Blog: PreK

Welcome to the final week of the Lakewood at Home blog. This week we are going to revisit some of our favorite invitations from the past four months, adding some ways to extend the invitations or modifying them for different age groups. Enjoy!

Sensory Invitation: Gel sensory bag. For this invitation you will need a gallon zip-top bag (freezer bags are sturdier than storage bags) and a squishy substance to put in it. Aloe vera gel, hair gel, water cooked with cornstarch and cooled, and shampoo all work well. You can add food coloring if you would like or an assortment of small objects such as sequins. Seal the bag and let your child explore.

This invitation provides a way for children to increase small motor skills and explore the world in a different way.

Art Invitation: Paint with cotton balls

Invite your child to paint with not a paint brush, but with some cotton balls. Ask your child how might you use them to make art? Will they use the cotton balls to solely paint, or will they become part of the painting?

The intent of this is to give the child freedom over how they want to use a certain medium. In the classroom we have put out cotton balls, craft sticks, and leaves to paint with and it is always wonderful to observe and hear about the choices they make.

Large Motor Invitation: Freeze Dance

Before beginning this invitation, tell your child what is going to happen, “while the music is playing we will dance, then it will stop and we have to freeze and hold our bodies still until it starts again.” Play a favorite song and dance. Pause the music any time to stop dancing. 

This invitation builds listening skills, self-regulation, and large motor skills. We often sing, play music during times of transition to engage our bodies in a safe and constructive way.

Happy Friday! It’s hard to believe we have only one more week of this blog before Lakewood reopens for in-person learning. We hope you will join us again next week.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Coffee shop water play

This invitation would work well outside or in the bathtub. You will need some water, cups, something to serve as a coffee pot, spoons, and possibly a coffee filter or two and sand or soil if you are outside. We know it has been a long time since families could hang out in  beloved Durham coffee shops like Cocoa Cinnamon and Nolia. Today we wonder what your child will do with materials similar to those they might find in a coffee shop or that they might see when someone at home makes a cup of coffee. Your child may already help make the coffee or other morning beverage. We are wondering what these materials might spark in terms of explorations for your child. Will they want to investigate sand and coffee filters? Will they be drawn to pouring and dumping? Will they engage with you or siblings in an elaborate dramatic play experience?

Building Invitation: Block building with vehicles

As a block building invitation this week, we wonder how your child will engage with blocks and vehicles. These could be trucks and interlocking blocks, strollers and unit blocks, or wagons and alphabet blocks. Your child might engage in transporting, filling and dumping, exploring ramps or something else entirely. 

Cooking Invitation: Making herbal iced tea

Making cold brew iced tea is simple and delicious. You will need a pitcher or other easy-pour container, some herbal tea bags, water, and a long spoon for stirring. You can also add fresh herbs (mint, lemon balm, lemon verbena, etc.), lemon juice or honey. Invite your child to explore the tea bags. How do they smell? What do you think will happen when you add them to a pitcher of water? Fill the container with water and invite your child to add tea bags, herbs, etc. They can stir it gently and watch to see if anything happens (tea bags with hibiscus in them will quickly turn the water pink/red). Put the pitcher in the refrigerator for an hour or more to chill and infuse. Then share a glass to cool off.

Good morning! We’re excited to bring you three more offerings this warm Thursday.

Cooking Invitation: Making frozen fruit pops

We often make frozen fruit pops in the summer. You can do something as simple as freezing orange or apple juice in molds (or paper cups covered with foil and a clean craft stick stuck through the foil). Jessica Gavin also has some interesting sounding recipes, or you and your child can make up your own using what you have in the fridge/pantry and your imaginations! Your child can help select a recipe, measure ingredients, mix things together, and pour them into the molds. Remember it will take several hours for the pops to freeze, so make them in the morning for a late afternoon snack, or plan to enjoy them the next day. This project engages multiple senses and creativity in the kitchen.

Art Invitation: Color mixing with paint

This invitation extends yesterday’s colored water mixing offering to paint. How will it be different to mix paint colors as opposed to water? What shades would your child like to create?

Outdoor Invitation: Take your obstacle course outside!

Last week we suggested looking at the Durham County Library indoor obstacle course video and working with your child to create an indoor obstacle course. Today we are wondering how you and your child can reimagine the obstacle course outside. Could you incorporate water play elements to cool off?

Good morning! Here are three invitations for preschoolers on another hot day in July.

Science Invitation: Color mixing with water

For this invitation you will need a collection of small clear containers, water, food coloring, and a small spoon or other way to move the water. Invite your child to help partially fill three of the containers with water and add one color of food coloring to each. We suggest setting all the containers on a tray or rimmed baking sheet. Invite your child to explore mixing colors in empty containers.

Social/Emotional Invitation: Connecting: Share a story

Throughout this time, we have been encouraging children to tell their stories. We hope some of them have been recorded in some way. Today we suggest inviting your child to share one of their stories with a friend or relative. This could happen over the phone, through the mail, or by sending a paper airplane to a neighbor. We hope this helps your child connect with others and share their stories with the world. 

Dramatic Play Invitation: Caring for baby dolls

Today we would like to suggest offering some new materials for work with baby dolls. This could be pieces of fabric, old baby clothes you found while cleaning a closet, an empty cardboard box, or some small spoons and clean recyclables. Invite your child to explore the materials with a beloved baby doll or stuffed animal. What can they do together?