Lakewood Avenue Children's School

Preschool Ages 1-5

Lakewood at Home

Lakewood for Middlers: July 2

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Good morning! It looks like it is going to be another warm day. Here are three invitations for middlers today!

Fine Motor Invitation: Scissors and papers

Over the past few months, Caitlyn and Sarah have offered several invitations for children who are working on their scissor skills. Today you might consider offering an open-ended cutting station with scissors and a variety of paper. You can offer it in a large box or storage bin, or simply on a tray. Working with scissors involves high levels of coordination for children in this developmental range. It is also an opportunity for children to build and explore transforming schema.

Sensory/Fine Motor Invitation: Outside sticky wall (contact paper)

This invitation may be extra challenging outside with the humidity, you can also do it inside. If you do not have contact paper (also sometimes called clear shelf paper), you can use wide strips of painter’s or masking tape. Attach the contact paper (or tape) to a wall with the sticky side facing out. Invite your child to see what they can find outside that will stick to the contact paper (they could also use the papers they cut up in the previous invitation). What will they find? What kind of designs will they make?

Cooking Invitation: Make your own snack!

This morning, invite your child to help make their snack. Depending on your child’s thoughts on food, they might enjoy making a sandwich, a tortilla roll-up, or just cutting things and putting them on a snack plate. If you are making toast, a sandwich, or tortilla roll-up, they can help spread sunbutter, hummus, or peanut butter, cut soft fruit (strawberries, bananas, etc.) with a butterknife, and assemble their creation. Make sure to allow extra time and start before everyone is extremely hungry. This invitation builds self-help skills, fine motor skills, and creativity in the kitchen.

Lakewood for PreK: July 2

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Good morning! It looks like it is going to be another warm day. We hope you are finding ways to stay cool. Here are three invitations for preschoolers today.

Large Motor Invitation: Nature adventure

Where can you find nature near where you live? Can you see clouds and sky through your window? With playgrounds and parks closed, it has been challenging to find natural spaces, though there are some that are open. Today, invite your child to find nature close to you. They might observe the weather, watch a ladybug on the stoop, or find nature in a different place. A magnifying glass can add another dimension of investigation to this invitation.

Fine Motor Invitation: Observational drawing

As we have been doing for many weeks, we would like to offer an opportunity for observational drawing today. You can take drawing supplies with you on your nature adventure (or pack them in a bag for your child if they are adventuring on their own somewhere safe)

Motor/Science Invitation: Hammer art

This invitation requires some fresh leaves or flowers and a small hammer or mallet. Have your child arrange some leaves or flowers on a paper towel (putting this on a piece of cardboard might be helpful) and put a piece of paper on top (if your child is very strong or the hammer is heavy, you might want to put another piece of cardboard on top). Invite your child to pound on the paper. The pigments in the leaves and flowers will transfer onto the paper and paper towel. We had mixed results with this invitation in our home trial. Some of the flowers and leaves pulverized while others created clear prints. 

Lakewood for Middlers: July 1

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Good morning! Welcome to the final month of Lakewood at Home. School will be starting again at the beginning and we cannot wait! Here are three invitation offerings for middlers for the first day of July.

Science Invitation: Black ink chromatography

Over the course of the past three months, we have offered several invitations that explore how color moves along coffee filters or paper towels. To expand on those questions, we were curious about black ink chromatography. We love this detailed set of instructions from the Museum of Life and Science. It’s fascinating to watch the colors change.

We hope you will also check out their other Bite-sized Science experiments!

Large Motor/Cognitive Invitation: Color search adventure

What colors can your child find hiding in unexpected places in your home or outdoor space? Today, instead of matching colors, invite your child to investigate different places and mark down what hues they find using a similarly colored crayon or colored pencil.

What colors do you see if you:

  • Look up
  • Look under something (bed, couch, shrub)
  • Examine something tall very closely
  • Look at the bottom of your foot
  • Look behind something close to you
  • Look very closely at what you are standing on
  • Examine the hair of someone close to you (or a doll)
  • Find the closest living thing
  • Find a flower close to you (a drawing of a flower or picture of a flower counts!)

 

Social-Emotional Invitation: Sending art to a friend/relative

As Safer-at-Home continues, it’s important for everyone to connect with other people. Today we invite you to help your child reach out to someone in your circle, maybe a neighbor, friend or relative. They can select a piece of art they have already made, or create something new to send. 

Lakewood for Toddlers: July 1

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Good morning! Welcome to the final month of Lakewood at Home. School will be starting again at the beginning and we cannot wait! Here are three invitation offerings for toddlers for the first day of July.

Sensory/Fine Motor Invitation: Small rocks (or sand) and shells

Many of us have been missing the beach, so we wanted to create a beach-like sensory experience for toddlers today. You can use sand, small (but not choking hazard-size) stones, shells, and perhaps some water in a large bin or kiddie pool. Invite your child to explore what they can do with these materials.

Fine Motor/Building Invitation: Block building

Block building is available every day, in every classroom at LACS. Children delight in creating structures, lining blocks up as roads or sidewalks, and seeing how high they can build their towers before they topple over. Sometimes teachers will organize blocks by color, or set out a collection of people, animals, or loose parts as an invitation to explore blocks in a different way or build on work children have already been doing. If you do not have a large collection of blocks at home, you can add empty paperboard or cardboard boxes to add a new dimension to your child’s building.

Connecting/Helping Invitation: Sending art to a friend/relative

As Safer-at-Home continues, it’s important for everyone to connect with other people. Today we invite you to help your child reach out to someone in your circle, maybe a neighbor, friend or relative. They can select a piece of art they have already made, or create something new to send.