Fine Motor Activity: Homemade Finger Paint
Supplies: 3 Tablespoons of Sugar, 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt, 1/2 Cup of Corn Starch, 2 Cups Water, Food Coloring, Paper, Paint Brushes (optional)
Directions: Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Warm until the mixture thickens. Cool and pour in separate small containers, add food coloring and stir. Baby food jars work great! Paint with fingers or paint brushes and have fun!
Skills Learned: Exploring mixed media and creating pictures. Color mixing and color identification.
Math & Manipulative Activity: Color Cube Sorting
Supplies: Plastic Bucket or Bin, Multi-Colored Counting Cubes, Cups and Water
Directions: Fill the bucket with a small amount of water. Place the multi-colored counting cubes in the bucket with water. Ask your child to find specific colors and make piles of the sorted colors.
Skills Learned: Color recognition. Sorting objects. Sensory exploration.
Gross Motor Activity: Chalk Body Tracing
Supplies: Sidewalk Chalk and Sidewalk
Directions: Have your child lay down on the sidewalk. Trace their body outline with the chalk. Have your child use their imagination and color the chalk outline how they please. While they are laying, have them look in the sky! What do they see? Sky? Birds?
Skills Learned: Gross motor skills. Color and shape recognition. Identifying one’s self and body parts.
Creative Expression Activity: Creative Coloring
Supplies: Three Small Dishes or Bowls, Pan with Sides, Vinegar, 1 1/2 Cups Baking Soda, White Paper and Food Coloring
Directions: Put 1/2 cup of baking soda in each small dish within a shallow pan. Add desired amount of food coloring. Add a tablespoon of vinegar at a time – continue to add until desired amount of bubbles arise…watch the bubbles! After the bubbles have settled, take out the small dishes and place white paper in the shallow pan. Swirl the paper around and hang dry to see what cool patterns and colors emerge.
Skills Learned: Exploring how bubbles move. Begin to recognize cause and effect manipulations. Exploring new ways to make art. Color recognition. Color mixing.
Science & Sensory Activity: Lava Lamp
Supplies: Clean Plastic Bottle (try to use one with smooth sides), Water, Vegetable Oil (or Mineral/Baby Oil), Fizzing Tablets (Alka Seltzer), Food Coloring, and a Flashlight (optional)
Directions: Fill the bottle 1/4 with water. Pour the vegetable oil in the bottle until it’s almost full. You may want to use a measuring cup with a spout or a funnel. You may have to wait a couple of minutes for the oi and water to separate. Add a few drops of your favorite food coloring. Watch as the color sinks through the oil. Did your drops of color mix with the water immediately or float in between for a few minutes? Break your fizzy tablet in half and drop part of it into the bottle. Get ready…here come the bubbly blobs! You can even get a flashlight, turn off the lights and drop in another half tablet. This time shine the flashlight through the lava lamp while the blobs are bubbling.
Skills Learned: Exploring water movement. Beginning to show understanding of cause and effect. Following and understanding a demonstration. Following on step directions.
Language Learning Activity: Pudding Bag Tracing
Supplies: Pudding Mix: Milk or Prepared Pudding and Gallon Size Ziploc Bag
Directions: Have your child help you make pudding and mix it in a plastic bag. Have your child use their finger to trace desired letters or shapes.
Skills Learned: Begin to explore letters. Shape recognition. Introduction to descriptive words.
Kind Child Activity: Kindness Cards
Supplies: Paper, Crayons or Markers and Any Craft Materials
Directions: Write a simple kindness message or picture. Fold into a card shape. Deliver the Kindness Card to friends, family, or neighbors to brighten their day!
Skills Learned: Exploring basic friendship skills. Drawing intentional marks on paper.
Note: Take this time to discuss what it means to be kind… how does it make you feel? What is kind vs. unkind?