Category: Messy

  • Playing with a Spoon

    Your Child Will Learn

    An introduction to using a spoon

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Give me an extra spoon to hold and explore while you’re feeding me with a spoon. If I seem interested, let me put my hand on
    … Continue reading

  • Water Play

    Your Child Will Learn

    To explore the characteristics of water

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Fill the bathtub or set up a kiddie pool or plastic bin outside. Provide some water toys. Some household objects that are great water toys:
      • Cups,
    … Continue reading

  • Play Dough

    Your Child Will Learn

    Fine motor skills and how to use tools

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Play with play dough! You can use store-bought play dough or make your own (recipe attached).
    2. Show me how much fun it is to
    … Continue reading

  • Keeping Marks on the Paper

    Your Child Will Learn

    How to keep my coloring and painting on the paper to get ready to learn to write

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Tape a piece of paper to a larger piece of cardboard or a tray. Tape
    … Continue reading

  • Learning to Glue

    Your Child Will Learn

    Fine motor skills, how to use glue, and creativity

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Cut or tear paper into shapes like squares or circles. For easy clean-up, put a tablecloth, piece of cardboard, or baking sheet on
    … Continue reading

  • School Family Quilt

    Your Child Will Learn

    About their family history and how their family fits into the school community

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Talk with your child about your family story. You can talk about:
      • Who is in your family
      • Your ancestors-
    … Continue reading

  • My Wind Chime

    Your Child Will Learn

    How to build a sculpture and use everyday objects to make music

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Gather 5-8 small hard pieces that will make sounds for a wind chime, like metal washers and gaskets, spoons and
    … Continue reading

  • Natural Mosaic Moods

    Your Child Will Learn

    Mosaic art is an image made of smaller pieces

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Fold a piece of paper into 4 equal parts
    2. Give your child a pencil and ask them to draw a face that represents
    … Continue reading

  • Paint to Music

    Your Child Will Learn

    The beats and rhythms heard in music can inspire how we paint

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Play a lively song with lots of instrumentation and percussion
    2. Give your child paper, 2-3 non-toxic paint colors, and paintbrushes
    … Continue reading

  • Paint Your Feelings

    Your Child Will Learn

    Colors can represent how we feel 

    Here’s What to Do

    1. Ask your child to think about how colors represent different feelings; follow their lead even if their thoughts about colors and feelings are unusual
    2. Display 3-4
    … Continue reading

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