Sunday July 12th / Sign the ABC's

Have you ever considered learning the ASL alphabet? Watch the video and teach yourself first. Then teach your kids.

Toddlers:
When you first learn the ASL alphabet you probably can't sign the alphabet and sing it because the ABC song goes too fast. This is actually good for toddlers. You need to slow down and say each letter and think about the sign. It gives your toddler something to watch and they hear each letter and associate it with the sign.

The ABC song also confuses many toddlers and preschoolers into thinking LMNO is one letter or word!

Preschoolers:
They have the ability to learn the ABC's in sign. It will not happen over night but is a great way to learn letters. Once my son could sign the alphabet he wanted me to finger spell words for him. I am much better at finger spelling thanks to him! He can tell me what word I spelled if I do a short word like mom or cat. We have had a lot of fun with this but it took time to develop.

Saturday July 11th / At the Car Wash!
We know the kids love to play in water, let's put them to work! lol

Toddler and Preschooler
You need:
Buckets
Soap or Bubbles
Wash clothes
Water
Cars

You can let your kids wash your car. Keep in mind you will obviously need to finish this and they won't really be that helpful. :-)

You can use your outside play cars or get a bunch of their play plastic cars from inside. Line them up and have a pretend car wash!

Ext: Take your kids to a drive through car wash or go to a  car wash fundraiser and see a real live car wash!
I think playing "Carwash" by Rose Royce is a must too!

Wednesday July 8th / Young (Mad?) Scientist / Pulley's
This is another preschool activity about simple machines. It goes with the lever and ramp, if your child loved those.

You need to purchase a pulley and rope.
We actually have one inside and one outside.
The one inside is small and hard to work with.
The one outside is much bigger and better made.

We hung it from a tree and attached a bucket. Let the fun begin!
Show your child the pulley before you hang it. Show them how it works.
Tell them it helps lift heavy things.
Attach it to a tree or swing set.
Attach a bucket to one end.
Let them put numerous things inside the bucket and try to lift it.
We used balls, sticks, and water. My son was surprised how heavy the water was!

The rope sometimes ends up at the top of the pulley and I have to get it down...

Other questions:
What happens when you pull the string hand over hand? (One side goes up , while one side goes down.)
Can you hold the string and back up?
How do you make the bucket come down fast? slow?
What else can you lift?
Why would you need a pulley?

If you have a tree house this would be GREAT!!

Monday July 6th / Hallway Letter Hop

Do you have a foam letter mat? This is a letter recognition activity that requires a Full Body Response. This is much better than sitting at a desk and trying to memorize letters. Get 'em moving!

Toddler:
Lay out the foam letters on the floor. Don't have foam letters? Make a set of the alphabet using stencils. (laminate them) Start with your child's name. What is the first letter of their name? This is a great letter to start with. Ask them where it is. Now show them several times. Ask them again and see if they can do it on their own. Another trick I used to teach my toddler the ABC's is that we always change her diaper on the foam letters. (Before you say that is gross.. I do not let anything touch the letters because I put the new diaper under her before taking the other one off AND it is cleaned after each change.) Anyways, I ask her what letter she wants to change her diaper on. This appeals to the toddlers need for control as well. If she says "A" and lays down on a different letter I just tell her the correct letter. Then while she is laying there I tell her the letters all around her head.


Preschool:
Be prepared to demonstrate! Preschoolers need you to model what you want them to do. Then do the activity WITH them. Lastly, let them do it on their own. This is a great formula for every thing you want them to do! Don't have foam letters? Make a Hopscotch type board outside with chalk, but put the alphabet in the squares.

Lay out the foam letter down the hallway.
You jump on the letters like hopscotch and say what letter you jumped on.
You and your preschooler jump down the Hallway Letter Hop together several times.
Now let them do it on their own.

Wednesday June 24th / Flour Tag

This is for preschoolers. My toddler had no luck with the socks at all.

This started as a game of tag from my memory of a game we played at camp when I was a camp counselor. My three year old had a hard time with the concept of tag and turns. So, we ended up just running around and hitting things with the flour socks. It makes a fantastic powdered effect. He loved it!

You need:
old socks
flour

Take old socks, they will get stretched out, so don't use good socks! Fill them with flour. I used about a cup. If you play tag, the players tag each other using the socks (GENTLY). It leaves a flour mark like a chalk mark.

Tuesday June 23rd / Solid or Liquid AKA Gloop AKA OObleck


Preschooler

You need:
cornstarch
water
plastic bowl
OR cookie sheet

This mix is about 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water. But that is not exact. Watch the video! The substance is very entertaining to play with, and very messy for little ones. I suggest outside.

Questions to ask:
Can you stir it fast? Can you stir it slow? What happens when you go fast? What happens when you go slow? Try to make it into a ball (go fast). Tap your fingers very hard and fast on top, what happens? Tap your fingersslow and gently on top, what happens?

This substance acts like both a liquid and a solid.

Monday June 1st /Sensory Table
watch video above
Toddler and Preschooler:

I have debated about adding this one, because it is not something everyone has at home. I decided to add it because it is hours and hours of fun and it is easy.

You need:
1 large plastic container
1 small plastic container (see pictures)
or a "real" sensory table
white rice
cornmeal/baby oatmeal
scoops, funnels, strainer

Watch Video
I started out with the plastic set up before my preschooler grew way to tall for it. Then a relative made the wooden one you see. They are also available from Lakeshore Learning www.LakeshoreLearning.com (no profit for me in this advertisement) or any teacher store.

Bins:
#1.The first bin has colored white rice. You can color rice by adding rubbing alcohol and food color in a plastic bag or large bowl. Stir it up and let it dry. It has a strong odor as you make it but that does not remain. You do not have to color the rice. This is not edible. I woud suggest bin #2 for small toddler who still puts everything in their mouths.

#2. The second bin has baby oatmeal and cornmeal. We started using cornmeal and oatmeal because our toddler would still put things in her mouth and I didn't want her eating uncooked rice. If she happened to put this in her mouth, it is icky but no real worries. It has a great texture to it except that it clings to hands and is a little messy.

#3. Shredded paper. I took bright colored paper and ran it through our paper shredder, crumpled it a little and put it in the bin. The I added fireman and knights (the size of army men) and mixed it all up. My sisters boy came over (5years old) and intently dug through until he found all the little men and lined them up on the outside. I was surprised this was still appealing to that age group.

#4. This is a mismatched bin of foam letters, foam colored cubes, and plastic unifix cubes. We build and chat about colors and letters when we play in this one.

#5 & 6 This is an adapted game from Montessori. These are real glass bowls with rice, and beans and noodles. The kids use metal spoons of different sizes and scoop from a large bowl into the smaller bowls. It takes coordination to do and the sounds of metal on glass are interesting. They have to learn to be careful when dealing with breakable things.

I change the bins frequently. Myhusband was surprised after we got this because "They will play with ANYTHING you put in there!!" Yep, they will. I have other bins in the closet ready to come out and switch it up!

Has your preschool just started the art of jokes or have they been doing it forever? We have just started jokes as of a few weeks ago. This is so fun to watch. I love when he tells a joke and uses the wrong punch line. "Why does the chicken cross the road? -To get to the mooovies!" "knock Knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? What are you cryin about?" This cracks me up!

Here are some simple jokes you can do with your preschooler. Watch how they try to figure out how these work.  There are hundreds posted on other websites if you need more.

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Butter
Butter who?
I butter not let you in.

Knock knock
Who's there?
Boo
Boo who?
What are you crying about?

Knock Knock
who's there?
Interupting cow
Interupting c....(You have to interupt the person!)
mooo moo moo

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side

Why did the turkey cross the road twice?
To prove he wasn't a chicken

Why did the cow cross the road?
To get to the moooovies

Baked Potato Song

We haven't sang this one in a long time, but when we started this wee,k they wanted it over and over again. I made a video to show all of you and it is quite a risk for me because I can not sing a note, but the kids could care less...

We use scarves at music class and washclothes at home. Anything will work.
First have them squish it up in their hands.

Come and get your baked potato ,baked potato, baked potato
Come and get your baked potato
Careful it might be HOT

They shake or bounce the scarf while you sing and throw it at the word hot.

We have two ideas for you this week for either toddlers or preschoolers.

*Clothes Line
You will need a string, balls with holes (like wiffle balls), and a place to tie the string on both ends.
First string the balls and then hang the string. You could put it outside between two trees or inside attached to two chairs. Your child can spin and slide the balls on the string.

*Beach Ball You need a beach ball and a ribbon.Attach the beach ball to the string(at the place you blow air in) and hang it from your ceiling or a tree. Your child can kick, hit, push the ball and it always comes back. This has been an amazing delightful game at our house!