Blog: Middlers

Welcome to the final week of the Lakewood at Home blog. This week we are going to revisit some of our favorite invitations from the past four months, adding some ways to extend the invitations or modifying them for different age groups. Enjoy!

Fine Motor Invitation: String, yarn, or ribbon explorations

Invite your child to play with string, yarn, or ribbon. Ask your child what can you create? What does the string remind you of? What can we do with it?

The intent for this invitation is to have the child create something by weaving, tying or anything else they can imagine. This way they are finding ways to use the item creatively, problem solving all while giving those fine motor muscles a work out!

Sensory Invitation: senses collection

Invite your child to collect things from around the house or outside. Using touch, sight, and smell, what can we observe about the objects? Perhaps your child notices they have many objects that are smooth, can they find more objects that are similar? How about different?

The intent of this activity is to have the child focus on what their senses are telling them and in turn relaying those thoughts to us. We have always noticed an interest in textures when children are exploring objects that feel wildly different.

Large Motor Invitation: Freeze Dance

Before beginning this invitation, tell your child what is going to happen, “while the music is playing we will dance, then it will stop and we have to freeze and hold our bodies still until it starts again.” Play a favorite song and dance. Pause the music any time to stop dancing. 

This invitation builds listening skills, self-regulation, and large motor skills. We often sing, play music during times of transition to engage our bodies in a safe and constructive way.

Happy Friday! We are delighted to bring you three more invitations for middlers today. Hope you have a wonderful weekend and join us next week for the final week of Lakewood at Home!

Dramatic Play Invitation: Exploring pretend cooking

Creating a play kitchen is simple and can be done with a cardboard box and a marker, and a collection of old pots and pans. Use the marker to draw burners and knobs on the cardboard box and offer some pots and pans and a spoon for stirring. Invite your child to explore and create with these materials. What might they create?

Art Invitation: Markers and paper

At a recent webinar, we were asked to look for the richness of possibility present in simplicity, and today we are thinking of that question through the lens of art invitations. There are so many possibilities contained in a simple piece of paper and a container of markers. The paper could be large, to hold whole arm movements, or very small to make a letter to a doll or an ant. What might your child draw? What marks will they explore making today?

Cooking Invitation: Making herbal iced tea

Making cold brew iced tea is simple and delicious. You will need a pitcher or other easy-pour container, some herbal tea bags, water, and a long spoon for stirring. You can also add fresh herbs (mint, lemon balm, lemon verbena, etc.), lemon juice or honey. Invite your child to explore the tea bags. How do they smell? What do you think will happen when you add them to a pitcher of water? Fill the container with water and invite your child to add tea bags, herbs, etc. They can stir it gently and watch to see if anything happens (tea bags with hibiscus in them will quickly turn the water pink/red). Put the pitcher in the refrigerator for an hour or more to chill and infuse. Then share a glass to cool off.

Good morning! It’s Thursday already, in today’s invitations we have a recipe suggestion, as well as art and large motor offerings.

Cooking Invitation: Making fruit pops

We often make frozen fruit pops in the summer. You can do something as simple as freezing orange or apple juice in molds (or paper cups covered with foil and a clean craft stick stuck through the foil). Jessica Gavin also has some interesting sounding recipes, or you and your child can make up your own using what you have in the fridge/pantry and your imaginations! Middlers can help measure, mash, stir, taste and pour. Remember it will take several hours for the pops to freeze, so make them in the morning for a late afternoon snack, or plan to enjoy them the next day. This project engages multiple senses and creativity in the kitchen.

Art Invitation: Color mixing with paint

This invitation extends yesterday’s colored water mixing offering to paint. How will it be different to mix paint colors as opposed to water? What shades would your child like to create?

Outdoor Invitation: Take your obstacle course outside!

Last week we suggested looking at the Durham County Library indoor obstacle course video and working with your child to create an indoor obstacle course. Today we are wondering how you and your child can reimagine the obstacle course outside. Could you incorporate water play elements to cool off?

Good morning! Here are three invitations for middlers for another hot day in July.

Science Invitation: Color mixing with water

For this invitation you will need a collection of small clear containers, water, food coloring, and a small spoon or other way to move the water. Invite your child to help partially fill three of the containers with water and add one color of food coloring to each. We suggest setting all the containers on a tray or rimmed baking sheet. Invite your child to explore mixing colors in empty containers.

Fine Motor Invitation: Beads and string or fuzzy wire

As a fine motor invitation, we suggest setting out some beads with fuzzy wire (also known as chenille stems or pipe cleaners) or string. Fuzzy wire is a little easier to work with since it is stiff. If you only have string, remember to tie a bead on one end so they don’t all fall off. You can also wrap a piece of tape around the other end to make it easier to put the beads on.

Social/Emotional Invitation: Connecting: Share a story

Throughout this time, we have been encouraging children to tell their stories. We hope some of them have been recorded in some way. Today we suggest inviting your child to share one of their stories with a friend or relative. This could happen over the phone, through the mail, or by sending a paper airplane to a neighbor. We hope this helps your child connect with others and share their stories with the world.