Supporting Christian Science families and their young children
Duplos
1-2 Dice
Invite your child to roll one die. Count the dots on the die, then ask your child to stack the same number of Duplos on top of each other. Take turns rolling the die and stacking the Duplos. The first one to get to 10 wins!
Preschoolers: To make the game more challenging for older children, use 2 dice and race to 20. Once you get to 20, continue rolling the dice and subtract the number of Duplos from your stack.
Candy Conversation Hearts
5 Clear Plastic Cups
Sprite or 7-Up
Vinegar
Water
Rubbing Alcohol
Ask: What do you think will happen when we put candy hearts in different liquids? Lets watch and see! Invite your child to pour a little bit of each liquid into separate cups. The 5th cup is for air (the constant for the experiment). Then invite your child to drop 3 pieces of candy into each of the cups – including the cup with just air. Observe what happens as the candy reacts to the different liquids. Ask your child what he sees happening to the candy hearts?
Yogurt (we used strawberry)
Cornstarch
Bowl
Spoon or Spatula for mixing
Invite your child to mix together 1 cup of yogurt and 3/4 cups of corn starch. When the mixture is no longer sticky, pick it up and roll the putty into a ball (to further mix the yogurt and corn starch). If it’s too sticky, sprinkle in additional corn starch. If it’s too dry, add a bit more yogurt.
Variety of stickers, doilies, cut out hearts, feathers
Construction paper in valentine colors
Glue or glue sticks
Markers
Place the materials on a tray on the work space. Invite your child to help you fold the paper in half to make a card shape. Observe your cihild as he chooses different materials to glue onto the card. Once the card is complete, encourage your child to give it to a special friend or relative.
Tempera Paint
Paper Plates
Large construction paper
Toy cars
Cover the work space with newspaper. Lay a piece of construction paper on the work space. Pour tempera paints onto the paper plates – one color per plate. Invite your child to choose a small toy car to roll in the paint on the paper plate, and then drive on the construction paper making fun, painted tire tracks. Dip the car’s tires again in paint and continue until your child is satisfied with his creation. Allow to dry completely before displaying.
Contact Paper
Collage materials in pinks and lavenders (feathers, ribbons, tissue paper, tinsel, etc.)
Masking tape
Cut a large heart shape out of contact paper. Using the masking tape, tape the heart shape (sticky side up) onto a hard surface – floor, table, or wall. Invite your child to place various collage pieces onto the contact paper in an interesting design. Once your child has completed placing materials onto the contact paper, remove it from the hard surface and press the sticky side onto a window. You child will enjoy observing the sunlight shining through the colorful artwork.
Written by Mildred Cawlfield
Adapted by Dorothy Halverson
Thought has changed over the years about how rigid or flexible a baby’s schedule should be. There was a time when it was believed that a baby should be put on a strict four-hour schedule from birth, that the clock should determine when he should be fed, bathed, even held and loved. Parents were told that it didn’t matter what the baby did; it was what they did that counted. So they suffered while the baby screamed, feeling that they would harm the baby by picking him up if the clock didn’t indicate it was time to do so.
Parents who went to the other extreme and fed baby every time he made a sound, or didn’t dare to awaken him, felt tied down because they couldn’t plan their time with any predictability. These babies didn’t have the necessary help in learning a sense of time and order.
Fortunately, the schedule can be used as a tool rather than a slave driver. It should be the outgrowth of your own and your baby’s individual sense of rhythm and order. Babies differ from birth. Some eat enough at a time to be happy with a flexible four-hour schedule. Others, particularly if you are nursing them, may need to be fed every two and a half or three hours for a while.
In the early weeks, babies are changing quickly, and their needs are not always the same from one day to the next. Knowing this, you can work toward a four-hour schedule that will fit in with your life style but will also stay in tune with baby’s needs. As the baby works toward sleeping through his night feedings, his afternoon and evening feedings may be closer together than his morning ones, or vice versa.
If he doesn’t awaken within four hours between feedings during the day, it may be helpful to awaken him to encourage longer sleeping periods at night. Generally, by the time your baby sleeps regularly through the night, you and he can establish a fairly predictable routine which will allow you to make plans and will give him a sense of time, order, and consistency.
For a while, your baby will have four meals a day (after he has dropped one and then the other of his night feedings). Around six months, three meals a day will be sufficient especially once solid foods are introduced. A small amount of water may be added to your baby’s diet after six months when baby seems hungry or thirsty. Also, a small amount of water may be needed in very hot weather. Two naps a day will continue until the morning one no longer seems necessary.
As long as little children are getting adequate food and rest, their schedules can be varied to fit their parents’ routine. For example, if one of the parents goes into work in the afternoon and works late into the evening, you might choose to have your baby or toddler go to bed around 10:00 p.m. and awaken him to start the day at 10:00 a.m. with meals and naps coordinated to fit his parents’ routine. However, once the child nears school age the parents will need to adjust the schedule (gradually) so that he is awakening earlier, ready for a full day, and putting him to bed earlier at night.
A good schedule meets the needs of both child and parent.
Contact paper(9X12)
Construction Paper
Various collage materials (ribbons, feathers, tissue paper, shredded Mylar, sequins, etc.)
Scissors
Fold a piece of 9X12 construction paper in half and cut a half heart shape on the center fold. Open construction paper and press it onto the sticky side of the contact paper. Invite your child to place various collage materials onto the contact paper. Encourage yout child to give the special valentine to a family member or neighbor.
Written by Mildred Cawlfield
Adapted by Dorothy Halverson
Thought has changed over the years about how rigid or flexible a baby’s schedule should be. There was a time when it was believed that a baby should be put on a strict four-hour schedule from birth, that the clock should determine when he should be fed, bathed, even held and loved. Parents were told that it didn’t matter what the baby did; it was what they did that counted. So they suffered while the baby screamed, feeling that they would harm the baby by picking him up if the clock didn’t indicate it was time to do so.
Parents who went to the other extreme and fed baby every time he made a sound, or didn’t dare to awaken him, felt tied down because they couldn’t plan their time with any predictability. These babies didn’t have the necessary help in learning a sense of time and order.
Fortunately, the schedule can be used as a tool rather than a slave driver. It should be the outgrowth of your own and your baby’s individual sense of rhythm and order. Babies differ from birth. Some eat enough at a time to be happy with a flexible four-hour schedule. Others, particularly if you are nursing them, may need to be fed every two and a half or three hours for a while.
In the early weeks, babies are changing quickly, and their needs are not always the same from one day to the next. Knowing this, you can work toward a four-hour schedule that will fit in with your life style but will also stay in tune with baby’s needs. As the baby works toward sleeping through his night feedings, his afternoon and evening feedings may be closer together than his morning ones, or vice versa.
If he doesn’t awaken within four hours between feedings during the day, it may be helpful to awaken him to encourage longer sleeping periods at night. Generally, by the time your baby sleeps regularly through the night, you and he can establish a fairly predictable routine which will allow you to make plans and will give him a sense of time, order, and consistency.
For a while, your baby will have four meals a day (after he has dropped one and then the other of his night feedings). Around six months, three meals a day will be sufficient especially once solid foods are introduced. A small amount of water may be added to your baby’s diet after six months when baby seems hungry or thirsty. Also, a small amount of water may be needed in very hot weather. Two naps a day will continue until the morning one no longer seems necessary.
As long as little children are getting adequate food and rest, their schedules can be varied to fit their parents’ routine. For example, if one of the parents goes into work in the afternoon and works late into the evening, you might choose to have your baby or toddler go to bed around 10:00 p.m. and awaken him to start the day at 10:00 a.m. with meals and naps coordinated to fit his parents’ routine. However, once the child nears school age the parents will need to adjust the schedule (gradually) so that he is awakening earlier, ready for a full day, and putting him to bed earlier at night.
A good schedule meets the needs of both child and parent.