Sharing and Caring

Extend Valentine's Day by talking about friendship, with explicit lessons about making and keeping friends, taught with storybooks. Sometimes our little friends need things spelled out for them ... and what better way than through a story?

Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister, tells the story of a little fish who is beautiful to look at and sought after to play with, but when he snubs the other fish, they stop trying to be friends and he feels isolated. Through learning to share, the Rainbow Fish eventually makes friends, and plays happily with his new friends. (I always stress to my little ones that sharing friendship and experiences is really the best gift of all. )

Corduroy, by Don Freeman, is told from the viewpoint of a stuffed bear who just wants to belong to someone and have a home. This sweet book can be a stepping stone to great conversations about inclusion and making sure no one feels left out - and how good it feels to feel wanted!!

My kiddos always enjoy The Crayon Box That Talked, by Shane deRolf. It gives voice to all the different crayons, who eventually put aside their griping to see that if they all work together, the results can be amazing - a great lesson for those having trouble sharing and working as a team.

Of course, there are always some great on-their-level Clifford books to go with these friendship lessons. Clifford's Pals and Clifford's Best Friend, by Norman Bridwell, highlight friend relationships with characters that are known and loved!

Take some time to read through these titles and others before reading with your kiddos, so you know what discussion points you might want to steer them towards. Or ... let them do the talking and encourage them to share what they feel like after reading these books - and any connections they might have to the characters in the stories. Sit back and listen while you color a picture together of one of the characters - great coloring sheets and extension projects are available on the author's websites.

http://www.marcuspfister.ch

http://www.penguin.com/static/pages/youngreaders/children/features/corduroy.php

http://www.scholastic.com/clifford/books.htm

Or, search Pinterest - great ideas should pop up!


Have fun!

Have a Cutting Party!

Let your kiddos cut! 

Children need to be comfortable cutting, in order to stay on task and work efficiently once they start "real work" in school. To prepare, give them the opportunity to learn how to operate scissors, cut on straight lines and follow curvy ones. Space these "lessons" out and make it fun - success will not be achieved in one sitting :)

• First, have them learn the grip and motion of the scissors - open and shut, little "bites."
• Use strips of paper just wide enough for a little scissor to cut, and help your child feel success in cutting it up. 
• Next, use snakes of play dough or drinking straws for cutting practice, to give some resistance.
• Then, you can draw lines on paper or have them draw the lines and cut along them! 
• When they are getting good, use stencils to trace around shapes and then cut them out!
• Old magazines are treasure troves - pick a theme for a collage and cut away! (Get some glue stick practice in, too, when you glue them all on a piece of paper!)

Make it fun!! Pull out the toy catalogs and the coupon pages - let them go crazy cutting with no real goal in mind. Steer them in the right way to grip the scissors, making sure that their thumbs are placed correctly on top.

Introduce the "helper hand" to hold the paper that they are cutting, in order to manipulate the paper as needed. 

One teacher friend pulls out the party hats and calls it a "cutting party!" Whatever goofy trick it takes to make it fun for your little ones, try it out! The more practice they get, the easier cutting will be for them down the line!

Thanks to my friend, Kelly, for her great cutting tips! Have fun!

Process vs. product: It's OK!

Children learn about the world around them by running their hands through water, dirt, and sand ... not to do anything in particular with them, but just to experience them using their sense of touch. They are great little scientists! Your children instinctively use their five senses to explore things in the natural world ... their food, toys, people, even bubbles and snow.

With toddlers and preschoolers, we are used to this exploration with science topics and encourage them to get hands on experiences to add to their knowledge of the world around them.

We should use this same approach when beginning to use art materials with our children. Letting your little ones experience the PROCESS of using art materials, instead of looking for a perfect PRODUCT at the end of the line, helps them discover so much about each medium they try.

Open ended exploration of dough can inspire all sorts of creativity, especially when everyday objects are available to add in to the play. Children can be inspired by the simplest of things and take the play to new levels.

Using pudding, doughs, shaving cream, or paints to mess around with gives your child a chance to experience the medium with no great expectations of the outcome, so that they can be free to explore on their own terms and - often - come up with new ways to use the materials.

Watercolors and Q-tips were a hit in our group a few days ago and today - play dough and buttons!

Give them a chance to use their own creativity and be inspired by their interest level and the fun they are having :)

Have fun!

Snow day!!

It is snowing here today - the kind of snow we don't get too often :) If your little ones have had enough of the cold, but not quite enough of the snow ..... OR, if they (or you) aren't up for getting out there ... BRING IT IN!!

Take a big container and fill it with snow, then find a place where it would be great to dig in and play with it. An old shower curtain liner or a vinyl table cloth would make a nice floor mat, or just put it on the countertop and know that it will be easy cleanup - it's just water!!

   Then, play! We got out some little cups and containers and dug around in it ... if your little ones' fingers get cold, put the mittens on inside :) Build a tiny snowman and decorate it with anything you can find in the kitchen - check ours out!

For a science and math connection, fill up a measuring cup with some fresh snow and wait it out - check back every half hour to see what happens.

Make some predictions and take some measurements - you will be able to see how much the snow shrinks and what the water amount is for the snow you collected.

Grab an erasable marker to make some marks showing the progression :)


There are so many literacy connections for Snow - look for books like "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats on YouTube if you don't have any titles in your snow-bound home! Enjoy!!

(This post is inspired by a picture I saw from my friend Mary Ann, but I just loved it and wanted to share the idea :)

Fun with "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert

When the leaves start to change colors and fall from the trees, it's time to have fun with leaf projects!!

First, find the book "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert - it is so much fun to read ... and your children will love the awesome illustrations! Each one shows a different character made entirely of leaves ... animals, people ... make sure you look carefully to see it.

Next, take your little guys on a leaf hunt to find as many different varieties of leaves as you can. Make sure to get a variety of colors and shapes, and sizes, to make your own illustrations really cool!

Then, set out your leaves on some contrasting construction paper and move them around, making different combinations until you make a shape that looks interesting :)

Have your little ones try different combinations to make different creatures, and finally, get ready to glue them on paper or encase them in plastic, to keep them forever. You can use glue dots to fix the leaves where you want them, or you can use clear contact paper to make them into a "sun catcher." Either way, make sure you add details, like faces, eyes, hands, paws ... whatever will make your character come to life!

Have fun!

Books to Love: "The Quilt Story" by: Tony Johnston and Tomie dePaola

There are all kinds of stories - silly, funny, scary, sad ... real stories, pretend stories .... even stories that help your children see something new about the world they live in. Realistic fiction has a important place in your child's library, and can help them learn about things that happened before they were born.

The Quilt Story gives a little history lesson and opens up all kinds of discussions about the past - the past of your country, your family's history, even your own past - before kiddos. It tells the story, in words and pictures, of a quilt which has a place in a family's history and then is rediscovered by a later generation. 

The illustrations also help to tell the story, so make sure to integrate them into your reading :) Look for changes in buildings, dress, transportation, etc. After you read, you can go through your own old family photos, looking for changes that tell the story of your family, too. 

You can extend the reading of this story with so many art projects - use stencils and paper cutouts to design your own quilt or even piece together fabric scraps on paper, using glue instead of thread. If you are really handy, you can show your child a simple stitching pattern with a child-friendly needle and thread :)

The Quilt Story is a special book, with fine illustrations by Tomie dePaola, and makes a great cuddle-up read for bedtime. Watch out, though, your kiddos just might have to search out a forgotten blanket when you're done ....

Have fun!

Rock On!

Have some fun with rocks - and let your little ones explore and learn! We took some stones that were flat on at least one side, and used a paint pen to make upper-case letters on them. Then, we put them out on a table, and . . .

First, there was lots of interest ... and lots of questions!

"What are these? What do we do with them?" We didn't ask our little ones to do anything in particular with the rocks, but soon they were searching for their name letters and lining them up, calling friends over, and trying out new combinations :)


They noticed that some of their names started with the same letter, and that they had to share letters to make friends' names.

Next, maybe they'll want to play a match game - we'll need more rocks!

How about numbered rocks to line up in order ... or addition rocks! We could try shapes and patterns one day, too!

Have fun!