Frozen! Winter Art Activities

Yes, the children will let you know that the blockbuster Disney movie, Frozen, can be an inspiration for anything and everything cold and icy. You don’t need any cryokinetic powers to produce ice and snow. Depending on where you live, just venture outside or open the freezer. Most of these activities take little or no preparation…and remember, it’s the process, not the finished product…so “Let It Go” if you think the end result is for children to make something that looks like something recognizable (i.e., providing a pattern of a snowflake or snowman to use with the art medium).  Have fun discovering the science in these activities while exploring with art!  As Olaf said, “Some people are worth melting for.”  I think the children will agree.

Rainbow Snow Painting
Fill spray bottles half full with Colorations® Liquid Watercolor™ (do not dilute the color by adding water). If you have snow, go outside and have fun spray-painting snow. If it gets too cold and fingers in mittens don’t work too well with the trigger sprayers (my favorite sprayers are the ones from Ace® Hardware), let the children scoop the snow in buckets and bring it inside to your water table. Spray away. Observe how the colors blend to make new colors. Way cool!

Paintsicles
Squeeze Colorations® Liquid Watercolor™ or BioColor® into ice cube trays. Cover trays with aluminum foil and insert craft sticks (poke through foil) into each cube. Place trays in freezer overnight. Pop paintsicles out of the trays. Provide heavy white paper or tagboard and using the craft stick as a handle, children paint the entire paper with bright blocks of color.

Ice Designs
Draw designs on heavy white paper with a washable marker. Using plain ice cubes, children “paint” over the designs and watch how the colors soften and blend..Ice Castles
Materials Needed:
Ice—cubes, blocks, etc.
Table salt
Rock salt
Kosher salt (optional)
Eye droppers
Colorations® Liquid Watercolor™
Sensory tub or water/sand table
Small containers/cups to hold the salt and Liquid Watercolor™

Procedure:

1. Freeze water in a variety of sizes and shapes of empty containers—plastic bowls, jello molds, cardboard milk containers, ice cube trays, etc. In cold climates, children could put the containers of water outside to freeze.
2. Empty the ice shapes and ice cubes into the sensory tub or water table.
3. Place small cups of salt and rock salt in the tub.
4. Place small cups of Liquid Watercolor™ in tub.  Add an eye dropper to each cup.
5. Problem solve with the children how best to use the ice to form ice castles, deciding which blocks of ice would be best on the bottom and which would work better on the top.  Children can sprinkle the salt on top of each chunk of ice before adding another piece.  Talk with them about how the salt begins to melt the ice.  Then when another piece is added, the water refreezes and becomes part of the newly added piece of ice, helping it to stick together creating ice castles.
6. Children then use the droppers to drop the Liquid Watercolor™ into the cracks and holes created by the rock salt and salt making a colorful kingdom.

Learning Outcomes/Desired Results:

• Cognitive-Science – Cause and Effect: Discuss the chemical reaction that ice has when salt is sprinkled on it.  Salt lowers the freezing point of ice, causing it to melt.
• Cognitive-Science – Cause and Effect: Solids transforming into liquids.
• Cognitive-Science – Cause and Effect: Mixing primary colors (red, yellow and blue) you make the secondary colors (orange, green and purple).
• Physical-Fine Motor Skills: Using small muscles (pincher grasp) in fingers to squeeze the bulb of the dropper and to pick up grains of salt and chunks of rock salt.
• Physical-Fine Motor Skills – Eye-Hand Coordination: Hands and eyes working together to accomplish a task; using fingers to manipulate dropper with color and squirting colors into salt crevices.
• Cognitive-Problem Solving and Critical Thinking: Some children will have difficulty in figuring out how to get the color into the dropper and then onto the ice. Handling the eye dropper will be a challenge, so they should be shown how to use it and encouraged to keep trying until they succeed.
• Language Development: Children talk excitedly about what they see happening.
• Encourages creativity and persistence.
• Social/Emotional Development: Fostered as this is an open-ended activity with no right or wrong way to do this activity.  It promotes children’s self-esteem.

Nature’s Frozen Beauty
Freeze nature items (leaves, pine needles, flowers, berries, small rocks) in silicone cupcake liners or an aluminum or silicone cupcake/muffin tray. Let the children put items (flower, leaf, etc.) of their choice into each of the cupcake liners. Then fill them halfway with water. Before putting them into the freezer or outside, insert a paper clip (open half-way) into each cupcake liner that will be used to hang up the frozen decorations. Once frozen, pop them out of their mold (cupcake liner or tray) and decorate your outdoor environment by having the children hang them on tree branches, fences or whatever else will support the icy decoration. As the temperature warms up and the sun comes out, the children will observe and discover what happens to their once frozen beautiful decorations.

Product Recommendations:
Ultimate BioColor® Creativity Kit (BCKIT3)
Colorations® Liquid Watercolor™ Classroom Favorites Pack (LWKIT4)
E-Z Pull Extra Large Clear Trigger Sprayers, 12 oz. – Set of 6 (TSBOT)
Super Safe Plastic Droppers – Set of 12 (12SSD)
6 Paint Cups in a Base (PNTCPS)
Best Value Sand & Water Activity Table – Medium (LWTAB)
Sand and Water Buckets  – Set of 6 (BUCKSET)
Indestructible Scoops – Set of 4 (SCOOP4)
Regular Craft Sticks – 100 Pieces (CRAF)
White Sulfite Paper – 500 Sheets ((A80SU)
Extra Sturdy Tagboard – 100 Sheets (9WT)
Colorations® Super Washable Chubby Markers (16CHB)

Cool Bean Bags!

Once you put one of these super sensory bean bags in your hands, you’ll quickly discover why they are nicknamed COOLBEAN. Each bean bag is covered with soft chenille fabric nubs, making them irresistible to the touch. Grasp them, squeeze them, and listen to the crinkling sound they make. They come in 4 bright colors and are the perfect size and weight for tossing and catching. COOLBEAN definitely engages the senses—vision, hearing, touch and kinesthesia (sense of body’s movements). What also makes Excellerations® Super Sensory Beanbags “really cool” is that they are for children ages 18 months and up and are even washable!

Benefits of Using Bean Bags:

• Younger children may find bean bags easier to handle than a ball. A bean bag is usually smaller and softer than a ball; consequently a child has less fear of being hit or hurt.
• Because bean bags can’t roll away, they may be less frustrating for the child with poor coordination skills.
• Catching and throwing a bean bag helps a child develop the skill of grasp and release.
• A bean bag will help a child develop the hand strength required for handling a ball.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes:

1. Gross motor skills: using the large muscles of the arms, legs and trunk
2. Fine motor skills: using the small muscles of the of the body (eyes, hands, fingers) to perform specific movements such as throwing and catching
3. Hand-eye coordination: hands and eyes working together smoothly to meet a challenge
4. Balance: being able to hold the position of the body through the interaction of muscles working together
5. Laterality: understanding of the differences between right and left and being able to control the two sides of the body independently and together
6. Kinesthetic awareness: inner messages from the muscles, tendons, and joints received by the body in order to move
7. Listening skills: ability to follow verbal directions

Here are some fun and challenging bean bag activities for young children. In next month’s post, I’ll share several games that you can play using bean bags.

Bean Bag Toss

Child tosses bean bag upward into the air and catches it before it hits the floor. Child first catches it with two hands. Child then attempts to catch the bean bag with one hand and then the other hand. The height of the toss should increase as the child’s skill improves.

Child tosses the bean bag back and forth across the body from one hand to the other. The height of the toss and the distance between hands should increase as the child’s skill improves.

Child tosses the bean bag into the air, turns around and then catches it. Challenge child to clap hands once, and catch it. Ask child to clap hands twice, then catch it.

Bean Bag Throw

Place a hoop on the floor, lean it against a wall or hang it up. Have child step back and throw a bean bag into the hoop. With each successful throw encourage the child to take another step back to make it more challenging.

Attach a target to a wall. I like to use one of the Excellerations® Pair-a-Chute. Keeping his “eye on the target,” the child throws bean bags at the different colors on the parachute.

Bean Bag Catch

Find a partner and play catch with the bean bag. Remind the child to use only his hands to catch and to keep his eyes on the bean bag. Play catch with your partner throwing underhand. Play catch with your partner throwing overhand. This time, stand close to your partner and play catch. If you catch the bean bag without dropping it, take a step back. If you drop it, take a step up. See how far apart you can get playing catch with your partner.

Using both hands, one child holds a bucket or basket. Let the other child toss bean bags to the child holding the bucket, who attempts to catch each one in the bucket.

Bean Bag Balance

Have child place bean bag on a body part—head, arm, shoulder, elbow and walk in the open space or on a designated line marked out on the floor.

Try a crab walk with the bean bag on the tummy or a creep like a cat with a bean bag on the back.

Bean Bag Jump

Have child place bean bag on the floor. Ask the child to jump forward over the bean bag. Ask them to jump backward, then sideways. You can repeat this series several times.

Have child place bean bag between their knees and jump forward like a kangaroo.

Product Recommendations:

Excellerations® Super Sensory Beanbags (COOLBEAN)

Brawny Tough Activity Hoops (HOOPSET)

Excellerations® Pair-a-Chute (PAIRUP)

Classroom Activity Baskets (CATCHY)

Sand and Water Buckets (LBUCKRED)

The Hokey Pokey Bone Dance!

 It’s that time of year to learn “All About Me and My Body” and that includes the bones in our body! Halloween is a great time to introduce bone anatomy to children. Wherever you look, there are ghosts, vampires or boney skeletons trick or treating. We all have a skeleton made up of many bones. These bones give our body structure, let us move in many ways, protect our internal organs, and more. A fun way to learn about our bones is to sing and move to the traditional song, “The Hokey Pokey,” but instead of putting the body part “in” and “out” substitute the body part with the bone name. Of course, with my early learners, I can use the generic words; for example, I could use “finger bones” or “toe bones” instead of phalanges…but, hey, if the kids are interested in learning the “big” words…go for it! A great educational tool and visual aid to use is the Foam Skeleton Floor Puzzle. Not only will the children learn about bone anatomy but it will also de-sensitize them to the scary figures at Halloween, teaching them what a skeleton really is. First sing the song including 2-3 bones and then each day add another bone. You can make it fun and easy by starting with the head and going all the way down to the phalanges of the toe bones. Always make sure to end the song with, “You put your skeleton in, you put your skeleton out; You put your skeleton in, and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey Bone Dance, and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about.

General List of Bones of the Human Skeleton:

cranium = skull

phalanges = finger and toe bones

sternum and/or ribs = chest

humerus = long bone in arm that runs from shoulder to elbow

ulna and/or radius = large bones of the forearm

pelvic = hip bone

femur = thighbone

patella = knee bone

tibia and/or fibula = leg bones

spine = backbone

skeleton = whole body

Foam Skeleton Floor Puzzle

The Hokey Pokey Bone Dance

You put your cranium in,

You put your cranium out,

You put your cranium in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey Pokey Bone Dance,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

You put your phalanges in,

You put your phalanges out,

You put your phalanges in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey Pokey Bone Dance,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

You put your sternum in,

You put your sternum out,

You put your sternum in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey Pokey Bone Dance,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

You put your pelvic bone in,

You put your pelvic bone out,

You put your pelvic bone in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey Pokey Bone Dance,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

Human X-Rays – Set of 18

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations:
Foam Skeleton Floor Puzzle (LIFESIZE)
Human X-Rays (SKELETON)
Our Bodies Paperback Books (OBBKS)

Outdoor Art – Fly Swatter Painting!

Fun, messy, creative and super-sized activities can take place outdoors. As an Outdoor Preschool Teacher for 12 years, I made opportunities for art every day in my outdoor classroom. The large space, different textures and objects, and ease of cleaning up all contribute to the success of art experiences outside. If you are a follower of my blog, plan on seeing me post oodles of more art ideas for the outdoors.

Materials:

• Fun Shape Paint Swatters
• Butcher Paper or Painting Mat (a paper cloth with plastic backing)
• Colorations® Washable Tempera Paint
• Plastic Art Trays

Process:

1. Place butcher paper or painting mat on the ground or adhere to a fence with clothespins or tape
2. Pour paint onto the plastic art trays. One color per tray.
3. Set the trays of paint on the ground or on a nearby table
4. Place a different shape paint swatter in each tray (with color of swatter matching color of paint)
5. Children press paint swatter into the paint and “swat” it onto the paper. They can keep “swatting” and making prints until they run out of paint on the swatter. Then have them choose a different shape swatter and different color.

Variations:

• Put paper on the outdoor easel instead of the ground. Children who never paint at the indoor easel, might be excited to paint with a paint swatter and “swat the flies.”
• Squeeze a few dabs of different colored paint onto the paper and invite the children to swat the paint flies.

Suggestions:

Of course, you can buy some inexpensive fly swatters at your local dollar store. I especially like the Fun Shapes Paint Swatters from Discount School Supply®. They are just the right size for little hands and each of the 6 styles of swatters are a different shape and color. Children can use the swatter of their choice and easily return it to its correct color paint tray.

I’m not a big believer on insisting that children wear smocks every time they want to engage in an art activity. Make smocks available for those who may want one. For some children, the idea of wearing a smock discourages them from the activity. It interferes with their freedom. Encourage parents to send their children to school in clothes that can and will get dirty.

Goals/Learning Outcomes:

Physical Development—Fine Motor Skills—Building hand-eye coordination

Physical Development—Gross Motor Skills—Using large arm movements and whole body as children reach and stretch and slap the paint on the paper

Cognitive Development—Math—Color matching and one-to-one correspondence (swatter to paint trays)

Cognitive Development—Math—Geometry—Learning about shapes

Language Development—Children talking about how the colors are changing as the paint splats mix together and commenting on the noise that the swatters make as they hit the paper

Social Development—Cooperative—Children share the shape swatters and the space they are working in

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations:

Brawny Tough Large Plastic Art Trays – Set of 5 (RECTRAY)

Fun Shapes Paint Swatters – Set of 24 (FLYSWAT)

Butcher Roll Paper (#5024 or #5036)

Cooperative Mural Art Material – 4′ x 10′ (LWMAT)

Colorations® Simply Washable Tempera Paint – Set of 15 (SWTALL)

Colorations® Machine Washable Toddler Smock (PTODSMOCK)

4-Way Acrylic Panel Easel (4WAPE)

Books that Move You!

Sometimes it just takes a book to start the action. I’ve compiled a list of favorite children’s picture books that will encourage kids to get up off their seat, onto their feet…and get moving!

Animal Action ABC by Karen Pandell

In this extraordinary board book, children learn action words and get the wiggles out by imitating animals.  From Arch to Balance, 26 action words, each headed by a different letter of the alphabet, are introduced, each accompanied by a pleasant verse that links the word to an animal.  Dramatic photos of wildlife in action and delightful spot photos of young children imitating the animals’ movements punctuate the action.

Bal Yoga for Kids by Glenda Kacev & Sylvia Roth

This book is a child and teacher friendly program which is both a fun and easy method teaching kids yoga postures from A – Z with a sing along & narrated CD and DVD demonstration. A song accompanies each letter and pose with whimsical illustrations and photographs that stretch the body and imagination.

Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton

“Stomp your feet! Clap your hands! Everybody ready for a BARNYARD DANCE!” An assortment of irrepressible farm animals join in a rollicking square dance.  As an education tool, children will learn to recognize farm animals, and associate simple verbs to the action, such as bow, bounce, swing, and leap.  And most importantly get up and dance!

The Busy Body Book: A Kid’s Guide to Fitness by Lizzy Rockwell

Learn how your bones and muscles, heart and lungs, nerves and brain all work together to keep you on the go. Kids walk and skate and tumble through these pages with such exuberance that even sprouting couch potatoes will want to get up and bounce around—and that’s the ultimate goal. Studies show that American kids are becoming more sedentary and more overweight and that they carry these tendencies with them into adolescence and adulthood. Experts agree that we need to help kids make physical activity a life-long habit. Through education, information, and encouragement, this book aims to inspire a new generation of busy bodies!

Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas

This exuberant, interactive picture book starring a bossy little ladybug and a GIANT hungry frog will have kids leaping up and down and out of their seats, doing the chicken dance, and make silly scary faces of their own.

Clap Your Hands by Lorinda Bryan Cauley

Full of reasons to get up and dance.  Little ones will jump at the chance

to join this menagerie of zany animals and children as they stomp, wiggle, roar, and spin their way through the day, as the rhyming text reinforces important concepts.

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

From their heads down to their toes, kids will be wriggling, jiggling, and giggling as they try to keep up with these animals!  Alligators wiggle, elephants stomp, gorillas thump, and giraffes bend. “Can you do it? I can do it!” is the confidence-building message of this fun-filled interactive picture book.

Move! by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

A playful introduction to motion in the animal kingdom that invites young readers to guess some of the unusual ways that animals get around. Follow them as they swing, dance, float, leap, and slide from page to page, then learn why these animals move the way they do.This book is wonderful for learning about how your body can move and how each animal can move.

The Squiggle by Carole Lexa Schaefer

When a group of young children set off with their teacher on an orderly walk through the park, the very last little girl spies a “squiggle” (a piece of string) on the ground and picks it up. As she twirls, twists, and turns the long red ribbon, she imagines it to be a dragon, a thundercloud, a “full fat moon,” and much more. She hastily rejoins the group and, much to their delight, demonstrates her treasure’s potential. Then the youngsters continue the walk, not as a “bunched-up, slow, tight, straight line,” but in exuberant squiggle-style, instead.  Give each child a streamer ribbon or streamer scarf and let them create their own “squiggles” as your read the book again and again.

Get Up and Go! by Nancy Carlson

We all come in different shapes and sizes, and it doesn’t matter if you are tall, short, skinny, or round. Your body is your own, and you need to take care of it. This book is the perfect catalyst to get readers moving. Vibrant, fun-filled illustrations and an encouraging text explain the many great reasons to exercise, from making new friends to going new places, or just because it’s good for your body.

Little Yoga by Rebecca Whitford

Here is a playful introduction to nine simple yoga exercises for toddlers.  A fun book even for those that know nothing about yoga as it relates the poses to well known animals.  For example, “standing forward bend” is renamed “monkey” because the pose resembles a monkey bending over. The back of the book has photos of actual children doing the poses as well as tips and an explanation for teaching the poses correctly.

My Aunt Came Back Adapted by John M. Feierabend

Sung as an echo song (to the classic tune of “How Dry I Am”), and accompanied by hand and body movements, children will laugh out loud at the antics of the Aunt, who in each verse travels to another strange place and brings back some unusual things.

Tony Chestnut by Laurie Monopoli

The much-loved children’s song, Tony Chestnut , comes to life in an interactive children’s picture book with accompanying CD. “The Book About Tony Chestnut” invites children to actively join-in, participate and connect with the storybook’s characters (Eileen, Neil, Pat, Bob, Russell and Skip).  Tony Chestnut uses the sounds of his name (Toe, Knee, Chest, Nut) to sing this really cool song. As he starts singing he points to the corresponding body parts. “Toe Knee Chest Nut Nose Eye Love You Toe Knee Nose.” The song starts out slowly, in order to get the kids used to pointing to the body parts, and then quickly picks up speed. It’s fun trying to keep up!

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt retold by Michael Rosen

If you’ve ever heard the song “We’re Going On a Bear Hunt” then you know the way the story goes.  It encourages movement and active involvement.  Stand up and act out the story and use hand and body motions as you read…to cross the tall wavy grass (swishy swashy), ford the deep cold river (splash splosh), tromp through the ooey-gooey mud (squelch squelch), wander through the deep dark forest (stumble trip!), run through a whirling snowstorm (Hoooo woooo), and at last enter a deep dark cave (tiptoe). “What’s that? It’s a bear!” And now it’s time to run back over every place you’d been before to escape.

We’re Going on a Lion Hunt by David Axtell

In this beautifully illustrated rendition of a well-known children’s chant, two sisters are looking not for a bear but for a lion–a lion that lives on the African savanna, where the girls go through swishy-swashy long grass, a splishy-splashy lake, and a Big Dark Cave. When they finally meet their lion, they have to run, run, run through it all again to get back home. Like Michael Rosen’s “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” this picture book will encourage preschoolers to participate and move.

You Are A Lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo

With simple instructions, this wonderfully illustrated book introduces kids to yoga in a fun and interactive way. Each pose is introduced like an animal and kids can then do the movement as well as make the animal sounds— flutter like a butterfly, hiss like a snake, roar like a lion and more.

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations:

“Bal Yoga for Kids” Book, CD and DVD (AP9555J)
“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” Book (BEARHUNT)
Rainbow Dancing Wrist Bands – Set of 6 (RNBW)
Streamer Scarves – Set of 12 (SWISH)

Sand & Water Fun for Infants and Toddlers

As an Early Care and Education Consultant and Trainer, I am asked to conduct workshops on a variety of topics for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.  My main goal in presenting at conferences and trainings (and also in writing this blog) is to share ideas and activities to use with the children in your care.  I have been asked to present my workshop, “NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE! Extending the Curriculum Outdoors” for Infant and Toddler Teachers.  The program coordinator specifically asked me to focus on the sand and water table and the sensory materials that can be included for this age group.

Is your sand and water table buzzing with activity or is it stagnant like the water you always seem to have in it?  Perhaps your sand and water table is closed because you think it creates a mess.  Whether you need to rekindle interest in your sand and water table or remind yourself about the value of sensory play…read on to discover the sensory learning opportunities found in the sand and water table.

The sand and water table can be equipped with two basins or tubs side by side or it can be one large table.  Whatever the configuration, most of these tables can be used inside or outdoors. Sensory play, sometimes known as “messy play,” happens in the sand and water table.  It is a center for exploring with your senses, experimenting, scooping, and pouring, squeezing and smushing (building fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination for handwriting), sharing and turn taking.  Children can watch chemical reactions, mix colors, repeat observed phenomenon, and try new things.  Sensory play promotes spatial awareness, mathematical thinking, and scientific exploration and discovery.  It also is simply a great way for children to relieve their stress.  Sensory play can be very soothing and relaxing to a young child.

Ideally, the items in the sand and water table should be switched out every week, though there are some materials (i.e., water) that need to be emptied daily. What you can and cannot include in your sand and water table depends on the children and the different policies of your program about the use of food during play and explorations, as well as concerns about children’s food allergies and sanitation.  Some of the items listed may be problematic for toddlers and those children who insist on putting everything in their mouth, ears or nose.  Provide close supervision and use only larger items for the very young.

Materials, Ideas & Activities for the Sand & Water Table:

• Water (cut up sponges and different sized containers)
• Water (turkey basters, buckets and different sized containers)
• Water (cups with holes and without holes)
• Water (foam fish, sea creatures, aquarium nets, and buckets)
• Soapy water (no tears shampoo) and babies to bathe, dishes or clothes to wash
• Colored water (with liquid watercolor)
• Bubbles (2 cups Dawn dish soap and 6 cups water) and bubble wands
• Ice—cubes, crushed, blocks, shaved, or snow—with salt, rock salt, liquid watercolor, pipettes
• Ice—plain, colored, shaped or with objects frozen inside
• Sand (sterilized, fine-grained sand)
• Sand (trucks, cars, foam wooden blocks or tabletop unit blocks)
• Kinetic Sand™ with Tree Blocks, and plastic animals and people for imaginative play
• Flour (alone or add water for a sticky mess—just coat the table and use with small plastic vehicles or matchbox cars)
• Cloud Dough (8 parts flour to 1 part baby oil)
• Cornmeal
• Coffee grounds (used then dried)
• Cornmeal and coffee grounds
• Oats (dry or wet)
• Oatmeal, cinnamon, and salt
• Ecofoam packing peanuts or Magic Nuudles™ (dissolves in water)
• Cooked colored spaghetti
• Finger paint
• Torn or shredded paper
• Easter grass (plastic eggs and plastic bugs)
• Shaving cream or white foam paint (plain or with liquid watercolor)
• Shaving cream and or white foam paint with blocks
• Baking soda, vinegar, empty pie tins, and plastic eye droppers
• Flubber and plastic scissors
• Oobleck (cornstarch and water mixture)
• Colored rice
• Colored rice and flour
• Clean mud (toilet paper, ivory soap bars, water)
• Dirt (add water=mud)
• Dirt (scoops, small shovels, plastic flowers and plastic pots)
• Nature specimens (pinecones, leaves, flower petals)
• Wooden discs
• Pom-poms and cotton balls
• Fabric scraps of different textures

Depending on the contents of the sand and water table, add small shovels, rakes, sand and water mills, small watering cans, squeeze bottles, sifters, sand molds, buckets, plastic or rubber animals, small people, boats, vehicles, kitchen utensils (wire whisks, slotted spoons, scoops, tongs, tweezers, funnels, mixing cups, basters, ladles, muffin tins, plastic cookie cutters, ice cube trays, sieves) and a variety of containers to foster complex sensory play.

I think it’s important to have two sand and water tables—one for inside and one for outside.  That way, depending on the weather and your setup, some kind of sensory activity can be available for the children to explore.  Infants and toddlers rely on sensory input to learn about their environment. Sensory play helps build neural connections that support thought, learning, and creativity.  It supports language development, cognitive growth, fine/gross motor skills, problem solving/reasoning, and social interaction.  Sensory experiences are like food for the brain.  With a little bit of planning, sensory play in the sand and water table can happen everyday!

Discount School Supply® Product Recommendations:
Best Value Sand & Water Activity Table and Lid (SWTAB, SWTABL)
Neptune Sand and Water Table with Lid (NEPTUNE)
Sand & Water Buckets (BUCKSET)
32 Ounce Bubble Solution (BUB32)
Bubble Wands (BUBWNDS)
Small Shovels (SMSHOV24)
Watering Can (WCAN)
Colorations® Easy-Grip Dough Cutters (EGCUTTER)
Sand & Water Mills (MILLSET3)
Pour and Measure Play Set (POURPACK)
Funnels (FUNNELS)
Excellerations® Fun Foam Fishing Set (REELFUN)
Sailboats (SAILS)
Sturdy Scoops (FUNSCOOP)
Super Classroom Sand Set (SDSET)
Sandtastik® White Play Sand (PLAYSAND)
Soft Touch Cute Baby Sea Creatures (BABYSEA)
Soft Touch Cute Baby Wild Animals (BABYZOO)
Soft Touch Cute Baby Farm Animals (BABYFARM)
Soft Multicultural Career Figures (HELPER)
Small Multicultural Career Figures (PEOPLE)
Bathing Dolls (BATHSET)
Primary Toddler Dish Set (DISHSET)
Magic Nuudles™ (ALLNU)
Kinetic Sand ™ (KINSAND)
Colored Play Sand (CSANDALL)
Sparkling Sculpture Sand (BLINGSET)
Shape it!™ Sand (MOONSNST)
Small Gotcha Nets (NETS)
Gator Grabber Tweezers (GATGRABS)
Medium Insects & Spiders (INSECTS)
Foam Wooden Blocks (WDFMBLK)
Foam Tabletop Unit Blocks (FOBL)
Tree Blocks with Bark (TRBLK)
Tree Blocks without Bark (TRBLKNB)
Chubby Land, Sea & Air Vehicles (CHUBBY)
Fun Dough Scissors (DSCISSOR)
Colorations® Tissue Paper Grass (TGRASS)
Super Safe Plastic Droppers (12SSD)
Colorations® Liquid Watercolor Classic Colors (13LW)
Colorations® No-Drip Foam Paint (BFP)
Colored Macaroni (SMAC)
Colored Rice (RRIC)
Colorations® Washable Finger Paint (CWFPS)
Colorations® Sensory Sand Finger Paint (SANSET)
Fabric Squares (FAB)
Jumbo 2” Pom-Poms (LGPOMS)
Craft Fluffs (FLUFFPK)
Wood Craft Rounds (WOOD50)

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.