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Materials
1 empty plastic bottle (Voss water bottles work well!)     
Pom Poms
Small bowl or basket

Directions
Place 10 – 12 pom poms into a small plastic bowl or basket. We used red pom poms only during Red week. Provide an empty plastic bottle. Invite your child to pick up one pom pom at a time using her pincer grasp (thumb and index finger) and drop the pom pom into the plastic bottle. Continue until your child loses interest. Pour the pom poms out and count them together before placing them back into the bowl or basket.

Materials

Various colors of transparent tiddlywinks
2-gallon Zip-Loc bag
Water

Directions

Place colorful tiddlywinks in a 2-gallon Zip-Loc baggie. Add a small amount of water (1/4 – 1/3 cup of water). Zip the bag closed and lay it on a light table or table surface. Invite your child to explore the baggie using his fingers – moving the tiddlywinks around. What happens when two colors land on top of each other? How does the color change?

Materials:
Toaster Tongs
Container with Pom Poms
Ice Cube Tray

Activity:
Using a small pair of tongs (e.g. toaster tongs), pick up one pom pom from the container and transfer it to a section in the ice cube tray.  Continue until each section of the ice cube tray is filled with a pom pom. 

Great fine motor practice!

Principia School Acorn Program

Materials:

1 pool noodle
1 small bowl or container of pom poms
1 pair of plastic tongs or toaster tongs

Directions:

With a sharp knife, cut the pool noodle into sections approximately an inch in thickness.  Lay them out onto a flat surface.  Provide a small bowl or container with pom poms and a pair of tongs.  Invite your child to use the tongs to transfer the pom poms to the holes in the pool noodles, one pom pom at a time. 

By placing the bowl on the left side of the work space and the noodles on the right side, your child will be practicing moving their eyes and hand from left to right, which supports preparation for reading and writing.

Materials
Bubble wrap cut to the size of paper (9×12)
Purple tempera paint in a small container
Sponge paint brush
9×12 white construction paper
Tape

Directions
Tape bubble wrap to the table’s surface.  Using the sponge paint brush, cover bubble wrap with purple paint.  Press paper on top of the bubble wrap.  Lift paper and dry flat.

Materials

1 paper plate
Large marshmallows
Various tempera paint colors
Large piece of construction paper

Directions

Place a small blob of each color paint onto the paper plate. Place a marshmallow in each color paint. Invite your child to use each marshmallow to make dot prints onto the construction paper. Dry completely and then display.

Materials

Download and print worksheets
Ink dauber

Directions 

Invite your child to use the ink dauber to add spots to the cow, then count the dots; count the farm animals on worksheet 2 and place the same number of dots next to each animal; follow the trail of numeral dots to help the horse find the barn on worksheet 3.

Because it is polk-a-dot week, we decided to decorate our windsocks with colors dots, but you can invite your child to decorate his windsock any way he chooses.

Materials

12×18 construction paper
Ink daubers in various colors
Paper streamers (Dollar Tree store)
Tape or glue stick
Scissors
Yarn
Hole punch
Stapler

Directions

Invite your child to decorate one side of the construction paper using the ink daubers (or markers).  Turn the paper over and glue or taper paper streams to the bottom of the paper.  Streamers should hang down and be approximately 2 feet long. Once the streamers are secure, roll the paper into a cylinder shape and staple or tape ends together. Use a hold punch to make 4 holes at the top and string two pieces of yarn through the holes, having them cross in the center. Tie at the top. Hang it in a breezy, dry area, or invite your child to take it outside to run with it.  

Materials

12×18 Construction paper in an assortment of colors
Avery Dot Stickers
Stapler

Directions

Cut the construction paper down to be about 8×18 in size. Invite your child to place colorful dot stickers all over the construction paper. Once your child has placed all the stickers that he wants to do on the paper, measure the paper around your child’s head to fit the crown snuggly on his head.  Staple the ends together. Your child will enjoy wearing the crown for the day!

Materials

Box of Baking Soda
Vinegar
Food coloring
Pipettes or eye droppers
Small plastic bowls
Plastic shallow container or tray

Directions

Place baking soda in the shallow container or tray. Pour a small amount of vinegar in each bowl. Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl. Using a pipette, invite your child to squeeze and release the pipette in the vinegar.  This will take some practice for your child to get the pipette to suck up the vinegar. Then ask your child to squeeze the vinegar-filled pipette over the baking soda, allowing the vinegar to drop onto the soda. Observe what happens when the vinegar reacts with the soda. Allow your child to continue exploring, though keep a watchful eye. Your child will have fun watching the vinegar and baking soda bubble.