Supporting Christian Science families and their young children
Materials
Directions
Draw one basic shape on each piece of construction paper – circle or oval, square, triangle, diamond. Briefly talk about the different shapes and their attributes – How may sides does each shape have? How many points or corners? Are all the sides the same length? Your child is being introduced to a lot of new vocabulary.
Provide your child with a few sticker sheets and invite her to place dot stickers on the lines of each shape.
Materials
dot stickers
construction paper
Directions
Tape the four pieces of construction paper to the wall or place them on the floor – each coordinating to a sticker color. Give your child a sheet of dot stickers and invite her to stick the dot stickers onto the same color construction paper.
Sorting is a complex skill that asks children to identify similar characteristics in a group of objects, make decisions, and analyze data. It is one of the first math concepts grasped by young toddlers. They love to sort colors, shapes, objects, etc. Invite your child to Sort buttons, keys, silverware, stuffed animals, socks, mittens, etc.
In this activity, your child is working on:
Materials
Dot stickers
Giant Sharpie
Butcher paper
Directions
Hang a long sheet of butcher paper on the wall or tape it to the floor. Using a large Sharpie marker (be careful that it doesn’t leak through the paper!), draw “bubble” numerals 1-5 for toddlers or 1-10 for preschoolers on the butcher paper. Write numerals 1-10 (or 1-5) on a few sheets of dot stickers. Mix up the the numerals to make it more challenging to sort and match. Invite your child to match the numeral on the dots to the bubble numerals written on the butcher paper.
Lesson extension:
Provide your child with 2-3 sheets of dot stickers. Invite him to place the correct number of dots on each numeral drawn on butcher paper (e.g. numeral six will have six dots, numeral three will have three dots, etc.)
This activity provides so learning:
Materials
Dot stickers
Markers
Empty paper towel tube
Directions
Color six red dots, six blue dots, six yellow dots, and six green dots on an empty paper towel cardboard tube. Give your child a sheet of dot stickers and invite her to place dot stickers on the matching color dots on the tube. Reinforce the names of the colors. Find and count all the red dots, blue dots, etc.
This is a great take-along activity for the car, airplane, or restaurant.
Children are practicing:
A Touch and Sight Game (0-3 months)
Gather together some large brightly colored pompoms or small plush toys. Get the baby’s attention by holding the toy twelve to fifteen inches above his face. Slowly move the object from side to side, keeping pace with his ability to track the object with his eyes. Try slowing lifting the object up and down so he can watch it move from near to far. Watching a brightly colored object move from side to side and up and down helps your baby focus and track objects at various distances.
Touch the toy to his stomach or use it to stroke his face and arms. Feeling the pom poms gently touch his stomach, face, or arms, lets him explore new textures.
Remember to never leave small objects around a baby.
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.
Various colors of transparent tiddlywinks
2-gallon Zip-Loc bag
Water
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.