Blog: PreK

Good morning! This is the final set of posts in the Lakewood at Home blog series. This has been such a wonderful way for us to delve deep into our philosophy and make it more visible for families in the community. We are excited to be returning to in-person school on August 5th. We are full for August, but have some openings in September. Here are our three final invitations for preschoolers.

Sensory/Art Invitation: Painting with toes

This invitation is perfect for a warm day. Have your child put on a bathing suit or older clothes and prepare to fully immerse themselves in their art. You can offer fingerpaint (see a recipe here), and a large piece of paper, cardboard, or shower curtain liner. Invite your child to use their toes to move the paint around their canvas. How does it feel different from using their fingers or a brush? Be prepared for this to be a full-body painting experience. 

Sensory Invitation: Washing toes/bubble bath

After painting with their toes, invite your child to help clean their toes with an outdoor bubble bath. Fill a small kiddie pool or storage bin with water and some baby wash and invite your child to clean up after their paint adventure. How can they clean between their toes? How will they know when their toes are clean? With a couple of clean plastic cups they can also explore scooping and pouring water along with the self-help/self-care skill of washing.

Cooking Invitation: Wacky cake

1 ¼ cups unbleached flour

1 cup sugar

⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 handful chocolate chips (optional)

 

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

⅓ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon distilled white or apple cider vinegar

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Get out all your ingredients and an 8×8-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips if you are using them. 

In a different bowl, mix together the water, vanilla, vegetable oil and vinegar. 

Pour the wet things into the dry things and quickly stir together. Remember what the baking soda and vinegar did in the science experiment? Do you see it happening here?

Pour the cake batter into the 8×8-inch pan and have an adult put it in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Have an adult take the cake out of the oven and put it on a cooling rack or potholder to cool.

Cool the cake completely before having a taste.

Good morning! Here are three invitations for preschoolers today.

Language/Literacy Invitation: Puppet Theater Story

Your child can use sock puppets, paper bag puppets, or other puppets or stuffed animals to act out a story they have imagined. If you want to extend the activity, you can work with your child to turn a larger cardboard box into a puppet theater. Your child might also appreciate having someone write down their story and read it back while they act it out with the puppets.

In this invitation, children are working with language and literacy skills and concepts, and building their creative expression skills.

Large Motor/Adventure Invitation: Listening adventure

Your child can go on this adventure sitting in a box in the middle of the living room, walking around the backyard, or out with you in the neighborhood. Before you go, ask them what they think they will hear. Then ask them to sit or walk quietly and see what they can hear. When you get back, or their sitting time is up, reflect on the sounds together. Were there birds? Cars? A train whistle?

This adventure invites children to make predictions and carry out an experiment to see if they are correct. It also asks them to be quiet for a moment and use their ears to experience the world.

Art Invitation: Sculpting dough/clay

What has your child been interested in lately? How can they create that using clay/play dough? It will be easier to sculpt with clay, but play dough or salt dough also work. Maybe they can use the clay to create a rainbow? Or a person dancing? Or a flower?

Good morning! It’s already Wednesday and the final Wednesday in July at that. Here are three invitations for preschoolers today.

Language/Literacy Invitation: Working on a sensory journal

 

Consider starting a senses journal with your child that can be returned to day with some regularity documenting each of the senses for the day. Or you can ask the child to choose one of the questions for that day? Asking how can you represent answer to these questions on paper:

 

What did you see today?

What did you hear today?

What did you taste today?

What did you feel today?

What did you smell today?

 

The intention of this project is to continue work in language production, early writing, and to see a project grow over time with self documentation. 

 

Art Invitation: Rainbow Tree! Find a small to medium sized, interesting looking branch. If possibly, find a bucket or pot to ‘plant’ the branch in. You want the branch to be able to stand up in the pot. Get out some paint! Have your child use different colors to paint the branches and create their rainbow tree.

** If you do not have a pot to put the branch in you can still paint it! Lay the branch out on the ground outside or on some newspaper to paint! (for an easy no-mess clean up). You can hang the branch from a string if you do not have a pot **

 

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Number Line Run

Draw a line down the sidewalk with chalk and marked off the numbers from 0 to 10 (or higher if your child has been practicing counting higher). Have your child walk the line while counting the numbers. You could also call out numbers and have them run to the number you called out.

Variation: Instead of writing numbers you can write letters and do similar activities. Have your child say the alphabet as they walk past each number. Call out a letter and have your child run to that letter. Perhaps they can run to each letter in their name?

Good morning! Here are three invitations for preschoolers for the last Tuesday in July.

Sensory Invitation: Cornstarch and colored water

This invitation works well in a large dish tub or storage bin. You will need a container of cornstarch, water, two or three clean empty bottles (ketchup bottles or similar are perfect), and food coloring. Pour around ½ cup water into each bottle and add a few drops of food coloring. Make each bottle a different color. Put the tops back on and invite your child to squeeze the water into the bin of cornstarch and see what happens. Depending on the amount of cornstarch you have, you may need to refill the water bottles. Invite your child to stir the mixture and explore non-Newtonian fluids, transformation, and color theory.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Use any size cardboard box to build a house for your child or their lovies. They can use markers or crayons to decorate the house however they want.

Intent: This activity gives the middlers an opportunity to explore different creative options while making something they can have for personal use. 

Art/Sensory Invitation: Playdough and stones

This invitation can be offered with any kind of play dough, moon dough, cloud dough, or clay dug from your backyard (remove any live critters first), and clean rocks or stones. Set up the sculpting medium on a tray with a bowl of stones and ask your child what they can do with them. They might like to make a nest as though the stones were eggs, or simply poke the stones into the dough. You might also offer a rolling pin for flattening the dough.

Sculpting with different media builds fine motor skills and coordination while providing a space for three-dimensional creative expression.