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TherapyWorks Expert Series - Soft Foam Emoji Cubes
- Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Jan 29, 2021 | STEM
We teamed up with TherapyWorks for an expert series on products to help children build essential life skills. TherapyWorks helps children thrive by providing high-quality pediatric therapy while making the process easier for parents. Lainey Baron MS, CCC-SLP, used the Soft Foam Emoji Cubes with a client to work on emotions and feelings. These cubes are easy to set up/clean up and can be adapted for any age!
Smile, frown, and feel every emotion in between with these Soft Foam Emoji Cubes from Learning Resources. Based on the imagery of the popular mobile communication icons, this set of dice-style cubes comes with two cubes adorned with different faces meant to represent common feelings and emotions and two cubes filled with prompts and questions designed to get kids talking. These cubes offer plenty of opportunities for fundamental social learning-have kids to roll the question cubes, answer the resulting prompt, or let them roll the emoji cubes and discuss the feelings and emotions behind the faces that come up. The Soft Foam Emoji Cubes are also great for language and vocabulary lessons and can help kids expand their thoughts about and communicate their inner feelings.
Siena (3.5) is working on emotions and expanding her utterances. We rolled the cubes and labeled the emotions while practicing what the emotion looked like in our mirror. Siena also learned new vocabulary such as proud, brave, and frightened. We worked on expanding her language by talking about times she may have felt these different emotions and why (“I felt frightened when I heard a loud noise upstairs”). Siena became upset during our lesson a couple of times, and we immediately were able to reference the emoji cubes to review the emotions we talked about. They are great to have on hand and are so easy to use!
*Between the ages of 3-5, children should start to understand and express their feelings and emotions. Children should also be more sensitive to other’s feelings and are using words to communicate their feelings versus whining. They also can cooperate and problem solve with friends.
Valentine's Pattern Block Activity
Valentine's Pattern Block Activity is a fun and engaging way to incorporate math and problem-solving skills into the holiday. These activity mats feature different Valentine's Day-themed pictures, such as hearts, flowers, and cupids. To complete the activity, students can use pattern blocks to create the pictures on the mats.
This activity is a great way to teach kids about shapes, counting, sorting, reasoning, symmetry, and even fractions. Students will use pattern blocks to create the pictures on the mat, which will help them understand and recognize different shapes and combine them to create a complete picture. Additionally, students will need to count the number of pattern blocks required for each image; this will help to improve their counting abilities.
The activity also includes reasoning, symmetry, and fractions. Students must use their problem-solving skills to determine which pattern blocks to use and where to place them to create the desired picture. They will also practice symmetry by matching the pattern blocks to create a symmetrical picture. And finally, with pattern blocks, students can explore fractions and how they relate to the different shapes.
Valentine's Pattern Block Activity is a great way to incorporate math and problem-solving skills into the holiday while keeping the activity fun and festive. These simple Valentine's pattern Block Mats are an awesome math challenge for kids. Just print them out and start building; it's that easy!
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Valentine's Day Mathlink Cube Activities
Mathlink Cubes are perfect for creating fun and engaging Valentine's Day themed math activities. Additionally, Mathlink Cubes can be used to create patterns and sequences, such as making a pattern of hearts and counting the number of cubes used. These activities will help students practice their math skills in a fun and festive way.
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Mathlink Cubes are great for kids for several reasons:
- Hands-on learning: Mathlink Cubes are a hands-on learning tool that children can physically manipulate and explore mathematical concepts. This can help to make math more engaging and interactive for students.
- Multi-use: Mathlink Cubes can be used for various mathematical concepts, including counting, addition, subtraction, measurement, geometry, and more. This makes them a versatile and valuable tool for teachers and parents to have in their toolkits.
- Develops fine motor skills: Using the Mathlink Cubes requires children to use their fine motor skills, which can help to improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
- Concrete to abstract: Mathlink Cubes provide a concrete representation of mathematical concepts, which can help children to understand and internalize these concepts. Then the children can apply what they learned in the tangible form to more abstract problems.
- Fun and engaging: Mathlink Cubes come in different colors, making math activities fun and engaging for children. The fun and colorful aspect of the cubes makes children more excited to learn and practice math.
- Differentiation: Mathlink Cubes can be used to provide different levels of challenge for students, making it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and provide support for students who need it.
Overall, Mathlink Cubes are an excellent tool for kids to learn and practice math in a fun and interactive way.
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World Space Week
Welcome to Monday Funday with Miss Alissa from @heartmindedmama ✨
Miss Alissa is an early childhood educator and mom of two! Over the next few weeks, Miss Alissa will be sharing skill-building activities for you to do at home or in your classroom.
We are starting it off with three out-of-this-world activities for Space Week, which starts October 4th.
This collection of space activities for preschoolers will keep them actively engaged while building essential life skills. Thoughtfully designed with little ones, these STEM toys for kids help learners as young as 3 build early science and fine motor skills!
Solar System Puzzle Globe - Space is the place for preschool learning fun! Kids build hands-on science skills as they solve the out-of-this-world 3-D puzzle found on the Solar System Puzzle Globe, a hands-on STEM toy for kids from Learning Resources. Inspired by our award-winning Puzzle Globe, this fun rotating puzzle adds some space décor to the puzzle play action—kids position eight easy-grip planet puzzle pieces that also introduce the names and appearances of our solar system neighbors. In addition to building early fine motor and critical thinking skills, this STEM toy for kids is also ready for imaginative adventures thanks to its fun, friendly astronaut and spaceship pieces—as kids explore the cosmos with their new friends, there’s no telling what they’ll discover!
Magnetic Space Sudoku - Can you solve these out-of-this-world logic puzzles? Take your early math skills to outer space and beyond with the 72 Sudoku puzzles found in the Magnetic Space Sudoku set from Learning Resources. This fun take on the classic puzzle game brings sudoku to life with the help of wacky alien friends and a fun space setting. Choose from two types of puzzles—solve traditional number-based Sudoku challenges, or work on your visual logic skills in puzzles that replace the number with our colorful aliens!
Oodles of Aliens Sorting Saucer - Grab the Tri-Grip Tongs, pop the dice, and help these aliens sort out their spaceship in a sorting game of cosmic proportions! Kids learn preschool sorting, fine motor skills, and more with every trip aboard the Oodles of Aliens Sorting Saucer from Learning Resources. This fun sorting saucer reveals color-coded trays and the aliens that inhabit them. Spread the aliens out on the table, pop the dice, and use the Tri-Grip Tongs to grab and sort them into place! In addition to sorting, this game builds three additional preschool skills at once—strengthen your counting, color recognition, and fine motor skills every time you play!
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