Good morning! We hope you had a lovely weekend with time for rest and renewal. Here are three invitations for preschoolers for a hot Monday in July.
Large/Fine Motor Invitation: Durham County Library indoor obstacle course
We mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Durham County Library’s Summer Reading program is happening now. As part of that program, they are posting virtual storytimes and other informative and fun content on their Youtube channel. We really liked their idea for an indoor obstacle course that involves not only physical, but cognitive challenges as well! What obstacles will you and your child come up with? You could have block stacking, sorting, writing or drawing, or other “obstacles.”
Science Invitation: Return to light and shadow work
Throughout this time we have offered different invitations for investigating light and shadow. In these last weeks we are returning to some of our earlier offerings, as we often do at school, wondering how the children’s thinking has changed since they first encountered these materials and ideas.
Shadow Tracing: Tape a piece of paper down to a table or the wall and turn down the lights! Using a flashlight (the one on your phone works great!) create some shadows with your hands, toys, and other objects. Invite your child to trace or draw the shapes they see. Do the shapes drawn from shadows look different than the real thing? What does an object’s shadow look like? How about the silhouette of many objects close together? Perhaps your child would like to color the negative space around the object instead?
The intent of this activity is for the child to be able to experience the perception of an object from a different point of view, strengthen hands, and to see positive and negative space with light and dark!
Art Invitation: Paint and string
This invitation is also a sensory exploration! Offer your child a selection of paints and a place to mix them (the lid from a yogurt container works well) along with paper and a few pieces of string around 6” long. Invite them to dip the string in the paint and use it to make designs on the paper.
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