Loose Parts for Active Play & Learning

The theory of loose parts was first put forward by Simon Nicholson in the 1970s, and states that the creative potential of an environment increased with the number and variety of flexible materials within it. Loose parts are defined as materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. Loose parts can be natural or synthetic and manufactured. They are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials. Loose parts can include a variety of simple equipment pieces. Think balls, hoops, ropes, cones, parachutes, scarves, bean bags. You can enrich your existing play environment with the addition of mobile and low cost active play equipment.

We traditionally use simple equipment to play structured games with rules, but I want you to think about letting the children use these open-ended materials for unstructured play, creating and designing their own challenges and games. What if you put out some balls, hoops, scarves, bean bags…

The children may become curious about what the materials are and how to use them.  They will then begin to explore the materials in different ways using their imaginations and strengthening their problem-solving skills. This leads to discovering that the materials can do many things. Discovery results in pleasure.  Pleasure results in repetition. This process of curiosity, exploration, and discovery is the cycle of learning.

Now, I could give you an awesome list of what the children came up with, but I’m not going to do that. I want to suggest that you observe and acknowledge their creations, celebrating their discoveries and experiments. Perhaps the next day add another loose part (i.e., a rope). The ideas of loose parts you can use is only limited by your and the children’s imaginations.

Benefits of Loose Parts:

• Enables children to manipulate their environment, to experiment, and to interact with materials
• Helps children actively construct knowledge from their own experiences.
• Encourages interaction among children and cooperative play
• Increases risk-taking, conflict resolution, and communication
• Deepens critical thinking and problem solving
• Promotes divergent and creative thinking
• More symbolic and imaginative play
• Supports gross and fine motor skills
• Developmentally inclusive

Give children the time, space, and an ample variety of loose parts to discover and create with.

Loose parts are all about active play and learning!

Product Recommendations:

High-Bounce Play Balls Set of 6 (BOUNCE)

Excellerations Brawny Tough Rainbow Parachutes (P6)

Brawny Tough Activity Hoops (HOOPSET)

Zebra Hoops Set of 6 (HULA)

Nylon Jump Ropes (RPST)

Rainbow Movement Scarf Classroom Pack (SCARFSET)

Excellerations Super Sensory Beanbags Set of 12 (COOLBEAN)

Colored Beanbags Set of 12 (CBB)

Colored Cones Set of 10 (SETC)

Streamer Ribbons & Scarves – A Rainbow of Fun!

Put a scarf or ribbon in a child’s hand and movement automatically begins! Dance, leap, run, twirl, spin, gallop, jump, throw, catch – the active play it provides is never ending! I highly recommend that you have enough scarves or ribbons for each child to have one for each hand.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes:
Promotes cross-lateral movements (midline development)
Develops body and spatial awareness
Directionality
Laterality
Gross and fine motor coordination
Eye-hand coordination
Moderate to vigorous physical activity
Agility
Flexibility
Listening skills
Cooperative play
Creativity
Imagination

Movement Exploration and Creative Movement
Using one ribbon or scarf, move it…

• Up and down
• Side to side
• In a circle
• In a figure 8
• Above your head
• Below your knees
• Between your legs
• At your side
• In front of you
• Behind you
• Like a broom (moving it side to side in front of body)
• Like a fishing pole (casting or throwing it out in front of body)
• Like a hammer (moving it up and down with quick wrist movements)
• Like ocean waves (shaking it in front of body)
• Like a rainbow (moving it in an arc from one side of body to the other
• Like a river (dragging it across the floor or ground)
• Like tree branches in a windstorm (hold it above the head and swaying from side to side)
• Like a tornado (spinning around and raising and lowering it)

Dance, Dance, Dance
Start the music and encourage the children to dance and move about freely in the open space. When the music stops, they are to freeze (stand motionless like a statue). When the music starts again, children resume dancing. Try to trick the dancers by starting and stopping the music quickly. They love the element of surprise! Music suggestions: “I Like To Move It” by Crazy Frog (fast dancing – suggest dancing using locomotor movements—jumping with two feet, hopping, jogging). “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland (slow dancing – suggest twirling, leaping, and floating to the music).

On Your Mark, Get Set, RUN!
With streamer ribbon or scarf in hand held high above head, have children run from one boundary to another. What child doesn’t like to run! They will ask to do it again and again. Music suggestion: “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s movie, “Pocahontas.”

Follow the Leader
Have children stand in a line one person behind the other. When the music starts, the child at the head of the line does a movement with the scarf or streamer and all children behind the leader will move their scarf in the same way as the leader (i.e., waving scarf overhead, jumping with the streamer, swinging arms back and forth with scarf, etc.) When the music stops, the child that was at the front of the line goes to the back of the line and the next child in line becomes the leader. The music starts again and the game continues until everyone has had a chance to be the leader. Music suggestion: “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.

 

Tails
Set up boundaries using ropes or cones in the available space. Each child tucks a streamer or scarf into their waistband behind their back. The ribbon is now their tail. The game starts when the music starts and the children run in the available space. The game is played like tag, but instead of tagging each other, children pull each others ribbon out of their waistbands and drop them to the ground. The child whose ribbon is pulled, picks up his streamer ribbon (tail), goes to “the tail repair area” (a designated spot, i.e., door, tree, etc.) to replace the tail in their waistband. Once the ribbon or scarf is secure in their waistband, the child returns to the game and resumes pulling tails (ribbons/scarves). Music suggestion: “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer.

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations

• Rainbow Dancing Wrist Bands (RNBW)
• Streamer Scarves (SWISH)

Rollin’ in the New Year Roller Board Style

The roller board, aka scooter board, is a super-duper piece of equipment to acquire. Inclement weather—pouring rain, snow flurries or freezing temperatures—can keep us inside. Pull out the roller board and add it to your environment for indoor play. Here are 10 rockin’ and rollin’ ideas and activities appropriate for three to five year olds. First, though, some safety considerations and benefits:

Safety Recommendations:

• Only sit or lay on the roller board
• Never let a child stand on a roller board
• Keep hands clear from the bottom of the roller board
• Use handles to carry the roller board
• Tie back long hair and tuck in loose clothing
• Check wheels regularly
• Prevent roller boards from crashing into others

Benefits:

• Upper body strengthening (arms, legs and hands)
• Core strengthening
• Motor planning
• Balance
• Bilateral coordination
• Physical endurance
• Tactile stimulation
• Kinesthetic stimulation
• Vestibular stimulation
• Crossing midline skills
• Eye-hand coordination

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And now for the activities!

Movement Exploration Experiences

Have children explore different ways to move around the space using the roller board.

• One hand on roller board
•  Two hands on roller board
• Two hands and one knee on roller board
• Kneel on roller board
• Sit on roller board, move backwards
• Sit on roller board, move forward
• Lie on stomach (prone position), move forward
• Lie on stomach, move backwards

Hoop Ball Shooting

• Place Hoop Ball Goal in open space
• Child sits on roller board holding a ball
• Child moves forward using feet to the Hoop Ball Goal and attempts to shoot the ball into the hoop
• As the child becomes more proficient, challenge him/her to move farther way from the hoop (no more than six to eight feet)

Rope Pull

• Adult holds one end of a long jump rope
• Rope goes under roller board and between wheels
• Child takes prone position (lying on stomach) on roller board and grips rope at opposite end from the adult
• Child pulls self toward adult using a hand-over-hand grip on the rope. Feet do not touch the floor

Puzzle Piece Play

• Scatter puzzle pieces at one end of the room or space
• Place the corresponding puzzle boards at the other end
•  Child sits on roller board
• child moves around space using feet, finds and grasps a puzzle piece
• Child travels with puzzle piece to find the matching puzzle board and puts the piece into its place
• Game continues until all the puzzles have their matching pieces

Roller Board & Cone Obstacle

• Set up three cones in a line about 3-4 feet from each other
• Child takes prone position on roller board and uses hands and arms to propel roller board around cones and back to starting position. Body is balanced on roller board, feet do not touch floor, and hands and arms work in rhythmic coordination.
• Child can try the same challenge sitting on knees on the roller board.

Free Ride

• Child sits cross-legged on roller board
• Child holds a hoop and adult pulls the child around
• Speed of travel depends on the child’s stability on the roller board and his or her enjoyment of speed

Fly Like an Eagle

• Need large, clear space to play
• Child takes prone position on roller board
• Tell child he/she is going to “fly like an eagle” across the room or down a long hallway
• Adult holds on to child’s feet and gives child a big push
• Child will have to work hard to keep head, arms (held out like wings), and legs lifted while moving forward

Body Bowling

• Set up bowling pins at one end of the room
• Just like in the “Fly Like and Eagle” activity above, child takes prone position on the roller board
• Child keeps arms out in front (i.e. a superman “flying” position)
• Adult holds onto child’s feet and gives child a big push forward
• Child attempts to knock down the bowling pins

Grocery Shopping

• Scatter plastic fruits and vegetables around the room
• On the opposite end of the room, place rainbow colored baskets
• Child sits on roller board
• Child moves around space using feet and picks up a fruit or vegetable
• Child travels with the piece of play food and puts it into the matching colored basket
• Game continues until all of the fruits and vegetables have been “bought.”

Crazy Driver

• Mark of a path or road using Mavalus Removable Poster Tape. Create a single line of tape or two lines to form a “lane” for the child to stay in. Make curves, zigzags, twists or turns.
• Challenge child to “drive” along the road either in prone position, sitting on knees, or sitting on bottom

Product Recommendations

• Roller Board (ROLLIT or ROLLUS)
• 16′ Nylon Jump Rope (JMPRP16)
• 25′ Diameter Floor Goal (SLAMDUNK)
• 9″ Basketball (BBALL)
• High-Bounce Play Balls (BOUNCE)
• Knob Puzzle (TPUZSET)
• Brawny Tough Activity Hoops (HOOPSET)
• Colored Cones (SETC)
• Soft Bowling Set (BWLSET)
• Life-Sized Fruit & Vegetables Set (FOODSET)
• Classroom Activity Baskets (CATCHY)
• Mavalus Removable Poster Tape (MAVALUS)
• Child Trike Helmet – Red (HLMTR)

Bean Bag Bonanza! 6 Games for Young Children

The bean bag is a “handy” loose material and you can never have too many! Make sure you have enough so that each child has one if not four at their disposal. There are an endless number of games that you can play. Let the children make up their own games too. Here are six super games that can be played indoors or outside.

Eeeny Meeny Miny Mo Name Game

A great get-to-know-you name game to play at circle time. With one child holding a bean bag, the entire group of children at circle time begin chanting…

Eeeny Meeny Miny Mo,

(child holding bean bag tosses it back and forth from one hand to the other)

Throw a beanbag, toss it low,

(child throws bean bag underhand to another child in the circle)

Say your name,

(child who catches bean bag says her name)

Way to go!

The game continues until each child in the group has a turn tossing and catching the bean bag.

Bubble Gum Rhyme

Another fun game to play a circle time. With children sitting in a circle, have them pass the bean bag from one person to the other next to them, chanting this rhyme…

Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish,

How many pieces do you wish?

Whoever is holding the bean bag at the end of the rhyme, gets to say how many pieces (i.e., from one to twenty). The bean bag is then passed again from person to person while counting that many times. When the number is reached, the game begins again while chanting the rhyme and passing the bean bag.

Lost Gold

With children sitting cross legged in a circle, show them the precious gold—a yellow bean bag. Tell them that the precious gold will be lost. Have one child leave the room while you give the gold (bean bag) to another child sitting in the circle. That child hides the gold under their legs. The child who left the room is instructed to return to circle and find the missing gold. The child who is seeking the gold walks around the inside of the circle. Everyone sitting in the circle begins clapping. They clap slower or more softly if the child seeking the gold moves away from the gold and louder and faster when the seeker gets closer to the gold. Children clap their loudest and fastest when the seeker is directly in front of the child who is hiding the gold. The seeker points to the child who he thinks is hiding the gold. If his guess is incorrect, the seeker continues walking and listening to the clapping until he guesses correctly. When the seeker guesses who has the gold, that child gives him the gold. The seeker joins the circle and sits on the floor. Another child is asked to leave the room and the gold is given to another child sitting in the circle who hides it under their legs. The game continues until everyone has had a turn finding the gold.

Bean Bag Shuttle

Make two boundaries with jump ropes or tape about 12-15 feet apart. Have children stand behind one of the boundaries with several bean bags at their feet. At the opposite boundary place a bucket or basket for each child. When you say a locomotor movement (walk, run, gallop, skip, creep on hands and knees, frog jump, etc.) children will pick up a bean bag and travel that way (i.e., gallop) to the opposite side and put the bean bag in the container (bucket or basket) and run back to the starting boundary. The game continues with different locomotor commands.

Over and Under

Have children form a straight line one person behind the other. If you have a large group of children, divide them into 2 or 3 lines parallel to each other. Give the first person in each line a bean bag. When you say, “go” the first person in each line passes the bean bag overhead to the person behind him. The bean bag continues to be passed overhead from player to player. The last person receiving the bean bag quickly moves to the front of the line. The game continues until the original leader once again stands at the start of the line. The activity is repeated, but this time the bean bag is passed between the legs of the players. The third time the game is played, the bean bag is passed overhead to the person behind them. The second person in line must pass the bean bag between their legs to the third person behind them. The third person passes the bean bag over their head to the next person and so forth in the same “over-under” pattern.

Co-operative Bean Bags

Each child places a bean bag on their head and then walks around the designated play space keeping the bean bag balanced. If the bag falls off a child’s head, that child must let it drop to the ground and freeze (turn into ice). To become unfrozen another player must come to help. The helping player can hold onto his own bean bag (placing one hand on top of the bean bag on his head) and pick up the fallen bean bag with the other hand and give it to the frozen player. The player is now unfrozen and puts the bean bag on his head and is free to move again.

Product Recommendations:
Colored Beanbags – set of 12 (CBB)
Excellerations® Super Sensory Beanbags – set of 12 (COOLBEAN)
Excellerations® Alphabet Beanbags – set of 26 (ABCTOSS)
16′ Nylon Jump Ropes – set of 3 (JMPRP16)
Mavalus Removable Poster Tape – set of 3 (MAVALUS)
Classroom Activity Baskets – set of 6 (CATCHY)
Large Red Bucket (LBUCKRED)

Rubber Duckie, You’re Number One!

Rubber Duckie, you’re the one, You make bathtime lots of fun,
Rubber Duckie, I’m awfully fond of you…

Whether you spell it “Ducky” or “Duckie” (as in the Sesame Street song), the rubber duck squeaked in to become a 2013 inductee into the Toy Hall of Fame (along with the ancient game of chess).  Officials at the National Toy Hall of Fame (located inside the The Strong—National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY) say anyone can nominate a toy and thousands of suggestions come in every year.  An internal committee of curators, educators and historians chooses the finalists and then a national selection committee votes for the winners.  Longevity is a key criterion for getting into the hall. Each toy must be widely recognized, foster learning, creativity or discovery through play, and endure in popularity over generations.

Rubber ducks have been recognized as the quintessential bathtub toy since 1970 when Ernie, the cheerful orange Muppet on Sesame Street, first sang the catchy ditty “Rubber Duckie” to his best bath buddy. The song rose to number 16 on Billboard’s chart of hit tunes and, 43 years later, kids still sing the praises of their water play pals.

Not only the bathtub but the water table is a natural place for rubber ducks to reside.  Excellerations™ Letter Learning Ducks from Discount School Supply® are a great play prop addition.  The product includes:

• 26 plastic ducks—each with an upper and lowercase alphabet letter on the bottom
• 26 alphabet duck-shaped cards—each with an upper and lowercase alphabet letter on one side of the card and a corresponding picture that begins with that letter on the opposite side
• Mesh drawstring bag to store ducks
• Activity guide filled with great game ideas for 2-7 year olds

Activity Ideas for 3-5 year olds

• Fill the water table and place the Letter Learning Ducks in the water.  Encourage children to find the duck that has the first letter of their name.
• Place the Alphabet Duck Cards on the floor or on a table with the letters facing up.  When a child finds the duck with the matching letter, have him place the duck next to the matching alphabet card.  After everything is matched, sing the alphabet song together.
• Add some no tears bubble bath soap to the water and have the children stir up some bubble bath fun for the rubber ducks.

Objectives & Learning Outcomes

Physical Development:

• Fine motor control—Muscle strength in the hands and fingers and coordination of the eyes and hands is promoted when children play with the ducks

Social & Emotional Development:

• Playing cooperatively and sharing ducks
• Explore social roles as they give the ducks a bath

Language Development:

• Children discuss their observations and experimentation as they manipulate the ducks
• Children expand their vocabularies as they learn words like sudsy, splash, bubble, pop

Cognitive Development:

• Understand cause and effect relationships—predicting what will happen when soap is added to the water
• Recognizing beginning letters in familiar words and names (preschool standard)
• Matching words with the same beginning sounds (preschool standard)
• Recognizing all upper and lowercase alphabet letters (kindergarten standard)

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations:
Medium Best Value Sand and Water Activity Table (LWTAB)
Excellerations™ Letter Learning Ducks – set of 26 (LLDUCK)

Excellerations™ Get Up and Go! Dice

I am passionate about putting into teacher’s and children’s hands materials that promote physical activity and learning.  Excellerations™ Get Up and Go! Dice does just that and is a quality product from Discount School Supply®.

The Excellerations™ Get Up and Go! Dice set includes:

• 2 dice with pockets on all sides
• 20 different movement activity cards
• 12 numeral cards (2 each of the numbers 1-6)
• 12 dice dot cards (2 each of the dots numbering 1-6)
• 12 blank cards

The two large seven-inch vinyl-covered foam dice have pockets on all six sides that hold activity and number cards.  Insert six different activity cards in each of the pockets on one die.  On the other die put the numeral cards, either showing the dots or the numeral.  Depending on the developmental skills level of the children, I use the numeral cards for numbers 1, 2, and 3 and the dot cards for numbers 4, 5, and 6.  Young children may not recognize the larger numerals, but they are usually able to count the dots or “pips.”  Did you know that the dots on dice are called “pips?”  The word “pip” commonly means a “spot” or a “speck,” and perhaps that’s why the dots on dice, as well as dominoes, are called pips.  Don’t shy away from the big word, i.e., “pips” for “dots.”  It is very common for adults to simplify their language when talking to young children.  Throwing in a new word now and then is a great opportunity to build vocabulary! If you’re going to explain what something is, you might as well use the proper word the first time. Children may not always pick up on those big words, but they certainly won’t if they don’t ever hear them.  So go ahead, use words like “identical” instead of “same” and “pips” instead of “dots.” You’ll be surprised at what the children will pick up on when you give them the chance!

Here is a fun favorite activity that I like to play indoors or outside.  You’ll find more ideas in the Activity Guide that comes with it.

Roll the Dice for Exercise

How to play:

1. Sit children in a large circle.
2. One child is chosen to roll the dice.
3. Child with dice stands up and rolls the dice into the middle of the circle.
4. The child identifies the activity to be performed and the number of times to perform the activity by counting the pips or stating the number shown on the die.
5. All children in the circle stand up and perform the activity that is lead by the child who rolled the dice.  All the children are to count as they perform the movement.
6. When finished, the child who had rolled the dice gives it to another child who continues the game by rolling the dice and leading the group in the movement activity that is shown on the movement die and counting the number of times they are to do the activity (as shown on the number die).
7. The game ends when every child has had a chance to “Roll the Dice for Exercise.”

Suggestions & Variations:

• If the child who rolled the die has difficulty counting, let the group count the dots or pips out loud on the number die, as the child points to them.
• Take pictures of the children doing a favorite movement activity (i.e., jumping jacks, jogging in place, etc.) and adhere it to a blank card.  This personalizes it to the group of children in your classroom.
• This activity is also a great one to use when children are in transition –i.e., waiting for the bus or their group’s turn, etc.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes:

1. Physical activity: any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure
2. Gross motor skills: using the large muscles of the arms, legs and trunk
3. Cooperative play: games and activities that the participants play together rather than against one another
4. Listening skills: ability to follow verbal directions
5. Language development: speaking, communicating
6. Mathematics: number sense of quantity and counting; one-to-one correspondence
7. Social emotional development: taking turns; promotes children’s self-esteem and confidence

Get active, get moving, get healthy…and start rolling the Excellerations™ Get Up and Go! Dice.  Everyone will be a winner!

Giggles & Wiggles!

Music, Movement & Creative Activities for Circle Time

Circle Time, also called Group Time, Rug Time or Meeting Time refers to any time that a group of children come together for activities that involve everyone. It’s a special time to share songs, fingerplays, chants and rhymes, flannel board stories, puppets, play rhythm instruments, read a story, and participate in movement games, relaxation activities or whatever else that particular day may bring.  Circle Time provides for a listening time, a time to develop attention span, promote oral communication, and a time for learning new concepts and skills. It’s a time for auditory memory, sensory experiences, socialization, and a time for FUN! Circle Time can be a complex, dynamic interaction among adults, children and resources used.

I will be giving a presentation, “Giggles & Wiggles! It’s Circle Time,” at the 2013 NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo in Washington, DC at the Convention Center on Friday, November 22, 2013, from 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM.  Techniques and props for presenting music, movement, and creative activities will have you up off your seat and on your feet!  Have fun, get inspired, and learn how to make your group time more active and enjoyable for you and the children!

Get more ideas by joining me for a mini version of “Giggles & Wiggles” happening in the Discount School Supply® booth(booth #1922) before every spin on the “Wheel of Fun” in the Exhibit Hall.  We’ll be singing, moving, and even giving away Circle Time props.  See you there!

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations:

Angeles® Rainbow Block Carpet (RNBRD6)
Double-Sided Story Board (VELTTS)
Felt Story Sets, Books & CDs (STORYCD)
Rhythm, Rhyme & Repetition Books (RRRBKS3)
Excellerations™ Claves Classroom Set (CLAVESET)
KIDSPLAY® 8-Note Handbell Set (OCTAVE)
Big Mouth Animal Puppets (FUNPUP)
Excellerations™ Counting Pop-Up Puppets (CONPUP)
Excellerations™ Get Up and Go! Dice (GODICE)
Easy Store Music & Movement Kit (BOOGIE)
Rainbow Dancing Wrist Bands (RNBW)
Excellerations™ Toddler Movement Scarves (MOOVIT)
Juggling Scarves (JUGGLE)
Circle Time Fun Set of CDs (CTIMEFUN)
Hamilton™ AM/FM CD Player (BOOMBOX)

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything!

I’m putting together a list of “Books That Move You” for an upcoming presentation I will be doing for the California Library Association State Conference in November (I’ll make sure to share that list in a future post).  The title of this blog is the title of a really great and interactive book I’ve read to my preschoolers every October.  It’s become a Halloween classic, though the word “Halloween” never even enters the text.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd is about a little old lady who goes out into the woods to get some herbs, spices, nuts and seeds, but stays out until nightfall. Walking home she meets a pair of shoes that go CLOMP! CLOMP!  “Get out of my way, you two big shoes! I’m not afraid of you,” she said.  She kept on walking down the path, but the shoes clomp-clomped behind her. She meets more clothing: a pair of pants that go WIGGLE, WIGGLE, a shirt that goes SHAKE, SHAKE, two gloves that go CLAP, CLAP, and a hat that went NOD, NOD. She tells each one “Get out of my way! I’m not afraid of you,” but they all follow her, making their noises.  When she got near her cottage, the Little Old Lady encounters a very huge, very scary pumpkin head that goes BOO! BOO! The Little Old Lady runs home, hearing all those sounds behind her.  When she’s back inside her cottage, a KNOCK, KNOCK, challenges her to open her door. Again, the shoes, pants, shirt, gloves, hat and pumpkin head try to scare her.  When she bravely proclaimed, “You can’t scare me,” the unhappy pumpkin head asks, “What shall become of us?”  But she had an idea.  The little old lady gives them all something useful to do.  She found a place for them in her garden, as a scarecrow, where they could scare all the birds away.

Students can participate in the reading by getting up and moving to the words. I encourage them to:

“Stomp their feet” like the two shoes that went CLOMP, CLOMP

“Wiggle their legs” like the pair of pants that went WIGGLE, WIGGLE

“Shake their shoulders” like the shirt that went SHAKE, SHAKE

“Clap their hands” like the two gloves that went CLAP, CLAP

“Move their head up and down” like the hat that went NOD, NOD

“Say “Boo, Boo!”” like the scary pumpkin head that went BOO, BOO!

We also act this out as a play with used children’s clothes that I find at the local thrift shop–a pair of hiking boots, a white shirt, a black top hat, a pair of white gloves and a plastic Halloween trick or treat pumpkin (jack-o-lantern) bucket. Don’t forget the little old lady props–a hat, shawl, apron, and a small basket with a handle.  Each of the seven children in the play gets the appropriate prop(s) for their part.  The remainder of the children in the group who are not in the play, but watching the play, participate by chanting and acting out the story with their body parts. The little old lady dresses up in her clothes.  The child who is the pair of shoes, holds the small pair of hiking boots (one in each hand) and stomps them on the ground when he hears his part CLOMP, CLOMP; the child who is the pair of pants holds the pants with two hands and WIGGLE, WIGGLES them from side to side; the child who is the shirt holds the shirt with two hands and SHAKE, SHAKES it up and down; the child who is the pair of gloves puts them on his hands and claps them together when he hears his part CLAP, CLAP; the child who is the hat puts it on his head and moves his head up and down with a NOD, NOD; the child who is the pumpkin head holds the jack-o-lantern bucket and moves it back and forth in front of his face saying, BOO, BOO!  In the story when the little old lady is sleeping (actor who is little old lady pretends to sleep), the children place the items on a children’s coat rack or clothes tree to make the scarecrow.  If you do not have a small clothes tree (I used one I had in the Dramatic Play Area), lay the clothing on the floor to make the scarecrow.

The children love this story and can’t wait to have a part in the play.  We read it over and over again. It is both scary and fun!  The text has lots of repetition and sounds/actions, making it a perfect cumulative story for an interactive read-aloud.

A Whale of a Role Model!

I feel very fortunate to live near the ocean in Santa Cruz, CA.  It continually inspires me to venture outside and enjoy all that it affords.  It is a place of beauty, incredible wonders, and home to the greatest diversity of life on earth.  This week, humpback whales can be spotted not far from the beach.  They are joining herds of sea lions and flocks of birds to dine on the abundant anchovies that are present in the bay.  In the photo below taken by Chris Elmenhurst, you can see a mother humpback teaching her baby calf how to feed on the tiny green fish. The whale mother and her baby will share the strongest of bonds for one year with the mother preparing and strengthening her newborn for the long migration up the coast.  It’s common to see a baby trying to perform a good breach over and over and then have mom come up unexpectedly to show junior how it should be done.

Photo by Chris Elmhurst at Surf the Spot – click photo to view more photos.

While I was watching the humpbacks, I also spotted a mother and son exercising together on the beach.  I couldn’t help but notice the correlation between the mother whale with her calf and the mother and son lifting weights.  Just as the mother whale role models for her baby, so does a physically active parent role model for her child.

Parents who encourage and endorse physical activities in their own lives are more likely to pass on these good habits to their children.  Research shows that children who exercise do better in school, control themselves better, and have fewer behavior issues. More good news is that children who lead active lifestyles are likely to remain active as adults and pass on their healthy lifestyle habits to their own children.

Consider the following benefits of regular physical activity for growing children:

• Promotes healthy growth and development
• Builds strong bones and muscles
• Improves cardiovascular fitness
• Increases flexibility
• Improves balance, coordination and strength
• Assists with the development of gross motor and fine motor skills
• Provides the opportunity to develop fundamental movement skills
• Helps to establish connections between different parts of the brain
• Improves concentration and thinking skills
• Provides opportunities to develop social skills and make friends
• Reduces feelings of depression, stress, and anxiety
• Improves sleep
• Promotes psychological well-being, including higher levels of self-esteem and self-
• concept

Whether you’re a parent or a teacher, be a role model. Show children physical activity is important by enthusiastically participating in it!

The Mirror Game!

Why It’s a Great Game!

Objectives & Learning Outcomes

Social Emotional Development:

• Learning to cooperate
• Accepting others’ ideas
• Taking turns

Cognitive Development:

• Replicating physically what the eyes see (developing visual sensitivity to change)
• Developing focus, attention, and concentration
• Learning about the concept of mirror reflection

Physical Development:

• Practicing a variety of nonlocomotor movements
• Developing spatial awareness (an awareness of space, relative distance, and relationships with space–experiencing personal space)

How to Play

Set Up and Materials

• Available indoor or outdoor space
• Children paired up and scattered in the space
• Music
• If desired, demonstrate the concept of reflection using a mirror

Directions

1. Partners face each other at arm’s distance apart.
2. Ask one child to be the “leader” and perform simple movements in place and his partner (the second child) to imitate the leader as a mirror reflection.  For example, if the leader  waves his right arm, the “mirror” waves his left arm in the same way, duplicating the movement as if he is looking into a mirror.
3. Start the music–fast or slow.  The use of slow background music might help keep the partners moving slowly at first.
4. Go from simple (only one body part moving) to complex (more than one body part moving at the same time).
5. When the music stops, partners change roles, with the leader becoming the mirror and the mirror becoming the leader.

Suggestions & Variations

• Children will mirror better if they watch each other’s eyes rather than extremities.
• Ask the leader to move slowly enough so the mirror can follow.
• Have the players do the activity while sitting.
• Combine the activity with streamers or scarves.

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations:
Rainbow Dancing Wrist Bands (RNBW)
Juggling Scarves (JUGGLE)
Daily Fitness 4 CD Set (MOVEMENT)
Circle Time Fun Set – 3 CDs (CTIMEFUN)
Hamilton™ AM/FM CD Player (BOOMBOX)
Look At Me Mirror Kit (LOOKATME)