FAMILY BUZZ
Fun & Learning at Home - Robins
STORY TIME - with Ms. Ann
From Egg to Robin
My son, Fletcher is studying to be a science teacher. Right now he is studying ORNITHOLOGY - BIRDS! We have been looking at lots of birds on our walks in the park by our house. He makes a list of every bird we see... ducks, robins, geese, hawk, sparrows, chickadees, even a bald eagle!
What birds do you see in your neighborhood?
Here are some fun bird activities for you to try at home....
Make binoculars with toilet paper tubes taped together. Add a string/yarn to hang it around your neck. Go bird watching out your window or outside!
Create a bird nest with a paper plate, or a circle of paper. Glue on sticks and pieces of grocery bag that you have torn or cut. This is great for strengthening finger muscles.
Another way to make a bird nest is with a paper bag, a lunch bag or takeout bag is a good size. Roll down the bag to make the sides of the nest. Add grass, sticks, yarn, or cut up paper. Add a plastic egg. Perhaps you want to create a bird for your nest.
Create a bird feeder! Spread peanut butter or sunbutter on a toilet paper tube. Roll it in bird seed, which can be found at Aldi or other grocery stores. Hang it in a tree.
Fun & Learning at Home! The Three Billy Goats Gruff
STORY TIME - with Ms. Ann
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
This is a fun story with lots of great vocabulary comparing size (tiny/little/small, medium, large/big/heavy), and positional words (over, under, up, below, first, second, third). I encourage you to consciously use these words with your preschooler.
Here's a fun game to play with positional words.
Retell the story of The Three Billy Goats, people or stuffed animals can be the characters. Here they used playdough to make the troll and popsicle sticks to build a bridge. Use your imagination!
It's a great story to talk about the sequence of the story, for example, "Who went over the bridge first, second, third?". This is an important skill to practice reading comprehension.
STEM activity.... build a bridge! What can you use that you have around the house? Will it hold something light? Will it hold something heavy?
Go on a small/medium/large scavenger hunt in your house. How many different things can you find?
Fun & Learning at Home! Feelings
STORY TIME - with Ms. Becky
The Way I Feel
And here's a SILLY song!
Feelings Activities -
because there are just SO MANY FEELINGS right now! And it helps to talk about them.
Feelings or emotions are not "good" or "bad". It's all about what we do with those feelings. Let's help our little ones to name and express their feelings and to know how to respond to them.
It's ok to be angry at your sister for knocking over your block tower, but it's not ok to push her. Show her your angry face and tell her that you didn't like that!
Create emotions eggs to help your child to recognize and name emotions.
The same can be done with rocks - not to mention that there is something so soothing about nature materials.
Create faces with cut outs from magazines and found materials. Perhaps write a story about the character.... What is s/he feeling? Why? What happen? What did s/he do about it?
Create feelings faces with your snack. Try orange slices, green beans, kiwi slices, circle crackers.... what else?
Fun & Learning at Home! Storytelling
STORY TIME - with Ms. Tarah
Let's Pretend - Dramatic Play - Storytelling!
What's your child's favorite story? What story do they ask to be read over and over again? Spend some time recreating that story! I'll use Ms. Tarah's story "Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Bus" as an example...
Create costumes (perhaps a hat for Pigeon)
Create props (like a bus made from a cardboard box). This picture is quite complex, but it can be very simple. Your child can color it yellow and add wheels. A paper plate makes a great steering wheel.
One person can be the narrator and other members of the family (or stuffed animals or dolls) can be the other characters in the story. Take turns being the different characters. Enjoy!
Fun & Learning at Home! Letters
STORY TIME - with Ms. Ann
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Learning pre-reading and pre-writing skills is a process. It happens one step at a time as children are ready for that step. Here are some of the steps that we walk through with children at WWP...
Singing "ABC's", so children learn the names of letters.
As children are read to, they come to understand that letters convey meaning. Each letter has it's own sound and when put together, they make words. Point to the words as you read to your child.
Usually the first letter that children learn to recognize and to write is the first letter of their first name, followed by the other letters in their name.
Long before a child learns to write letters s/he is working on strengthening finger muscles (fine motor skills) through play, such as building with Duplos, doing puzzles, using play dough and other sensory materials.
As a child scribbles with crayons, and other writing materials s/he is learning how to control the writing utensil and gaining strength to eventually make the straight and curvy lines needed to make letters.
Children learn through their play! At WWP we incorporate learning to recognize letters, their sounds and how to write them into children's play. Here are some fun ways to PLAY with letters!
Notice the small container for paint? That encourages the child to just use one finger to paint with. Q-tips are another great painting tool to make dots and it strengthens those finger muscles!
Write letters on pieces of masking tape and have your child match them to ones on a paper. For younger children use the letters in their name first until they have mastered those letters before going on to other letters. Older children could match upper and lower case letters.
Shaving cream is great sensory, small muscle FUN for all ages. As your preschooler gets older, encourage writing letters in the shaving cream. Have some letters nearby for inspiration and to copy.
Use food boxes with a dry erase (or regular marker would work too) to search for letters. Find the first letter of your first name, like Ms. Ann!