Follow Us

Not Just Cute

Whole Child Development

Book Activity: Snip, Snip, Snow!

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments

 

Snip, Snip... Snow!

Snip, Snip, Snow! by Nancy Poydar tells the story of a relatable, spunky girl named Sophie, who can’t wait for the snow to fall!  Her excitement turns to disappointment as the storm is stalled.  In its place, Sophie and her friends begin cutting paper snowflakes, creating their own snowstorm.  Caught up in their own fun, the first real snowflake almost goes unnoticed.  The children run outside to enjoy the new snow!  This story is so well-written and the illustrations really draw you in.  The book also includes instructions for making paper snowflakes, just like Sophie did!

[Read more…]

Positive Guidance Tools of the Trade – Using Humor

by Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Create, Positive Guidance and Social Skills Leave a Comment

Often what is needed to head off a full-blown melt-down is just a little humor to lighten things up and regain perspective.  Let me give you an example.  Recently, I had spent a full day washing every dirty article of clothing in our house.  A small feat in itself.  I hadn’t, however, folded any of it yet.  So at the end of the day, I was exhausted, folding laundry on my bed, just trying to get to the bottom of it so I could climb in!  Well, my five year-old came in, with body language and a voice that conveyed that he just might try a bit of whining and fit-throwing to get his way as he said, “But I wanted to sit there!”  I responded that the bed was “closed”.  Then realizing the humor, said, “Get it?  The bed is closed with clothes!”  He paused for a moment, then his five year-old logic grasped it and his whole demeanor changed.  He visibly relaxed, laughed a bit, and then moved to another part of the room to settle in and talk to me about something else.

Humor is an excellent distraction.  It lightens the mood and shifts attention, often facilitating either natural or adult-prompted redirection.  It’s not always the children who are the ones who need to lighten up.  They’re naturals at funny business.  In fact, I recently read that, on average, a child laughs 300 times each day, while an adult laughs only 15 times each day.  So it’s logical that humor would be a natural tool to use when working with children.

[Read more…]

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft Times Two

by Filed Under: Celebrate!, Create, Learning through Play and Experience 4 Comments

Now, before you get all worked up over the word “craft”, let me reiterate what I said in this post.  Crafts are not inherently evil.  They’ve just gotten a bad rap because too many people have misused and abused them as a substitution for creative art experiences.  Open-ended creative art activities should be the mainstay of a preschooler’s experiences, but occasional craft projects can be beneficial as well.  There are simply a few things to consider before choosing a craft project for your children. 

1) Is it developmentally appropriate?  Meaning, you need to consider their developmental levels, their motor skills, interests, and attention spans, and decide if the project matches those needs.  Think through the craft project and consider how much of the project the children can do on their own without undue frustration.  If you have to do all the work, it really isn’t their project! 

[Read more…]

Kitchen Prints

by Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience 1 Comment

Real artists see beauty in the ordinary.  Take  your average kitchen utensils for example.  Utilitarian and, well, ordinary.  But if you look very closely they are full of different edges and shapes, patterns and textures.  Gather a few kitchen instruments for some kitchen prints!  (It’s best if these utensils can be devoted to art and sensory activities.  Most washable paints will wash off of utensils, but if you can, it’s best to have separate sets.)  I found interesting prints by using spatulas, pastry blenders, potato mashers, whisks, cups, pizza cutters, and even forks.

When doing prints, I like to present the paint on an old plastic lid with a ridge.  On top of the lid I place several thicknesses of moistened paper towels.  Then I spread a thin, even layer of paint on top of the toweling.  This creates something like an ink pad.  Try it out a few times to make sure that there is enough paint to print, but not so much that you lose the detail of your object in goopy drips of paint.

[Read more…]

Book Activity: More Spaghetti I Say!

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Learning through Play and Experience Leave a Comment

More Spaghetti, I Say! (level 2) (Hello Reader)

In More Spaghetti I Say, author Rita Golden Gelman weaves a silly tale of a monkey named Minnie who is so in love with her spaghetti she can’t possibly play with her brother.  There’s a wonderful mix of rhyme, rhythm and hilarity as Minnie explains to Freddie, just how much she loves her spaghetti.  She not only eats it (and pairs it with almost any other food) but plays in it, and even skis down it!  As Minnie, and eventually Freddie, say, “I love it, I love it, I love it, I do!”  This book is just classic!  A fantastic, simple read that children love!

[Read more…]

Book Activity: Big Pumpkin

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Celebrate!, Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience, Positive Guidance and Social Skills Leave a Comment

big pumpkin

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman is a fantastic Halloween book!  (In fact, it just might be my favorite!)   It’s written in a pattern style with consecutive characters (a witch, a ghost, a vampire, and a mummy) each larger than the first, approaching the same problem – a giant pumpkin, stuck on the vine- in the same way.  There is repetitive text and a definite pattern, which preschoolers really respond to, and which also builds pre-literacy skills.  In the end, it is not the larger characters, but a tiny bat who, through cooperation, comes up with a solution.  A great social skills lesson! [Read more…]

Get Our Newsletter & Developmental Guide