Lakewood Avenue Children's School

Preschool Ages 1-5

Lakewood for PreK: June 15

by Leave a Comment

Good morning! Welcome back. We hope you found some time for reflection and renewal over the weekend. Here are three invitations to start your week.

Sensory Invitation: Washing baby dolls

You can set this invitation up in an empty storage bin, the bathtub, or a sink. You will need a washable baby doll (or other washable toy), some baby wash, a washcloth and a towel. Invite your child to help wash the baby in the tub. Through this activity they are reflecting on care routines, practicing washing, and building sensory schema.

Language/Literacy Invitation: The Skin You Live In by Michael J. Tyler

We loved this reading of The Skin You Live In by Michael J. Tyler. This book links with both other invitations for today. For some it will also connects with Juneteenth which is this Friday. This book may be a place to start or continue conversations about skin tone and finding descriptive words other than “black” and “white” for people’s skin.

Art Invitation: Mixing paint for skin tones

For this invitation you will need white, brown, black, red and yellow paint and some jars in which to mix them. Invite your child to explore how they can create the perfect match for their skin. How would they describe this color? What would they name it? Can they make paint that matches a friend or family member too?

This invitation involves color theory, identity, and language.

Lakewood for Middlers: June 15

by Leave a Comment

Good morning and welcome back! We hope you had many opportunities to enjoy the amazing weather over the weekend! Here are three invitations from middler teachers Caitlyn and Sarah for this Monday.

Sensory Invitation: Go on a sensory walk.
What do you hear?
What do you see?
Can you find something to taste? Blackberries, Mulberries, Honeysuckle?
What can you find that is fun to touch?
What do you smell?

Talk with your child about what each of our five senses are and what they do.

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to explore all of their senses while outside.

Fine Motor Invitation: How high can you build?!
Using tape, mark a few different heights on the wall. They can be increasing or sporadic. Have your child build a structure to the height you created.

Possible Dialogue:
“How many more blocks did you use for the tall structure?”
“Which structure might fall over first?”
“How tall can you build?”

Intent: This activity incorporates fine motor development by building and creating structures. Hand-eye coordination is used and practiced in this activity.

Art Invitation: Create with glue and sand.
You will need:
A bowl of sand, dirt, glitter, or something of similar texture
Glue bottle (liquid school glue)
Paper
A small spoon

Have your child ‘draw’ with the glue on their piece of paper. They can make shapes, designs, or just squiggles. Then have your child use the spoon to pour sand on the glue. Pour the extra sand back into the bowl when you’re done. Then repeat with another design!

Intent: This activity allows for a different way to explore art and creative expression by using unconventional art materials.

Lakewood for Middlers: June 12

by Leave a Comment

Happy Friday! Here are three invitations from Caitlyn and Sarah. Next week will be a normal week for Lakewood at Home, and we are taking a week off the following week to regroup.

Sensory/Art Invitation: Sand Painting
Fill a few small containers with some sand (do not add too much sand, or your sand paint will become too thick). Pour some colored paint in the sand. Have your child use a paint brush to paint with the colored sand! We would suggest using two or three colors for your child to paint with. They will notice that the paint will help the sand stick to create the multidimensional painting.

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to explore the different texture of their paint when mixed with sand. This experience will be different as they see the differences of painting with textured sand paint versus normal paint.

Fine Motor Invitation: Creating shapes with magnatiles or shape blocks. Your child can create shapes free handed, or you can draw a large shape out for them or tape it on the floor and have them use their blocks to create that shape.

Intent: This activity incorporates fine motor development by building and creating shapes. This allows for your child to work on shape recognition.

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Tree Bark Rubbings
Long easel paper is ideal, but printer paper will work fine for this activity! Tape your easel paper or printer paper to the side of a tree in your yard. Grab some crayons that have the wrappings removed. Let your child start coloring on the paper. As they color they should notice the patterns from the tree bark showing through on the paper.

Intent: We want to encourage the middlers to get outside and use all of their big body muscles to enhance gross motor development. This activity uses both gross motor and fine motor muscles. Your child will explore the best and easiest ways for them to color horizontally on the tree trunk!

Lakewood for Toddlers: June 12

by Leave a Comment

Happy Friday! Next week will be a normal week for Lakewood at Home. The following week we will be taking a break to evaluate the program and regroup.

Here are three invitations for today. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Science/Sensory Invitation: Making bread in a bag

Ingredients

  • 1 gallon size zip-top plastic bag
  • 1 cup all purpose or bread flour
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/4  cup sugar
  • 1 packet yeast (rapid rise or regular) (2 ¼ teaspoons if you are scooping it out of a jar)
  • 1 cup warm water (95-degrees)
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1 teaspoon salt

 

Open the zip-top bag and fold the top back. You can set it in a bowl with the fold over the rim of the bowl to support it. Place 1 cup all purpose or bread flour, sugar, and yeast in the bag.Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, and yeast packet in the bag. Add 1 cup warm water. Seal the bag, pressing out any air.

Invite your toddler to shake the bag to mix everything together really well.

Set the bag to rest for 10 minutes (proofing). This might be a good time for a snack, or to do some puzzles or read a couple of books…

After ten minutes, the dough in the bag should be bubbling.

Add the two cups of whole wheat flour, the salt and the melted butter

Seal the bag, and mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bag. Your child can shake the bag, punch it, wiggle it, etc.

Pull out dough and place on a floured surface.

With floured hands, knead dough for 5 minutes, until it feels fairly smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a greased loaf pan (8 ½ x 4 ½ or 9 x 5 will work, or you could do 2-3 mini loaf pans).

Lay towel over the loaf pan and set it in a warm spot in your house. Leave the loaf to rise until it has risen to 1 ½ times its original size, 45 minutes to an hour. During the last 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, until dark golden and the loaf makes a hollow sound when you thump it on the bottom.

 Fine Motor Invitation: Puzzles

Working with puzzles builds cognitive and fine motor skills. It can also become a music or dramatic play exploration.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Dishes and loose parts

Loose parts provide richness in many areas. This morning we are wondering what loose parts you might add to your child’s play dishes. You can offer this inside, or outside. We found large pompoms, fabric flowers, and larger lids. You could also use tree cookies, herbs from the garden, felt pieces, or fuzzy wire. What will your toddler do with these materials? How will it impact their play? As with all toddler invitations, if your child is still putting things in their mouth, make sure the loose parts are not choking hazards.