Blog: Middlers

Welcome back! We can hardly believe it is almost the end of June! Happy Pride Month!!! We have one additional invitation today, to participate in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge.

Durham County Library Summer Reading Challenge “Imagine Your Story”

We want to encourage you to sign up for the DCL Summer Reading Challenge. This summer they have gotten very creative with great resources for activities, book lists and recommendations, and a code word challenge for older children! 

Language/Literacy Invitation: For all the age groups today we are offering Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. This wonderful story of exploration and support is much-loved by young children. You can watch a read aloud by Dr. Marianne Magjuka  here, or as part of a Drag Queen Story Hour here.

Fine Motor/Design Invitation: Light table work

A few weeks ago, Sarah and Caitlyn shared an idea for creating a light table at home. You can also use a small tracing tablet. Today, we are wondering what kind of translucent or transparent things you can find for your middler to explore on the light table. Many magnetic blocks are transparent and very interesting when paired with a light table. This is an opportunity for children to explore light/dark, design, and motor skills.

Happy Friday! Just a quick reminder that we are taking a break from the blog next week. If you have been on this journey with us, please let us know in the comments!

Here are three invitations for today from teachers Caitlyn and Sarah.

Sensory Invitation: Create a texture collage.
We have offered a few different collage invitations throughout the last few months. This invitation will ask for your child to create their collage with materials of different textures. These could include: pom-poms, cotton balls, dryer sheets, tin foil, small pieces of fabric, sand paper, beads, pipe cleaners, etc. Have your child explore using unconventional items for their collage.

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to explore creating art with items of different textures. Have them run their hand over the different materials and their final product to see the difference in how each item feels.

Fine Motor Invitation: Transferring materials from one place to another using tongs.
Put whatever material you want to use in one bowl and transfer it to another with tongs.
You can transfer ice, cotton balls, animals, etc.
Intent: This activity incorporates fine motor development by building and creating structures. Hand-eye coordination is used and practiced in this activity.

Art Invitation: Make your own liquid watercolor to paint with!
Add the desired amount of water for your paint in a small bowl. Then add a drop or two of food coloring for your desired color. You can even experiment mixing colors with your child. After you mix the water and food coloring you can paint!

Note: The food coloring may stain clothes, so use an apron or clothes you don’t mind getting colorful!

Intent: This activity allows for a different way to explore art and creative expression by creating your own art materials.

Good morning! It looks like today might be warmer and less wet than the rest of this week. Sarah and Caitlyn have three interesting invitations for middlers today.

Sensory Invitation: Making Ocean Soap Foam
You will need:
¼ cup of warm water
2 tbsp dish soap
2 tbsp cornstarch (or corn flour)
Blue food coloring/liquid watercolors
Blender or hand mixer
Ocean animal toys
Bin

In a blender (or bowl if you’re using a hand mixer), add the water, dish soap, cornstarch and food coloring. Blend/mix on high until stiff peaks form. If it’s too watery you can add some more cornstarch or dish soap. Pour the soap foam into a bin/container and add ocean animals! Let your child explore!

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to explore their sense of touch with this foamy concoction! This also allows for dramatic play using the ‘sea foam’ and toy animals.

Fine Motor Invitation: Sorting
Find some toys to sort with. This could be blocks, animals, cars, balls, etc. You can set up a variety of containers for sorting into, a muffin tin is perfect for smaller toys, or use painter’s tape to mark off spaces on the floor.
You can sort by shape, size, or color.

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

Art Invitation: Care Surprise for a friend

Make some art to send to a friend or loved one! Invite your child to create something to send to a friend or loved one. After they are done creating, they can help fold their work, put it in an envelope, and put the stamp on.

Intent: This activity is a way for children to connect with others and be part of the larger community while exploring creative expression and using fine motor skills.

Good morning! It is Wednesday already. Looks like there will be more rain and possibly storms in Durham today. Here are three invitations from Sarah and Caitlyn for engaging middlers today.

Fine Motor Invitation: Tracing Practice
Draw out some shapes, numbers, or letters for your child. Have them use stickers to trace on the lines you’ve drawn.

Extension:
Have your child use another marker to trace your lines/letters/numbers. Have your child practice writing their own numbers and letters.

Intent: This activity incorporates fine motor development by practicing tracing and writing simple letters and numbers.

Art Invitation: Painting with tissue paper.
Cut tissue paper into small pieces. Arrange the pieces of tissue paper on a sheet of paper. Using a paint brush, paint water over the tissue paper. After a while the color from the tissue paper will bleed on the sheet of paper. Shake of the tissue paper when the colors have bled.

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

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Part 2: Freezing flowers/leaves.
Dump out the frozen flowers/leaves and watch them melt in the sun. You could also hit the ice cubes with a hammer.

Intent: We want to encourage the middlers to get outside and use all of their big body muscles to enhance gross motor development.