Category: Activities

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Pumpkin Spice Playdough

Ingredients

1 cup of canned pumpkin pie filling
½ c. water
2 Tbsp coconut oil or canola oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice*
Orange gel food coloring or 10 drops each of red and yellow food coloringPlace all the ingredients in a medium pot and heat on medium until bubbly, stirring often.

Add contents from pan to another bowl filled with:
2 ¼ c. flour
½ c. salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
Stir until well mixed. Then pour out onto table and knead dough until really combined and soft. Do not add more flour. The stickiness gradually goes away as the dough cools. I like to give it to my students when it is still a little warm. It is a different sensation for them to play with something warm that isn’t food. Store in the refrigerator when not in use.
Enjoy!
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Roller Painting on Pumpkin Shapes

Materials
Small Paint rollers
Tempera Paint – Orange
Large Paper to cover table top
Easel paper cut into pumpkin shapes
Masking Tape
Tray for paint

Directions
Cover table top with butcher paper or large paper. Secure with tape. Place 1-2 rollers in tempera paint that has been poured onto a tray. Invite your child to roll the paint roller through the paint and then onto the pumpkin shape paper. Later, invite your child to turn the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern by adding a face (eyes, nose, mouth) cut from black construction paper. Display.
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Social Beginnings

Education of social skills begins in infancy. As a newborn is held, cuddled, and talked to, his social life starts. Studies show, if a baby’s cries are attended to in the early months, he cries less often in later months and learns other forms of communication earlier. He has a secure base of love and attentiveness from which to branch out into other social contracts. Fear of spoiling an infant by responding to his cries can hamper this firm social base. As a baby gets older, cries have more meanings, and parents then learn when a cry means, “I’m sleepy and should be left alone.” This cry decreases in intensity as sleep takes over.

When a baby joins a household, he is an individual with his own needs and ideas. Pre-determined, strict schedules which work him conveniently into our routines may be meeting our needs but not his. There needs to be a willingness to listen and work together. This selflessness acts as an early model for social behavior for the infant.

This doesn’t mean that a baby should be rocked and played with constantly. This is seldom his need. However, it does mean that he should be close enough to his parents so that his need to eat, to be changed, to have interesting things to look at and play with, and to be comforted or talked to, can be met. 

The myth that a good baby is one who plays quietly alone for hours in a playpen, playard, or in his room is a deterrent to the teaching of early social skills. When a baby moves about investigating objects in a safety-proofed area near his parents, he is gaining important concepts and skills. One thing he learns is how to call for the help of an adult. He may creep under a table, be unable to get out and call or cry for help. Mommy or Daddy helps him out of his predicament, talks to him, and sets him on a new course with some other acceptable objects to explore. Burton White, author of The New First Three Years of Life, claims that gaining the attention of an adult and learning to use adults as resources are important social skills that are learned in a baby’s second year when his environment fosters them.

From earliest infancy, children are learning to treat others by the way they are treated.

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Sponge Painting Candy Corn Shapes

Materials
Easel paper or large white construction paper (12×18)
Orange and yellow tempera paint
Sponge paint brushes
Black Sharpie
Scissors
Candy Corn (to use as a model)

Directions
Draw a candy corn shape on white paper using the Sharpie marker. Invite your child to examine a piece of candy corn.  What colors does she see? Invite your child to paint the same pattern of colors on the paper candy corn shape.  Preschool children will be able to stay within the marked spaces – yellow on the bottom portion and orange in the middle.  Toddlers may need some assistance.  You can help by placing two additional pieces of construction paper – one on top of what will be painted yellow, and one on top of the white portion of candy corn. Ask you child to start with orange paint, and paint the center section of the candy corn using the sponge paint brush.  Once the orange paint is dry, invite your child to paint the bottom portion using yellow tempera paint. Cut out the candy corn shape once it has dried completely. 

Invite your child to eat a few pieces of candy corn for a special treat!  This can be a good counting activity. 

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Super Smooth Play Dough

super smooth play dough

2 cups flour 
1/2 cup salt 
4 tsp. cream of tarter 
2 cups water 
2 Tbsp. baby oil 
Food coloring (optional) 

Combine the dry ingredients in a sauce pan. Add the water and oil (and color, if desired) and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and forms a firm ball. Remove from heat and knead when cool enough. Store in an air-tight container.

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Letter Work with Dot Stickers

dot stickers

Materials

1 piece of card stock with the first letter of your child’s name written on it
Blue dots stickers
Marker

Directions

Use the marker to draw the first letter in your child’s name.  Be sure to make it nice and big and write the upper case symbol.  Say the name of the letter as you draw it and your child’s name – “B for Brian”.  Give your child a sheet of removable blue sticker dots and encourage him to carefully place dots closely together on the linees of the letter. Cover all the lines.  Continue to review the letter name and who it represents. Encourage your child to say the name of the letter.

Extension Activities

  • Look for the same letter around the room (books, magazines, toys, clothing)
  • Trace the letter using an index finger
  • Listen for the sound that the letter makes; come up with other words that start with the same sound
  • Write the letter in sand, salt, or shaving cream
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Fun Art Activities for Toddlers

fun art activities

Some of our favorite fun art activities for toddlers:

  • Paint with Balls – This is a fun activity that involves rolling balls dipped in paint. Try it indoors or outdoors!
  • Drive Cars Through Paint – If your toddlers love cars, they will adore this hands-on activity! Grab their favorite cars and trucks, add paint, and roll them across paper.
  • Make Prints From Bubble Wrap – The next time you have some leftover bubble wrap, invite your toddlers to make prints with it.
  • Play with Homemade Lavender Scented Dough – Toddlers will love helping you make this calming play dough. Save for those moments when everyone needs to wind down.
  • Paint with Rolling Pins – Wrap some of that bubble wrap around a rolling pin, add paint, and have fun!
  • Mix Colors with Hands – This is a fun activity to do on the patio! Mix 2 colors of paint with the hands and watch how a new color is created.
  • Have Fun in the Sandbox – Add various materials, such as a rain gutter, for endless outdoor fun.
  • Stamp Circles with Paper Tubes – This activity is super simple, yet so much fun! All you need is a recycled paper tube and some paint.
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Orange Necklaces

Materials

Orange construction paper
Orange colored pasta
String or lanyard
Scissors
Hole punch

Directions

Cut various shapes out of orange construction paper.  Using a hold punch, invite your child to punch a hole in the  center of each shape and then thread the paper shapes and colored, dyed pasta onto a string or piece of lanyard.  (See how to dye pasta and rice)  Tie ends to make a necklace.

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Pinecone Birdfeeder

pinecone birdfeeder

Materials

Pinecone – we had a really big one!
Birdseed – we used a birdseed mixture that had peanuts, dried fruit, sunflower seeds, and mealworms – a woodpecker’s favorite!
Peanut butter
Bacon Grease
String or yarn for hanging

Directions

Mix all ingredients together. Use about the same amount of peanut butter and bacon grease – enough to hold the birdseed together and stick to the pinecone.  Once the pinecone is covered with the birdseed mixture, tie a piece of string around the top and hang on a low tree branch or on a birdfeeder stand.  Identify and observe the birds that come to eat.