Blog: PreK

Happy Friday! It looks like more stormy weather may be on the way today. We hope you are safe and dry. We will be continuing the Lakewood at Home blog series through the month of June and hope you will join us for more invitations for young children.

Language/Literacy Invitation: Carla’s Sandwich by Debbie Herman or The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah

Both of these books are about trying a new kind of sandwich, and also about friendship. If you do not have them in your book collection, you may be able to find a digital copy through Durham County Library, or you can watch/listen to Carla’s Sandwich by Debbie Herman or The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah using these links. Invite your child to think about something new they may have tasted recently, and about what they would put in a sandwich. Would they do something they already know, or want to invent something new? Can they draw what they would make or dictate the recipe?

Cooking/Fine Motor Invitation: Making a sandwich

Making a sandwich is a simple exercise for self-help and fine-motor skills. You can offer your child whatever you have available as sandwich “bread” (we used crackers for our photo shoot) and fillings. Small sandwiches are an excellent way to try new combinations and are perfect for a teddy bear picnic.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Teddy bear picnic

It looks like the weather will be wet and possibly stormy today, the perfect weather for an under-the-table picnic or pillow fort picnic or possibly a porch picnic. Find an old blanket and help your child spread it out. They can invite some stuffed animals and dolls or possibly a sibling to share their sandwiches.  Invite your child to set up the picnic and clean up after they are done. 

Good morning! More wet and stormy weather possible today. Here are a few invitations for preschoolers.

Large Motor Invitation: Shape hunt adventure

The weather looks too stormy for an outdoor adventure today, so you might consider inviting your child to go on a shape hunt around your house. You can invite them to find one particular shape, or several different ones (circle, triangle, rectangle). Where can they find shapes? You could make a simple tally sheet, or invite them to draw or photograph the shapes, or perhaps they would like to collect the shapes in one place.

This invitation calls on shape recognition (similar shapes), and possibly tallying, drawing or photography.

Building Invitation: Building with shapes

This invitation works well with loose parts, unit blocks, pattern blocks or magnetic blocks like Magnatiles. Invite your child to create something using simple shapes. What can they make?

Art/Fine Motor Invitation: Shape collage

Cut out simple shapes in a variety of sizes. Add some glue or a glue stick and a surface like paper or cardboard. Invite your child to create a work of art using the shapes. If you scroll down through this link, you will find examples of famous works of art that use shapes. These might be inspirational for your preschooler as they work with the shapes and glue.

Good morning! Can you believe it’s Wednesday? It looks like we are in for more rain again today. Here are three invitations for engaging preschoolers no matter the weather.

Science Invitation: Creating Rainbows

Over the past two months, we have posed several invitations around light and shadow and last week that shifted to include color and reflection. You can imagine our delight to see this wonderful science invitation from At Home with The Reggio Approach: Reggio Children Creating Rainbows. You will need a bowl, a small mirror, a pitcher of water and a light source such as a flashlight or sunbeam. What might this invitation inspire in your preschooler?

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?

Sculpting is a wonderful medium for creative expression as well as investigating how things are put together.

Large Motor Invitation: Rainbow yoga

How can your child use their body to create a rainbow? If they need help coming up with ideas, you can try this Rainbow Yoga video. It is slower than the Cosmic Kids videos, but explores lots of poses.

This invitation was selected to encourage movement and body awareness, creative expression, and a link to the science exploration.

Welcome back! We hope you had a wonderful long weekend. It looks like more stormy weather is ahead for Durham this week, hopefully today will be partly-sunny. Here are three invitations for preschoolers.

Design/Fine Motor Invitation: Mirror design work

A mirror can become a reflective design surface, adding richness to children’s work with design materials. Today you might consider finding a small mirror that can be placed on a horizontal surface. Pair it with a variety of small materials in a variety of colors and textures and invite your child to create something. How will their design work be different on a reflective surface? What might they discover about reflections, light and shadow during this exploration?

Design work may involve symmetry, pattern creation, and other mathematical explorations as well as building fine motor control and skill.

Art Invitation: Watercolor paints and brushes

Watercolors are a simple and lovely medium for creative expression. Children can explore how colors blend and merge, how water travels across paper, and what happens when paper becomes saturated. You can offer a palette of watercolors, or a selection of liquid watercolors. Children may also want a small container of water for rinsing their brushes and a paper towel for blotting. 

Large Motor/Movement Invitation: dance/creative movement

Dance is a wonderful form of creative expression and builds motor skills such as coordination and balance along with spatial and body awareness. This invitation can be as simple as putting on some of your child’s favorite music, or you can look for an online class or tutorial video. We are still searching for a really good dance series, we will let you know if we find one!