Make Early Learning Fun!

Little Scientists "Discover" Symmetry

2013-05-19T18:22:00.000-04:00

Have some fun with symmetry in nature ... It's perfect for Spring!

First, find some beautiful non-fiction books that show full-winged pictures of a variety of butterflies and bugs. Have your children inspect some close-up pictures to "discover" all on their own ... lessons stick better that way! Direct their attention to specifics in the photos and have them do the "noticing."

There are also many children's book authors who use beautiful artwork displaying symmetry in fiction stories depicting animals or insects. The books might tell about the seasons, life cycles, or natural occurances such as camouflage - you might have some on hand that are already favorites of your children. Eric Carle's book, "The Grouchy Ladybug," shows symmetry in the collage work he does, even though it has other themes. Use resources you have on hand to draw attention to something new!

Then, get out there and explore! Make sure you have a "kit" to inspire your little ones to get into the activity. Our kit consisted of some plastic tweezers, magnifying glasses of different sizes, some index cards (for lifting delicate specimens), and a small container with holes to temporarily house what we found. It all fit in an old lunch box ... a small sand bucket would do nicely, too! Your child will be delighted to find all sorts of examples in the critters you uncover! Make sure they are using their words to describe what they see - and you could even bring along a sketch book and some crayons to do critter portraits :)

For some fun artwork, when you're back from your travels, fold a large sheet of construction or other heavy paper in half. Draw the shape of a butterfly's wing (or another bug's) on one half with the center of the body at the fold. Cut through both pieces of paper so when you unfold, you have a butterfly shape. Have your child make a design on only one of the wings with some acrylic paint and then fold and press gently to transfer the design to the other wing. You should end up with a mirror image - symmetry!

You can finish up by adding a body, head and antennae with some paper scraps, pompoms, or whatever you have on hand!

Have fun!

Spring into Action!

2013-04-04T23:10:00.003-04:00

As the weather starts to get a little warmer, it's a great time to reevaluate your daily routine with your children! Use this time of year to jumpstart a daily movement plan that will get you ready for summer play. Slipping in some exercise, some walking, balancing, throwing, catching - it will all help your child's overall development! After a long winter of sitting inside, it's just what we all need!

Start by inserting some basics, such as running in place or jumping jacks, in between everyday tasks. It will rev up your energy level and boost your mood! Have a catch with a squishy ball or stuffed toy! Visit a playground or plan a playdate that is a no video/no game time for action :) Pull out some chalk and make some hopscotch or maze patterns to use for more fun!

Find some pockets of time where you can get in a daily walk - even if it's only for a few minutes. While you're walking, you can cover a whole day's worth of early childhood curriculum.
Children are fascinated by the tiniest things in nature ... a bud opening on a tree, an ant crawling on the sidewalk, a ladybug on a leaf ... use this time to help your child connect with nature! (science) Work on counting as you cover the distance down the sidewalk! (math) Practice songs and clapping to different patterns while you walk - find objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet! (literacy)

And, best of all .... have fun!

Mix Up Some Colors!

2013-04-02T09:44:00.001-04:00

Make learning about colors fun!

Learning about primary colors - blue, red and yellow - and the colors they make when blended together - is so much fun for little ones! Get some washable paints and some large paper and get ready to mix and make!

There are some wonderful books that illustrate for children just how to do some color mixing! Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh, is an adorable tale about white mice who jump into different paint colors and end up mixing them up on paper, thereby creating new colors through blending. Your child will love the cute little mice and the patterns they make - it is a perfect way to explain how blending certain colors results in new colors.

Let your little "mice" replicate the story by mixing up some paint colors of their own. Playing with paint and paper is fun, messy and will have your little ones exploring - and learning! You can use fingers, brushes, sponges or even fabric scraps as your tools ... try each primary color first and then see what happens when a dot of something else enters the picture! Let your child direct the learning and be ready for some terrific artwork! Have extra paper on hand for when "experiments" turn everything brown or gray and your child wants to try again :)

Another book on the same theme is Color Dance by Ann Jonas. Children will be fascinated by the swirls and twirls of the colored scarves in this lovely picture book! Make sure to linger over each illustration and have your child retell the story to you to reinforce the learning. Explore some fun with movement by trying out some scarves of your own ... then, look for colorful fabric scraps or bits of ribbon to make a color collage!

Have fun!

Welcome the Season!

2012-12-16T11:10:00.001-05:00

Welcome the holiday season with a decorated door ornament! Use craft sticks (we used six long ones and two short ones) and some glue to design and form your door. Children can paint them or use them in their natural color. Practice some counting and small motor skills while you create!

Choose your hardware - a bright button may be a doorknob or perhaps some fun foam or a "jewel." Attach with a bit of glue and then choose how you want to decorate your door. We used a bit of "tree" formed into a circle with a snip of chenille stick. Perhaps you have some scrapbooking bits or a tiny holiday charm ... make it special!

When you're all done, attach a hanger of wire or ribbon to hang it on a tree or door knob - beautiful!

This could make an adorable gift for someone special - or a keepsake for years to come! Enjoy!

Searching for Santa!

2012-11-25T17:54:00.000-05:00

As it gets closer to Christmas, make plans to search for Santa in the night sky!

Take a cardboard tube and wrap it in a festive color of construction paper. Glue or tape in place. Then, have your child add decorations, glitter or stickers of your choice to personalize it - you have made a Santascope!

Attach a little note like this:

On Christmas Eve when Santa
Goes flying through the night,
Look for his sleigh and reindeer -
What a wonderful sight!

Let your child search the sky for the Jolly Old Elf right before bedtime .... maybe you'll catch a glimpse!

*******************************************************************************

Make a Rudolph ornament while you're waiting for Christmas to get here!

You'll need some craft sticks and sheets of foam (tan and white), two googly eyes and a red nose made from a pompom or another piece of foam, red this time. First, glue two craft sticks in a V pattern and then use another to go stright across, about a half-inch below the tops of the other sticks. To complete the antlers, add two more craft sticks in a wider V. Finally, add the foam pieces: a large piece of tan for the face, small piece of white for the forehead, two tiny ears - then add the nose and eyes.

Add a little string or ribbon and Rudolph is ready to hang around and help you decorate!

Have fun!

Books to Love: "The Great Gracie Chase" by Cynthia Rylant

2012-11-07T22:15:00.001-05:00

"The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog!" written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Mark Teague is a wonderful book for kids of all ages. Your little ones will fall in love with Gracie, an adorable, good dog who loves living in her quiet house. Then, her life gets disrupted by some painters and Gracie decides to leave, beginning a chain reaction of people who follow her to get her back home.

Well-written books can be so much fun to read - sometimes, again and again! Action-packed books like "The Great Gracie Chase," filled with great images and descriptive language, make it so easy for children to visualize the characters and action taking place.

Kids will love the bright pictures and funny portraits of the various characters who join in the chase. Try some of these activities:

After reading, try to recall the order of the appearance of the various characters and record them in a list - see how many you can get before checking back in the book.

Talk about the parts of the story - the beginning, the middle, the end - and about how the chase keeps building, adding people and then narrowing down to the end, like a cycle.

Children can draw their favorite parts for retelling. Introduce transition words like first, next, then and finally, to help them put their stories in order.

Trace a black and white picture of Gracie for little ones to color and make into a Gracie puppet, attaching a craft stick for a handle.

Have fun with it!

Make a Thankful Book

2012-11-05T17:46:00.001-05:00

Make a "Thankful" book, just in time for Thanksgiving!

Choose whether you want it to be a book of "Things" or a book of "People," then get started with an easy template of "I am thankful for ..." pages.

If you decide on an "I am Thankful for People" book, help your child come up with a list of important people, like friends, cousins, grandparents, etc. Then, your child can take, find or draw pictures to assemble into a little book. Don't forget to complete it with labels or captions about each picture.

To make a "Thankful" book of Things, use the same idea, generate a list and add pictures ... I'll bet some favorite toys, pastimes and special things would make a nice book that your child would love to "read" again and again!

A book of their own will be a great resource for your child who is just starting to ask about names of important people in his/her life or how to write something like "legos," "animals" or "books." Use it as a resource for learning the spelling of loved ones' names and as a writing tool for early writers.

Super simple and super fun!

Have fun - and, be thankful!

Pumpkin Fun!

2012-10-22T20:55:00.000-04:00

Pumpkin season is a fun time for art projects! You can make sponge print pumpkins, paper scrap pumpkins, even paint some paper bag 3-D pumpkins. Your little ones love to make projects using crayons, markers, etc.

Here's something else to try - a felt play kit!!

You will need a shoebox, some felt pieces, scissors and glue ... and your imagination! Line the inside of the shoe box lid with a rectangle of colored felt. This will be the background for any scenes your child puts together. For a "Five Little Pumpkins" scene, cut some long, skinny pieces and some shorter pieces out of a dark colored felt to form a fence. Then perch your little orange pumpkins all along the fence and take them off one-at-a-time to the tune of:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said "But I don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run, run, run!"
The fifth one said, "Let's have some fun!"
Then .... whoosh went the wind and OUT went the light,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Your child will love the flexibility of the fabric and how the felt pieces cling to the background ... and you can play with it over and over! Keep your kit around long after pumpkin season and fill it with different shapes - you and your child can come up with many uses for this play set! Use it for story telling, language development, patterns, etc.

Have fun!

Books to Love: "The Dot"

2012-10-18T22:39:00.000-04:00

The first time I read "The Dot," by Peter Reynolds, it felt magical ... and I was reading it by myself in the bookstore.

The first time I read it aloud in a classroom, the magic was apparent - every child was listening raptly with such intent expressions! I LOVE this book!

Children will identify with the character and become empowered themselves as the story unfolds ... every child has a little bit of the main character, Vashti, inside. Anyone who has ever hesitated to put themselves out there, or who thinks "I can't do that!," should get a copy.

When Vashti thinks she can't paint, she is encouraged by a teacher to start with just a dot ... and to sign it. That starts the ball rolling and Vashti's confidence and self-worth grows and grows. The ending is particularly touching.

Every time I read it, a few children chime in at the ending - they just know what it will say. This is a great book to use for a child who has a hard time getting started, someone who's not sure of themselves or their skills.

Extend the book with an art project ... have your child choose a simple shape or object to explore and provide them with open-ended art supplies - see what happens! Maybe you will have a beautiful gallery of squares or triangles ... make sure your artist signs their work!

For more art extension ideas, check out the author/artist's website: http://www.peterhreynolds.com/dot/dot_activities.html

Have fun!

Summer Olympics Fun!

2012-07-23T21:42:00.000-04:00

There are so many fun ideas to play with that are Olympics-related and that will inspire excitement in your children!!

Start with checking out all the internet action already going on to get them aquainted with what sports and athletes they might be interested in. Check out the live feed from www.nbcolympics.com or get lots of info at www.olympic.org ! Google "Olympics" for more sites ...

Then ... do some training and competition! It is so important for children to have lots of exercise and physical movement - get out there and make it happen! It's easy to put together a simple program of activities using items you may already have around the house or classroom.

See what you can come up with ... when we did the Winter Olympics, we set up a card for each "competitor," with different stations for "events" like sock skating and olympic ring toss (hula hoops and bean bags!). If you do a few games or exercises each day, you can stretch it out over a few days or a week - culminating in a Closing Ceremony of your choice!

Crafts can be simple:

For olympic rings, you'll need paper, paint (representing each of the five colors) and small paper cups! Hold the cups upside down, dip in paint and print circles galore!

For a related art project, make Olympic torches! Trace children's hands on flame-colored tissue paper - red, orange, yellow - one set of each if you can! Wrap a paper roll with black paper or have them paint them black and then attach the hands to the top - now you have Olympic torches!

Make some hand-made medals together, going over the five colors of the rings - every country participating, at the time the logo was developed, had at least one of these colors in its flag! The five rings represent the five continents (North and South America were considered together at the time, Europe, Africa, Asia and "Oceania") of the world - and the fact that they are all joined together for "unity" - kids understand that concept!

I like to finish off with individual photos of my Olympic athletes, standing in front of a flag, wearing their hard-earned medals - and huge smiles! They make a great keepsake - and, who knows, maybe it will be part of their own Olympic profile someday! :)

(Parts of this post are adapted from previous posts on the Olympics - I wanted to get it all together :)

Have fun!!

Water Play!

2012-06-25T12:14:00.000-04:00

Water is so much fun to play with - and a great learning tool, too!! It can be a fun mess, though, so summertime is a great time to do it, if you're worried about getting your floors, tables, clothes wet! Just take it all outside!

You do not need a fancy water table (although there are some great ones out there!) or a great amount of water. I've done these activities with a small basin of water, in sinks, or in little blow-up baby pools in the yard. You can do it with one child or a few, just watch, as always, for safety around water!

Here are my Top 5 Water Play activities:

1. Sink or Float: Gather up, with your child, a variety of objects that can get wet. They can be kitchen utensils, blocks, toys, fabric, sponges, .... anyything you have on hand! Your child can experiment with how these things interact with water ... Do they sink? Do they float? Do they expand and take on water? There are so many things your child can learn from this type of play, as well as having fun while doing it! Children will be observing, interacting, making connections - scientists at work!

2. Measure Up: Make available some containers - save yogurt, milk, margarine containers - and some measuring cups or small pitchers. Anything that will hold and pour water will do. Let your children discover how to fill containers using other containers and encourage them to see differences in size - "Look, it took you two scoops with the yogurt container to fill the margarine tub!" Watch as they count and size containers, determining smallest and largest, less and more, and be sure to name those concepts for them as you go! Join in to model new activities, as needed, but let them be the ones making the discoveries :)

3. Water Cycling: Children are never too little to learn about the importance of conservation. Talk to them about how the water we have on our planet is so important to our lives. Show them how the water cycle works by setting up a tiny model, using clear plastic containers. Next time it rains, catch some rain in a pitcher or shallow plastic container. Pour some into a clear cup and mark the water level on the outside with a piece of tape or marker. Next, invert another clear cup over the top to make a seal. Place it in a window where you can observe it over time. Check back later to see, as the water heats from the sun, tiny water droplets forming on the top and eventually dropping like rain back to the bottom. Keep checking to see if the water level changes. After having some success with this, uncover the top and keep track of the water level, as it dries up. Lots of opportunity for discussion ... your child may want to record their findings via artwork, journal-style ... their first "lab reports"!!

4. Freeze and Melt: Fill up some ice trays or small containers with water and place in the freezer. When frozen, they can be turned out into a basin alone to observe the melting process, or put into water - where they will melt faster! Your child may want to use some big spoons to capture and release ice pieces, or just fingers to feel the temperature and texture. (Have a bit of room temperature water available to dip chilly fingers in.) Introduce some small toys and see what your child will do with them. Try freezing small figures in ice and seeing how long it takes to get them free! Your child may find ways to speed up the melting process! Fun!

5. Wash Day!: Kids love water and kids love bubbles - and you love clean toys! Make everyone happy with wash day activities. Set up a basin with some warm, slightly soapy water - a little squirt of dish detergent goes a long way! Have a rinsing station - either a clear water basin to dunk in or some pitchers and a larger shallow container (like a baby pool) and a drying center. If you have access to a fence and clips, that would work, or spread out some beach towels or an old shower curtain to catch the sun. Then, let your kids have fun washing, soaping, rinsing and drying - cars, dolls, play equipment, etc. They will have a great time - of course, bubbles may be blown around, too, and they will most definitely get wet - and happy!

Have fun!

Fun with Birds!

2012-05-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

This time of year, all the kiddies are longing to be outdoors. Structure your learning around an activity they can all enjoy: bird watching!!

Put their powers of observation to the test - have them peep through some homemade "binoculars" to get started. Tape two small cardboard rolls together and decorate as you wish: we used packing tape to secure ours and then added some construction paper and stickers. There are some really cool designs out in duct tape now, too! Add some yarn or string to hang them and you're all set!

Here's a cute little art project: cut two circles out of white paper and then a larger figure-eight shape out of black. Attach the two circles as lenses of the binoculars and tell your kids to draw what they see in the "eyes" of their binocular pictures. Have them dictate "I see ..." to finish it off!

Check out some bird websites for some identifying pictures and let your little ones try to paint some birds of their own. Sponges in small and medium ovals or circles for the body and little triangles for beaks will help them make a bird shape - then dip some feathers in semi-dry paint to add details. So cute!

Find a children's guide to bird watching at your library or bookstore and don't forget to read some great fiction books, too! "Are You My Mother?" is always fun to read and "Round Robin" by Jack Kent is another favorite of mine!

While you're checking out the birds, fix up a simple bird feeder for your yard. Take a large pretzel, tie a ribbon on it long enough to hang it from a branch. Then, roll it in a small bit of peanut butter (unless there are allergies to watch for!) and dip it in a pan of bird seed from your local market. All you have to do is tie it to a tree branch and wait for the birds to find it. It will make a great spot for sighting some favorite local birds!

Have fun!

Paint Play!

2012-05-13T11:34:00.000-04:00

Playing with paint can be so much fun - and filled with self-discovery!!! Sometimes little ones will have a hard time with art projects because their hands can't quite make what they want them to YET, so projects like this are perfect!!

Fill a pie plate or aluminum baking pan with just enough paint to cover the bottom. Have on hand a variety of materials that will either wash clean or are disposable. Lay out some big sheets of paper or a giant roll and let your kids explore! Let them know that there is no right or wrong way to CREATE - just dig in!!

They might have fun with some kitchen implements ... try a potato masher or a slotted spoon. Fly swatters make great prints, as do twists of fabric scraps. One of my personal favorites is bubble wrap!! The point is to let your kids explore and come up with new ways to use the materials.

Bubble Wrap Printing

You will be surprised at how cool the prints will be! Use multiple colors for layering and don't be afraid to let your little ones get messy - hands can make prints with palms, fingers or the outer edge of their fists ... Let them figure it out! If you're looking for a particular outcome, like a flower or a shape for a collage, to use in a card or illustration, you can cut it out after the paint dries. Have fun!

Books to Love: "Over in the Meadow"

2012-05-07T20:25:00.001-04:00

Rhyming poems help children learn and remember things, just like songs! The poem "Over in the Meadow," written long ago by Olive A. Wadsworth, does this perfectly. It introduces mother and baby pairs, new vocabulary, spring themes ... all in an easy to read, fun package! There are many books that illustrate the poem - this book version, illustrated by renowned author/illustrator Ezra Jack Keats, is lovely to look and great to read. You'll find your little ones chiming in to read along with you, especially if you put a little rhythm in it! It's a perfect read for Mother's Day and you can extend it with a project to highlight the holiday!

Try this: Bake a big, round cookie with your child and ice it to look like a fishbowl - then add some Mom and baby candy fish to decorate. Or ... a whole family of cookie fish! You'll be spending some time with your little ones and they'll be joining in a special gift-making that will begin to set up some traditions, a good lesson for the future.

Trace and cut out some mom and baby animal shapes to make a spring scene or card, or surf the Internet, search for the poem by title and find some cool ideas there - I found a little coloring book on my search that would be fun to do :)

Have fun!!

Books to Love: "Snow Family" by Daniel Kirk

2012-01-02T21:06:00.000-05:00

Each year, when the weather turns chilly, I can't wait to pull out "Snow Family" by Daniel Kirk and revisit it with whatever age children I am working with! I have found it to be a book that spans the early childhood age groups and begs to be read again and again!

Daniel Kirk's engaging illustrations pull the readers in and delight children with all the little details - they love to search the pictures for missing hats and carrot noses of the little snow children! As the story unfolds, the readers discover that the snow children are on their own, bringing up discussion themes about family, home, and safety ... such as whether Jacob, the boy in the story, should have left the safety of his home to follow the snow children!

When Jacob and the snow friends come upon a sleeping bear, it's a scary situation until he is rescued by his parents. The drama drives home the points of paying attention to safety rules and listening to the grown-ups. Finally, the story ends sweetly - all the children I have read this book to have delighted in the resolution.

Plan on previewing the pictures to generate interest, checking out all the details in each illustration. Notice the poetry of the story, complete with rhymes and repeating lines, and invite your readers to join in when they hear a familiar line. Leave lots of time for discussion of the various themes - so many great directions to take!

Tie it all up with a snowman craft - have on hand a variety of colored paper to cut for carrot noses and black boots, along with some mittens and scarves cut from leftover wrapping paper scraps! Children can trace different sized circles, cut them out and put it all together! Make sure YOUR snow family has all their gear! (Or not!)

Have fun!

Holiday Snowglobes!

2011-12-11T21:14:00.001-05:00

I saw these adorable snowglobes hanging up in school the other day outside my friend Kelly's room, and they were so cute I had to try them out!

So easy ... have your children make pictures of something to do with the holiday - mine shows a Christmas tree, complete with gifts! Then, have them color it all in with crayons or colored pencils to resemble the color of water - light to medium blue - or try some silver snowflakes in the "air"! When the picture is complete, find something round to trace around it and cut out a perfect circle. Use a scrap of black construction paper to make your stand and glue it all on contrasting paper. The result is so cute!

Use it for a festive decoration or as a writing prompt to encourage a story about the holiday ahead! Wishing and hoping are part of the seasonal fun - maybe your little ones will draw their wishes inside the globe :)

Have fun!

Get Ready for the Holiday Countdown!

2011-11-26T12:32:00.000-05:00

It's so hard for the little ones to wait for the holidays, especially once it gets to be December! Help them out with a "Count-down Chain"!

Take construction paper in holiday colors and draw some lines for cutting - make them about two inches wide. You will need 25 strips if you're counting until Christmas, starting at the beginning of the month, or one strip for each day left. Choose what holiday and how many days you want to play! Have your children cut on the lines, giving them excellent cutting practice! Turn each strip into a loop with tape or staples, alternating colors, and add new strips by threading through the loop and fastening into another link.

When you are finished, hang your chain up and each morning or evening, take off a link and count "how many days left!" Lots of counting practice for your little ones!

While you're waiting for the holiday to get here, try this - pattern math with decorative bows! Fill a basket with colored bows and make some poster strips with color patterns. Your children can match the strips, see "what comes next" for sequencing practice and form their own patterns with these festive bows!

Have fun!

Turkey Time!

2011-11-23T21:34:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a short list of things to do with your kids:

1. Give them jobs to do to help prepare for the holiday: teach responsibility through small chores and jobs. Setting the table, counting out silverware, greeting guests and taking coats are all small tasks that will help your child feel included in the festivities.

2. Make a centerpiece! Take some natural items that your child can scavenge from the great outdoors - pine cones, berries, small rocks - and add to a large vase or glass container. Set in a large pillar candle or some votives, making sure that nothing is near the flame. Your child will be thrilled to help!

3. Design some placecards! Grab some card stock or heavy paper and some art materials and have your children practice writing names! Give them a list of who will be gathering and let them design some stand-up cards to place around the table. Stickers or stamps and ink pads would be cool, too!

4. Play some old-fashioned games when the feasting is over! Simple games were played even by the Pilgrims - rolling hoops, tic-tac-toe, checkers - spend some time on something that's not plugged in and have a great conversation with your child!

5. Go for a walk! After your fantastic feast, while you're "making room" for dessert, get out and go for a walk around the block or down the street! Get some exercise for the whole family :)

Have fun!

We Like Leaves!

2011-11-14T16:36:00.000-05:00

Got leaves?? Try these activities!!

1. Leaf rubbings: This is magical! Children LOVE to see what will come through the paper and they want to do it again and again. You need an assortment of leaves, lightweight paper (copy paper works well!) and crayons with the paper peeled off. Put a leaf under the paper or in a piece of folded paper and use the side of the crayon (not the point) to rub firmly back and forth - and watch the magical process begin!

2. Leaf prints: Use your leaves as beautiful printing tools ... paint lightly and carefully all over a real leaf and then press in a folded piece of construction paper - it will make a work of art! Trim away the extra paper and frame or attach a hanger to it!

3. Suncatchers: Pick out your favorite leaf (it's hard!) and put it under a heavy book or object to flatten it out a bit. Then use a piece of clear contact paper to stick it to and another piece to cover it. Once it is all pressed out with no bubbles, trim around it, making a circular shape or following the edges and attach a bit of coordinating ribbon or yarn to hang it up with. The sun will shine right through it!

4. Patterns: Cut out some paper leaves to make patterns with - try different colors and different shapes - easy patterns and more complex ones. Let your children come up with as many patterns as they can think of!
Make a magnetic set by laminating or using clear contact paper and attaching magnets to the back. All you need is a magnetic surface (fridge?) and you're all set!

5. Sequencing strips: use your paper leaves to make sequences on long strips of paper. Math skill alert - leave room at the end to finish the sequence!

6. Tracing: Put a whole pile of leaf patterns cut from cardboard or cereal boxes with some paper and colored pencils and watch some cool art emerge! Children will begin with tracing (great for small motor practice) and then begin experimenting with overlapping and coloring in!

Have fun!

The Mitten: Compare and Contrast

2011-11-06T20:17:00.001-05:00

I am a huge fan of Jan Brett - her illustrations are amazing - their attention to detail and all the background research she does to make her designs authentic make her books unique and captivating! Jan leads her readers through her books with side panel illustrations that show what happened on the page before and what is coming next! Each page is extraordinary!

I have used many copies of her book, "The Mitten," over the years with all ages of children - from little ones in Preschool all the way to older students in primary grades. There are so many lessons that can be planned and shared around this timeless story... you can focus on the parts of the story, beginning, middle and end, as well as on the use of descriptive, interesting language. Examining stories and discussing them helps children learn what makes a great story so that they can use these strategies down the road when they begin writing.

"The Mitten" is actually a retelling of an old Ukranian folk tale - I have another version by Alvin Tresselt that I like to use with my children to compare the different versions of the story. We chart how they are the same and how they are different, which animals appear in each story and in which order. They take so much interest in the story and get so involved in checking out all the details!

You can find lots of resources on the internet to use in retelling each of these stories - coloring cards and outlines to make all sorts of mitten projects. There are great black-line illustrations for the Jan Brett version at http://janbrett.com/put_the_animals_in_the_mitten.htm. I couldn't find one for the other version but it would be fun to make!

Have your children work on a way of retelling each story and ordering the sequences of events - it helps them with comprehension! You could do a comparative sequencing with character cards or a Venn diagram to sort it all out - all have met with great success with my kids!

Have fun!

Halloween BINGO!

2011-10-24T20:34:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for some not-so-scary fun for a Halloween party, try this idea! Make a BINGO game with Halloween symbols to play - great for matching, visual discrimination, and following directions.

Begin with a blank document and set up a five by five grid to form the outline of a BINGO board. Then, download at least 12 images of Halloween-related clip art to fill in your grid - I used each one twice! (For little ones, you could make it even simpler with a 3 by 3 grid.) Make one board and then move the images around to make alternate boards, saving each time you have a new one set up. Make multiple copies of each - it doesn't really matter if two children get the same board! Copy the images into another document and enlarge to make cards for the BINGO leader to pick and call out.

Have your children use markers, coins or any small objects to play - maybe candy corn would be fun!! Multiple sheets and crayons would work, also - have the children "x" out the pictures as they're called.

While you are playing, you will be working on taking turns, focusing on the speaker and developing new vocabulary! Since there are no words on the cards, you could also have even the smallest students call the cards! They will LOVE it!

Have fun!

Make A House to Teach Addresses and Phone Numbers

2011-10-12T19:02:00.001-04:00

While you are going over Fire Safety this month, be sure to check for knowledge of addresses and phone numbers. It's a safety lesson that is sure to come in handy sometime!

Try this: take a small paper lunch bag, fold the top(where it opens) into a triangle and secure with a staple or glue. Fold the bottom up so it now resembles a house shape and draw a roof line.

Have children decorate with doors, windows, etc. - they can get very imaginative with some markers! Flowers, trees and all kinds of decorative features can be added - they might even want to draw themselves in the windows!

Then, on the inside of the fold, attach an index card programmed with their home address and phone number. Use this for a little memory game - check the information, close the flap, have your child try to recall ... practice the number of the house, the phone number, the street name ... until your child can repeat it back to you.

Then, if they should ever have to give an address or tell their phone number for safety reasons, they will be prepared :)

Be safe - and have fun!

"All About Me" booklets

2011-09-12T18:16:00.000-04:00

The first few days of school can be overwhelming - for everyone! To get to know your students, have a multi-day project ready to work on where you can pull students one-on-one and have them dictate words to go with some fun pictures!

Make an "All About Me" booklet, using half sheets of paper with specific prompts, one a day, such as ...

My name is ________________.

The people in my family are ____________________.

I am ______ years old!

I like to eat ________________ and __________________.

My favorite story is ________________________.

The toy I like to play with is __________________________.

... and leave space on each page to have them draw a picture to correspond with what they tell you :) Make some copies of a cover and let them do the design work to individualize it!

When the days you have allotted are up, you will have new knowledge about each of your students, as well as some great information about their speech sounds, small motor development, attention span, verbal ability, etc. ... and they will have a BOOK!

Win, win! Have fun!

Name Games

2011-09-10T23:55:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of each school year, getting to know your students is always fun ... now add some digital photos to help them get to know each other!

Even before your younger learners can read names, they can begin to recognize photos and start associating them with the letters of the names connected to them!

Start your new school year off with a quick close-up of each student (get permission from parents!) and use it to label various things in your classroom. A check-in board is a likely first place ... and a helper chart! Attach a photo to placecards before laminating and you'll have your students sorted out in no time! Friends will be excited about identifying each others' names and helping them find their seats :)

Later on, set up a box of letter tiles (available at office/teacher stores or use old Scrabble tiles) and namecards with photos. Children will enjoy figuring out which letters make up each others' names. Use this to launch a center which later can graduate to include basic sight words and vocabulary, also using photos or illustrations - it will be a big hit!

You will find lots of other uses for these photos through the school year - have fun with it!

At the end of the year, take another photo and pair them in a project to show how much growing has taken place!

Back To School!

2011-08-25T00:03:00.000-04:00

September means back to school at our house - some areas are back already - so it's time to put away the summer lifestyle and get ready for school days! Here are some things you can do to help your child get ready:

1. Start adjusting bedtimes/wake-up times if they've changed a lot in the summer holidays.

2. Think about the volume of communication that will be coming home shortly and come up with a way to handle it quickly and efficiently ... a binder, basket, magnet clips ... whatever you think will keep things organized and at your fingertips. Try to return papers as they come home to avoid build-up and stress!

3. Check your school's website for calendars, supply lists, reading lists - many schools are going paperless in many areas and there may be useful information posted already! Any information you have ahead of time will make the transition into school easier.

4. Work out a morning routine, complete with a schedule and expectations, and get your child involved in setting it up - the best way to avoid those early morning melt-downs is to have a clear picture of what needs to happen and then, to follow through - start the year out as you want it to continue.

5. Come up with a short list of lunches/snacks that will work for your child and try to keep options stocked and available as your fall-back when you're not feeling creative and you don't have a plan - keep it simple!

6. If you haven't seen school friends all summer, set up a lunch or play date with a friend or two to ease the way back into school - comfortable children always do better in school :)

7. If you've slacked off reading and writing during the summer, begin reintroducing short periods when your child can spend some time engaging in these activities and reconnecting with the elements of literacy.

8. Chances are that your children will be asked to draw and/or write about their summer when they start school - generate some ideas through discussion, so they can feel confident about their first assignments. Have them reflect on photos or play "remember when..." to get them started.

9. Stamina can be an issue after a long, lazy summer - get moving and walk, bike, run with your child to increase their (and your!) stamina for those longer periods of time when they will need to focus.

10. Positive statements about school, friends, teachers, experiences will help your child look forward to the days ahead - focus on the positive instead of dwelling on the end of vacation and you will be happy when your child is happy, too!

Enjoy! Have fun!