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8 Easy Organization Tips for School at Home!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 24, 2020 | Social-Emotional Learning
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Morning Meetings at Home
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 24, 2020 | Social-Emotional Learning
At Home Behavior Supports
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 23, 2020
Transitioning to school at home is a big change for our students and us as parents! Many of the same positive, proactive supports that we put into place in your children's’ classroom can be modified for the home setting. Below are a few suggestions that may help make your remote learning time more successful:
1) Try to provide warnings ahead of transitions:
“In 5 minutes we are turning off the TV and we will start our math assignment”. When it is time to transition, give clear directions: “Thanks for turning off the TV! grab your iPad and pencil and come meet me at the kitchen table” Provide praise when your child transitions well!
2) Discuss with your child your expectations for when you also have work to do:
This could be things such as “when I am on a conference call, you can write down your question and hand it to me” or “if you get hungry while I am working, I set out three snack choices for you” or “If you can’t figure out this assignment while I am on a work call, you can go on Epic or Dreambox until I can help you”.
3) Encourage independence:
At school our students are encouraged to ask a friend before asking their teacher if they have questions about an assignment. You can encourage your child to ask an older sibling. Use technology to your advantage as well! You can have your child ask “Alexa” or “Google” how to spell a word or define a word if you have a smart speaker. Encourage your child to email their teacher with questions as opposed to you doing it for them.
4) Create a family positive behavior system:
This is uncharted territory for us both as educators and parents. Look to create a system that rewards the behaviors we want our children to display and all work together. This could be a poster where you all earn stars for being helpful or kind or following directions without whining. Once your family gets a certain number of stars (start low, you want this to be attainable within a week or less!) they can earn a fun family reward. A nature scavenger hunt, a special cooking project, or a family indoor picnic or movie night are all fun rewards. Another positive support that many students are familiar with is putting a marble (you can use pebbles, or cotton balls as well) for displaying certain behaviors. Try to target one thing at a time and be specific--”Listening to mom and dad on the first ask” is always a good one! Put an item in the jar each time that behavior is displayed and when the jar is filled they can turn it in for a fun activity (see suggestions above). I would suggest having these systems be something all kids in the family are working towards together to encourage working as a family team!
At Home Behavior Supports
Transitioning to school at home is a big change for our students and us as parents! Many of the same positive, proactive supports that we put into place in your children's’ classroom can be modified for the home setting. Below are a few suggestions that may help make your remote learning time more successful:
1) Try to provide warnings ahead of transitions:
“In 5 minutes we are turning off the TV and we will start our math assignment”. When it is time to transition, give clear directions: “Thanks for turning off the TV! grab your iPad and pencil and come meet me at the kitchen table” Provide praise when your child transitions well!
2) Discuss with your child your expectations for when you also have work to do:
This could be things such as “when I am on a conference call, you can write down your question and hand it to me” or “if you get hungry while I am working, I set out three snack choices for you” or “If you can’t figure out this assignment while I am on a work call, you can go on Epic or Dreambox until I can help you”.
3) Encourage independence:
At school our students are encouraged to ask a friend before asking their teacher if they have questions about an assignment. You can encourage your child to ask an older sibling. Use technology to your advantage as well! You can have your child ask “Alexa” or “Google” how to spell a word or define a word if you have a smart speaker. Encourage your child to email their teacher with questions as opposed to you doing it for them.
4) Create a family positive behavior system:
This is uncharted territory for us both as educators and parents. Look to create a system that rewards the behaviors we want our children to display and all work together. This could be a poster where you all earn stars for being helpful or kind or following directions without whining. Once your family gets a certain number of stars (start low, you want this to be attainable within a week or less!) they can earn a fun family reward. A nature scavenger hunt, a special cooking project, or a family indoor picnic or movie night are all fun rewards. Another positive support that many students are familiar with is putting a marble (you can use pebbles, or cotton balls as well) for displaying certain behaviors. Try to target one thing at a time and be specific--”Listening to mom and dad on the first ask” is always a good one! Put an item in the jar each time that behavior is displayed and when the jar is filled they can turn it in for a fun activity (see suggestions above). I would suggest having these systems be something all kids in the family are working towards together to encourage working as a family team!
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Super STEM Snacks!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 23, 2020 | STEM
Building Someone Amazing takes a lot of work! Between e-learning, craft time, and those daily walks, your children always seem up for something on which to munch.
Next time they stroll into the kitchen asking the famous “what can I eeeaaat?” question, try some of these STEM-inspired snacks. Nothing unique about these ingredients either – you’ll most likely have what’s listed here hanging around the house. Talk about real BRAIN food!
Root Beer Floats: Solid, Liquid, Gas!
You won’t have any trouble convincing kids to try this classic. All you need is:
- Vanilla ice cream
- One can of root beer
- A big mug or cup (clear is best)
- Some little bowls to separate your matter
Place one scoop of ice cream in the mug, then pour the root beer on top. 
The reaction is immediate! There are bubbles everywhere. Next, we see that scoop of ice cream float right to the top.
So what is happening? All states of matter are represented in this snack:
Root beer = Liquid
Ice Cream = Solid
Carbon Dioxide Bubbles = Gas
The root beer is carbonated, so when it comes in contact with the ice cream, carbonated dioxide bubbles are released. Also, the liquid root beer helps free the air bubbles that are trapped in the solid ice cream. That makes the ice cream float, float, FLOAT to the top!
Grape, Apple, or Cheese Structures
A STEM snack mainstay, this activity gets your little ones thinking like little engineers that could. You will need:
- Lots of toothpicks
- Cut up snacks of “fortitude” like grapes, apples, or cheese
When putting together structures like this, it gets children thinking in two ways:
- What to make?
- How to improve on something you’ve already made?
Engineering shapes and structures like these helps with dexterity, grasp, and coordination, no matter the age.
As they build, remind kids that failure is definitely an option. Their shapes may shift and their towers may topple, but that will teach them how to solve the structural problem. Attempts to rebuild are simply lessons from the first, second, or third try. 
Math Sorting Snack
This is how we play with our food! For the younger set, print out this number “place mat”. 
Have children fill in in the circles with their favorite cereal, fruit snack, or whatever small food they like. Fine motor and counting skills are practiced during snack time!
Goldfish: More, Less, or Equal?
Goldfish are a pantry staple and just ripe with counting, sorting, and graphing possibilities. For this specific activity, you will need:
- Goldfish crackers
- A printout or sheet
- Less than, greater than, and equal signs (we used felt)
- Two dice
For this game, simply print out a sheet with boxes, or handwrite the title and boxes on construction paper. With your pile of fishy crackers at hand, roll each dice and place in the box.
Count out the crackers and place under the dice. Compare the number of fish, and identify which has more, less, or whether they are equal in number. (Tell children the greater than/less than symbol represents a shark mouth. The open side will always show toward the bigger amount – the shark wants to eat as many fish as he can!) 
Make Your Own Ice Cream
The creation of ice cream is actually a scientific, step-by-step process. Maybe mix up a bag of this sweet treat one night after family dinner!
Materials:
- 1 cup of half-and-half
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 cups ice
- 1/3 cup kosher salt
- Gallon-sized bags
- Sandwich-sized bags
- Ice cream toppings of your choice
Using the sandwich-sized baggie, combine the half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Be sure to combine it well by shaking it, and then squeeze out the extra air and seal it well.
Step Two:
Place the ice in the gallon-sized baggie and add the salt. The salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes. This bag of salt ice will melt even when the temperature is below the normal freezing point of water. This is the same principle in the wintertime when trucks put salt on slick, icy roads.
Step Three:
Place the small bag into the ice-filled bag. Shake it vigorously for 7-10 minutes. You might need a towel or oven mitts when you shake the bag because it becomes so cold. All this shaking is a great way to get out some energy! 
Step Four:
Check ice cream to see if its consistency has hardened.
Ready to eat! If you tried this experiment without the salt, the liquid would have remained in that liquid state simply because the ice wasn’t cold enough.
This looks good enough to eat! Happy STEM Snacking!
Super STEM Snacks!
READ MORE
Building Someone Amazing takes a lot of work! Between e-learning, craft time, and those daily walks, your children always seem up for something on which to munch.
Next time they stroll into the kitchen asking the famous “what can I eeeaaat?” question, try some of these STEM-inspired snacks. Nothing unique about these ingredients either – you’ll most likely have what’s listed here hanging around the house. Talk about real BRAIN food!
Root Beer Floats: Solid, Liquid, Gas!
You won’t have any trouble convincing kids to try this classic. All you need is:
- Vanilla ice cream
- One can of root beer
- A big mug or cup (clear is best)
- Some little bowls to separate your matter
Place one scoop of ice cream in the mug, then pour the root beer on top.
The reaction is immediate! There are bubbles everywhere. Next, we see that scoop of ice cream float right to the top.
So what is happening? All states of matter are represented in this snack:
Root beer = Liquid
Ice Cream = Solid
Carbon Dioxide Bubbles = Gas
The root beer is carbonated, so when it comes in contact with the ice cream, carbonated dioxide bubbles are released. Also, the liquid root beer helps free the air bubbles that are trapped in the solid ice cream. That makes the ice cream float, float, FLOAT to the top!
Grape, Apple, or Cheese Structures
A STEM snack mainstay, this activity gets your little ones thinking like little engineers that could. You will need:
- Lots of toothpicks
- Cut up snacks of “fortitude” like grapes, apples, or cheese
When putting together structures like this, it gets children thinking in two ways:
- What to make?
- How to improve on something you’ve already made?
Engineering shapes and structures like these helps with dexterity, grasp, and coordination, no matter the age.
As they build, remind kids that failure is definitely an option. Their shapes may shift and their towers may topple, but that will teach them how to solve the structural problem. Attempts to rebuild are simply lessons from the first, second, or third try.
Math Sorting Snack
This is how we play with our food! For the younger set, print out this number “place mat”.
Have children fill in in the circles with their favorite cereal, fruit snack, or whatever small food they like. Fine motor and counting skills are practiced during snack time!
Goldfish: More, Less, or Equal?
Goldfish are a pantry staple and just ripe with counting, sorting, and graphing possibilities. For this specific activity, you will need:
- Goldfish crackers
- A printout or sheet
- Less than, greater than, and equal signs (we used felt)
- Two dice
For this game, simply print out a sheet with boxes, or handwrite the title and boxes on construction paper. With your pile of fishy crackers at hand, roll each dice and place in the box.
Count out the crackers and place under the dice. Compare the number of fish, and identify which has more, less, or whether they are equal in number. (Tell children the greater than/less than symbol represents a shark mouth. The open side will always show toward the bigger amount – the shark wants to eat as many fish as he can!)
Make Your Own Ice Cream
The creation of ice cream is actually a scientific, step-by-step process. Maybe mix up a bag of this sweet treat one night after family dinner!Materials:
- 1 cup of half-and-half
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 cups ice
- 1/3 cup kosher salt
- Gallon-sized bags
- Sandwich-sized bags
- Ice cream toppings of your choice
Using the sandwich-sized baggie, combine the half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Be sure to combine it well by shaking it, and then squeeze out the extra air and seal it well.
Step Two:
Place the ice in the gallon-sized baggie and add the salt. The salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes. This bag of salt ice will melt even when the temperature is below the normal freezing point of water. This is the same principle in the wintertime when trucks put salt on slick, icy roads.
Step Three:
Place the small bag into the ice-filled bag. Shake it vigorously for 7-10 minutes. You might need a towel or oven mitts when you shake the bag because it becomes so cold. All this shaking is a great way to get out some energy!
Step Four:
Check ice cream to see if its consistency has hardened.
Ready to eat! If you tried this experiment without the salt, the liquid would have remained in that liquid state simply because the ice wasn’t cold enough.
This looks good enough to eat! Happy STEM Snacking!
Developmental Activities to Fill your Easter Baskets!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 20, 2020 | Easter
Easter is right around the corner! This means many of you will be out there buying all of the fun things to fill your kiddo’s baskets up! As therapists working in child development, we are often asked during the holidays for a list of recommended activities, games, and products for different age groups.Below, I put together some of my personal favorites! They are all tried and true activities that are loaded with so much developmental skill stimulation for the varying age groups. I hope you will find this list helpful when choosing gifts to add to your baskets.
Infants
This is the perfect opportunity to fill up their baskets with some sensory stimulating play items! Infants love looking in the mirror, and the All About Me Mirroris the perfect size to prop up in front of them as they get their tummy time in for the day. It is also the perfect size to take on the go for some developmentally stimulating play during restaurant, park, and shopping outings!
18Months – 2 Years
There is a TON of development that occurs between 18 months and 2 years, but often times you can continue to use the same toy throughout this time – just with a little adaptation as they develop more advanced skills. Some of the things this age group really enjoys are open/close concepts (containers, pots, pants, etc) – the Peakaboo Learning Farm is a fun way to engage them in color concepts, open and close, animals, as well as number concepts. The animals also turn into finger puppets which is a great way to work on finger and hand muscle development.
2-3 yrs
The “I’LL DO IT!” stage! These kiddo’s seemingly want to do EVERYTHING themselves. For this age group, I recommend activities that include lots of opportunities for independently succeeding in a task. Plastic Easter eggs that have patterns or designs so that they can find and match pairs, small bubble sets that allow their little finger to hold and blow themselves, small crayons for their small hands, chalk for outdoor play and building up those foundational handwriting skills, Alphabet Blocks are great for color identification, fine motor coordination, as well as for simple letter recognition tasks – I recommend starting with the letters of their name so that they can visually recognize their name when they start school. Peg Friends Stacking Farm is a fun way to encourage visual motor integration as well as early building and matching skills.
3-4 yrs
This age group we look at a lot of the school readiness skills. Some of the activities that I really like are fine motor strengthening skills and the Froggy Feeding Fun game provides lots of opportunities to increase intrinsic hand muscles by squeezing the froggys mouth open. As they approach 4, the Alphabet Acorns game is great for letter recognition, visual perceptual tasks, as well as more advanced find motor coordination! Try adding the letters into a sensory bin for some added visual figure-ground searching skills.
5-7 yrs
For this age group, activities that have academically pertinent tasks built into a fun game is always a sure hit! Sight Word SWAT turns sight words into a fun fly swatting game. Try placing the words on both horizontal and vertical surfaces. Or you can even hide them around the room for some added visual scanning skills. The whole family can join in on the fun making it an engaging and fun task to learn new words. Penguins on Ice turns math concepts into a fun activity using colorful penguins as manipulatives which is great for fine motor practice as well. If your 5-7’s have younger siblings, this is a fun activity for the young kiddos as well – instead of practicing math concepts, they can build patterns, work on color recognition, or even just simple fine motor manipulation!
8+ years
For the 8+ year old’s, on- the- go activities are always great as these kiddo’s tend to have busier schedules and limited “play” time. Mental Box Go! is a great visual perceptual thinking game for any downtime. Easy to carry with you and play anywhere, anytime! Geoboards are also a fun, easy activity to set up. Use rubber bands to create shapes, patterns, designs, etc. These activities also provide lots of opportunity for social participation and engagement such as problem solving together which is a great developmental skill.
While this is a short list of just some of the fun basket fillers that have great developmental value, I hope this article has helped you in deciding what fun skills you will be filling your baskets with this year!
Developmental Activities to Fill your Easter Baskets!
READ MORE
Easter is right around the corner! This means many of you will be out there buying all of the fun things to fill your kiddo’s baskets up! As therapists working in child development, we are often asked during the holidays for a list of recommended activities, games, and products for different age groups.Below, I put together some of my personal favorites! They are all tried and true activities that are loaded with so much developmental skill stimulation for the varying age groups. I hope you will find this list helpful when choosing gifts to add to your baskets.
Infants
This is the perfect opportunity to fill up their baskets with some sensory stimulating play items! Infants love looking in the mirror, and the All About Me Mirroris the perfect size to prop up in front of them as they get their tummy time in for the day. It is also the perfect size to take on the go for some developmentally stimulating play during restaurant, park, and shopping outings!
18Months – 2 Years
There is a TON of development that occurs between 18 months and 2 years, but often times you can continue to use the same toy throughout this time – just with a little adaptation as they develop more advanced skills. Some of the things this age group really enjoys are open/close concepts (containers, pots, pants, etc) – the Peakaboo Learning Farm is a fun way to engage them in color concepts, open and close, animals, as well as number concepts. The animals also turn into finger puppets which is a great way to work on finger and hand muscle development.
2-3 yrs
The “I’LL DO IT!” stage! These kiddo’s seemingly want to do EVERYTHING themselves. For this age group, I recommend activities that include lots of opportunities for independently succeeding in a task. Plastic Easter eggs that have patterns or designs so that they can find and match pairs, small bubble sets that allow their little finger to hold and blow themselves, small crayons for their small hands, chalk for outdoor play and building up those foundational handwriting skills, Alphabet Blocks are great for color identification, fine motor coordination, as well as for simple letter recognition tasks – I recommend starting with the letters of their name so that they can visually recognize their name when they start school. Peg Friends Stacking Farm is a fun way to encourage visual motor integration as well as early building and matching skills.
3-4 yrs
This age group we look at a lot of the school readiness skills. Some of the activities that I really like are fine motor strengthening skills and the Froggy Feeding Fun game provides lots of opportunities to increase intrinsic hand muscles by squeezing the froggys mouth open. As they approach 4, the Alphabet Acorns game is great for letter recognition, visual perceptual tasks, as well as more advanced find motor coordination! Try adding the letters into a sensory bin for some added visual figure-ground searching skills.
5-7 yrs
For this age group, activities that have academically pertinent tasks built into a fun game is always a sure hit! Sight Word SWAT turns sight words into a fun fly swatting game. Try placing the words on both horizontal and vertical surfaces. Or you can even hide them around the room for some added visual scanning skills. The whole family can join in on the fun making it an engaging and fun task to learn new words. Penguins on Ice turns math concepts into a fun activity using colorful penguins as manipulatives which is great for fine motor practice as well. If your 5-7’s have younger siblings, this is a fun activity for the young kiddos as well – instead of practicing math concepts, they can build patterns, work on color recognition, or even just simple fine motor manipulation!
8+ years
For the 8+ year old’s, on- the- go activities are always great as these kiddo’s tend to have busier schedules and limited “play” time. Mental Box Go! is a great visual perceptual thinking game for any downtime. Easy to carry with you and play anywhere, anytime! Geoboards are also a fun, easy activity to set up. Use rubber bands to create shapes, patterns, designs, etc. These activities also provide lots of opportunity for social participation and engagement such as problem solving together which is a great developmental skill.While this is a short list of just some of the fun basket fillers that have great developmental value, I hope this article has helped you in deciding what fun skills you will be filling your baskets with this year!
Gears! Gears! Gears! Mini Lessons
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 19, 2020 | STEM
Discover the possibilities Gears! Gears! Gears! brings to your early STEM curriculum. Aligned to CSTA standards, these printable classroom activities from STEM.org will help your little learners discover the world of engineering games as they discover endless building possibilities.
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson One
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Two
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Three
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Four
Gears! Gears! Gears! Mini Lessons
READ MORE
Discover the possibilities Gears! Gears! Gears! brings to your early STEM curriculum. Aligned to CSTA standards, these printable classroom activities from STEM.org will help your little learners discover the world of engineering games as they discover endless building possibilities.
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson One
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Two
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Three
Click here to download your STEM.org Gears!Gears!Gears! Mini-Lesson Four
Teacher Tips: Ten-Sided Learning Dice
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 19, 2020 | Math
Learning at Home through PLAY for PreK-1st Graders
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 19, 2020 | Math
No School Brain Fuel! 4 Mom-Approved Activities
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 18, 2020 | Reading
Kids may rejoice when school’s out of session, but as a mom, you may be wondering how you can balance their day’s activities between guilty pleasures (hello, screen time!) and wholesome activities. Whether your kiddo is under the weather, or you’re stay-cationing this Spring Break, here are 4 mom-approved activities that feed your child’s brain AND are easy to do when you’re staying in.
Fine Motor Foto Fun
Are your kiddo’s scissor skills just OK? Here’s a fun way to practice the fine motor movements that help them make the cut, with the added benefit of puzzle play that enhances critical thinking and problem solving.Here’s how:
- Find a collection of photos from magazines or family snapshots, or even by printing images from your computer. If you wish, glue the photos to cardstock or laminate them for extra durability.
- Help your child draw guide lines on the photos to divide them into two or more large pieces, depending on their age and skill level. Lines can be freehanded or traced using stencils, like those included in our Trace Ace Scissor Skills Set.
- Have your child cut the pieces out using child-safe scissors, practicing following the guidelines.
- Have fun playing with your new puzzles. The more photos in your collection, the more of a challenge it will be to put each individual puzzle together!
(Photo Credit: Lina Awshee)
Letter Look and Learn
Reinforce letter recognition and sounds while building critical thinking skills with a letter scavenger hunt around the house. Plus, this activity will get them up and moving!Here’s how:
- Give your child a set of letters A-Z. Use Letter Blocks, Magnetic Letters or DIY your own set by writing each letter on an index card.
- Set your child loose inside the house to find items that start with each letter of the alphabet and mark them with the corresponding letter.
- Have your child take you or another family member on a tour of their letter hunt as they collect up their letters from A to Z.
- If you have more than one child to play, challenge them to complete their letter hunt first. Once an item has been marked with a letter, it can’t be used again, so they’ll have to find another item for that letter!
- To make the activity a little more challenging if your child is ready, have them carry a notebook and write out the name of the items they find to practice handwriting and spelling skills. Then, ask them to use each word to write a complete sentence or create a story using all of the words!
Dual Dice Duel
Everyone’s played the card game War – time to give it a math-tastic twist. If you have four dice around the house, you can have yourself a math duel. Here’s how to play:
- Give each player two dice – or for extra fun, try using one Jumbo Dice In Diceper player instead!
- Depending on the player’s math skill level, decide if you’ll be practicing number recognition/value, addition or multiplication.
- Each player rolls their dice.
- If playing for number recognition and value, each player calls out their number rolled from left to right. For example, if you roll a 4 and a 5, your number for that round is 45. The player with the higher number wins that round.
- If playing for addition or multiplication, add or multiply your two dice together. The player with the higher total wins that round.
- The first player to get 10 points wins!
- Add more dice to the game to make it even more of a challenge!
- Try Polyhedral Dice with 8, 10 or more sides for more complex challenges!
- Use multi-colored dice, and assign each color a function – Add your red dice number, subtract your blue dice number, and so on, to get your total for the round.
Magnet Match
While the kids are circling the kitchen for their fourth round of snacks, put them to work at the fridge with Magnetic Uppercase & Lowercase Letters and a homemade worksheet! Here’s how:
- Using a blank sheet of construction paper, write the alphabet A-Z in marker. Create one sheet with the letters in order and another jumbling them up at random. You can also create and print this out on your computer!
- Attach the paper to your fridge using a magnet, clip or removable tape.
- Using magnetic letters, have your child match the letter to a magnet, covering the letter on the paper with the corresponding letter magnet.
- Ready to learn upper and lower case letters? Mix in both cases using our Magnetic Uppercase and Lowercase Letter set.
- Take the game to the next level by creating additional sheets spelling out short words, or print out photos of words and have your child spell them in letter magnets.
No School Brain Fuel! 4 Mom-Approved Activities
READ MORE
Kids may rejoice when school’s out of session, but as a mom, you may be wondering how you can balance their day’s activities between guilty pleasures (hello, screen time!) and wholesome activities. Whether your kiddo is under the weather, or you’re stay-cationing this Spring Break, here are 4 mom-approved activities that feed your child’s brain AND are easy to do when you’re staying in.
Fine Motor Foto Fun
Are your kiddo’s scissor skills just OK? Here’s a fun way to practice the fine motor movements that help them make the cut, with the added benefit of puzzle play that enhances critical thinking and problem solving.Here’s how:
- Find a collection of photos from magazines or family snapshots, or even by printing images from your computer. If you wish, glue the photos to cardstock or laminate them for extra durability.
- Help your child draw guide lines on the photos to divide them into two or more large pieces, depending on their age and skill level. Lines can be freehanded or traced using stencils, like those included in our Trace Ace Scissor Skills Set.
- Have your child cut the pieces out using child-safe scissors, practicing following the guidelines.
- Have fun playing with your new puzzles. The more photos in your collection, the more of a challenge it will be to put each individual puzzle together!
(Photo Credit: Lina Awshee)
Letter Look and Learn
Reinforce letter recognition and sounds while building critical thinking skills with a letter scavenger hunt around the house. Plus, this activity will get them up and moving!Here’s how:
- Give your child a set of letters A-Z. Use Letter Blocks, Magnetic Letters or DIY your own set by writing each letter on an index card.
- Set your child loose inside the house to find items that start with each letter of the alphabet and mark them with the corresponding letter.
- Have your child take you or another family member on a tour of their letter hunt as they collect up their letters from A to Z.
- If you have more than one child to play, challenge them to complete their letter hunt first. Once an item has been marked with a letter, it can’t be used again, so they’ll have to find another item for that letter!
- To make the activity a little more challenging if your child is ready, have them carry a notebook and write out the name of the items they find to practice handwriting and spelling skills. Then, ask them to use each word to write a complete sentence or create a story using all of the words!
Dual Dice Duel
Everyone’s played the card game War – time to give it a math-tastic twist. If you have four dice around the house, you can have yourself a math duel. Here’s how to play:
- Give each player two dice – or for extra fun, try using one Jumbo Dice In Diceper player instead!
- Depending on the player’s math skill level, decide if you’ll be practicing number recognition/value, addition or multiplication.
- Each player rolls their dice.
- If playing for number recognition and value, each player calls out their number rolled from left to right. For example, if you roll a 4 and a 5, your number for that round is 45. The player with the higher number wins that round.
- If playing for addition or multiplication, add or multiply your two dice together. The player with the higher total wins that round.
- The first player to get 10 points wins!
- Add more dice to the game to make it even more of a challenge!
- Try Polyhedral Dice with 8, 10 or more sides for more complex challenges!
- Use multi-colored dice, and assign each color a function – Add your red dice number, subtract your blue dice number, and so on, to get your total for the round.
Magnet Match
While the kids are circling the kitchen for their fourth round of snacks, put them to work at the fridge with Magnetic Uppercase & Lowercase Letters and a homemade worksheet! Here’s how:
- Using a blank sheet of construction paper, write the alphabet A-Z in marker. Create one sheet with the letters in order and another jumbling them up at random. You can also create and print this out on your computer!
- Attach the paper to your fridge using a magnet, clip or removable tape.
- Using magnetic letters, have your child match the letter to a magnet, covering the letter on the paper with the corresponding letter magnet.
- Ready to learn upper and lower case letters? Mix in both cases using our Magnetic Uppercase and Lowercase Letter set.
- Take the game to the next level by creating additional sheets spelling out short words, or print out photos of words and have your child spell them in letter magnets.
