to roll and keep your toes touching.
Good Luck!!
Have friends over? Match up by twos and everybody roll!
Thursday May 28th Paint and Smell the Flowers -Really!
Toddler or Preschooler:
You need:
1 tablespoon unsweetened powered drink mix (or more)
1 tablespoon warm water
Muffin Tin or place for colors
Paintbrushes
Paper
Mix different flavors in different muffin tin compartments
Paint a Picture (like water color paints) on paper
Let it dry
Scratch and sniff your picture!
Send me an image of your picture and I will make a gallery on this idea!
Terrific Toddler / Artsy Fartsy / 10 Tips
Adapted from Karen Miller and "Things to Do With Your Toddler and Twos"
1. Toddler years are not the time to worry about final projects.
2. Let them enjoy the process and explore new materials to create with.
3. It is the time to focus on "What can this do?" and "How does this work?"
4. Consider all of your art projects a time to explore.
5.Introduce crayons, markers, paints, pencils, pens, highlighters, chalk.
6.Also introduce different ways of applying these materials like brushes, cotton swabs, feathers, sponges, tooth brush, paper towels, eye droppers, let your imagination go.
7.Watch and see how your child discovers pushing, pulling, dotting, the feel of things etc.
8.Can your child do it alone? Sit close but resist the need for perfection. Only assist when asked or intervene when necessary.
9. Allow them to do all of these art activities over and over again.
10. Make an area to display your childs art work!
Friday May 29th It Takes Time, Carnation Colors
Preschool:
You need: three white carnations, food coloring, two vases.
Put water in vases and add food coloring
Cut the flowers stems half way up. See picture
Put flowers one flower in each vases and place one flower with a stem in each vase.
Leave the vases in an undisturbed area.
Wow! Ask your child "What happened?" or "What changed?"
Extensions:
Study the flowers with a magnifying glass.
YOu should be able to see the color in the veins of the flower petals.
Draw a before and after picture.
Saturday May 30th Nature Walk / Textures
Toddlers and Preschoolers
Try a walk outside some place where you have never walked before.
Today we are going to notice textures. Find shiny cars, smooth rocks, rough tree bark, prickly vines, glittery... You CAN touch things too or just say "That cat is furry."
Words to consider:
flat soft rusty sandy
shiny feathery slimey leathery
smooth furry wet crackled
rough bumpy gooey
Saturday May 30th / Lovin' Language
In Literacy it is called Phonological Awareness.
We just call them Nursery Rhymes and FUN.
Practice saying nursery rhymes to your toddler and preschoolers.
Emphasize the rhyme.
Add actions as you sing and recite. This helps the child break the language into parts.
Singing is a good way to hear different syllables.
Memorize a few for in the car and on walks.
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.
Hickory, dickory, dock
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down!
Hickory, dickory, dock.
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet,
sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Little Boy Blue
Little Boy Blue,
come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under a haycock, fast asleep.
Will you wake him?
No, not I, For if I do, he's sure to cry.
I See the Moon
I see the moon and the moon sees me
The moon sees the somebody I'd like to see.
God bless the moon and God bless me
God bless the somebody I'd like to see!
Extension:
Make up your own silly Nursery Rhymes.
Also watch after you teach your child Nusery Rhymes how often you see "references" to them in books, toys, Tv, and everywhere!
BONUS Activity!!
Free and FUN Field Trip Idea
How often does your child look up and say "AIRPLANE!" I guess that depends where you live!
From our house we have more then one choice for airport landing and departures strips. We drive to the BIG airport, get off on the frontage road, and park the car. There actually is a place for this and most of the other cars there are doing the same thing. Bring snacks and entertainment for between depatures and arrivals. We sit on the hood of our car to watch and yell "landing" and "taking off".
It is quite loud, you might think about bringing something to cover your childs ears if they are sensitive to noises, or park so you can sit in the front seats and look out the window.
Remember to READ 15 minutes a day to your child!
"The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground."
-G. K. Chesterton
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