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Whole Child Development

Surprise Pumpkin!

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Celebrate!, Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience 11 Comments

Children love good storytelling!  When the storyteller engages them with facial and voice expression and tailors the story to the young audience, even the most boisterous young children can be found sitting with rapt attention!  Listening to storytelling has much of the same benefits for young children as being read to.  There isn’t the print corrolation, but there is tremendous building of language and listening skills and the concept of story structure.  Here is a fun and engaging storytelling activity perfect for this time of year!  You should practice it and get comfortable with it before “performing” for children.  Let your own creativity take over and change it up any way you like to make it your own story!  I actually heard this story as I was sitting in a library story time with my sons and tweaked it a bit to make it mine.  I’m sure you could put your own spin on it and make it even better!

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Book Activity: Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

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

Red Leaf, Yellow LeafHave I mentioned yet that I really love Lois Ehlert’s books?  Her collage-style illustrations are just so simplistically and realistically appealing.  Particularly for fall, they really capture the vibrancy and texture of the season!  In Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, Lois Ehlert spotlights one of my favorite trees, Maple, as it is selected and planted while a seedling, then as it grows through every season, highlighting the narrator’s favorite season for the tree, fall!  This book is great as a science focus, as well as for an art focus!

Afterward, have the children create their own colorful fall trees.  First smock up!  Once each child has a piece of paper on an art tray to work with, have each one take a brush, and with brown paint make the trunk and branches of their trees.  Talk about the difference between the straight lines of the trunk and the curving, climbing, intertwining branches at the top. [Read more…]

Old-School Leaf Rubbing

by Filed Under: Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience Leave a Comment

leaf rubbingI once heard someone say that we have to be careful not to be in such a rush to give our children all the things we never had, that we forget to give them the things we did have.  That saying comes to mind as I think about this old-school leaf rubbing activity.  I don’t think I even need to give directions, do I?  I hope you all had plenty of opportunities to make leaf rubbings as children!  I just wanted to remind you to pass on that opportunity!  Even today, in the age of the internet and wii, children light up as the leaf seems to magically appear on the page while they feverishly rub their crayons across the paper!  This activity increases fine motor skills while also creating awareness of the texture and other characteristics of leaves (science).  Combine this with other leaf activities that can be found at the fall favorites page!  Enjoy childhood!

Leaf Pounding

by Filed Under: Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement 3 Comments

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This is one of my favorite activities!  Help your child take a leaf and place it between two strips of muslin or other white, cotton fabric.  Together, hammer the muslin with a rubber mallet.  As the mallet strikes the leaf, the chlorophyll is released from the leaf and absorbed by the fabric.  Colored leaves in the fall work also as long as they have not become too dry (though their red and purple colors come from a type of sugar in the tree instead of chlorophyll.  Check out this website  for more science information about fall leaves.)

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Book Activity: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Learning through Play and Experience 3 Comments

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: Anniversary Edition  If there is one book that I think every child should own……OK, I could never decide on just one book, but if there was a short list of books that every child should own, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault would definitely be on that short list!  It is not only a great way to introduce the letters of the alphabet, but it also differentiates between uppercase and lowercase letters, all in a rhythmic, rhyming fashion, which makes the whole experience so fun it’s nearly addictive.  Plus, all that rhyme and rhythm is great for building phonological awareness (read more about that peculiar sounding term here).

Before reading this book with children, it’s a good idea to practice the text first, so that you can read it aloud smoothly and with the right “em-PHA-sis on the right syll-A-ble”, as my mom always says.  Also, while reading this story, it’s really helpful to point to each letter in the illustrations as it is introduced in the story, reinforcing to the child the letter shape and letter name.

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Book Activity: Leaf Man

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

Leaf Man (Ala Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers (Awards))Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert  is one of my favorite fall books.  I love Lois Ehlert’s unique brand of art.  Generally, she uses collages to illustrate her books, which gives them an appealing texture and points of interest as children find familiar items used in new ways.  In Leaf Man, Ehlert’s illustrations are done completely from leaves and other items from trees (seeds, acorns, etc.).  The pictures show a man, cows, chickens, fields, everything created from leaves.  (Ehlert collected the leaves, then photocopied them and created the collages using those photocopies.)  These pictures are fascinating, and really open up the creative eyes of the children as they read it!

After reading the story, I like to have the children create their own leaf pictures.  Some will create a leaf man, others will create a more abstract design, while still others simply create a place for as many leaves as they possibly can!  You may want to provide the leaves for an inside activity, or make the activity more hands-on and meaningful by letting the children collect the leaves themselves- out in your playground, on a walk, or on a trip to the canyon.

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Make a Texture Collage for Pictures They Can Feel!

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

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 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.

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Book Activity: Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

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

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.

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Playing Around with Playdough

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

DSCN2322Classic Playdough is a staple of childhood! Not only is it fun and creative, but working that dough builds fine motor strength and control. These skills are just as critical to developing young writers  as is learning the ABCs.  Pushing objects into playdough creates a new type of sculpture and also presents a new challenge to children as it requires them to use the pincer grasp and push at the same time  (a skill similar to writing with a pencil).  I’ve found that preschoolers love to scatter their creations withtoothpicks, pipecleaners, googley-eyes, feathers and beads.   DSCN2317Recently, we experimented with a new kind of “push-in”.  I gathered accessories from a “Cooties” game as well as our Mr. Potato Head.  The kiddos had a great time coming up with all kinds of creatures.   DSCN2325(It appears I have a budding Picasso on my hands with that face arrangement!)

 

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