Blog: PreK

Welcome back! We hope you had a great weekend. It looks like it will be a cooler, wet week. Here are some invitations for preschoolers today.

Fine Motor/Design Invitation: Designing with cool hues

Sometimes when we limit the color palette for design work, interesting things happen. What will your child create in cool colors today? You could also offer this invitation in warm colors, or black and white. Gather a variety of materials in whatever colors you have selected, your child can help you sort them. Put out a piece of paper to use as a background, or an empty frame (without glass).

This open-ended exploration of materials offers children an avenue for creative expression, fine motor work, and cognitive skill-building.

Art Invitation: Monochromatic materials

Building on the design work, offer your child a selection of art materials (colored pencils, markers, pastels, chalk, stamps, etc.) in one color. It could be black (a classic place to start), your child’s favorite color, or something else. Ask your child what they can make using only that color on white paper.

This invitation is a way for children to really delve deeply into the possibilities of a single color. What will they create? How will limiting the color affect what your child creates? What differences will they notice in shade and intensity between the different materials? You could make a rainbow of these pieces over several days.

Language/Literacy Invitation: When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden

Thinking about color and color palettes made us think about how some Reggio-inspired schools study artists and illustrators with preschoolers. We cannot physically go to any museums at the moment, but here is a link to 17 museum virtual tours, or you can look at some of the Nasher Museum’s exhibits online.

We enjoyed this video of Eric Close reading Nina Laden’s book When Pigasso Met Mootisse. It nicely contrasts the two artists styles. Maybe you can find a Picasso or Matisse in one of the museum virtual tours!

Happy Friday! Here are three invitations we hope will help you make it to the weekend.

Fine Motor Invitation: Meditative painting with water on stones

This invitation is an exploration of evaporation as well as a calming meditative practice for young children. You will need a rock or stone, a small container of water, and a small paintbrush. Invite your child to paint designs on the rock and see what happens. On a warm day like today, the water should evaporate fairly quickly leaving space for new designs.

Watching the rock change from light to dark to light is calming and centering for children. Using a small brush to paint the designs is also an exercise for small muscles.

Nature/Science Invitation: Flowers in Ice Part 2: The Melting

Note: If you did not make a block of ice yesterday, you can do it today, or just get out some ice cubes.

Find a place where the ice can melt. This could be in an empty storage bin, an empty kiddie pool, or the kitchen sink. Put the ice in the larger container, you can take it out of its mold or leave it in. Your child might also want a pitcher or cup of water, a paintbrush, a dropper or turkey baster, etc. What do they predict will happen with the ice? How can they get it out of the mold? What happens if they put water on it? How long might it take to melt?

This is an opportunity to explore the properties of ice, to make predictions and think like a scientist, and to problem solve.

Large Motor Invitation: Dance Party

Friday is a great day to get some wiggles out with a dance party! Because it will be warm out, it could be a day for an outdoor sprinkler dance party. 

Dancing is a great medium for creative expression, encourages children to develop motor skills like balance, and connects children to the world.

Good morning! Today is Thursday and it looks like it will be lovely weather for an adventure.

Adventure Invitation: Collecting flowers and leaves for nature/science invitation

It’s Adventure Day! It looks like it will be a lovely day to go for a little walk around the yard or neighborhood. Today we are inviting your child to collect flowers such as clover or dandelions to use in another exploration. 

On this adventure, children are invited to look closely at the natural world right outside their doors. What will they find? Will there be a beautiful surprise? What changes have there been since the last time they looked closely?

Nature/Science Invitation: Flowers in ice Part 1

What will happen if you freeze flowers in ice? For this invitation your child will need a non-breakable container (cake pan, clean recyclable, etc.), the flowers from their adventure, and a pitcher of water. In this example, we used pink sorrel, clover, honeysuckle, and mint leaves.

Invite them to combine the flowers and water in the container. What do the flowers do in water? What will happen when they freeze?

Put the container in the freezer to explore tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

This invitation asks children to make predictions, explore a different creative medium, and explore what floats and what sinks.

 

Movement Invitation: “Toe-ga”

For this invitation you will need something small like pompoms or cotton balls and a break-resistant cup. Scatter the pompoms on the floor and set the cup in the middle of them. Challenge your toddler to use their toes to pick up the pompoms and put them into the cup using their toes. This can be a whole family exercise!

This invitation builds balance and coordination as well as strengthening children’s feet. It requires concentration and focus to get the pompoms into the cup using toes.

 

It’s Wednesday! Looks like the weather will be warmer today, the perfect day for a gingerbread man obstacle course or a picnic snack.

Language/Literacy Invitation: The Gingerbread Man

The gingerbread man is a classic story form that has been varied in a multitude of ways. If you don’t have a favorite version at home, here is one of our very own Durham County Librarians telling the story.

Other variations on this theme can be found here, some may be available through the Durham County Library’s online resources. Which version of the story does your family enjoy?

Language/Storytelling/Art Invitation: Make your own gingerbread man story

For this invitation you can offer your child a homemade blank book (made from a few sheets of paper stapled together), a doll and some stuffed animals, felt board or magnet people, etc. Invite them to dictate and illustrate their own version of this classic story. If they are acting it out with dolls or felt board people, they may want to make props. What will your child’s version of the story be like?

Variation: Create a gingerbread person obstacle course in your home or yard. Can your child get through the course and outwit those trying to eat them?

Cooking Invitation: Making simple dough people for snack

This invitation is a very simple recipe children can almost make by themselves, especially if you measure out the ingredients. The results are not gourmet, but it is fun to catch the dough people and eat them before they can run away.

Simple Rolls

• 1 cup flour, plus extra for dusting the counter top
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup Greek yogurt
• Edible decorations such as raisins, chopped dried apricots, nuts, coconut, sprinkles, etc.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the yogurt. Your child can mix and sculpt the dough with clean hands and pat it into shapes. You can also use cookie cutters. Place shapes on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until golden.