Blog: Middlers

Good morning! It’s the middle of the week already. Here are three invitations from Caitlyn and Sarah for today.

Art Invitation: Read the book Press Here and do a stamping activity with paint. 

Stamping activity:

Dip old wine corks or any cylindrical object that you have in red, blue, or yellow paint and stamp it onto a piece of paper. The circles will resemble the “buttons” from the book. 

Press Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg0oV-dyhG4

Intent: This activity allows for a different way to explore art and creative expression by using unconventional art materials. It also ties in a cognitive component by adding a book to read first!

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Nature Collection Bottle
Go on a nature walk today! This can be in your neighborhood, or even just exploring nature in your backyard. While you’re on your nature walk, find and collect items that you see. These can be rocks, flowers, grass, or anything that your child deems a treasure! Once you’re done and have a nice collection of nature materials you can begin your nature collection bottle. You will need an empty, clear plastic bottle. Have your child fill the bottle up with the items they found! Some items may fit, and others may not. Your child will have to use their problem solving skills to try to make some of the items fit, or deem them too big to fit! When you’re done you will have a filled bottle of natural materials that you can admire and keep!

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 promotes fine motor skills practice by fitting in the nature materials into the bottle and problem solving skills to get items in that may not initially fit.

Fine Motor Invitation: Drawing with cars

Help your child pick a few of their favorite toy cars. Pick out enough colored markers, crayons, or colored pencils and tape them to the back or front of the car. Let your child color by moving the cars around the paper and making tracks as their car drives!

Intent: This activity uses both fine motor and gross motor skills. For extra fine motor practice, have your child help taping the drawing utensil on the car. This activity requires focus and hand and arm muscles to push the cars around with the markers attached.

Good morning. It looks like the warm weather will continue, it feels like summer in Durham these days for sure. Here are three invitations from teachers Sarah and Caitlyn, including a delicious-sounding recipe.

Sensory Invitation: Read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCDPkGjMBro

Then make some chocolate chip cookies to enjoy with a glass of milk! 🙂

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (you can substitute gluten free flour)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or ¼ teaspoon table salt)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Microwave butter for about 40 seconds. Butter should be completely melted but shouldn’t be hot.
• In a large bowl, mix butter with sugars until well-combined
• Stir in vanilla and egg until incorporated
• Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt. 
• Mix dough until just combined. Dough should be soft and a little sticky but not overly sticky.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Scoop about 1.5 tablespoons of dough and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
• Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are set. They will be puffy and still look a little underbaked in the middle.

Recipe from: https://www.ihearteating.com/easiest-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe/

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to incorporate reading and inspiration from a book. Your child will use fine motor skills while making the cookies by practicing pouring, dumping, stirring, etc.

Music and Movement Invitation: Play Simon Says (or have your child use their name instead of Simon for a more fun and personalized game)

Simon Says…
Jump as high as you can
Twirl
Pretend to play guitar
Swim like a fish
Sing with a silly voice
Stand on one foot
March like an ant
Give someone a hug
Howl like a wolf/bark like a dog/roar like a lion
Shake your whole body

Intent: This activity encourages big body movements and incorporates songs used in the middler classroom while at school.

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Painting with feet.
Put down a big piece of cardboard outside and provide a few different colors of paint. Have your child paint with their feet! We highly recommend using washable paint for this invitation. Washable finger paint is excellent, but other types of washable paint will work as well. Be prepared for some water play or a bath when they are done with their art exploration.

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 also encourages art exploration in a different way than usual.

Good morning! Welcome to another week of Lakewood at Home for Middlers. Here are several invitations from teachers Sarah and Caitlyn.

Sensory Invitation: Sorting Colors with Pom-Poms
**If you do not have pom-poms you can use any other toy or item that has a variety of colors**
To set up this activity you will need to label a few small cups or containers with the colors of the pom-poms.

Then lay out the pom-poms for your child. Have them use tongs, scoops, or just their hands to sort the pom-poms into the corresponding colored container.

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to practice sorting and hand-eye coordination. They will also be using fine motor skills to transfer the pom-poms to the containers using the tongs/scoops.

Exploring Aluminium Foil
Here are a couple of art invitations for your child using aluminium foil:
Coloring on aluminium foil- set up a piece of foil for your child about the same size as a sheet of printer paper. Invite them to color on the foil using markers. Ask your child, “how is coloring on foil different from paper?” You could also invite them to color on regular paper so they can see the difference.
Collaging with aluminium foil- help your child cut or rip up smaller pieces of the foil. Using liquid school glue, have your child use the small pieces to collage with. They can also incorporate other colored paper with the aluminium foil for a more colorful collage!

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

Music and Movement Invitation: Sing “You Are My Sunshine”. Invite your child to play an instrument while you sing.

Intent: This activity encourages big body movements and incorporates songs used in the middler classroom while at school.

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Color hop.
Draw different color circles on the driveway or sidewalk. Call out different colors for your child to hop to. Next, let your child call out the colors and you hop to them 🙂

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

Good morning. We want to take a moment to share an opportunity for children and families.  Tomorrow there will be 60-minute special called, “Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism. A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Kids and Families” on Saturday, June 6, at 10 a.m. ET.