the activity room March 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
March Activity Plan Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekend 7 8 4/5 Loose Parts Pattern Rainbow Hunt Paper Bag Mask Tupperware Match Read your favorite Dr. Seuss book for his Birthday on the nd. Tackle a child s room this weekend to go through, purge and organize! page 9 page 0 page page 6 7 8 Member Activity 9 0 / Shamrock Suncatcher String Name Hunt Pasta & Play Dough Sensory Loose Parts Car Creation Head outside and fly a kite! Let s dive into the kitchen this weekend to go through, purge and organize! page page 4 page 5 page 6 4 Cheerios Rainbow Newspaper Basketball 5 6 7 8/9 Shamrock Wreath Leak-Proof Bag Experiment Plan to have everyone in the family wear green today. Let s dive into a closet, you know the one that spills out every time you open the door! Time to purge and organize it! page 7 page 8 page 9 page 0 0 Shake to Make Art Color Sorting Sensory Bag 4 5/6 Pom Pom Cup Toss Contact Paper Tissue Paper Flowers Form a game of basketball, whether with ball and hoop, or socks and a basket. Jot down a cleaning to-do list, number them, everyone picks a number and does it! Repeat! page page page page 4 7 8 9 0 / Spray Letters Rolling Egg Art Play War Soapy Sensory Jars Go on a walk around the neighborhood to take in nature. Just get outside and burn off some energy! Don t be afraid to join the kids! page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 this month s theme: Clean Up Together
March: 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 March. Craft Items: paper white paper green paper paper in rainbow colors printer / printer paper butcher paper tissue paper (white, orange, green) tissue paper scrap pieces of green paper colored paper scraps paint orange or green paint tape school glue hot glue super glue stapler scissors pen pencils marker markers in (same) two colors chalk clear contact paper pipe cleaners pom poms glitter (optional) yarn or string Kitchen Items: tupperware w/ matching lids large plastic jars w/ lids containers gallon-size baggy (two to double bag) plastic baggy five cups food coloring dish soap Pantry Items: colored o-shaped cereal water Around the House: paper bag cardboard clothespins or paper clips cotton balls newspapers box spray bottle hair gel buttons in two colors Other: deck of cards tub or bucket loose parts (pipe cleaners, beads, pom poms, washers, buttons, gems, rock, etc.) objects (hard toys/balls) chalkboard or sidewalk letter blocks (optional) plastic Easter eggs
March Activity Plan: Week One 7 Monday: Gather up old buttons, gems or even rocks and create patterns on paper! Create different lines on paper that they may trace with the loose parts. loose parts (buttons, gems, rocks) paper marker 8 Tuesday: Print off the rainbow clues, cut apart and tape onto strips of rainbow colored paper and a white cutout cloud. On each clue, circle the color to look for next and fill in the box with an object where to find it. Hide the next clue on that object! Hunt for the clues and tape them on a piece of paper to make a rainbow! Wednesday: Make a paper bag mask by cutting two holes around the eyes. Decorate with paper and glue! white paper paper in rainbow colors printer / printer paper pen tape paper bag colored paper scraps school glue Thursday: Open up the Tupperware drawer. Find the matching lids to the bottoms. Or nest them in one another. tupperware w/ matching lids Friday: Read your favorite Dr. Seuss book for his Birthday on the nd. 4/5 Over the Weekend: Tackle a child s room this weekend to go through, purge and organize! this month s theme: Clean Up Together
March Activity Plan: Week Two 6 7 8 9 Monday: Make a collage on clear contact paper using scrap pieces of tissue paper, ribbon, etc. Cover with another piece of contact paper. Cut into shapes and hang in the window. Tuesday: String one long yarn around a room. Clip the letters of their name onto the string in order from start to finish. Follow the string to find the letters to make your name! Wednesday: Mix play dough and dry pasta together for a fun sensory bin! Poke the play dough with the pasta, make sculptures, make textured patterns with the pasta. Thursday: Gather a muffin tin full of any loose, or small, parts you have around the house. Draw (or print) a simple outline of a car. Place loose parts on the car to their desire! clear contact paper scrap pieces of green paper scissors tape yarn or string paper marker clothespins or paper clips play dough pasta loose parts: pipe cleaners, beads, pom poms, washers, etc. paper marker or printer 0 Friday: Head outside and fly a kite! / Over the Weekend: Let s dive into the kitchen this weekend to go through, purge and organize! this month s theme: Clean Up Together
March Activity Plan: Week Three Monday: Draw a rainbow on a piece of paper with markers. Glue colored o-shaped cereal onto the corresponding colored lines. Add a cloud of cotton balls to the ends of the rainbow. paper markers colored o-shaped cereal glue cotton balls 4 5 6 Tuesday: Wad newspapers into basketballs. Aim and shoot them into a basket! Wednesday: Decorate a cardboard wreath with homemade shamrocks and tissue paper flowers. Thursday: Leak-proof bag! Fill a plastic baggy with water and poke sharp pencils through one side and out the other! tub or bucket newspapers cardboard scissors green paper tissue paper (white, orange, green) orange or green paint stapler plastic baggy water pencils 7 Friday: Plan to have everyone in the family wear green today. 8/9 Over the Weekend: Let s dive into a closet, you know the one that spills out every time you open the door! Time to purge and organize it! this month s theme: Clean Up Together
March Activity Plan: Week Four 0 Monday: Shake your way to beautiful art! Cut paper into desired shapes and lay flat in a box. Add paint blobs around the paper in the box. Add toys to the box, close it up and shake! Tuesday: 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! Wednesday: Make a spring bouquet. Cover clear contact paper with tissue paper scraps. Cut out flower shapes and turn them into a bouquet. Thursday: Line up the cups against a wall. Tape a starting line ahead of the cups.provide pom poms to toss into the cups from the starting line. box paper paint objects (hard toys/balls) gallon-size baggy (two to double bag) hair gel buttons in two colors markers in (same) two colors tissue paper scissors clear contact paper buttons hot glue pipe cleaners five cups pom poms tape 4 Friday: Form a game of basketball, whether with ball and hoop, or socks and a basket. 5/6 Over the Weekend: Jot down a cleaning to-do list, number them, everyone picks a number and does it! Repeat! this month s theme: Clean Up Together
March Activity Plan: Week Five 7 Monday: Draw several letters on a chalkboard in chalk. Call out a letter to find. Spray with water to erase it! chalk chalkboard or sidewalk letter blocks (optional) water spray bottle 8 9 0 Tuesday: Lay out a large piece of paper and set out a few containers of paint. Dip a plastic Easter egg in the paint and roll on the paper to create abstract art! Wednesday: Deal a deck of cards between players to play War. Stack your cards in a pile, face down. Each player flips top card up to see who has the highest card (A is high)! That player wins those cards, and repeat! When original stack runs out, use won cards to continue play. Thursday: Fill plastic jars / with water and some dish soap. Add food coloring and glitter! Seal the lid on with glue and shake, shake, shake! butcher paper (or paper taped together) paint containers plastic Easter eggs deck of cards large plastic jars w/ lids dish soap water food coloring (optional) glitter (optional) super glue Friday: Go on a walk around the neighborhood to take in nature. / Over the Weekend: Just get outside and burn off some energy! Don t be afraid to join the kids! NEXT month s theme: Excercise Together
Loose Parts Patterns loose parts (buttons, gems, rocks) paper marker Gather loose parts from around the house, buttons, gems, rock, etc. Draw a simple pattern on the paper. Trace the lines on the paper by placing the loose parts on top of them. This can also be done with dry pasta from your pantry too! Be careful of young kids mouthing the small pieces. You could try this with snack foods if you re concerned. Have older kids draw their own design and glue the pieces along the lines for a more permanent craft!
Rainbow Hunt white paper paper in rainbow colors printer / printer paper pen tape Print off the rainbow clues that are found here. Cut them apart, and tape onto strips of rainbow colored paper and a cutout cloud. On each clue, circle the color to look for next and fill in the box with an object where to find it. Hide the next clue there! Hunt for the clues! When you find one tape them onto a piece of paper to make a rainbow! Don t put a clue on the violet strip of paper. Since that s the end of the rainbow, it s the end of the scavenger hunt and there are no more clues. If your child is beginning to read, you could put words in the clue box, otherwise draw the object! The order of the rainbow is ROYGBIV, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
Paper Bag Mask paper bag colored paper scraps school glue Put the paper bag over your child s head and make note of where their eyes land on the bag. Remove and cut two large holes around the eyes. Have your child decorate the paper bag with paper scraps and glue. Put the mask on for hours of pretend play! Your child can also use paint, markers and crayons to decorate the mask. Cut out around their shoulders so the bag sits better, if needed. This is a great opportunity to talk about emotions, facial expressions, and just facial features!
Tupperware Match tupperware w/ matching lids Empty your Tupperware drawer! Have your child find and match up matching lids and bottoms. Or nest the bottoms together, biggest to smallest. Snapping the lids onto the bottoms is great practice and also strengthens their hands. Use this as an opportunity to organize your Tupperware drawer! You may want to remove all lids and bottoms that don t have matches so your child doesn t get frustrated when they can t find a match.
Shamrock Suncatcher clear contact paper scrap pieces of green paper scissors tape Remove the backing of a large piece of clear contact paper and tape, sticky side up onto a table. Stick scrap pieces of tissue paper, ribbon, and other small and flat random pieces that are in the craft cupboard. Cover with another piece of clear contact paper (the same size) and cut out shamrocks for the season. Hang it in the window! After cutting into shapes, you may need to tape around the edge to hold it together. This is great for holidays and seasons. Decorate with red and cut hearts. Decorate with orange and cut pumpkins. And so on. Glitter adds a fun touch to this craft. When done, take a piece of contact paper and use it to pick up stray glitter.
String Name Hunt yarn or string paper marker clothespins or paper clips Take a roll of yarn and thread it through objects around the room, back and forth. Write the letters of their name on paper. Going through the string from start to finish, clip the letters of their name, in order, onto the string. Have your child follow the string, from start to finish, and unclip the letters to spell their name. Be sure to have your child bring the letters together at the end of the string to spell their name out. Be sure to weave the yarn at different heights and crisscross to have your child duck under and step over to get through. As with most of these activities, you can use it to learn anything you re working on. Clip numbers and letters onto the string. Or spelling words for older kids.
Member Pasta & Play Dough Sensory by member, Tabitha play dough dry pasta Lay out play dough and dry pasta. Use the pasta to make sculptures, prints and textured patterns in the play dough. Build towers, make letters, and just have fun! Experiment with different shapes of pasta and how the prints and textures can be different. Penne pasta is a great rolling pin whereas Elbow noodles can make curves for letters. Leave this activity openended and see what happens!
Loose Parts Car Creation loose parts: pipe cleaners, beads, pom poms, washers, etc. paper marker or printer Put a collection of various small objects from around the house in a muffin tin. Draw, or print out, a simple outline of a car. Decorate the car with the small objects! As always, when using small parts, use with supervision. Don t fret about drawing a car! As long as you can see two wheels, your child will recognize it as a car! Kids may outline the car by tracing your drawing, or fill it in to color it with a design. Let them be creative.
Cheerios Rainbow paper markers colored o-shaped cereal glue cotton balls Draw a rainbow on a piece of paper in the rainbow colors, leaving space between each arc. Glue corresponding o-shaped cereal onto the colored lines. Glue cotton balls to the ends of the rainbow to make clouds. No colored o-shaped cereal? Try buttons or torn pieces of colored paper. Be sure to space out the arches of the rainbow enough to place a row of the cereal. Instead of cotton ball, you could continue the food aspect and use marshmallows!
Newspaper Basketball tub or bucket newspapers Collect and wad up several pieces of newspaper. Find and set out a basket to toss them into. Mark a line to stand behind and throw the wads of newspapers into the basket to score! Older kids can make this more of a game of basketball. Younger kids can use this as an opportunity to practice throwing indoors, safely. Instead of newspapers, you can do this with cotton balls, or even socks!
Shamrock Wreath cardboard scissors green paper tissue paper (white, orange, green) orange or green paint stapler Decorate green paper to your desire and cut out shamrocks. Cut a wreath out of cardboard. Cut multiple circles out of tissue paper and pinch the centers and twist to make flowers. Dip into green or orange paint and let dry. Staple all flowers and shamrocks onto cardboard wreath and hang! This craft has a lot of steps to it. You may want to split this up into different activities: decorate paper, make tissue paper flowers, assemble wreath. Any combination of St. Patrick s Day colors work for this: green, orange, yellow, white. You can also make a Spring themed wreath! Hot gluing will also work instead of stapling it onto the cardboard.
Leak Proof Bag Experiment plastic baggy water pencils Grab a freezer bag, any size will work. Fill it up with water and close up tightly. Then stick sharpened pencils through it! Yep, that s right it doesn t leak! Don t pull the pencil out once you ve gotten it started. You have to commit to that spot once you poke it, or it will be a leaking bag! Try different directions, diagonal, or will it leak if you poke through the bottom? It helps to have someone else hold the baggy while your child pokes the pencil.
Shake to Make Art box paper paint objects (hard toys/balls) Cut paper into desired shapes (eggs, hearts, shamrocks, stars, etc.). Lay cutouts in the bottom of a box. Add paint blobs around paper. Add toys to the box. Close box (and tape to seal) and shake it up! Remove paper cutouts and let dry. Repeat. It does not take a lot of paint. Small dabs is enough. And you may find that you can lay more paper in the next round and do it again without adding more paint. Tape the decorated cutouts onto a piece of string or yarn to make a garland to hang in the window. Be sure to use washable paints for easy cleanup, I recommend Crayola Washable Paints.
Color Sorting Sensory Bag gallon-size baggy (two to double bag) hair gel buttons in two colors markers in (same) two colors Put hair gel in a Ziploc bag (you could double bag it to seal it better). Insert two colors of buttons into the sensory bag and tape it to the table. Using markers, draw big circles in the corresponding colors of buttons and the names of the colors as well. Have kids push the buttons around in the baggy to fit into the correctly colored 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.
Contact Paper Tissue Flowers tissue paper scissors clear contact paper buttons hot glue pipe cleaners Have kids cut up different colors of tissue paper. Cut a piece of contact paper. Remove backing and lay out, right side up on the table. Stick the pieces of tissue paper onto the contact paper to make a tissue paper collage. Flattened as much as possible, and cover with another piece of contact paper. Cut lots of flower shapes out of the tissue paper collage. Hot glue buttons and pipe cleaners onto each flower. If you don t have contact paper, you can use wax paper and glue. Let kids enjoy the pipe cleaners. Make letters and shapes out of them. Don t want to make a bouquet? Instead, staple a ribbon or string to the flowers and hang in your favorite window!
Pom Pom Cup Toss five cups pom poms tape Line up cups against a wall. Tape a starting line ahead of the cups. Provide pom poms to toss into the cups from the starting line. Make the starting line further back (or closer) depending on the age of your child. Add learning to it by numbering the cups. Add up your scores, or simply aim for a certain number (you could do this with letters or sight words too). If cups are too difficult, try bowls. They ll have a wider opening to hit!
Spray Letters chalk chalkboard or sidewalk letter blocks (optional) water spray bottle Write several letters on a chalkboard using chalk. Call out a letter that you wrote for your child to find. Spray the letter with a bottle of water to erase it. You could also add in an element of using letter blocks (or magnets) to choose which letter. Put them in a bucket to draw from. What else could you squirt to erase? Numbers, their name, shapes, sight words and so on! No squirt bottle? Use a paintbrush and water instead and trace the letters to erase them.
Rolling Egg Art butcher paper (or paper taped together) paint containers plastic Easter eggs Lay out a long piece of butcher paper on the ground. Set out several different tubs of paint. Dip plastic Easter eggs into the paint. Roll on the paper to create abstract art. This activity can get messy, try taking it outside if possible, or laying down a sheet first. It s fun to do this on a slight slant if at all possible. If nature is that way outside, perfect. Inside you can use a piece of cardboard as a base (unfold a box) and then prop up one end. Let this be all about the process and not worry about the colors mixing and making a mess. Have fun!
Play War deck of cards Deal a deck of cards equally in stacks between players ( or more). From each player s stack of cards, turn over the top card. The higher card wins and gets all the cards turned over. Repeat until cards are gone (reuse the won cards). This is fantastic for kids that already know their number values, remove face cards for kids just learning. For older kids, use addition (or subtraction, or multiplication) by using two cards for each hand and then compare the sum. For toddlers, forget War and play a matching game with the cards!
Soapy Sensory Jars large plastic jars w/ lids dish soap water food coloring (optional) glitter (optional) super glue In a large plastic jar, fill with / water and a squirt of dish soap. Add food coloring and glitter, if desired. Seal the lid on tightly with glue. Shake and watch the soap bubble up and watch them disappear. Repeat! Gluing the lid on is completely optional, I never have. If you re worried about your toddler unscrewing the lid, then glue it! You can use this simple sensory jar as a calm down jar to watch the bubbles disappear. You can add other small objects to the bottle, like sequins and pom poms. Older kids could use it as an I Spy jar.