Paint the Sidewalk
It’s always nice to combine activities that are traditionally done indoor, with the outside. This is a painting activity that will combine large muscle movements and the creativity of your child. There is not a lot of structure to this painting activity, just fun to be had with the freedom of painting on the sidewalk.
Stuff to Have
Sidewalk paint, homemade or purchased
Art, large movement, colors
There are two main concepts in the seed sort, fine motor and classification, which is an early math concept. This week the focus is the actual movement of sorting seeds. Add spoons, tongs, tweezers, and cups to utilize different fine motor muscles. They can sort them into a muffin tin or ice tray, but focus more on the movement of picking up the seeds, whether by their fingers, tongs, tweezers, or spoons. Younger children may be challenged just using their fingers. As children progress, they may want to try a spoon, then tongs, then tweezers. The smaller the object (ie. Tweezers) the harder they tend to be to hold. Keep talking about colors, shapes, and any other characteristics you notice as your child goes through this. What utensil is easier or do they prefer? What are these seeds for? What do they look like? Take advantage of simple activities, and draw out learning experiences from all areas of development.
Stuff to Have
Various seeds (larger seeds like pumpkin, sunflower, and corn seeds are good for this)
muffin tin or ice tray
Utensils: spoons, cups, tweezers, tongs, etc. (optional)
Fine motor, math (sorting), sensory
Early Science & Math
Things have changed a lot outside since we last did this in week 3! Spring and Fall are the best seasons to go on frequent nature walks and check out the changing scenery and temperature! Talk about what has changed. What flowers are there now that weren’t? How tall are they? What color are they? Are the trees different? Bigger? Greener? What are the leaves like? Are they the same or different than another tree? What are the birds doing? Are there any nests to check out? What is the temperature like? Your child will naturally explore things that are interesting to them. Picking up rocks, feeling the grass (or not if they don’t like it like my kids early on!), checking out flowers and plants at their level. And then it’s our job to capitalize and talk about what we see, and what they are interested in.
Early science, observation, large motor
Cooking & Baking
Toward the end of each Season I like to leave a cooking and baking activity open for you to make something you enjoy with your child. What’s a favorite springtime food or treat you grew up making, or would like to make a tradition for your family?
Whatever you choose find things like dumping, stirring, rolling, patting, squishing, crunching, etc. for your child to do and participate as much as possible. This will be one of their favorite things to do with you!
Our weeks always go better when we spend a lot of time getting those big muscle groups working too! Things like jumping, running, riding a trike, climbing! This is so important for building their strength, balance, coordination, and brain development. I strongly believe that my kids are way better behaved when they have had some exercise!
Reading should also be a big part of your day! Go to the library and pick out some of your child’s favorite characters, read about spring and the change of the season, try some new books and add to your favorites. Reading is extremely multi-dimensional and is a must do every day!
Similar to reading are music and rhymes. These are so fun and so beneficial for language development and future reading skills. Do an internet search for Spring songs for kids. You will find a lot of great little rhymes and songs to add throughout the day. You don’t need to have a set “music time” that you sit down and sing, just sing them as you go about the day!