RHONDA'S PLAYGROUP PLANS
1998
SUMMER PLAYGROUP ORIENTATION
We had our first playgroup on Saturday. It was an orientation for parents and
children. This gave the parents the opportunity to meet each other and all the
kids. It was from 10 am to 11:30 am. I ran the playgroup as I would on other
days so the parents could get an idea of what we would be doing. Mainly this
day was for parents who did not know Z and had any questions regarding autism
or just wondered what it would be like to have their children around a child
with autism. Everyone left excited and nobody had any questions pertaining to
autism.
We had 9 children present. 7 boys and 2 girls. My son, Z is 4 years old. We had
another little boy with autism that just turned 6. The breakdown of the other
children's ages are 1 - 2 1/2 yo,1 - 3 1/2 yo , 2 - 4 yo, 2 - 5 yo, and 1 - 6
yo. We will have 1 more child with autism attending, starting on Tuesday. (For
a total of 10!)
Children with autism will have a shadow teacher with them. I will have an
assistant (a neighborhood teenager) helping me out. So there will be 5 adults
present. The playgroup is scheduled for Tue and Thurs from 9am to 12 noon for
the next 10 weeks.
This is what we did for orientation.
Theme: Making Friends
Arrival activity: As the children
arrived they frosted sugar cookies with yellow icing and put raisons on for the
eyes and mouth, to make a happy face.
In the playroom we have play stations set up. One with cardboard brick blocks,
another with cars and the carpet is roads, then there are books and puzzles in
a section.
Circle time:
Once everyone arrived and we
finished cookies we had circle time (the cookies were put aside for snack
time.) Earlier in the week I took pictures of the all the kids coming to
playgroup--or the parents gave me a picture). We put all the pictures face
down. I would pick up one picture and show it to all the children. When the
child saw his/her picture they were to yell out "That's me!" I would
then ask "What's your name?" The child would say his name and then
everyone in the group would say "Hello XXX." They really had fun with
this and it gave me the opportunity to ask Z his name and have him be
successful in answering. (Z does not have a lot of spontaneous speech and has
just recently started "what" questions, which he is catching onto
quickly.)
After we went through each child, the kids had to grab a picture that was not
theirs. They then had to look around the circle and find that person. If they
remembered the child's name they would say "That's XXX." and give
him/her their picture. If they did not remember their name (which seemed to be
the majority), they had to go up to that child and say "what is your
name?" and then say "It is nice to meet you." (this had to be
fully prompted for Z but he did fairly well. He can match the picture with the
person but does not ask questions about who it is yet. The group was also a
little big for him to do this without some confusion.)
We had 2 work stations set up:
COLORING: I printed a page that
said "SUMMER FRIENDS" that the children could color in or glue tissue
paper or put glitter within each letter. They really enjoyed this and had a
great time with the glue of course.
Children's HEIGHTS: we took yarn
and measured each child from head to toe.
We attached a 3 x 5 index card that said "Z is this tall." and hung
all the cards on the wall. The kids really enjoyed looking to see how tall
everyone was.
Considering we had
mostly boys they all wanted to go outside and play (granted it was at least 100
degrees here in Texas on Saturday!) Since the parents were here, some went
outside with them and they played t-ball, blew bubbles or rode the big wheel.
The bubbles were a big hit. Afterwards the kids came in and had juice and ate
the happy face cookies they made earlier that morning.
Summer playgroup Daily routine.
9 - 9:15 am: arrival, children play
in play stations set up around room. (ie Big cardboard blocks, coloring, books,
cars)
9:15-9:45 Circle time. The
following activities are done during circle time.
1. Helper assignments. Our assignments include: head counter, flag holder,
song leader, exercise leader, calendar, day of the week counter, weather
person, snack helper (sometimes will be 2 snack helpers). We wanted to make
sure we had jobs for every child, so no one would feel left out.
2. Head counter: the child counts every girl in the group and then picks out the correct number from several laying on the floor. (the field of number choices is usually 2 or 3 depending on the child's number knowledge). The child then places that number on the board. Next he/she will count the boys and do the same. We then add the number of boys to the number of girls for the total head count. (the children really like this, sometimes they try to duck when the child is going around to touch their heads).
3. Flag holder: A child will come up, hold the American flag and lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.
4. Song leader: This child will come up and lead our song. (this
song I got from Lynette Rorer's preschool program. My therapist had to lead us
the first few days because I did not know the words. Z really liked it at L's
house, therefore, I wanted to continue it here. Sometimes he will sing some of
the words and sometimes he will not.) The song is called "Stripes and
Stripes", I think. It goes like this (sung to the tune of "Twinkle,
Twinkle Little Star"):
Stripes and stripes and little stars
Oh how beautiful you are
Red and White and Blue that's true
Waving proud for me and you
Stripes and stripes and little stars
Oh how beautiful you are.
5. Calendar helper: We count the
numbers on the calendar and ask "what number comes next?" The child
has to pick the number or is prompted to get the correct number and slides it
in the pocket for that number. Then he/she will say "Today is.. Tuesday...
June ... 5" (or whatever the day is) while pointing to the day of the
week, month, and date.
6. Day of the week counter. We made a 8 1/2 by 14 road with a road sign for each day of the week. At the bottom of the chart we have 4 cars. 1 in blue, red, green and yellow. The child gets to pick a color of his/her choice and drive that car to the correct day of the week. First, all the children say the days of the week together and we may sing a days of the week song or something THEN he/she gets to drive the car today's day.
7. Weather helper: This child will go outside with me and I will ask him/her to tell me about the weather. Is it hot, cold, rainy, or cloudy. The child then comes back into the room and picks the picture that best describes the days weather. We then all discuss what kinds of clothes can be worn on a day like today. (considering almost every day is scorching hot here in Texas, we also talk about what kinds of clothes we would wear during other seasons of the year, etc.)\
8. Exercise
leader: This person comes up to the
front and leads the children in exercise. We pick 5 different motions. (This is
also from L's program. I took a lot of how we do our program and made it
similar to hers considering that is what Z was already used to, but not real
"natural" in those situations or settings [he still needed a lot of
prompting to follow though with tasks and things in circle time.] This gave us
the opportunity to continue off where L's program stopped and not
have too many changes in Z's "school" routine.) This is what we do:
The child picks an exercise [touch your toes, jumping jacks, sit ups, waist
twists, etc.) and we count 1-10, then switch exercise and count 11-20, switch
and count 21-30 and 31-40 and 41-50.
9. I will then have the children sit back down and we will do something to introduce the activities we will do at the 3 work stations for the day. [like last week we made construction paper bracelets and song "if your wearing green today, raise your hand" to the tune of "if your happy and you know it." We would go through each color used. Colors and shapes were our themes for the day.)
10. We will put
carpet squares away. I will describe
what a child is wearing and when they realize it is them, they put their carpet
square away and go to the kitchen for snack. I will usually describe the snack
helpers first allowing them to head for the kitchen to get cups and napkins. (Z
needs a physical prompt here. I usually try to just touch his shoe to get his
attention but he usually needs a verbal prompt too. Like "Z, that's
you." or something. He does not stand out because some of the other kids
need prompts at this time too.)
9:45-10:05am SNACK TIME. We have
each cup labeled with each child's name. We then tell the child "Give this
cup to your friend, Jason." We do this with each cup. This is pretty quick
and does not take much time. I do not want the kids to be sitting nicely
waiting for snack with nothing to do. (this we got from C's summer program
notes she posted to the me-list last year. This gives Z the opportunity to
learn each child's name and also gives the other children the opportunity to
hear "your friend" as their cup is being given to them.) ) The second
child is passing out napkins at the same time but we do not label the child's
name for napkins. My
assistant then pours juice into the cups and I pass out the snack.
When the kids finish snack they throw their napkins away and put their cups in
the sink. They then can go play for a few minutes before we start our work
stations.
10:05-10:10am I have laid out our
carpet squares 3 in each row. (we usually have 8 or 9 children.) I want to make
sure that Z and another child (the 2 children with autism) are with good role
models so I will tell what child where to sit. (this is the first time I have
done this kind of thing and I was/am unsure what to look for in a good role
model prior to starting the program. In addition, I did not know all the
children's personalities before the program started. We have one little boy who
is really pretty good in a one on one situation with Z but is a little devil in
the group! Anther child is very shy and will not speak, another is the perfect
buddy because he will ask anything and not give up until he gets an answer.
Each child has his/her traits. I do want to say that if you get a child that is
"too much" to handle and keeps you from address your child's needs
due to time outs and always redirecting... then this child is not a good role
model and do not feel guilty about telling the parent of this child that he
will not be able to come anymore. This may happen with the little boy I
described earlier if he does not get better with his attitude later this week.
He is just bad for the attention of it.)
10:10-11 or 11:10am (depending on
the amount of time needed for each activity) ok, so we are all lined up. Each
row is a shape (circle, square, triangle) Each table is a color. I have
laminated each shape in each color, and made a chart to velcro the children's
names on. Then they break up into groups and go to each table. (My assistant, a
neighborhood, jr. high student), will run one of the tables, I will run another
and the third table is usually something they can do on their own, like playdoh
or coloring, etc.)
We try to have one fine motor activity, one messy (crafty) activity, and one
that addresses academic needs. I try to stay within the "theme" of
the day as C did in all of her posts last year....but I have found I am not
that organized! I am usually trying to round up all the supplies for the next
day at midnight the night before! I was kind of stressed the first week about
this but have now come to the conclusion that these kids don't care what we do
or if it is theme related, as long as it is fun. (Our weekly activities I will
post separately for each day as we go through the summer. Hopefully, you will
be able to use some of the ideas in your summer playgroups.) After we finish
each activity, the children come back to the carpet squares and are told what
table to go to next. So far I have just said, "Ok, lets sit back down and
get ready for the next activity" but I will start using a bell this week
and ring it when it is time for the children to come to their carpet squares.
11:10 to 11:40 am: Playtime outside. (I have a very active outdoor group and if they do not get to "go
play" outside they are wild creatures!) Outside we have bubbles, light
weight balls to hit, beach balls to kick around, sidewalk chalk, etc. They do
not care what they do, they just want to go outside and do it! Sometimes we
will have relay races or other planned outdoor activities. I will also post
these with the individual days. While outside we will have water to drink and
on occasion have a pop-ice to snack on.
11:40 -12 noon. Everyone comes in for wind down time. We will read a story, hopefully pertaining to what
we worked on or a book that someone specifically requested.
12 noon -THEY GO HOME.
I very seriously tried to plan "themes" each week. I was really
impressed with how C did her playgroup last summer. I was hoping to follow her
basis of using "themes". While I have used some of her ideas for
activities and projects, I have also found myself planning what we will do for
the following days playgroup at midnight the night before! Due to my
disorganization, we have not stuck to "themes" the way I would have
liked to.
I have tried to have one messy activity for sensory input, one fine motor
activity, and one easy to do activity that the kids could do on their own while
my helper and I were helping at the other two tables. We have also tried to
incorporate activities that the 2 children with autism could be successful
in....enabling the other children to see that these kids do have potential and
are able to participate... and they do not always need to be
"helped". I have to say that I am really impressed with the other
little boy and his ability to follow directions and his participation during
circle time. He has not ever been in a preschool type setting before and is
doing wonderful! (A brag... he did a perfect 'calender' today during circle
time. He was able to count to 25, stated "today is ...." when asked
and followed directions of "great job, now go back and sit on your carpet
square.") It is so cool to see these kids in action after worrying so long
if they will be able to learn. It is very rewarding for me to see other
children with autism...besides my own.
WEEKLY PLAYDATE NOTES
Day 1, week 1.
Activity 1:
Marble painting. We used paper
plates and marbles. The kids spooned out a marble and rolled it around on their
plate. We had 3 colors. Red, blue and green. I put the paper plates in plastic
plate holders to keep them steady and give the kids something to hang onto
beside the plate itself.
Activity 2: fine motor: ABC stickers. We took a 8 1/2 x 14 piece of paper and divided it into 14 sections.
At the top of each section we wrote "Aa" or "Bb" and went
through 14 letters randomly. Each child got a sheet of stickers that contained
both upper and lower case letters (all 26). They had to find the letter written
on their paper and stick those letters within each section. They did not use
all the letters...this made them have to look for certain letters and match
them correctly.
The sheets of stickers I found at Walmart in the wrapping paper/card section.
There usually were between 2 and 3 of each letter on each sheet (upper and
lower case letters.)
Considering Z's love of letters, this was a great activity. It helps to develop
fine motor pincher grasp while pulling off the stickers and sticking them on
the paper. Several of the other children do not know their alphabet but
considering the letters were written they only had to "match" them.
Activity 3. Coloring. I was
unsure of when Fathers Day was so we worked on a Father's Day Book. It
consisted of 6 pages and each page had a coloring activity to do. Simple things
like ... pg 1. color in the letters to the words "Happy Fathers
Day.", pg 2. A picture frame and they had to draw a picture of "dad
and me.", pg. 3 things I would buy you for fathers day....etc.
I have an outside group that loves to play outside. Therefore, they also got to
go outside and they practiced playing t-ball, blew bubbles and rode bikes or
big wheels. (I will have to plan outside activities for future play days.
Day 2, week 1
L loaned us her placemats to mark tables with each activity. Day one was kind
of disorganized because the kids did not know where they were to go. We have 3
colors (red, blue, yellow) large pieces of construction paper, laminated. This
way we can say... "Z and C will go to the yellow table, C and S will go to
the red table." etc) This has been working much better.
Activity 1: Paper Bag Puppets.
Teddy bear puppets. The kids colored the bear parts, then received help cutting
each piece out and gluing them onto the bag.
Activity 2: Story book. This
story was a safety story about crossing the road and not playing around parked
cars. The kids had to put the book together, color it and on some pages cut out
the bear and paste him where he should "safely" be. This (along with
the puppet diagram above) can be found in the "Early Childhood Health and Safety
Curriculum" published by Instructional Fair, TS Denision, 2400 Turner
Avenue NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Standard book number 51302375-7)
Activity 3. Sorting animals. We
has several plastic veggie and dip trays. In the middle where the dip would usually
be placed we put a pile of animals. The children had to sort the animals out.
After sorting them, I had them count and name each animal and tell me something
they knew about that animal. We wrote this information down on a piece of paper
and sent it home with them. (I am the type of mom who wants to know what my kid
did at school that day. This also gives the parent the opportunity to ask,
"what's this?" and the kid can respond to what they did with that and
tell about sorting the animals. We often try to send worksheets and crafts home
with the kids everyday.)
Today, we had too much coloring...with the puppet and the story book the kids
became bored. (I am learning something new each day. I have now learned to not
have more than one coloring activity and not coloring everyday.)
Day 1, week 2
Activity 1. Shape Collage Craft. Cut
construction paper in different size circles, squares, triangles and
rectangles. The children made collages by gluing the shapes wherever they
wanted. For the base we used heavy stock paper that can be purchased somewhere
like Office Depot.
Activity 2. Count a Colour game.
This game I bought at a garage sale (best $1 I spent). The children roll a dice
with a number and one with a color. Then they take those color discs and place
them on their playing cards. (their are 4 cards, each with a different picture.
There are small holes the discs fit into on different areas of the card... like
the umbrella might be red and hold 8 red discs.) Let's say the child rolled
red, 3. They could then take 3 discs and place them in the red umbrella. The
goal would be to fill in all the colors. Whoever filled in their card first,
wins. Each
card would have a different number of colors. Like one card would require 5
red discs and another would require 3 or 8. The same with other colors.
This game is by: Ravensburger. It's complete title "Count-a-Colour: An
exciting dice game of counting and matching colours. Distributed by International
Playthings Inc in Bloomfield, NJ 07003. Also in Canada by Pierre Belvedre Inc.,
Montreal, Quebec, H2Y1G7. Also Australia by Modern Teaching Aides Pty. Ltd.,
Brookvale, N.S.W. 2100
This is a great game with many different uses. We started out using it with Z
to match colors, now we are using it to teach counting. There are many advanced
levels of playing this game. States it is for children ages 3-8 and for 2-4
players but like I said it can be used for one player too.
Activity 3. Playdoh. Made homemade
playdoh. 1 cup salt, 2 cups flour, water until right consistency. Requires lots
of kneading to make smooth. (I personally think the store bought kind lasts
longer and is easier to use to make molds of things.) The homemade kind does
not keep well for me. It is very soggy the next time I pull it out and requires
more flour to be added to it.
We used cookie cutter alphabet letters that I have. (Called Alphabake: A
cookbook and cookie cutter set. by Debora Pearson. I think I ordered from one
of those mail order book clubs for kids.) The kids got to do free play on their
own at this table. Z, of course spelled TRAIN ... I should be blessed, a few
weeks ago it would have been "jim henson productions presents feature
program stay tuned" He has outgrown that or at least become bored with
spelling that sentence right now.)
Snack was alphabet pretzels and juice.
Day 2, Week 2
Activity 1. Toy; Ball Toss
Beautifully carved ball toss games can be seen in toy museums today. They are
made out of carved wood. Ours were much simpler. We used a Styrofoam cup,
Styrofoam ball, a string and a popcycle stick. The kids got to color their cup
anyway they wanted to. I threaded the ball, brought the string through the
bottom of the cup, wrapped it around the stick and glued the string to the
stick. After they dried the kids had a good time trying to get the ball into
the cup.
This idea came out of the "Look at Me", Creative learning activities
for babies and toddlers. by Carolyn Buhai Haas. ISBN number: 1-55652-021-2
Activity 2. Picture of boy or girl.
The kids colored a picture of a boy or girl. Then cut out the names of body
parts (arm, nose, stomach, leg, eye, mouth, hand, foot, and head.) they had to
glue the correct name to the box next to the correct body part. Some children
required help because they can not read. "This says 'nose'. Where does it
go?", etc.)
This also came from the Early Childhood Health and Safety Curriculum. ISBN
0-513-02375-5
Activity 3. Ping Pong Toss Game.
We took a shallow box and glued large Styrofoam cups to the bottom of the box.
Each cup has a number 1-10. Then we
used beanbags to toss into the cups. Each child got 3 beanbags. We would then
write the number from the cup the tossed it in and add the numbers. We did not
keep score but usually the highest number would win, I guess.)
This is still a big hit. We have this out and if the kids finish an activity
early... this is one they like to go and do while waiting.
Snack: Watermelon. (again, I wanted to plan snacks around a theme but it has
turned out that we just eat what is on hand!)
Week 3, Day 1
Activity 1. Playdoh. Had dinosaur
figures the kids could use to make fossils out of the playdoh. They also had
rocks and fake trees for the scenery and pretend play.
Activity 2. Dinosaur puzzle pieces.
On each dinosaur I wrote the letters of the alphabet. Each dinosaur had the
upper case and lower case for that letter (A / a) I then drew a line in between
and cut in half. Each line was different for each dinosaur so that only the
"A" fit with the "a" piece, etc. (To keep these so they can
be used over and over again, you could laminate them.)
We mixed up all the letters. The kids had to match the upper case letter to the
lower case letter. The younger kids needed help with this, so we made sure we
matched up a younger child with an older child. This promoted turn taking and
cooperation.
Activity 3. Dinosaur nests. We
had a penciled nest that showed the branch of the tree that it sat in. (this
originally was for a bird next but...we changed that.) The kids cut out 4 eggs
to fit into the next. They glued brown yarn onto the branch of the tree. Glued
shredded green tissue paper onto the nest. Glued the eggs into the nest. Then
we sprinkled green glitter onto the leaves of the tree and shook excess off.
(On day 2 we will make the momma dinosaur to go into the nest.) (The kids painted
these when they arrived so they could dry before the end of the day. Roxy my
asst cut them out because they were kind of difficult shapes to cut.)
Activity 4. Dinosaur dig. This
idea was from C's summer program last year. I made fossils out of plaster and
we hid them in the sand box out back. The kids had sifters, dry paint brushes,
shovels to dig up the fossils with. Roxy my assistant drew great dinosaur foot
prints to the sand box. She lead the expedition for each group of kids. They
loved this.
Week 3, Day 2.
Activity 1: Dinosaurs- I had
dinosaur figures from a book I borrowed (I already returned it, so I do not
know the name.) We painted the body of the dinosaur and the legs. We cut out
the legs and body. The body had slits in it for the legs to fit through, making
the dinosaur stand up. This we made the mother for our nests we made at the
last play group.
(We had a dinosaur egg hunt planned today but wanted to do Father's Day gifts
so we postponed the hunt until next week.)
Activity 2: Father's Day Gift-
Sand paperweight. Walmart has boxes of colored sand for about $5. We bought 2
boxes for 9 kids. We used baby food jars. The kids used a funnel and picked the
color sand they wanted to use and made pretty rainbow shades. The lids got
thrown away by accident so we covered each jar with plastic wrap and a piece of
white material. We tied a black ribbon around the material and wrote "To
Dad 1998, Z" (or what ever the child's name was) on the top of the
material with black fabric
paint.
Activity 3: Playdoh and dinosaurs.
Activity 4:
Dinosaur Match
(The kids were able to do the above two activities, which are from the previous
day this week, while waiting to do their father's day gifts. In addition, I
picked up about 10 books on dinosaurs at the library this week.)
Week 4, Day 1
Activity 1: Maracas (sp?) We made
homemade Maracas. I saved old burnt out light bulbs all winter. I covered each
light bulb with plastic wrap (this keeps the bulbs from sticking to the paste
when they dry). We cut newspaper into about 6 inch strips. Made homemade paste
out of flour and water (thick consistency).
The children soaked the strips of newspaper in the paste and applied to the
light bulb. Covering completely (about 7-10 layers of newspaper). The Maracas
were then set out in the sun to dry. (we will finish these on day 2.)
Activity 2: Coloring Focus was
colors. We used pretty simple coloring pages that had one designated color
written on the page (example: a picture of an apple would
have the word "red" written at the top.) The children traced the
letters of the word and colored the picture that color. Each child did about 3
pictures.
Activity 3: Alphabet Puzzle. (and other puzzles) We have a very big floor puzzle that is the
alphabet. For this activity we worked on "turn taking" quite a bit.
This was good because many of the children in our program do not know their
letters yet. So my 2 children with autism, shown through by knowing "what
letter comes next?" (I think I have said this before but I think it is
important to let typically developing children know how smart our guys really
are, even though they may not talk much or engage in play activities.)
Story Time: Dr. Suess's ABC's (big hit with this bunch of kids)
Week 4, Day 2
Activity 1: Finish Maracas. (Please
see week 4, day 1 for first steps to this activity) We broke the bulbs inside
by banging on the sidewalk. (this should be done carefully...like cracking an
egg...so that the newspaper does not crack open. Therefore, it is best for an
adult to break the bulbs. This is another reason for having the bulbs wrapped
in plastic wrap before covering with newspaper). Now when you shake them they
make noise! The kids then painted them with a variety of colors.
Activity 2. Puzzles. Variety of
puzzles. One little boy was very impressed with how fast Z put together
puzzles. (I think this is the day that this little boy became comfortable with
Z and since has made a point of getting Z to say hello and good-bye to him.)
Outside Activity 3. Dinosaur Egg hunt. We put a piece of candy in colored Easter eggs and hid them all over
the yard. The kids really enjoyed this. ( This was left over from last week, we
wanted to make our Father's Day gifts so we did not have time to do this too.)
The kids also ate icees while outside.
Week 5. Day 1.
Activity 1. Sand Castle art. We had
pencil outline drawings of castles. The kids spread the glue and sprinkled the
glue over the pictures. The each did 2 castles.
Activity 2. Foam Puzzles. (To
promote: Turn taking, shapes and colors). We used simple foam puzzles in
several different colors. 3 shapes fit into each foam puzzle (16 puzzles). The
base of the puzzle is a circle. All pieces are 8 different colors/primary
shapes. All shapes fit into each other. We put all shape inserts into a pile on
the table and they had to fish through them to find the correct shapes for each
puzzle. (Nasco 1-800-558-9595 carries these for $10.00. They are called
"Lauri FIT-A-FACE [SB24636J]" or "FIT-A-SPACE [S07964J]" )
Activity 3. Shapes and Sizes.
Trace shapes on paper and cut out shapes. If child is unable to cut out shapes.
Use index cards and draw lines for the kids to cut out. We used something
called "Montessori Shapes". It has ten shapes with knobs and matching
bases. This gave the children the option to trace the inside of the base (which
would be easier) or to hold the knob and trace around the outside of the shape.
After tracing, they colored their shapes and then cut out their shapes. This
was very challenging and the kids enjoyed it quite a bit. They each traced and
cut about 3-4 shapes each.
Story time: I did not have a book picked out in advance. I ended up reading a
book called "The Man Who Cooked for Himself" by Phyllis Krasilovsky.
This book the kids really enjoyed and lead to the man learning to plant his own
garden..... which leads to our next weeks activities. (see how far in advance I
plan things?)
Week 5. Day 2
Activity 1. (I went to Walmart to buy
planters, seeds, and soil. They had these great planting kits on sale for
$3.00. They included 3 terra cotta pots, EZ soil wafers that expand when you
add warm water, the seeds and a plastic greenhouse/drip tray. - The company is
called NK Lawn and Garden Co., Chattanooga, TN 37422)
When the kids first arrived they all went outside and painted the pots. We then
put them in the sun to dry and went inside for circle time and snack.
Activity 2. We took the kids
outside, 3 at a time. Each child got his own bowl and EZ soil pellet. We used
measuring cups and measured 1 cup of warm water, Dropped the pellet into the
water and watched it expand into soil. Then they transferred the soil to the
pots and planted seeds in each pot. We then put them into the green houses and
set them in the window to grow. It should only take a few days to see sprouts
come up when you are using the greenhouse.
Activity 3. Number bar puzzles.
There are different size pieces that are used for counting but for the
preschooler they have puzzles that these pieces fit into. They make a camel,
flower, etc. The kids did these puzzles or other puzzles while waiting to plant
their seeds.
(the other activity we had planned today was playdoh. I tried one of the new
recipes that was sent to me and it was a flop. I later did the same recipe and
it turned out wonderful.)
Week 6. Day 1.
Activity 1. Dot to Dot Coloring. We
used several preschool dot to dot pictures. (numbers 1-10 or A-J, K-Z, some
more advanced A-Z, a-z, and mixed numbers and letters.) This was good because
the 6 year olds helped the younger kids find the next number or letter. After
connecting the dots, they colored their pictures.
Activity 2. Shapes/Patterns. Discovery
Toys has a game called Playful Patterns (?? $$) where the kids match shapes to
cards to make pictures/patterns. There are many levels to this from very easy
to very challenging. Lakeshore also has these called "Pattern Blocks and
Cards" The plastic blocks are $17.95 (DA910) and wooden blocks are $22.95
(DA334). The cards sell for $14.95 (TH4530)
Activity 3. Binoculars. We made
these from toilet paper rolls. (2 rolls and a 2 inch piece of a roll). The 2
inch piece is cut so that it will fit snugly in between the two rolls as a
nosepiece. The kids apply glue to the nosepiece and attach the eye pieces with
rubber bands, until the glue dries. We also bought colored plastic wrap and
covered one end of each toilet paper roll by applying glue and smoothing the
plastic over the end. Attach a rubber band until glue dries.
After glue dries, cut about 1/2 inch thick strips of construction paper to go
around the end of each toilet paper roll. This will be glued on over the ends
of plastic wrap to give it a smooth look. Then they use markers or paint and
design their binoculars as they want to.
It was too hot to go outside today, so we played hot potato inside.
Week 6. Day 2.
Activity 1. (and only activity today.) Shape mobiles. Each child had a cut out shape (about 5x7 in size)
of a circle, square, triangle, oval, rectangle. Spirals were drawn on each
shape in the shape of that shape (example: the circle had circular shape
spirals going from the center to the outside. The triangle made in a triangle
shape with the triangle getting smaller and smaller. Leave enough room in the
middle to draw a face.) I hope that was not too confusing.
The kids cut along the spirals lines. In the center we drew a face on each
shape and gave them all names like... Rex the rectangle (Rex also got to wear a
cowboy hat.), Sammy the circle, Tricky the triangle, Olivia the oval, and Jerry
the square.
We then put a string through at the tops of each face and then hung each one
from a hanger. (We tied two hangers together so that their were 5 points to
hang from including the center.) When each shape was tied they hung down like
streamers. We then hung them under a ceiling fan or at an AC vent and the shape
streamers would spin in circles. It looked really cool.
This activity is very time consuming and took up most of the morning. As the
kids finished cutting and were waiting for the next step they had books or
puzzles they could quietly do with one another.
Story Time: A Dr.
Suess Book.
Week 7. Day 1
Activity 1. Clocks. Most of the kids
I have are not real good at cutting so we cut out squares instead of circles
for the numbers on the clock (because they are so small in size). Make 12 one
inch squares. The children write numbers 1 to 12 on each square, then cut them
out. Using a paper plate, glue the numbers to make the face of the clock. Cut
out 2 arrows to make the hands-one short and one long. Use rivets to attach
hands so they can move freely.
Activity 2. Counting game. Using
the unifix cubes. We divided a piece of paper into 6 equal sections. The
children had to spin a dial that had numbers 1-6 on it. They then had to pick
out that number of cubes, trace each one and write the number in the same
section (example: They spin a number 5. They pick out 5 cubes, trace each one
and then write the number "5" in the same area.) They continue this
until they fill up all six sections of the paper - so they each end up spinning
the wheel six times (you could also use dice for this and different shape
buttons or something for the kids to trace.)
Activity 3. Playdoh. The kids had rolling pens, cookie cutter letters, shapes
and characters. They rolled snakes, spelled words and just had fun playing. (I
had 2 good playdoh recipes sent to me but I chose the one that did not require
cooking. Thanks M!)
PLAYDOUGH (M's recipe) In a big
bowl, stir together 4 cups flour, 1 cup salt and 2 TB alum (a pickling spice,
it's a white powder available in the spice section). Bring 4.5 cups water to a
rolling boil, add food color (I use paste colors, it makes more vibrant dough)
and 5 TB vegetable oil. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix well.
Then knead on a floured board until smooth. You may have to let it cool for a
bit first! Store in a ziplock bag or other airtight container.
Week 7. Day 2. The summer is very hot here and the kids are restless from being inside. Today we had out tumbling class from
9-10 am (as we have done on all the Day 2's this year) followed by circle time.
We then packed up and went to the neighborhood pool. We had snack there and
just cooled off. Z is learning to swim this summer so anytime we go swimming is
good for Z.
I will go ahead and tell you what we are doing next week (because we are going
on vacation and I do not want forget to post it.)
Week 8.
There will only be one day of summer
play group this week. We will have tumbling the first hour.
Afterwards the kids will be painting a plaster hand print they made earlier in
the summer. Walmart has a neat hand print gel that allows you to cast the hand
showing the palm side up (so it is 3D). Throughout the summer we have done
maybe one child a day because we have to let the plaster set and I only have
one mold.
The kit sells for $6.95 and has enough stuff to do one hand print. We bought
extra gel and plaster to do the others. The name of the kit is: Botanical Science
Precious Hands Molding Kit and Plaster of Paris. The extra gel packets sell for
about $3.00 each, then we bought the big containers of plaster for about $5.00
each. (I used about 3 cups of plaster for each mold).
We will be using "Perm Enamel Starter Kits". These sell for about
$5.00 for a starter set-with 8 colors and the glaze, or 6 colors, the glaze and
a surface conditioner for the plaster. I got them on sale with an Sunday
newspaper ad for $2.00 each.
We will wrap these up and give them to the parents at our summer end party
which will be at a local place called "the clubhouse for kids only."