Good morning! We hope you had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. Here are three invitations you might offer your preschooler today.
Social/Emotional Invitation: Connect with a friend!
Connecting with friends these days is a very different experience these days. It is difficult, but not impossible, for preschool-aged children to practice physical distancing. You might be able to find a friend whose family is comfortable with your children kicking a soccer ball back and forth, or for planning some socially distanced water relay games. Your child might also enjoy a videochat tea party or block building play date. Video puppet shows and dance parties are also ways to connect in real time. Your child might also have enjoyed sending (and possibly receiving) mail over the last three months and you can set out paper and drawing/writing utensils for them today. Whatever you and your child come up with, we hope it helps them feel connected with the world in some small way and brings them joy.
Sensory Invitation: Summer moon sand
You can use regular sand, kinetic sand, or homemade moon sand (8 parts flour to 1 part baby oil) for this invitation. Spread the moon sand in a large storage bin or small plastic pool and add a variety of summery accessories. These could be natural materials like shells, driftwood and stones, or sandcastle supplies like pails and shovels. Invite your child to explore what they can do with the sand and other materials.
Fine Motor/Building Invitation: Interlocking blocks
Interlocking blocks (Duplo or Lego blocks) are often offered as a fine motor invitation in the preschool room at LACS. The preschool teachers will open one of the large bins of Lego and offer them on the large front porch table or offer smaller sets inside. While these do use fine motor skills they also engage other areas as children build and explore. When children count how tall their towers are they are using pre-math skills; when they build strong houses for the three little pigs, they are using their imaginations; and when they fit blocks of different sizes together they are exploring concepts in geometry and often building persistence.
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