room the activity room June s Activity

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1 the activity November 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 November Activity Plan Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekend Spaghetti Slime Draw in an Odd Spot 4 5/6 Swat the Letter Plastic Bottle Bowling page 9 page 0 page page Go for a drive. Brainstorm all your upcoming to do s for the holiday season / Leaf Garland Lego Patterns Cushion Obstacle Course Play Dough Patterns Work on a simple family tree together. Categorize your to do list. page page 4 page 5 page Leaf Collage What Shape Does It Land On? /0 Coat Hanger Sticky Runway Balance Head to a local museum to learn about something in your area. Ask yourself Why should we make our lives more crazy if we don t enjoy this? and just say no. page 7 page 8 page 9 page 0 Sponge Painting Blow Up a Balloon 4 5 6/7 Turkey Baster Fine Motor Race Name Sticker Match Break out the holiday music! Make a Plan. page page page page Christmas Countdown Chain Tape Jump 0 /4 Christmas Tree Sticker Garland Wet Newspaper Sensory Write letters to Santa. Review your Categorize Your To Do List Sheet and plan something that you love to do this weekend. page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 this month s theme: Prepping for the season.

3 November: 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 November. Craft Items: butcher or art paper paper green paper construction paper / cardstock paper (fall colors) drawing utensils markers clear tape tape or staples/stapler glue scissors stickers orange paint paint knife or hole punch feather, tissue paper or fabric scraps letter stickers contact (sticky) paper Kitchen Items: kitchen utensils funnel turkey baster sponge () plastic cups tray bowls or containers Pantry Items: cooked spaghetti water food coloring oil (vegetable) baking soda vinegar From the Outdoors: leaves Around the House: plastic bottles ball and other toys painter s tape coat hanger string toy truck newspapers small objects Lego or other blocks Other: tub or bucket fly swatter pillows & cushions play dough (made or store bought) balloon

4 November Activity Plan: Week One Monday: Add food coloring and oil to leftover cooked spaghetti. Put in a tub for little hands to explore. Add kitchen utensils to cook. cooked spaghetti food coloring oil (vegetable) tub or bucket kitchen utensils Tuesday: Draw in an odd spot. Tape butcher paper to the back of a chair, or the floor, or under the table... butcher paper drawing utensils Wednesday: Write letters on a large sheet of paper, randomly. Call out a letter and swat it with a fly swatter! fly swatter marker butcher or art paper Thursday: Line up plastic bottles to go bowling! Roll a strike! plastic bottles ball 4 Friday: Go for a drive and let your child navigate the way! 5/6 Over the Weekend: Take a moment and brainstorm for 5-0 minutes all the things that you have going on for the rest of the year (push yourself 5 minutes longer after you think you ve got it all). Include things like the following: What s already scheduled for the rest of the year? What are things you did last year that you plan to do again? Include mundane tasks and chores, along with the bigger events that happen during the holiday season. this month s theme: Prepping for the season.

5 November Activity Plan: Week Two 7 Monday: Stick collected leaves to a long piece of clear tape and hang in the window as a garland. clear tape leaves 8 Tuesday: Create different patterns with blocks, such as ABAB, ABCABC, AABBAABB. Line them up, or see how high of a tower you can make! Lego or other blocks butcher paper markers 9 Wednesday: Set up a very simple obstacle course with cushions (line them up, stack them, make small ramps and tunnels) and have toys to crawl across to find. pillows & cushions ball or other toys 0 Thursday: Use play dough balls to make patterns based on color. play dough (made or store bought) Friday: Work on a simple family tree together to show relationships between immediate family and grandparents. / Over the Weekend: With the list that you brainstormed last week, Categorize them on the Categorizing Your To Do s sheet. Cross the ones that no one enjoys off your list! Highlight the to do s that YOU enjoy doing in one color. Highlight what your family enjoys in another color. Click here to download and fill out the Categorizing Your To Do s sheet or visit: this month s theme: Prepping for the season.

6 November Activity Plan: Week Three 4 Monday: Paint paper in fall colors and cut out in shapes of leaves. Collect leaves from around the yard. Glue both onto a piece of paper to make a multi-material leaf collage. leaves paper (fall colors) paint glue scissors 5 6 Tuesday: Tape a few different large shapes on the floor (circle, rectangle, square, etc). Sit on opposite ends of the shapes and roll a ball back and forth andshout out what shape the ball crosses or lands on. Wednesday: Using a coat hanger, hang a plastic cup on each end with string. Gather small objects to fill each cup with and see if you can create an equal balance. painter s tape ball or toy truck coat hanger string () plastic cups knife or hole punch small objects 7 Thursday: Tape a runway of contact (sticky) paper to the floor, sticky side up. Run across, crawl over, or lay on it! contact (sticky) paper painter s tape 8 Friday: Head to a local museum to learn about something in your area. 9/0 Over the Weekend: Push yourself to say no to those things that you don t really enjoy. Take a look at your Categorizing Your To Do s sheet, and ask yourself if you can say No to the things that are not highlighted at all. If you or your family does not enjoy doing them, ask yourself: Why should we make our lives more crazy if we don t enjoy this? Can you find a way to make it easier for yourself? this month s theme: Prepping for the season.

7 November Activity Plan: Week Four Monday: Cut a sponge into a pumpkin shape. Dip into paint and make prints on a piece of paper. sponge scissors paper orange paint tray Tuesday: Put vinegar in plastic bottle and baking soda in a balloon. Secure balloon to opening of bottle. When ready, drop baking soda out of the balloon and into the bottle. Watch the balloon blow up! plastic bottle balloon funnel baking soda vinegar Wednesday: Challenge your child to move a feather across the floor or table by squeezing a turkey baster! turkey baster feather (tissue paper or fabric scrap) 4 Thursday: Write their name to fill the top of a paper. Stick matching letter stickers below each letter, spelling their name over and over again. (No stickers? Write the letters on pieces of paper and glue them.) paper marker letter stickers 5 Friday: Break out the holiday music and learn a new song together! 6/7 Over the Weekend: Make a plan of the upcoming To Do s through the holiday season. Create a plan for the upcoming holiday season. Write down when those To Do s happen, or when you d like to make them happen. And when something comes up, you can quickly glance at it and see if you have time, or not (and then just say No). Click here to download monthly calendars or visit: com/wp-content/uploads/06/09/blank-monthly-calendars.pdf this month s theme: Prepping for the season.

8 November Activity Plan:Week Five 8 Monday: Write an activity to do on each strip. Tape, or staple, ends together to make a chain. Take one off and do that activity each day until Christmas! construction paper / cardstock marker tape or staples/stapler 9 Tuesday: Tape lines of tape on the floor equal distances apart and challenge the kids to a jumping game. Measure how far they can jump. painter s tape 0 Wednesday: Cut a tree from green paper. Draw lines for garland on it. Decorate tree with stickers along the lines of garland. green paper marker stickers Thursday: Play with newspapers. Rip them up. Wad them up. Dip them in water for a squishy sensory. newspapers water bowls or containers food coloring (optional) Friday: Write letters to Santa! Tell him the fun you ve been having and how excited you are! /4 Over the Weekend: Review your Categorize Your To Do List Sheet and plan something that you love to do this weekend. Make a plan to do something next week too! Review November s Theme of Prepping for the Season and download the Categorizing Your To Do List if you haven t already. NEXT month s theme: Find what you love.

9 Spaghetti Slime cooked spaghetti food coloring oil (vegetable) tub or bucket kitchen utensils Make extra spaghetti for dinner and use the leftovers for sensory play! Add food coloring and a tad bit of oil to the cooked spaghetti. Put the colored spaghetti in a tub to explore. Add kitchen utensils to cook. Split the spaghetti into different bowls and add different colors to each bowl. Take this outside if possible, or put down a tablecloth (or shower curtain or large towel) to make clean up easy. Food coloring may stain hands so don t do this before a special event!

10 Draw in an Odd Spot butcher paper drawing utensils Pick an odd spot to color or draw! Under the table, cover the entire table, on the floor, outside. Cover the entire area with butcher paper. Draw! Leave it up for days to add to it. Set out different drawing utensils at different times. Some kids don t like crayons, but do markers or colored pencils. Don t be afraid to join in with your child! Seeing you enjoy coloring and drawing will encourage their creativity. Just doing this in a you normally wouldn t makes it new and interesting.

11 Swat the Letter fly swatter marker butcher or art paper Write letters randomly on a large sheet of paper. Call out a letter for your child to find. When they find it, swat it with a fly swatter! Write the letters in different colors. If your child gets stuck on a letter and can t find it, give them hints by telling them what color it is. Choose mostly letters that your child knows to build their confidence. Stick in a few that they struggle with to build their knowledge. Switch it up and have your child tell you all the blue letters as they swat them.

12 Bottle Bowling plastic bottles ball Line up plastic bottles to go bowling. Six or ten bottles work well. Roll a ball at the bottles to try to knock them all down. Set them up again and bowl again! Tape marks on the floor where the bottles are to set for easy setup! Younger kids may do better with less bottles. Try three if there s a struggle. Try other ways of setting up the bottles. Can you knock them all down if they re lined up in a row?

13 Leaf Garland plastic bottles ball Lay out a long piece of clear tape, sticky side up. Stick collected leaves to sticky side of tape. Hang garland of leaves in a window. Repeat for more! You can also paint the leaves before hanging them up! How pretty! It s helpful to keep the tape length to a couple of feet, make several smaller strands to hang from the top of a window (instead of 6 feet to span across a window) Any tape works for this! However clear tape will be more visually appealing so your eye sees the leaves.

14 Lego Patterns Lego or other blocks butcher paper markers Trace different shapes of blocks, or different colors, in a pattern (ABAB, ABCABC, AABBAABB for example) on a large sheet of paper. Have your child continue the pattern with the blocks. Reverse it, have your child start a pattern and you finish it! You can also stack the blocks in a pattern and build a tower (this works great with Lego blocks)! Start with simple patterns for your child to get the hang of it. Red, green, red, green. And then move on to harder patterns, such as AABBAABB. Make sure you have enough blocks of the colors and shapes you re making the pattern with to continue the pattern through at least twice.

15 Cushion Obstacle Course pillows & cushions ball or other toys Lay out cushions and pillows on the floor, stacking them somewhat over each other to make little ramps and tunnels. Set out a favorite toy on the cushions to crawl or walk across to get it. See what fun simple cushions can be! When setting up the cushions be sure to make little ramps and tunnels by overlapping them. It may be easier to ask your toddler to come over and play with you and see where he stands, then move the toys to the other side, or underneath. Keep moving them around. Once the fun starts to wear off, ask your toddler to move the cushions around to make her own obstacle course.

16 Play Dough Patterns play dough (made or store bought) Roll two colors of play dough into small balls. Start a pattern for your child to follow by setting out -4 of the play dough balls. Have your child continue the pattern with the play dough balls. You can also make patterns by size, or shape (play dough formations). The simplest of patterns is ABABAB, you can make it more difficult for older kids by doing AABBAABB or ABCABC and so on. Younger kids may just want to line up the balls regardless of pattern. Use this as an opportunity to label the colors (or shape or size).

17 Leaf Collage leaves paper (fall colors) paint glue scissors Paint a piece of paper in fall colors. Let dry. Cut out in shapes of leaves. Collect nature s leaves from around the yard. Glue both onto a piece of paper in a collage. Let dry and display. Have fun creating an abstract painting first! Paint with odd pieces, you could even paint with leaves! Make the hunt to find leaves an activity in itself. Older kids can hunt for certain types of leaves (find of each fall color, red, yellow, orange, green and brown), while younger kids can look for any type! Don t worry about the leaves laying flat when you collage them (it might break them). It s fun to give it a D effect.

18 What Shape Does it Land On? painter s tape ball or toy truck Tape large shapes on the floor (such as a triangle, square, rectangle, etc). Sit on the floor on opposite sides of the shapes. Roll a ball (or toy truck) back and forth to each other. Shout out what shape the ball crosses or lands on. Use this as an opportunity to introduce new shapes, but build confidence on shapes they already know. You can also call out a shape and toss a bean bag (or socks) on it. Always test painter s tape on your floor before using.

19 Coat Hanger Balance coat hanger string () plastic cups knife or hole punch small objects Punch a hole in the side of a plastic cup and tie a string to it to attach (do this with cups). Attach other end of each string to each side of coat hanger. Gather small objects to fill each cup to balance the coat hanger! Show your child what it looks like to be balanced before starting. Make it a game and take turns filling up the first cup to have the other balance it. Older kids can compare 5 objects of one kind (Legos) to 5 objects of another kind (pom poms) and see what s heavier. Make a chart with your findings.

20 Sticky Runway contact (sticky) paper painter s tape Lay out a long piece of contact paper on the floor, sticky side up. Tape in place. Have your toddler run across the sticky contact paper. Ask them how it feels on their feet. Toddlers can run across the sticky runway, or jump or crawl on it, even lay on it! It feels funny! Take this a step further and add small craft objects and paper to the mix to create art! Don t remove the sticky runway right away, leave it out for the day and watch to see your toddler come back to it over and over throughout the day.

21 Sponge Printing sponge scissors paper orange paint tray Cut a pumpkin shape out of a sponge. Spread some paint around on a tray. Dip the sponge shape into the paint and then onto a piece of paper to make a print of the shape. Cut the sponge into a shape of the current holiday or season. Hearts, clovers, stars, etc. You may need to dab off the sponge onto a paper towel before stamping onto the paper. Take cleanup to the bath sink and kids will love squishing the sponge to clean it out!

22 Blow Up a Balloon plastic bottle balloon funnel baking soda vinegar Pour oz of veingar in plastic bottle. Funnel TBSP of baking sode into a balloon. Secure the top of the balloon to the opening of the bottle carefully. Hold balloon up to drop baking soda out of the balloon and into the bottle. Hold tight to where the balloon is secured to the bottle. Watch the balloon blow up! Don t add too much of either vinegar or baking soda, it could cause the balloon to erupt. You can reuse the balloons to do the experiment over and over. The science behind the experiment: When baking soda and vinegar mix it creates and gives off a gas (Carbon Dioxide) that blows up the balloon. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air though so it will not float in air if you release it. It is not as light as helium.

23 Turkey Baster Fine Motor Race turkey baster feather (tissue paper or fabric scrap) Set out a feather on a flat surface (table or smooth floor). Give your child a turkey baster. Squeeze the turkey baster over and over again to blow the feather across the surface. Make it a race! Mark a start and a finish line with tape and time it (or race against each other). No feathers? Use a piece of tissue paper or a small piece of light-weight fabric. No turkey baster? You can use a paper plate and wave it like a fan instead!

24 Name Sticker Match paper marker letter stickers Write your child s name at the top of a paper. Set out several letter stickers that are the letters in their name. Have your child stick matching sticker letters below each letter to spell their name over and over. If you don t have letter stickers, you can cut small squares and write the letters on those. Then have your child glue them in place. Don t be concerned about them spelling their name in full before moving onto the next line. Let them match several of one letter if they please. Work on writing instead of stickers. Have your child write the letters over and over below your initial name.

25 Christmas Activity Countdown Chain construction paper / cardstock marker tape or staples/stapler Cut / to wide strips of paper. Cut enough for every day until Christmas. Write an activity, tradition, craft, on each of the strips. Tape the ends to link them together, making a chain. Take one link off every day and do the activity suggested. Activity Suggestions: Drink hot chocolate Listen to Christmas carols Make Christmas candies Make a holiday wreath Hang the stockings Decorate the kids s Look at Christmas lights Write a letter to Santa Make a snow globe Have candy canes Read holiday books Christmas coloring page Watch a Christmas movie Go Christmas shopping Build a snowman Wrap Christmas presents Cut out snowflakes Make wrapping paper

26 Tape Jumping Game painter s tape Tape 6 lines of tape on the floor, approximately a foot apart (no need to be precise). Start at the first line and see how far they can jump, how many lines? Hop from one line to the next, lay down and measure how many lines long your child is, see how far they can stretch their legs apart, and so on! Take this outside with sidewalk chalk on the sidewalk or driveway too! Socks and slippery floors don t mix, so test before jumping too far! Let them wear shoes for this if it s a problem.

27 Sticker Garlands green paper marker stickers Cut a tree out of green paper. Draw lines as garland on the tree. Decorate the tree with stickers. Stick them to the lines of garland. For younger kids, don t draw the line of garland and just let them decorate the tree with stickers to their desire! Peeling the stickers from the paper is the part that is amazing for fine motor, but many kids struggle with it. Peel them and put them on wax paper to make it easier. Depending on your stickers, make a pattern on the garland.

28 Wet Newspaper Sensory newspapers water bowls or containers food coloring (optional) Tear newspapers into strips and pieces. Fill a container with water (add food coloring, if desired). Wad the newspaper up and drip into the water for a squishy sensory experience. Add food coloring to the water to dye the newspapers when dipped. Have a spare, empty bowl to place the wet newspapers, or to squeeze the water out of the newspapers. Some kids have aversions to this type of sensory experience. (I am one of them.)