I love simple recipes that children can help with at snack time. Here’s another favorite to add to that stash: Fruit Dip!
Here are the players:
Make a Texture Collage for Pictures They Can Feel!
Many young children aren’t trying to make something when they do an art project. They are trying to experience something. They enjoy being in control of their project, making the choices about what to use and how to use it. They enjoy the process of manipulating materials and watching their “canvas” change. A texture collage is a great activity for those experiential artists, because it adds a tactile aspect to the activity. Provide a wide array of materials with a variety of textures. I usually just cut them in random, geometrical shapes, and provide scissors in case the children want to alter them. Some favorite materials: sandpaper (cutting it actually sharpens your scissors!), feathers, fuzzy fleece, tulle, corrugated cardboard (with one side peeled off, exposing the bumpy ridges), foil, tissue paper, silky fabrics, ribbons, acetate (overhead paper). As the children glue the pieces on to their papers, you can ask them about which textures they like, and how they feel, exposing them to new vocabulary like rough, smooth, silky, bumpy, ridges, wrinkly, and more! In addition to language skills, this activity promotes creativity, small motor skills, and sensory awareness.
Story-Acting with the Sneetches
It’s no secret, I love Dr.Seuss. From a young age, I became enamoured with his silliness and his rollicking rhymes. As I studied education and child development, I fell in love again as I realized how beneficial his playful prose were for building young readers (learn more about phonological awareness here). I would say Dr. Seuss is the Shakespeare of childhood. Any well-read (or well-read-to) child should be familiar with him!
Book Activity: Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
I really enjoy Kevin Henkes’ books, and I know the children do too. His clever, relatable storylines revolve around quirky, lovable characters, who often have their own hilarious comic-strip-style comments in addition to the regular text. Chrysanthemum is the story of a girl (or more accurately, a mouse) aptly named Chrysanthemum. She really loves her name, until she goes to school. There, she is teased about it, until the other girls make a discovery that makes them wish they were named after flowers as well. It’s a great book for talking about social skills, not teasing in particular, but also fantastic for talking about our individual names.
Glitter Playdough!
Who Doesn’t Love an Orange Smoothie?
Who Doesn't Love an Orange Smoothie?
Teaching Social Skills: “Can I Play”
I am a firm believer that social skills should be taught directly, and then implemented and brought into habit through play and experience. During the very first weeks, I introduce the tools for entering play and taking turns. These are key areas of social conflict when you get a group of new preschoolers together!
Teaching Social Skills: "Can I Play"
I am a firm believer that social skills should be taught directly, and then implemented and brought into habit through play and experience. During the very first weeks, I introduce the tools for entering play and taking turns. These are key areas of social conflict when you get a group of new preschoolers together!
Give Me Five! Getting Your Preschoolers’ Attention
It is a common misconception that preschool children know what it means when you ask them to “listen”. Grown ups constantly ask them to “listen” or “pay attention”, but a young child can’t comply with those requests until you explain what that will actually look like.
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