LEARNING without worksheets a 7-day activity challenge for preschoolers ACTIVITY CHECKLIST Sunday Day Monday Day Tuesday Day Wednesday Day 4 Thursday Day 5 Friday Day 6 Saturday Day 7 Bonus: Sunday Family Day 8 DAILY CHECK-IN: After you complete an activity, post a photo on Instagram and the private Facebook group to check in with me and the Hands On As We Grow community! Use the hashtag: #LearnwithoutWorksheets
LEARNING without worksheets a 7-day activity challenge for preschoolers supply CHECKLIST Blocks Painter s Tape (or masking tape) Paper Pencil (pen, marker, writing utensil of some sort) Play Dough (homemade or store bought) Sticky Notes (or paper with tape works just fine) Stairs or an Open Area Flashlight A Dark Area (a table with a blanket over top, or bathroom) Gallon-sized Freezer Bags Permanent Markers (Sharpies) Colored Buttons (or pom poms) Plastic Lids (or paper plates or small frisbees) A Bowl of Water Dish Soap Black Pepper
learning without worksheets Day : Tape a simple shape on the floor. Fill it in with blocks like a puzzle. painter s tape blocks Day : Write your child s name on a piece of paper. Roll play dough into snakes to trace the letters in their with the play dough. paper pencil play dough Day : Write a letter on a sticky note, several of the same, a few different letters. Stick the sticky notes on the stairs, two or three per step. Stomp on a letter to find them all! sticky notes markers stairs (or open area) Day 4: Build a tower of blocks on a piece of large paper. Shine a flashlight on it and trace the shadow. Without moving the flashlight or paper, remove the blocks. Rebuild the tower to match the shadow. flashlight marker blocks a dark area Day 5: Add hair gel and buttons to a baggy to make a sensory bag. Draw circles (in the same colors as the buttons),and the color name on the outside of the baggy. Sort the buttons into their circles! freezer baggy permanent markers colored buttons hair gel (or dish soap) Day 6: Tape lines of tape on the floor about a foot apart. Stand back and toss the lids like a frisbee to land on the tape line. Earn point when you land on the st line, on the nd and so on. plastic lids painter s tape Day 7: Fill a bowl with water and sprinkle on some black pepper. Dab a finger into dish soap and touch the surface of the peppered water. Watch the magic! dish soap bowl of water black pepper
learning without worksheets Day Block Puzzles painter s tape blocks Tape a simple square, rectangle or triangle on the floor. Collect blocks and lay out to use. 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.
learning without worksheets Day Play Dough Names pencil paper play dough (homemade or store bought) Write your child s name on a piece of paper, as big as you can so it fits on the paper. Roll play dough into snakes. Trace the written letters of the name with the play dough. Rolling the play dough is the major part of this fine motor activity, the name and letters are secondary. Remember to tell them what letter they re working on, to make their name! It s okay to use several pieces of snakes to make one letter! Younger kids may need help forming the letters Instead, you can try straight and slightly curvy lines.
learning without worksheets Day Letter Stomp on the Stairs sticky notes markers stairs or an open area Write a letter on each sticky note. Several of each letter, but a few different letters in all. Stick the letters on the stairs, two or three per step. Go on a hunt to find all of one letter and stomp on it! Repeat with the other letters. Stick to just 4 or 5 letters to begin with. Use washable markers in case they go off the paper. Build confidence by using letters your child already knows and add in more to work on Write the number you have of each letter in the corner of each sticky note as a cross checker for your child
learning without worksheets Day 4 Match the Shadow flashlight marker blocks a dark area Find a dark area to build a block of towers on a large piece of paper. Shine a flashlight on it and trace the shadow. Without moving the flashlight or paper, remove the blocks. Rebuild the tower to match the shadow. You can include your child as much or as little as you want in setting this up. Preschoolers can trace the shadow, but it may be time-consuming and they might lose interest. Work together! Be sure to secure the flashlight and the paper in a spot so that it does not move after tracing the shadow. You can do this outside with the sunlight or create a dark space inside under a table with a blanket draped over.
learning without worksheets Day 5 Color Sorting Sensory Bag freezer baggy permanent markers colored buttons hair gel (or dish soap) Create a sensory bag with hair gel in a baggy. Add two colors of buttons. Draw circles (in the same colors as the buttons) on the outside of the baggy and write the name of the color inside each circle. Sort the buttons into their circles. Younger kids? Ditch the circles to move the buttons into and just let them move them around. Talk about the colors. Older kids can be timed to see how fast it can be done, or have them trace the circle with the buttons. You can erase the permanent marker with a Magic Eraser and draw new sections to sort the buttons into.
learning without worksheets Day 6 Frisbee Toss painter s tape plastic lids Tape lines of tape on the floor about a foot apart. Decide on a point to stand behind. Toss the lids like a frisbee and try to land on the line of tape! If you don t have any plastic lids, you could also use paper plates or little plastic toy Frisbees. Don t want to put tape on the floor? Take this to the stairs and have each stair be another point! Have older kids tally their points on a piece of paper and work toward to number (like 0).
learning without worksheets Day 7 Magic Pepper Experiment bowl of water black pepper dish soap Fill a bowl with water and sprinkle some black pepper in it to cover the top. Dab a finger in dish soap. Touch the surface of the peppered water. Watch the magic! Use enough pepper to cover the top of the water. Test and see: Do other objects react the same way at pepper? Try pom poms or rice! The sciene behind it: When the soap touches the water, the surface tension changes, and the pepper no longer floats on top. But the water molecules still want to keep the surface tension, so they pull back away from the soap, and carry the pepper along with them.