Lakewood Avenue Children's School

Preschool Ages 1-5

Lakewood at Home

Lakewood for Toddlers: June 2

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Good morning! We hope you had an opportunity to enjoy the cooler weather yesterday. Here are three ideas for engaging toddlers today.

Sensory Invitation: bubble/foam sensory bin

Put two parts baby wash and one part water in a dish pan or empty storage bin. Use a whisk or handheld mixer to beat the mixture until it forms stiff peaks (It is a great workout if you do it by hand!), add some small trucks or animals and invite your child to explore.

This soft, fluffy sensory material provides children with a different sensory experience from sand or water. 

Thanks to middler teachers Sarah and Caitlyn for this idea!

Art/Fine Motor Invitation: Stamps and paper

This invitation is particularly interesting to children who like to make dots with markers and crayons. Find a washable ink pad and some stamps and set them out along with a piece of paper. As an alternative you could offer Do-A-Dot markers.

Stamping is another multi-step process like watercolor painting. Children need to remember the sequence in order to make marks on the paper. They may also explore the materials in unexpected ways. 

Fine Motor/Building Invitation: Monochromatic material exploration II

Recently we proposed offering a selection of materials that were the same color and seeing what your child would create with them. Today we are wondering if you offer things that are a different color, how might their engagement be similar or different. Will their interactions with the materials be different with a different color? What will they notice about the texture, shape, or hue of the materials?

Lakewood for Middlers: June 1

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Welcome back! We hope you found some moments of joy over the weekend. Here are three activity invitations from middler teachers Caitlyn and Sarah.

Sensory Invitation: Bubble Bin
You will want a medium to large sized sensory bin. Add two parts bubble bath/body wash soap to one part water. Whip them together using a whisk or hand mixer until the bubbles have a nice stiff peak (you can add a drop or two of food coloring for more colorful fun). Have your child use toy cars/dump trucks, animals, etc. to play in and push around the foam! They may also love just playing in the foam with their hands!

Intent: This sensory activity allows for middlers to explore and play with a foamy soap. They can explore the feel of it and use fine motor skills to maneuver their toys around the bin.

Fine Motor Invitation: Weaving with pipe cleaner
You can use a baking/cooling, basket, or anything with holes in it. Then you will want to use pipe cleaners or ribbon or string for your child to weave through the holes.
If your child has never practiced these skills, demonstrate to your child how to weave using words like “over” and “under” or “up” and “down” to help them visually and verbally see/hear the pattern. Now let them practice!

Intent: This activity incorporates fine motor development by focusing on the process of using hand and finger muscles to hold and weave through the open holes.

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Outdoor Spray Bottle Painting
Using a spray bottle, fill it with a little bit of paint, and the rest of the way with water. Give the bottle a good shake so the paint and water are mixed together. Take a large piece of paper or cardboard and either tape it to a wall or lay it on the ground. Have your child use the spray bottle to spray the paint water at the paper to create their design! This activity was done most days at Lakewood and we know the middlers loved using the spray bottle to paint!

Intent: We want to encourage the middlers to get outside and use all of their big body muscles to enhance gross motor development. We wanted to incorporate a familiar activity that the middlers loved when they were coming to Lakewood.

Lakewood for Toddlers: June 1

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Welcome to another week of Lakewood at Home. We hope you found some moments of joy this weekend. Here are three invitations you might offer your toddler today.

Music/Language Invitation: “The Wheels on the Bus”

The toddler class at Lakewood has been asking to sing “The Wheels on the Bus” during morning Zoom meetings. They like to drive the bus, open and close the doors, and pretend to be babies and parents. The song involves motions, language, and play. What will your child put on the bus?

For a fun twist on “The Wheels on the Bus”, try The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort.

Art Invitation: Crayons and paper

Today you might consider offering a simple invitation for creative expression, building motor skills, and learning the language of mark making. We suggest crayons and paper. It takes slightly more force to move crayons across the paper, building stronger muscles. You can offer plain printer paper, cardboard, or a variety of papers as we have suggested in previous offerings.

Fine Motor/Science Invitation: Ramps and bridges

Today we are wondering how your toddlers work with ramps might alter if you offer a bridge as well as a ramp. What will they do? Will they notice that the tunnel also creates a tunnel? Where will they drive their vehicles? How will offering a bridge change their work or their understanding of ramps?

This invitation aims to further understand what toddlers know and think about ramps and bridges.

Lakewood for PreK: June 1

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Welcome to another week of Lakewood at Home for preschoolers. We are so glad you are joining us. In light of current events, we wanted to share a couple of resources you may find helpful. The first is an article on teaching and learning about race from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the second is a resource page from Teaching Tolerance. Both of these organizations have wonderful resources for families.

Here are three invitations you might want to offer your child today.

Art Invitation: Exploring contrast

Black and white exist in stark contrast to one another. They evoke light and shadow as well. This morning we are curious about what children will do if offered a variety of art materials in these two colors. What stories will they tell with these colors? How can these colors interact?

This invitation supports creative expression and builds motor skills.

Fine Motor/Building Invitation: Block building with animals

This morning you might consider inviting your child to build something with blocks for a specific stuffed animal or for a group of toy animals. You could offer some pieces of fabric as well. What will your child create? A bed? A home? A migration machine?

Blocks are a rich medium for showing children’s thinking and exploration. It is also a way to show their understanding of form, symmetry, and balance.

Fine Motor Invitation: Weaving with fuzzy wire (pipe cleaners)

Some of the work children in the preschool room were doing before the school building closed was with connecting and weaving. Today we are curious about how children might sculpt and connect using fuzzy wire (pipe cleaners). They might weave them together, or use tape to connect them. What will their imaginations find to create using these materials?

Middler teachers Sarah and Caitlyn suggest offering a similar invitation for slightly younger children today.