Category: Activities

Materials:      
Large piece of paper to serve as a work mat
Two different colors of 12” x 18” construction paper
Scissors

Directions:  Make sure the “work mat” has a straight edge on the bottom. Use scissors or a paper cutter to cut the construction paper into 1” strips. It’s helpful to cut the two sheets of construction paper together so the strips are the same length and width. Once the strips are cut, take two different color strips (for example, 1 black and 1 yellow), lay them on top of each other and cut through both strips, making them identical lengths. Make several more pairs the same way, varying the lengths. If you plan to do this activity with really young children, make the lengths of the strips distinctive. Young children won’t be able to discern slight differences in lengths.

To get started, lay the strip pairs alongside the work mat. Encourage your child to choose a black strip and line it up with the bottom edge of the work mat. Ask your child to find a yellow strip that’s the same size as the black one. Encourage him to lay the second strip along the edge of the mat right next to the first one so he can easily compare the two. There’s  a lot of mathematical language you can bring into this activity—terms like, “size,” “length,” “width,” “equal,” “short-shorter-shortest,” “long-longer-longest.” You get the idea!

Once your child has matched the pairs, they may be ordered from shortest pair to longest pair. This might be an activity extension for another day, but if your child is excited about it, press on!       

Materials:      
Roll of washi tape
Canvas painting frame or board
5 or 6 compatible colors of acrylic paint
Paintbrush for each paint color
2 strips of poster board

Directions: Tape off the canvas in a stripe pattern using the washi tape.  I like washi tape because it’s flexible, comes in a variety of designs and widths, and doesn’t leave a sticky residue behind. 

Choose your paint colors, and invite your child to choose one color to paint the first stripe. We found it helpful to let the child choose which stripe to paint and lay the poster board strips alongside the tape as a paint guide.  That seemed to keep the occasional errant brush strokes to a minimum! Once he finishes the first stripe, let him paint another if he’d like. You can choose another color and move your paint guides to another stripe, or not use the paint guides at all. Some of the older children didn’t like the paint guides, so they painted without them. It’s the process, not the product, so if the painter strays outside the tape lines, that’s perfectly fine, and I think it  actually enhances the product!

This project actually took a couple of days to complete. Children painted one stripe the first day and came back to it the next. When all the stripes have been completed, make sure the paint has thoroughly dried before pulling off the tape (a fun thing for your child to do) revealing a unique work of art!

Materials:      
Painter’s tape
Small items to line up between the stripes (bottle caps, floral stones, corks, paper clips, cut straws, buttons, etc.)
A light table, although any flat surface will do!

Directions: Lay down stripes of painter’s tape on your surface. Invite your child to construct stripes in between the tape stripes with the material you’ve selected. Younger children may choose to build right on top of the painter’s tape, which is fine. They’re practicing the pincer grip as they pick up the material and eye-hand coordination as they place it on or within the stripe!

Materials:      
12 x 18” Sheet of construction paper
Crayon
Tempera paint and brush
Tape

Directions: Set the paper in front of your child. Tape the sides of the paper to hold it in place. Demonstrate how to draw a line from the top of the paper to the bottom with a crayon. Invite your child to do it. Say, “We’ve made a road! I can drive my finger down the road. Now you try.” Try to leave some space between the lines, about an inch and a half. Let your child continue drawing lines from top to bottom across the paper. Once the lines are finished, invite your child to dip a paintbrush into the paint and paint up and down the road, being careful to stay within the crayon lines.  Continue painting down each “road,” encouraging your little one to stay between the lines.

This is a wonderful activity for developing grip, eye-hand coordination skills, and an awareness of lines. Eye-hand coordination is essential for writing and other fine-motor activities later on and can be enhanced through activities like this one!

Materials:      
White construction paper, 9” x 12”
Red construction paper, 9” x 12” cut into inch-wide strips
Blue construction paper, cut into a 4” x 5” rectangle
White crayon
Watered down glue or glue sticks

Directions: We had a discussion about the American flag being something we see in our daily experiences that has stripes! We closely observed what components make up the flag by taking our classroom flag down and noticing the stripes, both red and white, the stars, and the blue rectangle behind the stars. We discussed how the American flag stands for the United States of America and that we all live in the United States. We also discussed that we handle the flag respectfully, never letting it touch the ground!

Then we tried making our own flags! Our intent was not to create “perfect” flags, with seven red stripes and six white, but rather to be aware of the components and include them in the creation! First, we talked about the red stripes, and we glued a few on the white paper, noticing that they went across the paper, not up and down. We pointed out that when we left a little space between the red stripes, it automatically created white stripes. Next, we noticed where the blue rectangle was located on the flag, and we glued that in the upper left corner of our paper. Finally, we added the stars. At school we have access to a die-cut machine that quickly cuts out stars; however, you can also make simple stars using a white crayon and making simple asterisks to represent the stars!

Ingredients:   
Sliced bread
Melted butter
Aluminum foil
Pastry brush
Grated cheddar cheese
Panini maker (we used a George Foreman sandwich grill)

Directions: Melt a small amount of butter in the microwave, and when it cools just a bit, let your child dip the pastry brush in it and paint one side of his bread on the foil. Preheat the grill while letting your child spread the grated cheese on the unbuttered side of his bread. Help him butter a second slice of bread, and place it on top of the cheese, buttered side out. Place the sandwich in the panini maker and press it closed. In about a minute, you can remove the panini from the grill, cut it down the middle, and enjoy!

Materials:
Velcro rollers
Small wooden beads capable of fitting through some of the rollers

Directions: Baby C. was intrigued with the pokey cylinders as soon as I set them in front of her! I initiated play by sticking two rollers to each other and handing her another one. She touched it and then brought it to her mouth to explore it. I stuck a couple of rollers to a felt board, but Baby C. had no interest in that. I set one of the bigger rollers on end and dropped one of the wood beads into it. She leaned over to look into the roller and immediately picked it up to find the bead. I stacked a second roller on top of the first and again dropped a bead into it. Baby C. knocked over both rollers to find the bead. Then she dropped a bead into one of the larger rollers and inserted her hand into the roller to retrieve the bead, wearing the roller like a bracelet for a few moments. Then the bead went into her mouth. I promptly fished it out. Then she searched for another bead to mouth, but I held my hand out, and she gave me the bead immediately. She picked up two more beads, brought them to her mouth, and then put them in my hand willingly. 

Baby C. happened to be wearing some knit wool pants which the rollers stuck to. She busied herself pulling them off when that happened and dropped them further away from herself. Play continued several minutes until Baby C. crawled off in search of a new adventure! Who knew Velcro rollers could be such fun!

Ingredients:    
12 oz. bag of Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped
Square Butter Snap Pretzels
Candy hearts (small)

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350°.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Lay out the pretzel squares on your cookie sheet.  They can be laid together pretty closely. Unwrap an equal number of Hershey’s kisses and set one on each pretzel square. Put the cookie sheet in the oven for 7–9 minutes. Remove sheet from oven; then press one candy heart into the chocolate kiss on each pretzel. Let cool (at least a little bit) before serving!

Materials:      
Foam hearts
Empty coffee can, oatmeal box, or similar container with a lid
Exacto knife or sharp scissors

Directions:     
Cut a generously-sized slit in the lid of the can, big enough for the foam hearts to easily slide through. Secure the lid on the can, and give your baby a foam heart. Take one yourself, and tell him you’re going to put it in the mailbox. Show him how you can slide it through the opening. Encourage him to try it. He will probably put the heart in his mouth first, and you can show him how to slide another one in the opening. Ask him if he can put his heart in the box. It’s fine to demonstrate it again. We were successful doing this activity with a 10-month and a 12-month old. But it took them both several tries. It takes a tremendous amount of fine motor skill, eye-hand coordination, and persistence to do it at this age! Celebrate your baby when he’s successful, and encourage him if he’s having a little trouble. 

After there are a few hearts in the can, shake the can so your baby can hear the hearts inside. Open the can, and let him shake them out. Try it again if he’s willing!

Materials:      
A large, shallow plastic container
Enough uncooked rice to fill your tub about an inch deep
Pink and lavender scoops, cups, and bowls

Directions:     
Children of all ages love to explore rice at the rice table. We like to color ours, but it’s not necessary—white rice is fun, too! (If you need directions on how to color the rice, see the blog post “Hunting for Hearts” in which I’ve explained how to do it. It’s easy!)

Rice is a wonderful sensory material. It’s relatively inexpensive,  doesn’t leave residue on children’s hands, is easy to sweep up, is soothing to run one’s fingers through, and is calming to work with. Children love to scoop it up, fill containers with it, dump it out, and do it again. They make connections with and explore concepts of weight and volume. And it can be used over and over again. Store your rice in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.  It will keep for years!