I know you can buy this at the store but it is much more fun to make.
Thing you will need...
1. Sidewalk Chalk
2. Paper cups or old plastic containers
3. Dust pan and broom
4. Water
5. Paint brushes
Take the sidewalk chalk outside on your driveway and draw back and forth to create sidewalk chalk dust. Once you get enough dust, sweep it up and dump it in a cup or container. Do this with as many colors as you want. Add water a little at a time to the dust and mix until it looks like paint. You will have to experiment with the thickness of the paint. It usually is a little watery. Take paint brushes and have fun!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Noodle Day
Go search your pantry for noodles and have fun trying these activities:
1. Find noodles with a hole in them. You may first paint them different colors and let them dry. Once the noodles are dry, you can lace them on a string of yarn and make necklaces or just decorative string. Wrap a piece of masking tape on one end to make it easier to lace. Teaching Tips: 1. Make patterns out of the different color noodles or the different shape noodles. 2. Cut your string 3 different lengths. Decorate each string with noodles and use them to measure things. 3. Take your decorative noodle string(s) to make shapes or letters by laying them on the ground or the table.
Infant and Toddler Noodle day (Older children will still enjoy these activities.)
1. Put a few noodles in a plastic water bottle or liter bottle. Make sure the cover is on very tight so they cannot open it. You may want to tape around the cover for extra protection. Let your child shack the bottle to music or while you sing.
2. Roll your noodle bottle back and forth to each other.
3. Use the noodle bottle in the bathtub for a new bathtub toy.
1. Find noodles with a hole in them. You may first paint them different colors and let them dry. Once the noodles are dry, you can lace them on a string of yarn and make necklaces or just decorative string. Wrap a piece of masking tape on one end to make it easier to lace. Teaching Tips: 1. Make patterns out of the different color noodles or the different shape noodles. 2. Cut your string 3 different lengths. Decorate each string with noodles and use them to measure things. 3. Take your decorative noodle string(s) to make shapes or letters by laying them on the ground or the table.
Infant and Toddler Noodle day (Older children will still enjoy these activities.)
1. Put a few noodles in a plastic water bottle or liter bottle. Make sure the cover is on very tight so they cannot open it. You may want to tape around the cover for extra protection. Let your child shack the bottle to music or while you sing.
2. Roll your noodle bottle back and forth to each other.
3. Use the noodle bottle in the bathtub for a new bathtub toy.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Tube Day
Did you save your toilet paper, paper towel, and wrapping paper tubes? Here are some fun activities to do with your tubes.
1. Use the tubes for measuring. Measure things around your house using your toilet paper tubes. Keep track how many toilet tubes it takes to measure each item on a piece of paper. Then continue to measure with your other tubes. Teaching Tip: Have your child hypothesize (guess) how many tubes it will be before measuring your items. Item ideas: Couches, beds, your child, yourself, tables, pillows, and anything you and your child comes up with.
3. Take your wrapping paper tube and use it as a tunnel to zoom cars in or roll little bouncy balls down. Teaching Tips: 1. Remember to incorporate color recognition by having your child tell you what color car or bouncy ball came down the tube. 2. Use refrigerator letter magnets and have your child shoot certain letters down the tube. You can have them shoot the letters of their name down the tube and put them in order when they come out the other end. Do the same for spelling words. For example: The parent can choose the letters S,T,O, P and have your child shoot them down the tube. Then have fun making a word out of the letters. You can make the tubes longer by taping the tubes together. It can be fun to make it as long as your stairs and zoom your items down the tube to reach the bottom of the stairs.
1. Use the tubes for measuring. Measure things around your house using your toilet paper tubes. Keep track how many toilet tubes it takes to measure each item on a piece of paper. Then continue to measure with your other tubes. Teaching Tip: Have your child hypothesize (guess) how many tubes it will be before measuring your items. Item ideas: Couches, beds, your child, yourself, tables, pillows, and anything you and your child comes up with.
3. Take your wrapping paper tube and use it as a tunnel to zoom cars in or roll little bouncy balls down. Teaching Tips: 1. Remember to incorporate color recognition by having your child tell you what color car or bouncy ball came down the tube. 2. Use refrigerator letter magnets and have your child shoot certain letters down the tube. You can have them shoot the letters of their name down the tube and put them in order when they come out the other end. Do the same for spelling words. For example: The parent can choose the letters S,T,O, P and have your child shoot them down the tube. Then have fun making a word out of the letters. You can make the tubes longer by taping the tubes together. It can be fun to make it as long as your stairs and zoom your items down the tube to reach the bottom of the stairs.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Getting Dressed Game
Ever have those days when your child will not get dressed? Today, you can find out how to make getting dressed fun.
1. Get a brown grocery bag and put in the clothes you want your child to wear. (Do not put your child's shoes in the bag until they have picked their socks and pants. Or have a second bag with two pair of shoes in them and have them pick which pair they are going to wear for that day.) You can even put a brush inside the bag and when they pick the brush it is time to fix their hair. Have your child choose one item at a time by closing their eyes and reaching into the bag. Once they get an item, they get to put it on. Teaching Tips: 1. Have your child feel the item and guess what it is before they pull it out. 2. When your child pulls the item out decide what letter that item starts with by sounding out the first letter sound. For example, your child pulls out the pants. Say "What letter does pants start with?" "p, p, p, p, p, p, p, pants." "P"
You will have to introduce the "sh" sound for shirt and shoes. Two letters that makes one sound.
If you already got dressed today you can play the game for fun or start bedtime a little earlier tonight and do the same thing with their bedtime clothes.
2. Get clothes for all different seasons and put them in a brown grocery bag. Play the game the same as above but this time, they have to guess what season the article of clothing is for. Teaching Tip: Create pictures of the 4 seasons with each season on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure to print the name of the season on your season pictures. Then continue to play the getting dressed game. Each time they pull out a clothing item in the bag, they put it on the the picture of that season. For example, your child pulls out a stocking cap they place it on their winter picture they drew.
1. Get a brown grocery bag and put in the clothes you want your child to wear. (Do not put your child's shoes in the bag until they have picked their socks and pants. Or have a second bag with two pair of shoes in them and have them pick which pair they are going to wear for that day.) You can even put a brush inside the bag and when they pick the brush it is time to fix their hair. Have your child choose one item at a time by closing their eyes and reaching into the bag. Once they get an item, they get to put it on. Teaching Tips: 1. Have your child feel the item and guess what it is before they pull it out. 2. When your child pulls the item out decide what letter that item starts with by sounding out the first letter sound. For example, your child pulls out the pants. Say "What letter does pants start with?" "p, p, p, p, p, p, p, pants." "P"
You will have to introduce the "sh" sound for shirt and shoes. Two letters that makes one sound.
If you already got dressed today you can play the game for fun or start bedtime a little earlier tonight and do the same thing with their bedtime clothes.
2. Get clothes for all different seasons and put them in a brown grocery bag. Play the game the same as above but this time, they have to guess what season the article of clothing is for. Teaching Tip: Create pictures of the 4 seasons with each season on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure to print the name of the season on your season pictures. Then continue to play the getting dressed game. Each time they pull out a clothing item in the bag, they put it on the the picture of that season. For example, your child pulls out a stocking cap they place it on their winter picture they drew.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Action Words
Think of at least 10 action words and print them on separate sheets of square paper and fold them in half. Find a bag, box, or a any container to put the action words in. Take turns picking out an action word and acting it out. After you have picked all 10 words, brainstorm more action words and start the game over. Take the game outside and play. Try using your action word in a sentence. For example: The action word is run. Your sentence could be, "Run around the house." Teaching Tips: Have your children help print and brainstorm the action words. If your child is working on letter identification, have them tell you at least one letter they can identify on the action word. Remember to use capital and lower case letters and have them identify both.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Fun With Bed Sheets
Today, we will explore the fun things we can do with a bed sheet.
1. Play a fun hide and seek game with the bed sheet. Have your child hide something under the sheet and you have to guess what it is. Then you hide something. See if your child can guess what is under the sheet before you pick it up.
2. Parachute fun. You can do this outside or inside. Take the sheet and lay it flat on the ground. If there are only two people playing, each person take a side and hang on to the corners. More than two, can each take a corner of the sheet or however you can make it work. You could also tie one end to a chair or a table. Practice shacking the sheet fast and slow and up and down. Play the Go and Stop game. (Teaching tip: Spell the word go and stop rather than saying the word.) Get some objects and throw them on top of the sheet and shack them until they all fall off. Object ideas: Light balls, stuff animals, socks, and plastic Easter eggs.
Teaching tips:
1. Use objects with lots of different colors on them and have your child name the color of the object as they throw it on the sheet. Once all the color objects are on the sheet, shack them all off and start all over. Do the same with letters, numbers, and shapes. If you do not have letters, numbers, and shapes that are light enough make them with paper.
2. Name recognition: Print each letter of their name on a separate sheet of paper. Play the game the same way I described above except, have your child throw their letters of their name back on the sheet in the correct order. You may also do this with simple spelling words.
Infant Sheet Fun (5 months - 12 months)
Lay a sheet down on the ground. Lay your baby on it's back on top of the sheet towards one side. Fold the sheet in half and play a peek-a-boo game. Raise the sheet up and down very slow. Try to go a little faster and see how they like the air blowing at them. I would suggest your infant be 5 months old to play this game.
1. Play a fun hide and seek game with the bed sheet. Have your child hide something under the sheet and you have to guess what it is. Then you hide something. See if your child can guess what is under the sheet before you pick it up.
2. Parachute fun. You can do this outside or inside. Take the sheet and lay it flat on the ground. If there are only two people playing, each person take a side and hang on to the corners. More than two, can each take a corner of the sheet or however you can make it work. You could also tie one end to a chair or a table. Practice shacking the sheet fast and slow and up and down. Play the Go and Stop game. (Teaching tip: Spell the word go and stop rather than saying the word.) Get some objects and throw them on top of the sheet and shack them until they all fall off. Object ideas: Light balls, stuff animals, socks, and plastic Easter eggs.
Teaching tips:
1. Use objects with lots of different colors on them and have your child name the color of the object as they throw it on the sheet. Once all the color objects are on the sheet, shack them all off and start all over. Do the same with letters, numbers, and shapes. If you do not have letters, numbers, and shapes that are light enough make them with paper.
2. Name recognition: Print each letter of their name on a separate sheet of paper. Play the game the same way I described above except, have your child throw their letters of their name back on the sheet in the correct order. You may also do this with simple spelling words.
Infant Sheet Fun (5 months - 12 months)
Lay a sheet down on the ground. Lay your baby on it's back on top of the sheet towards one side. Fold the sheet in half and play a peek-a-boo game. Raise the sheet up and down very slow. Try to go a little faster and see how they like the air blowing at them. I would suggest your infant be 5 months old to play this game.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Feet Day
Today we are going to discover the fun things we can do with our feet.
1. Trace your feet on a piece of paper. Color and decorate them any way you want.
2. Trace your feet several times and cut them out. Make a path around the house. Tape your cut out feet down on the ground and have fun walking on them. You could have them lead to certain rooms of your house.
3. Trace your feet on different colors of paper and make patterns out of the them.
4. Have the children trace their mom's, dad's, siblings, or caregivers feet and compare the sizes.
5. Print the names of each persons foot you traced.
6. Trace your favorite shoes and decorate them. Punch holes in the paper shoe. Take some shoe string and practice lacing and tying.
7. Put numbers on the feet and play a number game with a dice. Roll the dice and go to the foot with that number on it.
8. Introduce counting by 2's and working with pairs.
9. Have your child think of a game to play with feet.
Infant Feet Time.
1. Trace your babies feet and use them to decorate cards for family members.
2. Message and tickle your baby's feet.
3. Of course, everyone knows "This Little Piggy Went To Market".
(This little piggy went to market, (Touch and wiggle big toe.)
(This little piggy stayed home, (Touch and wiggle the 2nd toe.)
(This little piggy had roast beef, (Touch and wiggle the 3rd toe.)
(This little piggy had none, (Touch and wiggle the 4th toe.)
(And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee, all the way home! (Touch the littlest toe.)
1. Trace your feet on a piece of paper. Color and decorate them any way you want.
2. Trace your feet several times and cut them out. Make a path around the house. Tape your cut out feet down on the ground and have fun walking on them. You could have them lead to certain rooms of your house.
3. Trace your feet on different colors of paper and make patterns out of the them.
4. Have the children trace their mom's, dad's, siblings, or caregivers feet and compare the sizes.
5. Print the names of each persons foot you traced.
6. Trace your favorite shoes and decorate them. Punch holes in the paper shoe. Take some shoe string and practice lacing and tying.
7. Put numbers on the feet and play a number game with a dice. Roll the dice and go to the foot with that number on it.
8. Introduce counting by 2's and working with pairs.
9. Have your child think of a game to play with feet.
Infant Feet Time.
1. Trace your babies feet and use them to decorate cards for family members.
2. Message and tickle your baby's feet.
3. Of course, everyone knows "This Little Piggy Went To Market".
(This little piggy went to market, (Touch and wiggle big toe.)
(This little piggy stayed home, (Touch and wiggle the 2nd toe.)
(This little piggy had roast beef, (Touch and wiggle the 3rd toe.)
(This little piggy had none, (Touch and wiggle the 4th toe.)
(And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee, all the way home! (Touch the littlest toe.)
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