Lakewood Avenue Children's School

Preschool Ages 1-5

Lakewood at Home

Lakewood for PrK: April 16

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Good morning and happy Thursday! Here are a few invitations for your preschool-aged child today.

Fine Motor Invitation: Clothespin pinch!

Fill a bowl with cotton balls, pom poms, or any other materials you can grab with a clothespin. Make it a treasure hunt for different colored pom poms or small toys!

The intent for this activity is to work on the fine motor pincer grasp. Friends have always loved to search for treasures in our sensory bins at school!

Outdoor Sensory Invitation: Pots, pans, and spatulas!

Preferably outside so noise can travel, see what noises you can make with some pots and pans. Maybe even sing a song or two, or create a family band!

The intent is to have some auditory stimulation. It is also fun to be able to hit things in a constructive way from time to time. Feel free to break out any instruments you may have too.

Art Invitation: String/yarn/Beads

Put out some string and yarn again to see what the child creates as a project for themselves. Perhaps putting out glue, paper, and markers will also help inspire a work of art!

We have had friends make string sculptures, necklaces, goggles and bracelets in the past!

 

Lakewood for PreK: April 15

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It’s the middle of the week and the middle of the month today! Here are a few invitations we hope bring a little wonder into your child’s life today.

Fine Motor Invitation: Read Not a Box by Antoinette Portis with your child. Find an empty box, and ask your child, “what can this be?”
Supply other recycling materials and tape as needed.

Intention is to foster imaginative and representative play, extend literacy into an art project

Sensory Invitation: Consider coming up with different sensory categories with your child like “soft, hard, squishy, pointy, scratchy” and ask your child sort their toys?

Intention is to further strengthen existing sensory schemas, work on classification systems, and possibly see how categories can overlap.
A toy is this AND that not always this OR that.

Art Invitation: Drawing “Not a leaf”

Using a leaf from outside, invite your child to think what shape the leaf resembles, inquire if they can make a drawing with the leaf representing the part of a drawing that your child chooses. For example, if your child were to say, “It’s not a leaf, it is an umbrella” then invite your child to make a drawing using the leaf as an umbrella.

Outdoor Invitation: Backyard Bird Walk

Listen to some bird sounds below. See if you can hear any of these calls outside…

https://www.aaastateofplay.com/50-bird-species-sounds-they-make/?fbclid=IwAR2PFq97_xI-UI3s_6G9ILlAHJ_kDyeRzQ8qcTeyhlQlT3enM-CFBC476Tw

Lakewood for Toddlers: April 15

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Today is the mid-point of the week and the middle of the month of April! Here are some invitations we hope may engage your toddler today.

Sensory/Fine Motor Invitation: Sand, bottles and funnels

You can use “playground sand” or moon sand or kinetic sand for this invitation. Put it in a large bowl or bin with an empty bottle with a narrow neck (an empty plastic water bottle works well), a funnel that fits into the bottle, and a measuring spoon or scoop.

This invitation stimulates problem-solving skills and cognitive development, builds motor skills, and

Art Invitation: Sponge Painting

Set out some cut-up sections of sponge, or knotted pieces of rag, paint, and paper and see what your toddler does with the materials.

This activity is a bridge between finger paint and painting with brushes. It also builds some of the skills needed for using stamps and ink pads. It encourages creative expression and the development of sensory schemas.

Outdoor Invitation: Yoga

There are many wonderful yoga resources available. We especially like Cosmic Kids Yoga for videos, the yoga books by Miriam Gates (available through the Durham County Library Hoopla app), and the free printable posters from Kids Yoga Stories.

Yoga builds balance, flexibility, along with self-regulation and empathy.

Lakewood for Middlers: April 15

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It’s the mid-point of the week and the middle of the month today! Here are a few invitations for busy 2’s and young 3’s.

Sensory Invitation: Create your own fort/cozy corner. Bring in pillows, lovies, and soft toys. Experiment with how dark or light you can make it. Use flashlights to play with the light. Make shadows with the light.

Intent: This invites young children to explore with all of their senses. This activity focuses on what the child can experience through sight and feeling. Explore the differences in dark and light in the cozy corner/fort. Think about the softness of the toys. How does the soft toy feel in your child’s arms/hands?

Fine Motor Invitation: String beads onto string or pipe cleaners. If you do not have those items you could try putting rubber bands or hair ties around water bottles or similar objects.

Intent: The middlers enjoy playing with both the wooden beads and string beads in the middler classroom. This activity uses the small muscle movements to enhance fine motor development.

Art Invitation: Create your own paint brush and paint with it.

Painting with a variety of tools expands children’s ability to express themselves in this medium. It also asks children to be creative problem solvers as they create new tools and test them.

Intent: The middlers love painting and we want to give them an opportunity to explore painting with different materials. Have your child find some materials from inside or outside of the house and test out the different strokes each material makes that you paint with.

Music and Movement Invitation: Listen to calm meditation music while in your cozy corner fort. “How does the music make you feel?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhoIeqDJM6E

You could also choose other music that your child enjoys!

Intent: To explore a softer, calmer side of music and sound, to help children learn to relax.

Outdoor/Nature/Gross Motor Invitation: Work in the garden/yard. Pull up weeds, plant a seed, water plants, etc.

Intent: Get outside and enjoy the nice weather and beautiful spring scenery. We want to encourage the middlers to use all of their big body muscles to enhance gross motor development.