Day 28 - Farm Chores in the Cub Cadets - Mrs. Bottiglio - Burlington Early Childhood Center

This post first appeared on Mrs. Bottiglio's Blog

(Collecting Eggs and Selling Eggs at a Farm Stand)

(Milking Cows)

During our Harvest unit, our class has been busy doing farm chores.  In our dramatic play area, we had a hen house where we need to collect the eggs from under the hens.  After we collect the eggs in a basket, we then transferred the eggs to cartons.  Then we put the eggs in a farm stand so we can then sell the “farm fresh” eggs.  

We also had been learning why farmers need animals on the farm.  The children have had the experience to “milk” cows.  We created cows and placed “milk” (white paint with water) in rubber gloves.  A small hole was made in the gloves and children had to squeeze the milk out while balancing on a peg stool.  It was fun doing chores on the farm. 

Day 111 - African Parrot in our Classroom - Mrs. Bottiglio - Burlington Early Childhood Center

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Bottiglio's blog

We have been enjoying our visit from Crystal, an African Grey Parrot, from the Burlington Science Center.  In our unit of the jungle, we have been learning about the three parts of a jungle(canopy, understory, and forest floor).  We have been discussing how different animals live in the different parts of the jungle because what each part has for the animals to live.   We learned that Crystal would live in the canopy because there is sunlight which helps plants to grow food for the parrots to eat.  

 Some of our students found books in our library about parrots and then wanted to show Crystal the pictures.  They had the idea that perhaps she would feel happy to see some of her parrot friends.  

 We have also given Crystal fruit and observed how she eats. 

Day 88 - Homemade Fine Motor Fun - BECC Therapists

This post first appeared on the Burlington Early Childhood Center Therapists Blog

Store bought toys can be lots of fun but don’t underestimate the fun you and your little one can have with items you already have in your home.  Below is a list of household items and easy activities that can be used both for fun & fine motor skill building!

photo via http://tinkerlab.com/rainbow-play-dough/

Materials

• Toothpicks

– Build shapes and towers with toothpicks using mini marshmallows

-Turn over a colander and feed the toothpicks into the small holes

• Cheerios/fruit loops

-Use cereal as your “beads” to practice bead stringing.  Use pipe cleaners, string or coffee stirrers to string the cereal onto

• Uncooked pasta

-Use ziti or penne as “beads” to practice stringing

-Use smaller pasta such as elbow macaroni  to glue on to pictures or outlines to make a textured mosaic

-Glue macaroni onto large letter or shape outlines to practice letters and shape recognition while developing fine motor skills

• Dried beans or rice

-Place dried rice or beans on a tray or shallow container.  Hide small toys or buttons and have your child try to find them with their finger tips or use small tongs or strawberry hullers to pull them out

• Shaving cream or whipped cream

-Enjoy some sensory play time…..place shaving cream or whipped cream on a tray.  Practice “drawing” line strokes, shapes or letters in the cream, with your fingertips.

• Sponges 

-Cut sponge into small, 1/2” squares.  Use 2 small bowls, one with water and one empty.  Challenge your child to dip the sponge squares into the the water, then squeeze them out (using finger tips) into the empty bowl.  Coloring the water with food coloring may make it more fun!

-Use small sponge squares to sponge paint a picture.  

  

• Flour, salt, oil, food coloring, cream of tartar

-Make playdough!  Follow this link from tinkerlab.com for a great homemade playdough recipe.  

http://tinkerlab.com/rainbow-play-dough/

Both the process of making the playdough and playing with the playdoh will be great for hand strengthening.

Day 22 - BACK TO SCHOOL ROUTINES - BECC Therapists

This post originally appeared on the BECC Therapists' Blog

Going back to school or just starting school for the first time can sometimes be tricky. To help with the morning routine sometimes visuals can be very helpful with getting everyone out the door on time. Here is a link to a morning schedule with visuals that contain most of the usual morning activities such as brushing teeth, eating breakfast, and getting dressed. You can move them around to fit your schedule and even make one for a night time routine! Visual schedules are especially helpful for those kiddos that need a little help following directions. You and your child can check off each step off as you go to show when each step is completed. Use the schedule above or feel free to make your own to suit your routine!

Day 107 - Handwriting Development - BECC Therapists

This post originally appeared on the Burlington Early Childhood Center Therapists' Blog

Image via brightsong.net

Handwriting is a very complex skill that requires a variety of skills. Some of the many skills required include:

• Visual perception
• Memory recall
• Fine motor coordination
• Postural Control
• Eye Hand coordination
• Motor planning
• Midline crossing
• Bilateral coordination

Handwriting not only requires each of these skills, success also requires the ability to pull these skills together and use them simultaneously.The following is a link to a chart that depicts typical timeframes of development for prewriting skills. Keep in mind, this is a “general guideline for reference. All children develop at their own pace and many factors, including anything from medical conditions to motivation, can impact their development.

When Should my Child be Ready to Write Their Name?

It is difficult to put an exact age on when your child should be writing their name, since all children develop at their own pace. The important thing to remember is that pushing them to write letters before they are ready can be counterproductive.

Signs that your child is ready to begin handwriting and letter copying include:

• Able to grasp small things with fingertips
• Able to sit and attend for 3-4 minutes
• Able to imitate and copy simple line strokes including:
• horizontal and vertical lines, a circle, intersecting lines (a cross) and right and left oblique lines.

Keep in mind, without these base skills, or “building blocks” in place, pushing letter writing will not only lead to frustration, it may actually slow their progress toward the goal of writing their name.