Using Ice for Pre-Writing Skills

I am always amazed how the simplest things can keep children engaged for so long.  The kids in my care love, love, love to use the pipettes (or those little medicine droppers).  It is so great for strengthening those little muscles needed for writing, cutting and all those other fine motor skills they will use so much in Kindergarten.  All I did was put out some ice trays, colored water, and a tub of ice cubes.  They mixed colors, learned about volume, cause and effect, sharing, and loads of language!  So simple and so many skills being used!

 



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Mail Call



We have been discussing Community Helpers in class. Here is a simple, easy, and fun way to let the kids practice their organizing, counting, and number recognition skills.  I have saved these cool boxes that single paper towels come in (by Kleenex).  I knew they would make a great mailbox.  I wrote numbers on cards and taped them to the front of the box.  Then I used foam numbers and drew dots to correspond to the numbers on the boxes.  The kids came to the table and sorted the mail into the correct boxes.  They loved it is an understatement.  They sorted, emptied and sorted again! 

 

 

 

We continued our unit on Mail Carriers by writing cards to ourselves and taking a walk to the mailbox.  The kids were very excited to come back to school with their delivered card!

 

 

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Target Practice with Wet Sponges

We had so much fun with this activity.  First we soaked a couple sponges in a tub of water.  The kids drew their own targets on the fence with chalk.  Then, they took aim and threw the wet sponges at their target.  They problem solved the best angle to throw the sponge so it would stick to the fence.  This is great for hand/eye coordination, problem solving, fine motor skills, large motor skills, not to mention, a fun way to stay cool on a hot day (it didn't take long before the kids were using each other for targets).  All in good fun, of course! 



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Cork Boats

Have you visited A Little Learning for Two? If not, you should.  I saw these cork boats on her blog and thought they look super fun.  I borrowed a couple corks from our fabulous neighbors (along with their kids, thanks Kylea and Justin!).  The kids had a terrific time designing and creating their boats.  Here is what we used to make them.

-corks

-toothpicks

-craft sticks

-hot glue

-craft foam sheets

-screw in hooks

-yarn

I placed everything out on the table and invited the kids to design their boat using the materials on the table.  They did an amazing job.  I didn't provide them with any type of model, they came up with the design by working together and problem solving their way through the construction. 

We used hot glue to glue the sticks to the corks.

Screwed the hook into the front of the boat,

Here is one finished, they cut out their sails however they wanted.then I showed them how to fold it in half and push the toothpick in.  They did need a little help pushing the toothpick into the cork to hold the sails up.

Here is one that the girls designed.  I love it.  All about balance!

Here it is floating away in the little pool.

They even gave them a ride down the slide.

T designed his as a pirate ship.

They were a great hit, from start to finish! These were great for a warm summer day.  Now to go get some more corks (wink wink).



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Good, Clean Fun

When I saw this over at Growing a Jeweled Rose, I knew I had to find some sort of giant sponge type object. We had a couple nap mats that had some tears in them so we have been using them outside to sit on. I took the pads out and squirted some dish soap on them. I gave the kids some water in watering cans and let them get to work. I did not say anything about the bubbles or what to do. It was so much fun to see them stomping on the sponges to discover the bubbles coming up. What I love is that when we are done, we simply hose off the sponges, patio and kiddos! They ask to do this everyday, so I bought a bottle of dish soap just for outside. It's a great experience for cause and effect, sensory, problem solving, using their social skills, and using their large motor skills! Click HERE, to see how what they used for a sponge over at Growing a Jeweled Rose! Thank you so much for the inspiration, Jeweled Rose!



 

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Gigantic Ball Paintings

We have been taking full advantage of the incredible weather we have had in our part of the world lately.  I picked up this plastic pool for about $10 at the hardware store. These pools are everywhere right now.  I taped down some paper to the inside of it and gave the kids some paint to squirt into the pool.  Then we threw in some plastic balls.  This project takes lots of communication and cooperation on the part of the children.  It was amazing to see them work together and figure out how to tilt the pool back and forth to get the balls in motion.  It was a whole body experience for these kids.

 Some of the skills they used during this process were, cause and effect, identifying/ recognizing colors, problem solving, learning and using social skills,  using their large motor coordination, and pre-writing skills (squeezing those paint bottles and squirting the paint) just to name a few!

 Pools....not just for water anymore!

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Colored Rice (The Easiest Way)

One of my kids most favorite sensory materials is colored rice.  It feels nice and makes a pleasant, soothing noise when dumping, measuring and pouring.  Playing with these types of materials help build math skills, small motor skills, color recognition, sensory awareness and language development.
 When I first began coloring rice, I use to put it in a ziplock baggie, add the color, add rubbing alcohol, zip it up, shake it, dump it out on paper towels to dry and try to keep the fumes from burning my eyeballs!  One day, I didn't have any rubbing alcohol, so I just added the color.  Much easier!

First, gather your colors.  We used THESE watercolors from Discount School Supply.  The process is super simple.  Pour some white rice (we bought a medium size bag at the grocery store for about $4), into a bowl.  We didn't measure, just poured in a good amount. 

Squeeze in some color

Stir it up (no need to add alcohol)  If you want it darker, just add more watercolor

Dump it into your tub and add the next color, no need to even rinse the bowl out, and the rice is instantly dry!

The colors come out beautiful and no stinky alcohol smell. 

Just a quick note, this batch of rice got caught outside in a rain storm  We let it dry out and it is perfect again.  It will last indefinitely, so this is a great little investment that goes a loooonnnngggg way

P.S.  This method works for coloring any pasta too!  You know for all those noodle collages and necklaces! 

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Cake Mix Playdough

I got this fabulous recipe from Lisa Murphy's Ooey Gooey Tooey book.   You will need:

1 box of cake mix (any type will do)

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 cups of salt

6 tsp of cream of tartar

6 tbls oil

3 cups of water

Mix it all in a bowl (we used an electric mixer).  Then pour into a pot and cook on medium heat until the dough begins to form a ball.  Plop it on the counter and let it cool.  Knead until it is soft and pliable. This play dough, if kept in an airtight container) will last for weeks.  It is so fun and smells incredible.

 

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Metamucil Slime

I have tried making this before with disastrous results.  I had this entire bottle of generic Metamucil just staring at me, tauting me really, in the closet.  So, we gave it another go. 

First, we dissolved 1 tablespoon of Metaucil in 1 cup of water.  Make sure it is in a rather large bowl.  Then, place in the microwave for around 4 or 5 minutes.  Watch it closely, as it bubbles up.  If it overflows into your microwave it is not easy to clean out (trust me on this one....I know).  Next, let it cool for about 1 min.  Microwave again for 4 or 5 minutes.  Follow this cycle 4 times.  Let it cool (it will be HOT).  It turns into the coolest slime.  You can even cut it with scissors.  This batch made the amount that you see in my daughters hands.  Enough for one person to have a slimy time with!



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