Monday, March 26, 2012

Inspiration From Nature

On Tuesday, March 27 we will:
  • Go on a letter hunt and match the letters we find on the alphabet playmat.
  • Take turns "hopping the alphabet."
  • Go outside (if weather cooperates) and collect items from nature to be used for making a collage: pebbles, dirt, acorns, twigs, leaves, pine needles.
  • Create "nature collages!"
Ideas for home:
  • Kids enjoy collecting things outside. Use the materials they collect for:
    • sorting activities: put out small containers, bowls, plates and have children sort what they have found into groups by color, texture, size, weight, whatever they can think of.
    • Counting activities: We recently came home with a carriage full on tiny pine cones. I plan on using these to practice counting. Use paper or index cards to write numbers on and have children count their items to match the numbers.
    • Make a collage.
    • Write their name with glue and have children stick nature's materials to the glue.
  • Practice letter writing in the mud or sand using sticks. If children are not ready for letters, just practice making lines, circles and X's, which is great preparation for writing.
  • Visit a garden center or nursery and explore the colors and smells. Point out all the different colors, or have children point them out. What smells do you notice? How many petals or leaves are there on a plant? How do the plants get what they need to grow?
  • Use collected rocks or pine cones to create creatures using googly eyes, leaves, twigs, etc. Idea from Disney family Fun.
  • Find more nature inspired crafts here.
  • Check your local library for plant or flower guides and see what you an identify in your own backyard.
Most importantly: Play outside with your children! Just let go of everything (I know it's easier said then done, but try it!) and let your children lead you. It will bring you closer and I bet you will even learn something!!

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous." Aristotle


                                               

Monday, March 19, 2012

Spring Has Sprung

On Tuesday, March 20 we will:
  • Read "Mouse's First Spring" by Lauren Thompsen
  • Make clothespin butterflies with Miss Kourtney's homemade watercolors!
  • Have a quick discussion about what "Spring" is. What does Spring look, smell, sound, feel, taste like? What is happening? How do we know it is here?
  • Explore outside looking for signs of spring and make a spring "word wall."
Have fun playing!!!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Move and Learn

On Tuesday, March 6 we will:
  • Warm up our bodies by "hopping the alphabet."
  • Play HalfPint Skillastics. This activity allows children the opportunity to explore a variety of movements, while practicing other skills such as color and shape recognition, counting, turn taking, coordination, and spatial awareness.
Ideas for home:
  • Play "Musical Hugs:" similar to freeze dance, dance to music and when the music stops, everyone hugs!! This is a great way to reconnect when your having "one of those days!!"
  • Play "You Little Rascals!" My daughter invented this game and we play it daily! Children pretend to be crazy dogs and the adult is the dog catcher. The dog catcher puts the dogs in the pound (usually the couch, a corner of the room, tent...) and tell the dogs to stay there. The dogs then "escape" and the dog catcher chases them saying "You little Rascals, get back in the pound!!" Catch them and put them back in the pound. Then do it again. And again. And again. And again. :)
    • I think my daughter loves this game because it allows her to "break the rules" (escaping from the pound) in a fun and playful way.

Take the time to enter your child's world and "find ways for children to tell their stories, paint their own pictures, construct their own worlds, act out their own scenarios, and keep their own dreams alive." Lawrence Cohen, Playful Parenting