Welcome to another week of Lakewood at Home. We’re glad you’re here. Here are four invitations for preschoolers today.
Fine Motor Invitation: Cup and plate towers
For this activity you will need unbreakable cups and plates. You can use left over picnic or party supplies, as we did, or use yogurt cups and lids. Invite your child to stack them in different ways and see how high they can build.
This invitation encourages children to think like engineers and architects, exploring concepts in those areas as well as physics and motor skills.
Art Invitation: Watercolor paints
Liquid watercolors offer a different way to explore water color paints. If you have a few extra minutes today, you can make your own watercolor paints using dried out markers. The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is posting many wonderful making videos. One that caught our eyes was this how to video on making liquid watercolor paints from dried up markers. If paper supplies are running low, it is also interesting to use liquid water colors to dip-dye coffee filters or paper napkins.
You can also just get out some regular water colors, a cup of water, and some paper.
Watercolors are a wonderful medium for creative expression, exploring color, and increasing fine motor skills.
Large Motor Invitation: Yoga
Giselle at kidsyogastories.com recently shared a post on connecting with young children using yoga. You can read it here. We tested the partner yoga poses and everyone had quite a lot of fun.
Yoga helps children build balance and coordination skills while also increasing flexibility.
Outdoor Invitation: Engineering Puddles
It looks like the week might start with some rain. This is another opportunity to invite your child to explore how to control the flow of water and build pools and puddles. We recommend having some old towels handy for afterwards.
This science and nature investigation allows children to explore hydrology and natural sciences, and build small and large motor skills.