room the activity room

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1 the activity room July s June s Activity Activity Plans Plans for for Toddlers Toddlers & Preschoolers Preschoolers H A N D S O N A S W E G R O W. C O M

2 July Activity Plan Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekend /9 Fireworks Painting Obstacle Course Name Ring Toss Fill in the Shape Play a game of ball as a family. Observe your family and take note of down times and times that are stressful. page 9 page 0 page page 0 4 5/6 Ice Cube Monster Melt Earth Art Counting Maze Pom Pom Sort Go on a family walk/hike in nature. Reflect on your current routines. page page 4 page 5 page Member Activity 9 0 / Homemade Popsicles Roll the Number Action Game Nature Sink or Float Cereal Bird Feeder Crank up the music and be an air band. Carve out a time to play a board game together this weekend. page 7 page 8 page 9 page /0 Sponge Water Target Shaving Cream Letters Window Painting Toy Wash Cuddle up and read books together. Have lunch as a picnic this weekend - either at the park or on your living room floor. page page page page 4 4 5/6 Water Transfer Texture Scavenger Hunt Nature Wind Chimes Peel Tape Play freeze tag! Plan what your morning routine will be like during the school year. page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 this month s theme: Finding the Time to Do Activities

3 July: Supply List Full Supply List In each week of activities, there s a supply list. You can quickly scan the list to see what you need for the week. Most items are supplies from the home (office, kitchen, kids toys, etc). Below is a list of supplies to do every activity in the month of July. Craft Items: paper scissors paint paintbrushes markers sticky notes googly eyes (optional) pom poms pipe cleaner string or yarn contact paper Kitchen Items: knife dish scoops, spoons, measuring cups, etc. baking sheet or tray egg carton or muffin tin popsicle molds ice cube trays straws paper cups paper plates dish soap Pantry Items: water fresh fruit o-shaped cereal food coloring Around the House: dice canning jar lids clothespin or tweezers (optional) sponges sponge or toothbrush painter s tape shaving cream Other: toys blocks number cards or foam numbers sidewalk or pavement sidewalk chalk nature flowers/leaves/nature large stick tub or bucket bucket or basket (optional)

4 July Activity Plan: Week One Monday: Cut the end of a straw into / inch strips and flare them out. Dip the ends into paint and create fireworks on paper! paint paper scissors straws 4 Tuesday: Write letters on sticky notes and place them around the house (under and on top of the dining room table and chairs works great). Name a letter then stomp it! Repeat! sticky notes markers 5 Wednesday: Make a ring toss! Cut the centers out of paper plates to make rings. Write the letters of their name on the bottoms of cups. Toss the plates to ring the letters of their name. paper cups markers paper plates scissors 6 Thursday: Tape a simple shape on the floor. Fill it in with blocks like a puzzle. painter s tape blocks 7 Friday: Play a game of ball as a family 8/9 Over the Weekend: Observe times that you find yourself at your wits end, or you have some down time. Decide if there s an activity you can do to help out, either to keep kids busy or to give them more attention. Get your planning sheet HERE or at: this month s theme: Finding the Time to Do Activities

5 July Activity Plan: Week Two 0 Monday: Add water and food coloring to an ice cube tray to make colorful ice cubes and freeze. Draw monster bodies on paper using a marker and add googly eyes for fun, if desired. Paint the monsters with the frozen colored ice cubes as they melt! Tuesday: Head outside and use nature to make art! Create a caterpillar with rocks, or a letter with various objects from nature. paper markers googly eyes (optional) food coloring ice cube trays water nature Wednesday: Draw a maze of numbers in a grid pattern on the sidewalk. Walk through it, counting as you go! sidewalk or pavement sidewalk chalk Thursday: Sort pom poms by color or size in a muffin tin, or just transfer them back and forth. Add tongs for some fun! egg carton or muffin tin pom poms clothespin or tweezers (optional) 4 Friday: Go on a family walk/hike in nature. 5/6 Over the Weekend: Reflect on your family s routines. What must happen to make your days run smoother? What can you do for yourself? Get your planning sheet HERE or at: this month s theme: Finding the Time to Do Activities

6 July Activity Plan: Week Three Monday: Make your own popsicles with popsicle molds, water, and fresh fruit. Cut up fruit and fill the mold. Then add water to fill. Put on the lid and freeze. Enjoy! Tuesday: Make a list -6 of action items, such as lie on the floor, take giant steps, jump times, roll around, twirl and run. Then roll a dice (or pick a card or number) and do the action item! Repeat until you ve done them all at least once. Wednesday: What floats from nature? Fill a tub with water. Have the kids collect items from nature to see what floats and what sinks. popsicle molds water fresh fruit knife dice number cards/ foam numbers nature water tub 0 Thursday: Make a bird feeder by threading o-shaped cereal onto a pipe cleaner and tie the ends together. Hang outside for the birds! o-shaped cereal pipe cleaner string or yarn Friday: Crank up the music and be an air band. / Over the Weekend: Carve out a time to play a board game together this weekend. this month s theme: Finding the Time to Do Activities

7 July Activity Plan: Week Four 4 Monday: Draw a target on the driveway or sidewalk in chalk. Soak sponges in a bucket of water to throw at the target. sidewalk chalk sidewalk or driveway sponges water bucket 5 Tuesday: Squirt shaving cream on a baking sheet. Write letters and numbers or make shapes with your fingers. baking sheet or tray shaving cream 6 Wednesday: Make window paint using dish soap and food coloring. Paint the window with brushes and sponges. dish soap paint paintbrushes sponges 7 Thursday: Use a tub of soapy water to wash favorite toys. tub or bucket sponge or toothbrush water dish soap toys 8 Friday: Cuddle up and read books together. 9/0 Over the Weekend: Have lunch as a picnic this weekend - either at the park or on your living room floor. this month s theme: Finding the Time to Do Activities

8 July Activity Plan: Week Five Monday: Have a water play day! Set out tubs of water with some scoops to transfer water back and forth. Add color to the water if you d like. tubs or buckets water food coloring (optional) scoops, spoons, measuring cups, etc. Tuesday: Go on a scavenger hunt around the yard to explore textures. Can you find something that s bumpy? nature bucket or basket (optional) Wednesday: Trace canning lids onto contact paper to create a sticky surface for your natural elements. contact paper canning jar lids flowers/leaves/nature yarn or other string large stick Thursday: Stick tape onto a surface. Criss cross over each other. Peel the tape off, one by one. painter s tape 4 Friday: Play freeze tag! 5/6 Over the Weekend: Plan what your morning routine will be like during the school year. Use this helpful planner HERE to plan it out or visit: NEXT month s theme: Back to School

9 Fireworks Painting paint paper scissors straws Cut the ends of straws to make several strips about / inch into the end of the straw. Flare out the ends of the straws. Dip ends into paint and stamp onto paper to create fireworks! Use several straws for different colors of paint, so they don t mix. Older kids may like to help cut the straws to make their fireworks unique to them. Talk about fireworks you ve seen, or are going to see, and all the colors they might be.

10 Obstacle Course sticky notes markers Write letters on sticky notes and stick them on things around the house (such as on top of and under the table and chairs). Have your child name the letter and stomp on it. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS From there, name a letter close by and stomp on it, and so on. What makes this an obstacle course is where you place the sticky notes. Make it hard to get to, and let them break the rules. Place the sticky notes close enough together that your child can step from one to another, but far enough apart that it s a stretch. You can do this with anything your child is learning, whether it s letters, numbers, math facts, sight words, or shapes! Try it!

11 Name Ring Toss paper cups markers paper plates scissors CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Cut the centers out of paper plates to make rings. Write a letter on each cup to spell your child s name. Line up the cups. Toss the plates to ring the letters of their name. If you don t have cups, you can also use small objects. Can you find an object that starts with every letter of their name? Instead of their name, work on numbers, or letters, or shapes! Anything can be written on those cups. No paper plates? Make rings out of pipe cleaners. Just make sure they re big enough to get around the cup!

12 Fill in the Shape painter s tape blocks Tape a simple square, rectangle or triangle on the floor. Collect blocks and lay out to use. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Fill in the shape completely solid with the blocks. Start simple with a square, about a foot wide. Don t make it too big or it ll be daunting to fill and too small can be hard to fit the pieces. Sit alongside your child and help put the blocks in a spot. Push them up against each other so you don t leave any blank spots. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Just fill up the square with no open holes.

13 Ice Cube Monster Melt paper markers googly eyes (optional) food coloring ice cube trays water Add water to an ice cube tray and add food coloring to each ice cube to make them colorful. Freeze. Draw monster bodies on paper using a marker. (Optional: Add googly eyes for fun!) Paint the monsters with the frozen colored ice cubes as they melt! Prep ahead for this one and make the colored ice cubes the night before to be ready for the fun! Monsters can be anything, so let your child create one too! Draw a circle, three legs and one big eye. For a more vibrant painting, you can add paint to the ice cubes and just a bit of water, instead of food coloring.

14 Earth Art nature Go outside and collect various objects from nature: rocks, leaves, pine cones, dandelions, sticks, etc. Get creative and see what you can make from the objets! CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Can you create a caterpillar with rocks? A face? Letters to spell something? Try it! Ask your child what is it they re creating, instead of guessing. This will give them an opportunity to talk about their design. Create along side your child so they can see the possibilities to create. Older kids can write their name with nature, or numbers or letters. Challenge older kids to create a design using only 0 pieces of nature, or more specifically, 0 rocks (for example).

15 Counting Maze sidewalk or pavement sidewalk chalk CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Draw a grid on the sidewalk with chalk. Fill in grid with numbers -0 (or as far as you d like to go) from a starting point () to an end (0) in a path like a maze. Fill in with random numbers around it. Have child walk through the maze counting from -0 in the correct order. Add trucks or a tricycle to the mix to drive through the maze! Make this easier for younger kids by only making the path of numbers and not filling in around it. Count with them as they walk through their maze. For older kids, leave a grid space blank for them to fill in with the correct number. What should be next?

16 Pom Pom Sort egg carton or muffin tin pom poms clothespin or tweezers (optional) Set out an egg carton and pom poms of different colors and/or sizes. Sort and put the pom poms in the muffin tin by either color or size. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Use scoops or tongs to transfer the pom poms back and forth. Younger kids may not grasp the concept of color and size. At this age, just move them back and forth. Even with their fingers it s a pinching exercise! Older kids can count pom poms after sorting to see which color or size has the most (and least). If your child can t use tweezers, don t push it! You can use it along side him to show how it works, but let him just pinch with his fingers.

17 Homemade Popsicles popsicle molds water fresh fruit knife Cut up fruit and place in your popsicle molds to fill them. Add water over the fruit to fill the popsicle molds completely. Put on lids and freeze. Enjoy eating them outside on a hot day! Don t have popsicle molds? Use an ice cube tray instead! Or small containers and craft sticks. You can make these anything you want! Puree the fruit for a blended popsicle. Use yogurt, fruit juice or pudding as the filler instead of water. Be creative! Set up a popsicle making bar with a bunch of options to have your child create their own popsicle!

18 Member Roll the Number Action Game by member, Tina dice number cards or foam numbers Make a list -6 of action items. Such as: -lie on the floor, -take two giant steps, -jump three times, 4-roll around, 5-twirl, 6-run. Roll the dice (or pick a card or number) and do what that number says on the list. Repeat until you ve done all the actions! No numbers? Play Simon Says and just choose the number, like Simon Says do number! Lie on the Floor! Have older kids count while they re moving, as well as chart (make tally marks) next to the item number on the list to see how many times they do each one before getting to them all. For added fun, let your child choose a number for you to do! Take turns!

19 Nature Sink or Float nature water tub Fill a shallow tub /4 full of water. Go on a hunt to find several different items from nature. Make a guess if each piece of nature will sink or float and then test to see! Collecting and hunting for the items from nature is part of the fun! Get the kids involved to see how many different kinds you can find. Be sure to collect some items that will sink and not just lightweight leaves and grass that will float. Older kids can chart their findings! On a paper, make a chart with two columns for sink and float and draw pictures (or write) the items under the columns of what happens.

20 Cereal Bird Feeder o-shaped cereal pipe cleaner string or yarn Set out a bowl of o-shaped cereal and a pipe cleaner. Thread the cereal onto the pipe cleaner. Leave about an inch on each end to twist ends together to make a circle. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Hang with a string from a tree or porch for the birds to eat! No pipe cleaner? Just thread it onto string instead. Tape it to a surface. Do this during snack time, because the kids are sure to sneak a few to eat. Different kinds of o-shaped cereal could provide an opportunity for patterning with colors. Try it!

21 Sponge Water Target sidewalk chalk sidewalk or driveway sponges water bucket Draw a target on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. Write numbers in each circle, if desired. Soak sponges in a bucket of water. Grab a water-soaked sponge and throw it at the target to score! The numbers of the target can be completely arbitrary, but still fun for younger kids. Older kids can add up their points, or aim to get a certain number. Can they make 50 points with 5 throws? This is a great activity to do on a hot day to cool off!

22 Shaving Cream Letters baking sheet or tray shaving cream Squirt a large amount of shaving cream on a tray or baking sheet. Have your child spread it out and use their fingers to write numbers. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Erase the number away by swiping your hand across it and start again! Anything can be written in the shaving cream: letters, numbers, sight words, math problems and so on! No shaving cream? Try whip cream, or finger paint! Keep the mess to a minimum by putting down a towel or shower curtain first.

23 Window Painting dish soap paint paintbrushes sponges CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Pour paint into a small dish and add a squirt of dish soap. Use sponges or paintbrushes to paint the outside of a window. Wash off with a hose or a bucket of water and a rag. Make the paint without paint! Add food coloring and a tad bit of cornstarch to water. Make it thin, the corn starch will thicken. Fun factor! Have a hose ready for clean up! This will continue the activity on longer! Maybe obvious, but need to say this. Paint on the outside of the window.

24 Toy Wash tub or bucket sponge or toothbrush water dish soap toys CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Mix up a batch of soapy water in a tub or bucket. Have your child collect some of their favorite, most used, toys (that are hard). Clean those toys with a sponge or toothbrush! For less mess, take this outside or lay out a shower curtain or large towel. This can be done with both big and little toys! The big toys will probably just not fit in the tub! Add a toothbrush to the toy wash for details cleaning (and fine motor control)!

25 Water Transfer tubs or buckets water food coloring (optional) scoops, spoons, measuring cups, etc CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Fill two tubs with water. Add food coloring to each if you d like. Set out a third, empty container to dump the water into (and mix the colors). Use scoops, spoons, measuring cups (etc) to transfer the water into the empty tub (and back again)! This is a great opportunity to introduce color mixing. Use only two primary colors (red, blue or yellow) to mix together. Smaller scoops means more fine motor control used as well as more time to transfer the water! Take this outside if possible. If it s not possible, set this up indoors with a tablecloth (or shower curtain or large towel) on the floor to catch spills.

26 Texture Scavenger Hunt nature bucket or basket (optional) Explore what s in your own backyard! Find something rough? smooth? pokey? prickly? and so on. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Once an object is found, describe it! For multiple kids, an older kid can take charge of describing a texture. Younger kids? Show an example when you describe the texture. See this rock? It s smooth. Can you find something else that s smooth? No backyard? No worries! Try it at the playground, or even indoors!

27 Nature Wind Chimes contact paper canning jar lids flowers/leaves/nature yarn or other string large stick CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Trace canning jar lids onto a piece of contact paper. Remove sticky side and tape to a surface, sticky side up. Stick piece of nature on contact paper to fill the circles. Add another piece of contact paper on top, and cut out the circles. Push the cutouts into the canning jar lids to make suncatcher. Tie around the lids and tie the other end to a stick. Hang on the porch or patio to see! Go on a hunt to collect nature items, it can be an activity itself! Toddlers can enjoy sticking the nature to the contact paper, but cutting out the circles will be best for adults, or older kids to do. If the contact paper circles don t fit tightly in the canning jar lids, you can tape them in place.

28 Peeling Tape painter s tape Tape several pieces of painter s tape on the table, or other hard surface. Have your child peel the tape off, one by one. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS Repeat! This is amazing for strengthening fingers! Just the sheer grip to pull the tape off strengthens them. Little fingers may need help starting the piece of tape. For added fun, have your child put the pieces of tape down how they d prefer!