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September 9th is National Teddy Bear Day! The teddy bear has been around since the beginning of the 20th century being named after President Theodore Roosevelt. Today, almost all families have at least one  teddy bear in their home. We all know the security, comfort and love these fuzzy friends can provide.  Take part in celebrating National Teddy Bear Day by doing these activities with your kiddos

 

Arts & Crafts Activities

Materials: Paper plates, a stapler, brown markers (or paint), fork (if using paint), scraps of paper or construction paper, scissors, and a glue stick.

1. Start by adding brown paint or marker to make a brown bear head.
2. Next, prepare your bear’s face.  Cut two small circles out of one paper plate (you could also use cardstock) and staple them to the top of another paper plate to be the bear’s ears.  The staples will be covered up by the paint.
3. Once the bear and ears have been covered, cut out 2 pink circles to go in his ears, 2 black circles for eyes, a brown snout shape, and a black oval for his nose.  Use a glue stick to attach them. Draw a little mouth.

Snack Time

Ingredients 

• 5 Cups Rice Cereal
• 10 oz Package of Marshmallows
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• Package of Chocolate covered blueberries, raisins or even chocolate chips

This will make approximately 7 Teddy Bear Rice Krispie Treats

Directions 

1.Make rice krispie treats in a shallow pan following normal instructions

2. Use 3 different sized circles (lids or cups work great) to create the head, ears and mouth of the bear themed dessert.

3. Combine the large circle with 2 small sized circles for the ears.  Then add the medium sized circle for the mouth region.

4. Add two eyes and nose from your choice of  berries raisins, chocolate chips, etc.

Songs & Rhymes

Going on a Bear Hunt

Teddy Bear Song

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Book Suggestions

The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Classic Board Books)

The Teddy Bears’ Picnic (Classic Board Books)

Corduroy

Where’s My Teddy?

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

School is back in session, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop! Here are our favorite back to school themed activities.

Arts & Crafts Activities

Construction Paper Bus:  Cut shapes for the bus out of construction paper or white paper or cardboard (color with crayons or markers).  Discuss what the shapes represent and where they might fit on the yellow bus.  Sing “Wheels on the Bus” song. Talk about big vs. little circles.  Write the name of your child’s school on the side of the bus.  Put his/her photo in the window. Talk about riding the bus to school.  Discuss feelings your child may have about going to school.

Torn Paper Apples: Cut an apple shape out of paper or cardboard.  Help your child to tear red and green paper into smaller pieces and use a glue stick to attach the paper to the apple.  Add a green worm.  Discuss the shape and colors of the apple.  Have several apples handy to feel and taste.  Are they smooth, bumpy, cold, warm, crunchy, sweet, tart, juicy, big, little, heavy, light? Cook the apple and make applesauce. Add cinnamon or red hots candy to your applesauce if you like.

Snack Time

Butterfly Snack: Provide a few pinch clothespins and let your child decorate the outside with puffy paint, crayons, markers, glitter or whatever you have.  Put some googly eyes on the butterflies and then let them dry completely.  Cut a pipe cleaner and make it look like an antennae and you’re done.  Fill a snack bag with whatever cereal and dried fruit your child likes.  Pinch the bag and antennae and then clip with the clothespin.  Pack in lunch box or save for snack time.

Apple Smile Snack:  Cut two thin slices of apple, nectarine or peach.  Spread with peanut butter and place mini marshmallows into the mouth for teeth.

Songs & Poems

Wheels on the Bus

The wheels on the bus go round & round, round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round & round, all through the town.

The people on the bus go up and down…

The horn on bus goes beep, beep, beep

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish…

The signals on the bus goes blink, blink, blink goes

The motor on the bus goes zoom zoom zoom

The babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah…

The parents on the bus go shhh, shhh, shhh…

The mommies on bus says I love you

Apple Tree

Way up high in the apple tree,
Two little apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apples.
Mmm, mmm good!

Book Suggestions

The New Bear at School

Llama Llama Missed Mama

Froggy Goes to School

If You Take a Mouse to School

How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?

Spot’s Preschool

Maisy Goes to Preschool

 

Children are built and hard-wired to move. Physical activity is good for their bodies and minds. Moving helps everyone feel good and it supports the healthy development of our entire bodies: hearts, lungs, muscles, bones and mind. All children need and benefit from at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. You can help your children reach this goal by adding to the active play that you already do as a part of the daily routine.

Add several 10-15 minute bursts of activity to each day – it makes a difference! Play games together and provide developmentally-appropriate toys such as balls, push and pull toys and ride-on vehicles. Create opportunities for building strength by including some heavy work such as pulling a loaded wagon, carrying a bucket of dirt or water to the garden, or pushing a kid-sized wheelbarrow with plants in it. Take your shoes off and run around in the fresh green grass!

 

 

Kids who like to engage in active play now are likely to stay active and be physically fit in the future. Staying fit can improve self-esteem, help maintain a healthy weight and decrease the risk of serious illnesses, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

Resource: KidsHealth.org

Movement Activities

Rainbow Movement Fun – Rainbow Streamers

You can make your child a fun rainbow prop to use while dancing around the room. For this activity you will need a small margarine or cottage cheese plastic lid and some tissue paper strips or ribbons. First, take the lid and cut out the center, leaving a plastic ring or use shower rings.

Next, cut 1´x 24” streamers, one red, one orange, one yellow, one green, one blue and one purple or purchase small colorful ribbons. Tape or glue the streamers or ribbons around the rim on one side of the plastic ring. Give the ring to your child and have them hold it on the side of the ring without the streamers. Have your child notice how the streamers fly out behind them as they run or dance around.

Puddle Jumping

Tape circles of paper or cardboard on the floor and jump from one to another. Put on a raincoat and galoshes and go outside to jump in a real puddle!

Row Your Boat 

Sit on the floor facing your child with feet touching. Hold hands and lean forwards and backwards as you and your child sing “Row, row, row your boat, over the water blue. First go forward, then go back, together me and you. Row, row, row your boat, singing as we go. Going out over the waves, rowing fast, then slow!” Change up the tempo and the movements!

Animal Imitation Grab Bag

Help your child name the body parts as he/she moves. As your child is picking up their toys, call out the name of a fast-moving creature like a bee. As you are getting ready for bed, you might move like an elephant or a turtle to help your child calm down.

 

Cut animal pictures from magazines and glue to index cards or have your child draw animals on index cards. Put all of the cards in a paper bag; now you have a fun movement activity. At different times during the day, ask your child to choose an animal card from the bag. Move like this animal.

 

Family Games

Seek and Find

Children love to get into things and their curiosity drives them to explore. Help them investigate and identify by touching different shapes and textures in a game of seek and find. Gather a variety of household objects, food and toys, and place them one at a time into a pillow case or drawstring bag. Ask your child to reach into the bag (no peeking!) and feel the object. Then ask him to guess what it is. If he can’t tell you, you can describe the object for him. Take it out to show him before he grows too frustrated. Talk about how the object feels: introduce the concepts of hard, soft, rough, fuzzy, squishy, cold, smooth, round, and square. Take turns hiding and finding the objects.

Musical Hugs

Dance to lively music and when the music is paused, everyone has to find a partner to hug. The more people in this game the more fun it is. Often 2, 3, or more children hug each other, until the music is turned back on. Then dance again, until the next pause in the music. Very fun! This activity encourages listening and promotes socialization and cooperation.

Our favorite books about movement!

Jump Frog Jump

Have you seen my Duckling?

The Very Busy Spider

Quick as a Cricket

Last month, we talked about how music is good for your brain. Here are some more activities for you and your kids to take part in more movement and music!

Dance Scarves:

You can use silk neck scarves or make your own scarves. To make your own, visit a fabric store and purchase nylon or other lightweight fabric in the colors you like. Nylon is the best material because it does not need to be hemmed. It is also light in weight and floats well when you toss it into the air. Cut the fabric in 18-22” squares for preschool age children.

Here are some of our favorite activities you can do with your dance scarves:

• Play music and dance using the scarves to express yourself.
• Play follow the leader as parent gives one or two-step directions such as “Put the scarf on your head!”
• Throw the scarf up in the air when your child tells you “Go!”
• The scarves can be tied around a wrist or ankle and motivate your child to move that specific body part.
• Play Hokey Pokey with the scarves tied on your body.
• Tie the scarves through a belt loop and show your child how to do the “Chicken Dance”.
• Play peek-a-boo.
• Play Ring Around the Rosie or Row Your Boat while you and your child hold hands by holding scarves.
• There are many Hap Palmer songs that go well with scarf play such as Magic Scarf, Colors in Motion and Toss It High and Let It Fly.
• Vocabulary: color words, up, down, go, ready set go, wave, shake, hide, around, under, through, body parts, fast, slow, throw, jump.

Rock and Roll Freeze:

Play some favorite music and dance any way you want. When the music stops, freeze like a statue. Add variety to your dancing by finding all the ways you can to move (jump, twist, turn, wiggle, swing, sway, etc.) and by changing level and direction. This activity encourages listening for the pause in the music. Encourage your child to use the words stop, go, and freeze. Variation: when the music stops, tell your child to do something such as touch the door or find the apple.

Songs & Poems

Little Peter Rabbit

 (put on rabbit ears and a paper fly taped to your nose)

Little Peter Rabbit has a fly upon his nose. Little Peter Rabbit has a fly upon his nose. Little Peter Rabbit had a fly upon his nose. So he flicked it and it flew away. (pull fly off and pretend its flying.)

Little Mary Rabbit has a fly upon her nose. (Use your child’s name.)

Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi

Gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out Shake, shake, shake my sillies out Shake, shake, shake my sillies out And wiggle my waggles away

I gotta clap, clap, clap my crazies out Clap, clap, clap my crazies out Clap, clap, clap my crazies out And wiggle my waggles away

I gotta jump, jump, jump my jiggles out

Jump, jump, jump my jiggles out Jump, jump, jump my jiggles out And wiggle my waggles away

Jog, jog, jog my jitters out, jog, jog, jog my jitters out, And wiggle my waggles away

Stretch, stretch, stretch out strechies out, Stretch, stretch, stretch out strechies out, And wiggle my waggles away

I gotta yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out Yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out Yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out And wiggle my waggles away

Kites (This can be acted out)

Five little kites flying high in the sky
Said “Hi” to the cloud as it passed by.
Said “Hi” to the bird, Said “Hi” to the sun,
Said “Hi” to the airplane – oh, what fun!
Then whish went the wind
And they all took a dive:
One…Two…Three…Four…Five!

Would describe your child as a music lover?

Probably most of you would and there is a good reason for that. The young child learns best through experiences that are integrated and multi-sensory. This means elements are linked, overlapped and in many cases experienced simultaneously within an activity.

For young children, music and movement are almost synonymous. Movement is the primary way children interact with their world. Moving to music can help develop body awareness, spatial awareness, fine and gross motor skills, as well as cross-lateral coordination (crossing the midline of the body), and listening skills. Listening for specific sounds, responding to changes in tempo and volume, and listening for directions can help with developing focused listening and self-regulation skills.

There are many children that are more likely to imitate sounds or words when a “sing-song” voice is used. Music enhances vocal play and it is through vocal play that children learn to form vowels and consonants, say words and phrases, and imitate rhythm and vocal inflection. Music helps children gain a sense of cadence, tonality, and melodic contour while teaching them about breath support, turn-taking, and the body language of communication.

Musical Play

Kitchen Drum Kit: 

Materials- a selection of pans, pan lids, bowls, plastic pots, cups and spoons made of metal and wood, heavy string. Hang the pan lids on a heavy string that is tied between the cupboards doors- they make better noise that way. Put all of the pots and pans on the floor. Hand over the spoons to your child and let the exploration and the music begin.

Musical Movements

Musical Hide and Seek

This game will use your child’s ears are part of listening to music. Find a toy that plays music continuously. Turn on the music and hide the toy. Help your child to find the toy by using their ears.

Crafts

There are numerous instruments you can make from simple things you might have laying around your home.

Here are some examples:

Shakers made with rice filled plastic egg

Clapping Sticks made from paint stirrer sticks

Tambournine made from paper plate and bells

Jingle Bells made from popsicle sticks and bells

Mini-Maracas made from plastic spoons and plastic eggs

Strummer made on a flat surface with bobby pins

Kazoo made from toliet paper roll and wax paper

Xylophone made from cups filled with colored water

Drums made from tin cans and balloons

Music Suggestions

Peter Seeger with Rivertown Kids and Friends

Rock and Roll Playground

Aaron Nigel Smith “Everyone Loves to Dance”

Wiggle and Jiggle with Sticky Kids

Laurie Berkner Band

Singable Songs by Raffi

Cellabration: A Tribute to Ella Jenkins

Dan Zanes and Friends – Catch That Train

Ziggy Marley – Family Time

 

Spring is a wonderful time when the world explodes with life and colors again! Here are some activities you can do with your kiddos to get them to start talking about colors.

Sensory Activities

Calming Bottle:

Materials – Plastic water bottle, preferably with smooth sides.

Remove label and clean. Fill with warm water and an entire bottle of glitter glue. Shake until glue mixes with water. Add vial of ultra-fine glitter. Color with food coloring. More clear gel glue can be added to make the glitter settle more slowly. Glue the lid on with superglue. Use this activity when your child needs to calm themselves. They shake the bottle then as the glitter slowly settles to the bottom of the bottle, your child may also be able to settle down. This can be effective as a timer during Time Out.

Sensory Balloons:

Materials – Sturdy balloons of different colors and various materials to stuff into the balloons: dry rice, sand, warm water, dry macaroni, play dough, oatmeal.

Use a large funnel to help with filling. Tie the balloon closed after filling it. Squeezing the filled balloons can be relaxing or exploratory and provide a hand strengthening activity also. Supervise your child while they play with the balloons to prevent them from biting into the balloon.

Shaker Eggs:

Materials- Clear plastic fillable eggs, colored electrical or duct tape to seal the eggs and material to fill the eggs. This could include: sand, rice, beads, buttons, coins, paper clips, etc.

By using a variety of materials, your child can listen to the differences the eggs make when shaken and feel the weight of the eggs. Now you’re ready to “shake your sillies out” to the music of your favorite silly song (see page 4 for suggestions). The eggs can also be used in family games such as ‘Hide the Egg’ then you and your child can take turns hiding and hunting for the eggs, collecting them in a bucket or bag. They can be counted or sorted by color, weight or filling material. Try using solid colored eggs and try to guess what is inside by the sound! Very egg-citing!

Arts & Crafts

Rock Bugs:

Materials- smooth rocks, paint, paint brush or q-tip.

Wash rocks and dry them. Cover the table or floor with newspaper. Acrylic paints or water-based paint will work. Use a paint brush or Q-Tip to paint your bug. Set the rocks on clean newspaper or wax paper to dry. A black marker or black paint can be used to add bug features when the bugs are dry.

Rainbow Pasta Jewelry:

Materials: Uncooked pasta, rubbing alcohol, food coloring, bowl, spoon,  string.

Uncooked pasta can be tinted in the same way as rice. Choose pasta in any shape with a hole through it so your children can string it into a necklace. Add a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol with food coloring and stir in the dry pasta until it is covered. You’ll also need to let the pasta dry before using it. Teach the kids the order of the colors in the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Have them thread the tinted pasta onto strings in that order to represent the rainbow. Tie the ends of the string to create a necklace, or use small pasta shapes to make bracelets or anklets. Alternate activity: glue to cardboard.

Colorful Rain:

Materials: white paper, colored paper, cotton balls, glue stick or school glue.

Let your child tear colored paper into strips. Cut a cloud shape out of white paper. Help your child glue the strips of paper to the cloud. Add more glue on top and attach the clouds made of cotton balls. Suspend with a string or tape to the window.

Snack Time

Rainbow Jell-O:

Here is a fun snack for a large group. Make a variety of Jell-Os in different rainbow colors. In a clear glass, layer the different colors of Jell-O.

Rainbow Fruit Salad:

Make a rainbow fruit salad for your child. Add red and blue berries, small cantaloupe pieces, banana slices, green and purple grapes (cut in two).

Spring Mud:

Chocolate pudding with gummy worms peeking out of the mud. Try adding crumbled cookies on top for extra texture and crunch.