10 Second Tip

Recycle those Christmas cards by cutting them into puzzles. Instead of random pieces, cut same size squares from the front of each card. Mix them up and let the matching begin!

Four Seasons Poster

Divide a piece of paper into four sections and label Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. Have your child browse through old magazines for at least one picture to go with each season, from weather to clothing to activities we do during that season.

Beginning Letter Box

I used a fishing tackle container and lowercase alphabet stickers. Any craft organizer will do. I placed one sticker in each slot and found an item that started with that letter. Note: I did not use all of the letters of the alphabet. You could use even less letters for younger children.

Coin Sort

Rummage up a handful of change and have your child sort the coins. Identify coins and explain their values.

*Extension: Open up shop and "sell" a few items to your child so he or she can practice counting the money.

Recycling Greeting Cards

Turn a greeting card into a puzzle by cutting it into pieces, as many as you think your child can handle.

Punch holes around the outside of a card to make lacing cards. Weave a shoelace through the holes. Try cutting out specific shapes from the pictures on the cards and punch around those.

*Extension: Laminating will extend the life of the pieces.

Share recycling with your children.
Is this the world you want to leave them?

What's it shaping up to be?

I cut shapes out of construction paper in a variety of colors and sizes. I challenged C "Can you make a sailboat? A house? A tree?" and he arranged the shapes to his interpretation. I also took a turn creating and asked C to guess as I added shapes to see how quickly he could figure out what I was making. C also created freely and had me guess what he'd made.

*Variation: Once you've made an arrangement you like, glue it down on another piece of construction paper for an art piece.

Kindergarten Screening Tools - Following Directions

Area Tested: Following Directions

Following directions - your child listens to two step and three step directions and then is to perform the task(s).

Activities to strengthen following directions:

1. Play board games together

2. Obstacle course

3. After you've given a few directions at once, have the child verbally repeat them back to you

4. Order and sequencing, for example being able to tell you what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of a story

5. Write action words on several notecards. Shuffle them up and select a few, read them to your child and see if they can perform them in order.

Dance a Part

Switch on the music and listen to the rhythm. Tell children to dance to the music using one body part at a time. Finger, hand, knee, face, shoulder, leg, toe and so on! This will help sync your preschoolers thoughts and actions, providing for more control over body movement.

Body Pretzels

Print out a set of body part flash cards at ESL-Kids.com. Or make your own! An experience to see just how flexible the human body is. Can it twist like a pretzel?

Parent
1. Divide the cards into two piles. Upper body and lower body.
2. Shuffle each pile and turn face down.

Child

3. Draw one card from each pile.
4. GUESS...can I touch those two body parts together? Make a prediction.
5. Test your guess. Was your guess correct?

*Extension: Serve pretzels for snack.

Developmental Checklist: 4-5 Years

Fisher-Price provides a general developmental checklist in the areas of physical, intellectual, social and emotional, and language development. When it comes to child development, what is "normal" is influenced by a wide variety of genetic, cognitive, physical, family, cultural, nutritional, educational, and environmental factors.

Your 4-5 Year old is probably in some stage of each skill whether it be newly introduced and developing, or showing great progess!

Developmental Checklist: 4-5 Years

Visual Addition

This little contraption is a hardware store purchase. It's a PVC plumbing elbow with a drain and screw-on drain cap. The idea is to show children that combining sets of objects creates a new set. For example, in one hand you have 3 red beads and in the other 2 blue beads. If you drop them in either side at the same time, they combine to make a new set of 5. Remove from the cup and count. Practice with different objects and amounts to show that computation doesn't have to be frustration! Great for visual learners.

*Variation: Edible math, Cheerios and Kix for example...guess the number and you get to eat it.

Exploring Corn

There's nothing like eating fresh corn on the cob. But before the yum-fest happens, let it be explored. Spend some time examining the ears of corn in their husks.

What does the husk feel like?

How can we find out what's inside?

What does the silk feel like?

Why do you think the corn is inside the husk and silk?

How does your family prepare corn?

Where do we get corn on the cob?

Have you eaten corn other ways?

Shuck the corn. Prepare the corn. Eat (and enjoy!) the corn.

Repeat the Beat

Snap, clap or pat a simple beat and ask your child to "repeat the beat." Start simple and increase difficulty. Mix snaps and claps and lap pats.

*Variations: Use a drum to pound out a beat that goes with the syllables in names of people you know. For example, Tyler would be clap-clap. Adrienne would be clap-clap-clap: three quick claps.

The Shapes We Eat

Pick a time frame to pay special attention to the shapes that we eat. Pizza is a circle, cut into triangles. Crackers are round or square or even ovals. Graham crackers are rectangles but can be broken into squares or smaller rectangles. Oranges are spheres. Cheese slices can be cut with cookie cutters. Shapes are all around us!

*Extension: Cut out magazine pictures of food shapes.

*Extension: Play this game in a restaurant while looking at the menu.

Juice Can Lid Memory

Save up those metal juice can lids (or milk caps!) for a customized game of memory. Wash with warm soapy water to remove sticky juice residue. Dry thoroughly. Buy two sets of stickers in the theme of your choice and adhere the matches to the lids. Shuffle up and place sticker-side down to play.

*Variation: Get doubles of family photos to glue onto the lids.

Share recycling with your children.

Is this the world you want to leave them?

It Looked Like Spilt Milk

Just want to recommend a book that might inspire a few activities this summer. It's called "It Looked Like Spilt Milk" by Charles G. Shaw and published by HarperFestival.

*Extension: Cloud watching.

*Extension: Paint white paint on blue paper and then fold it in half. What does it look like now?

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

**As part of the bedtime routine, you can teach this time concept that will later make calendar skills easier. Talk about what happened yesterday, what you did today, and what to expect tomorrow.**