Lakewood Avenue Children's School

Preschool Ages 1-5

Lakewood at Home

Lakewood for Toddlers: June 4

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Good morning. Here are several invitations for toddler for this warm Thursday.

Sensory Invitation: Water play (cups and funnels)

It is going to be warm today, and water play is a wonderful way to engage toddlers while helping them stay cool. For this invitation you will need measuring cups, measuring spoons, or a ladle, a funnel, a shatter-resistant bottle and a bin or other container of water. Remember to stay alert when your toddler is exploring water. Invite your child to see how they can fill the bottle with water.

As an extension you can add some ice cubes to the water. What will your toddler do if the cubes do not fit in the funnel or bottle?

This invitation is a way to explore the properties of water, problem solve, and build sensory schema.

Fine Motor Invitation: Stickers and paper

Peeling stickers and placing them on paper builds pinch grip and accuracy as well as patience. Young children also find a lot of joy in working with stickers.

Large Motor Invitation: Animal walk

This can be done alone, or as an extension to a yoga practice or book reading. Invite your child to walk/move like an animal across the room. Can they slither like a snake? Scuttle like a crab? How does a cow move? What about a cat or dog?

This invitation uses imagination and large muscles.

Lakewood for Middlers: June 4

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Good morning. It looks like the warmer weather will continue today. Sarah and Caitlyn have carefully selected these invitations for middlers today.

Sensory Invitation: Pouring Station.
Gather several different cups/buckets/small pitchers and fill them with water to create a pouring station. You can add food coloring to each of the buckets to see what happens when the colors mix.

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to explore the senses of sight, touch, and hearing. This is also a great activity to do outside since it will be so hot today!

Art Invitation: Crumpled Paper Art
Read/Listen to Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

You will need:
White construction paper
Watercolors
Paint brush
Scissors

Cut the construction paper into smaller pieces (a little bigger than postcard sized). Take one piece of your cut paper and crumple it into a ball. Choose a color from your watercolors and paint all around the outside of your ball. Gently unfold it and press it down gently. Crumple it up again and paint with another color. Gently unfold it and press it down. You can continue this process with as many colors as you want. Let the papers dry. When you’re done you can hang up your art, use it as stationary, cut it up for collaging, etc.

Intent: This activity allows for a different way to explore art and creative expression by using inspiration from the story to create this process art. This activity includes fine motor development by using the hand muscles to paint.

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Water wall.
Reuse your plastic bottles to make a water wall. Cut off the bottoms of the bottles and hang them on a wall over a bin. You can tie them on with string or use zip ties. Have your child pour water into the bottles and watch how it flows into the other bottles and down into the bin.

Intent: We want to encourage the middlers to get outside and use all of their big body muscles to enhance gross motor development. This is also an exploration of physics and a wonderful way to keep cool!

Lakewood for PreK: June 4

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Good morning. It is almost the end of anther week and it is starting to feel like summer weather. Here are three invitations for preschoolers today.

Large Motor Invitation: Water Play adventure

Thursday is Adventure Day! It is going to be fairly warm today, you can pack some cool water and go on a short adventure in your neighborhood, or set up a sprinkler in your yard and challenge your child to adventure through the drops. Where can they imagine they are going? Through a waterfall? In the jungle?

This invitation uses large muscles and creativity.

Art Invitation: Watercolor painting

You can easily set up a plein air watercolor spot in the shade with a child’s watercolor pallet, a small container of water, and some paper. This invitation is a place for creative expression and fine motor work. 

Fine Motor/Language Invitation: Audiobook story or podcast and play dough

Today you might consider setting up a quiet invitation such as play dough, a few play dough tools, and something for your child to listen to such as a favorite podcast, or an audiobook. Here is a link to a list of authors reading their own work. We had a laugh listening to Oliver Jeffers’ reading some of his books. 

Finding space for quiet and renewal is an important skill. This invitation is an opportunity for children to practice working on their own, finding a little quiet in themselves, listening, and doing something like working with play dough.

Lakewood for PreK: June 3

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Good morning. As we continue to find resources for talking with young children about current events, we will continue to share them with you here along with our usual invitations for each age group.

Anti-Racism 101 from Books for Littles has some children’s book recommendations you may find helpful.

Art/Connecting Invitation: Sending another care surprise

As the stay-at-home order continues, how are you staying connected to friends and loved ones? Today you could invite your preschooler to make a care surprise for a friend. It could be something you leave on a doorstep or send through the mail. Children often really enjoy sending and receiving mail. You can set out some paper, an envelope and a variety of mark-making utensils. Your child can practice folding the paper so it fits in the envelope and sticking a stamp in the correct location. 

This invitation calls for children to be kind and think of others, use their imagination and creative expression, and builds fine motor skills.

Fine Motor Invitation: stickers/stamps and paper

Peeling and attaching stickers is amazing fine motor work for young children. You can make a simple shape or design on paper (like the first letter of their name or a heart), and ask them to follow the outline with stamps or stickers, or you can set out the materials and allow them complete creative control. Some children also want to cut out the stickers once they are attached to paper.

Large Motor/Outdoor Invitation: Sponge toss/throw

This invitation will work with a kitchen sponge, but a bath sponge or clean car wash sponge would work even better. Set up a bucket of cool water and the sponge outside and invite your child to dip the sponge in the water and toss it at a target. A small basketball hoop, hula hoop, another bucket, cooperative older sibling or parent will work. You can play catch with the sponge as well. This invitation builds tossing/throwing skills.