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Week of June 1st
First, find a work mat! You can use a towel, bathmat, placemat, etc. Your child is used to having a designated workspace; one that they know is only theirs, and that they can safely leave their work on if they need a break, or something else comes up. They know where to come back to.
Second, have your child help you make these works! It encourages ownership and learning, plus its extra time together!
Last, rescue is robbery! Try your hardest to step back and just watch! You'll be surprised how much they can figure out!
Practical Life: Garlic Press Sponge Squeezing
You will need a garlic press, sponge, bowl, plate, washcloth, scissors and water.
-With scissors, cut the sponge into 6 pieces.
-Place the pieces of sponge in the bowl.
-Fill bowl with water.
-Place one sponge into the garlic press and squeeze the water out over the bowl.
-Take that sponge out of the garlic press and place on the plate.
-Repeat until all pieces of sponge have been squeezed and placed on the plate.
-Use the washcloth to wipe up any spills.
Sensorial: Ice Cream Cone Patterning
You will need a Pencil, cup, scissors, construction paper, markers/crayons/colored pencils, 2 baskets, and a tray.
-With a pencil, trace the cup 4 times on the Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue pieces of construction paper.
-With scissors, cut all the circles out.
-Place all circles into a basket.
-With a pencil, make a triangle on the brown piece of construction paper.
-With scissors, cut the triangle out.
-With the coloring utensils of your choice, decorate the triangle to look like an ice cream cone.
-With scissors, cut the white piece of construction paper into 4 strips.
-Using the coloring utensils of your choice, create different ice cream cone patterns on the strips of white construction paper.
-Place pattern cards into the other basket.
-Place both baskets and ice cream cone onto a tray.
-Have your child recreate the ice cream cone pattern with the circles and cone.
*Extension: Make this work a Math Game, write numbers 0-10 on pieces of paper. Mix the numbers in a basket and pick one out. Then number you draw is the number of ice cream scoops on the cone.*
Language and Art: Story Retelling
-Have your child pick one of their favorite books or read a new story numerous times as to become familiar
-Ask your child to "retell" the story to you, basically a summary
-If they need a little guidance, you could ask what happens first, next and last or beginning, middle and end
*Extension: Find props that go with the story. For example, if the book is about animals, small figurines work well. Your child could also draw their props on cardboard and then cut out. Have your child use the props to follow along with the story when "reading" to you.*
Science and Art: Evaporating Art
This activity is for a wonderful sunny day! You will need assorted paintbrushes, including large ones used for painting walls and several large bowls of water.
-Have child can "paint" with the water in the driveway, on a piece of slate or large rocks.
-After they have finished "painting", encourage observation of the water evaporating
-You could set a timer to see how long it takes to evaporate
-Explain to your child that the water has turned into gas form, is in the air around them and is now invisible to their eyes
-Try this in the shade to further understand the rate of evaporation
Practical Life: Cutting Practice
You will need paper, markers, a bowl or container, and kid safe scissors.
-Begin by cutting strips of paper
-Draw patterns on them that you child will cut (i.e.: dashed lines, curves, zig-zags, etc.) If you have the capability to copy these, we recommend you do so. The kids love cutting work!
-Put pattered papers in a bowl or container with child safe scissors
-Child will take work to their work mat
-Allow child to cut as many strips as they would like, trying to follow the lines
-Put scraps into bowl to be thrown away
*If your child is struggling with gripping the scissors, remind them they should be able to give themselves a thumbs up while holding the scissors. It is a good visual cue they can continue to use.*
Language: Alphabet Scavenger Hunt
You will need a piece of paper and a marker.
-Begin by writing the letters of the alphabet spaced out on a paper
-Send your child on a scavenger hunt to find objects that start with the sound the letter makes
-Get creative! Take it outside if you want!
*Extension: Have your child draw the object in their nature journal if they found it outside, or in their writing journal if they found it inside.— Try it again but search for objects that end in the letter sound!*
