“Socializing” for Hybrid/Remote Learners

As the days stretch on in this age of COVID schooling, children are seeking social contact with others - friends, classmates, even family members. Some may be sad and quiet, some may be acting out - many are having trouble focusing on lessons when they are hungry to just chat and be a part of a social group. 

It’s also more complicated when some are in-person and some remote, or all remote ... and all “socially distant.” This lack of contact is becoming even more pronounced with the colder weather. 

In the interest of meeting the social needs of your kiddos AND getting those students on track for success, some time needs to be carved out for some simple, creative solutions. 

Try these ideas: 

Classroom Pen Pals: 

Since finding time is always a factor, incorporate some socializing into your writing time. Have students do pen pal activities, but do it within your class, to let them “mingle” without moving around :)  Pair remote students with in-person friends to improve spirits and make connections. Any age students will benefit from this - whether they are sending written letters, pictures or cards. Each week, pick names from a hat to rotate who is “pals” with who! 

Show and Tell: 

Each day, make it a part of your meeting time to give students a turn to talk about something personal they’ve been desperate to talk about. You can choose a theme, such as family or season, or even tie it to a science or reading lesson. A favorite book, artwork, or a family photo would work, too. Try an author’s chair - virtual or in-person - regular chances to interact with friends and express themselves will do wonders for morale :) 

Class Yearbook: 

Have students work on writing about themselves and doing self-portraits to compile a “directory” and provide one to each student. Establishing connections and finding out more about each other can only help with any isolation that students may be feeling. 

Good luck! And .... Have fun!

Warm Water Play for Calming Stress Relief

 The kiddos are stressed. They don’t always show it, or they show it in ways that don’t really express their feelings, but lots of them are stressed. We stumbled upon a relaxing, stress-reducing activity the other day - and wanted to share! 

The kiddos had found some tiny sea creatures to play with and, instead of just pretending to get them wet ...we pulled out some containers and some nice, soothing WARM water to splash around in. Just like in a warm bath, the kiddos relaxed and played ... for a loooong time :)

We’ve played a lot in cool/cold water, but hadn’t thought to try this. It was so nice to watch the children unwind and they did a great job of keeping the water (mostly) in the tubs! 

First, it was just creature play, then they poured and measured and made little waterfalls. After a while, they wanted to make “islands” for their sea creatures out of old plastic tops. One container got filled, then the water was poured into another, sizing the containers as part of the play. 

Later, a few ice cubes were added in, at the kiddos’ requests, to watch the melting. This was followed by more warm water to get back to cozy play :)  * their choice

They looked around for some fish to add to the mix but couldn’t find any. So ... we went to the recyclables stash and found that foam egg cartons can turn into great, floaty fish :) Rocks were added, like a “real aquarium” and we used a few grains of rice for pretend fish food. Pet play included naming the fish and creating tiny whirlpools for them to swim in :)

Fun was definitely had by all!! It was a great escape and a great stress reliever :) Here’s how long we played ...

Hope you can make some fun like this, too!

Creating Fun During Lockdown

The spring of 2020 was long and the summer and fall kept it going ... by this winter, anyone who has been cooped up with their kiddos is looking for some new ideas :) 

We’ve had a lot of success with cardboard boxes over here ... they have made everything from puppet theaters to step-in wearable race cars to furniture for stuffed animals. And, thanks to Amazon, there are SO many boxes around!

It helped to put together a cart of accessible “art” stuff. There is an organizer of crayons and colored pencils, all kinds of scrap paper, and some recyclables. Included is a few card games, some letter tiles and wipe-off boards. 

We’ve added glue, glue sticks, kid scissors and rulers as time has gone on - and scotch tape, which is very popular with our kiddos. The idea is to offer access to some materials which are always “open” for autonomy in creative play. 

When you’re looking for more ideas, let your children lead you. They may want to try to do something new ... last week, we tried some wood working in the workshop - just simple sanding and drilling - and sewing with bright threads and big needles, no plan in mind. Cooking or baking is always a hit with the kids here, too. You can search the internet or Pinterest for just about anything :) There are so many ideas out there for easy, inexpensive fun. 

Pair an activity to a book for extra fun - even books you don’t have in the house :) YouTube has LOTS of books read aloud, when you’re not comfortable going to a book store or library, and your budget is groaning from adapting to life at home. Follow your child’s interests and become experts on dinosaurs or planets ... 

To get you started, here’s some “Camp” activity ideas from my blog ~ tweak these themes to make them “COVID Camp” themes, instead of “Summer Camp” ... pick one and make a day or weekend out of it :) 

Camping Theme:   https://makeearlylearningfun.blogspot.com/2011/07/camp-out.html

  

Castle Theme:  https://makeearlylearningfun.blogspot.com/2011/07/castle-camp-knights-and-ladies-welcome.html 

Pirate Theme:  https://makeearlylearningfun.blogspot.com/2011/07/summer-camp-pirate-play.html

Hoping for an end to all this! In the meantime, try to .... Have some fun!

Discovery Walks in Winter

Sometimes you just need to get outside, even if it’s chilly and wintery out there! A quick walk or a bundled-up garden or playground visit will clear the head and get some movement into your day :) While you’re walking, shivering, or playing, make some observations!

Just like a “noticing” walk in Springtime*, take the experience to a new level by generating new vocabulary and slowing down to really see what’s outside. You might find some deserted (or not!) habitats for small animals. The undersides of fallen tree branches or beneath small piles of leaves are likely places for hidden wildlife such as insects. You might see some frozen icy spots, with cool cracking to snap a quick photo of. There are wonderful sights to see, when you slow down a little and really notice :)

Closely examine the pieces of nature that your little ones find ... It’s treasure to them! Look for pine cones, big and small, collect different types of needles from evergreen trees, or snatches of bark that you might find on your travels. Even a twig or a fallen feather will be a source of wonder for a child.

Take the “treasures” indoors and use in drawing and writing projects for little ones or older students. Children may want to use a magnifying glass to really look closely at their chosen objects, like the scientists that they are. Sketching and labeling are good first activities to get started for the younger ones. 

Older children may generate a list of words for writing. Begin with a shared writing chart to build vocabulary first. Students may help with beginning sounds and more, depending on their abilities. Try doodling a little picture next to each word, or hanging an actual sample in a clear bag right on the chart.    

Use this as an anchor chart for writing and labeling, and moving on to full sentences, where appropriate. No matter where your students are developmentally, you can bring some of that winter nature right into the classroom! It’s a great way to level the playing field with shared experiences :) 

Have fun!

*link to Mindful Noticing in Springtime post below

https://makeearlylearningfun.blogspot.com/2017/04/mindful-noticing-in-springtime.html

COVID Creativity: Mini-Boxes for the Win!

Whether you’re in the classroom or remote, one of your biggest challenges is what to do when you have early finishers or mini-breaks. With the health and safety rules in place due to COVID, it's not advised to share resources between students, so it's time to get creative. 

If you are in school, make up mini-boxes of interesting, curriculum-related or fine motor building materials. Have students choose one each week to be their in-school “busy box” or go-to downtime activity. At the end of the week, students will place the mini-boxes on a table and "quarantine" them.

If you are remote or have remote students, give choices and picture models for them to make up one of their own each week to keep handy at home :) Encourage use of everyday items, such as buttons, spoons, or natural or recycled materials. This is a no-cost to low-cost solution. 

"Design" your boxes to go with science exploratory units, math lessons, or word-building and letter practice. Using materials already on-hand should keep you from spending more time out of your already-stressed schedule and once they are established, they'll be in a rotation and just require occasional tweaking :)

Some examples might be: 

1 - Grab a handful of letter tiles (Scrabble?), paper and pencil and write as many words as you can from the letters. Try alphabetical order, too :) 

2 - Make a basket of bears to put in order, make patterns, count, etc. 

3 - Program bottle tops with letters - pick one at a time and write on a dry-erase board for letter practice.

4 - Supply dice and counting bears - roll, count and write down the number for practice. 

Science kits would be fun, too! Make a box of sticks. leaves and pine cones to examine, build with, sketch, etc. I threw in stripped crayons for leaf rubbings, too.

A small magnet and some metal/non-metallic items would be a great exploratory box. Add in a bunch of large paper clips for extended chains.

If you have access to craft sticks (colored ones are even more fun!) and Velcro dots, you can make a set of attachable sticks to form shapes and letters. Just put velcro on opposite sides of opposite ends and stash them in a plastic bin - fun and learning!

Pipe cleaners and beads for beading and patterning could be another box, using things you may already have access to in the classroom. Great fine-motor work!

You could try some force and motion cars and blocks, some Playdoh for many purposes ... use what you have around to make up as many mini-boxes as you want.

Legos make a great mini-box! Grab a bunch from a larger bin and make up some minis - for fun and fine-motor play.

So many choices - you can make multiple boxes of the same items, to avoid sad faces when their favorite is taken. Make the choices extend your curriculum and keep your learners engaged, while finding time to assist all learners in completion of work. 

Everyone needs a break and some creative time, even you!

Have fun!

Winter Fun Kit - Snow Daze

If the holidays are overwhelming with toys, emotions, schedules ... try something new :) 

To take the stress away, especially when things are upside-down due to COVID, gift an “experience” to be enjoyed in the after-holiday blah time. January can be such a let-down, and with socializing restrictions in place, at-home activities are the way to go!

There are so many subscriptions and kits out there that look super interesting but just a little different from what I was picturing ... so I made my own. And, you can too! 

I ordered a few craft items from my favorite craft supplier, to make some painted craft stick snowflakes, which will be fun to paint and assemble, and not require too much help from already-stressed adults :) On my list was also some felt, buttons, pompoms, and wiggly eyes to make a tabletop put-together, take-apart snowman decorating kit for hours of fun. 

Playing indoor games together will put some smiles on your kiddos’ faces AND get them some much needed non-screen time :) Oriental Trading had a snowball bowling game and a snowman building spinner game that fit the bill, but it would be easy to put one together yourself for very little cost. :) A few giant white pompoms and some upside-down paper cups and voila! 

A recipe for a snowman treat to make, with ingredients included, will fill out the “make it” selections - so simple with wafers, frosting and candy eyes! I am including some fruit roll ups to cut up for scarves ⛄️ 

Of course, I included a few Snow-themed books, aged appropriately for the recipients of my particular box. Adding to book collections is one of my favorite things! 

Everyone LOVES to get mail, so I will give a certificate at the holidays and mail the box after the New Year! 

Someone will be having fun! ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

Learning Tools: Recycled Bottlecaps

Looking for ways to do more hands-on learning? Running short on supplies with remote and hybrid learning situations? 

Make your own learning manipulatives to use at home or at school! 

Recycled plastic bottle caps are easy to gather in a short time and come in a variety of colors and sizes. They are perfect for so many different uses - in literacy, math, and even art. 

As you work on letter recognition, you and your kiddos can put together a set of upper and lowercase letters for practice. Play a matching game with them, placing the uppers over the lowers and checking them together. You can also supply a name strip with the alphabet for self-checking :) 

Write sight words on larger caps and use them to manipulate into sentences - even “silly sentences” can be lots of fun and get your little friends interested in reading and writing :) Then, have them copy the sentences down for some writing practice - good fine-motor work!

At math time, use different colored bottle caps to make patterns - ABAB, AABAAB, ABCABC. Repurpose your collection to act as counters when making up or solving addition and subtraction number stories, or practicing basic math facts. See what other uses your budding mathematicians will come up with! Maybe sorting by attributes - size, color, ...?

Finding art applications is easy, too! Some friends may use them as “tiles” in a mosaic or to arrange into pictures. Others may use them as stamps or tracers with pencils to incorporate shapes into designs. They can also be glued into 3D forms as parts of sculptures, possibly using other recyclables. 

The opportunities are endless - see what your kiddos come up with! 

Have fun!