Resources / Activity
During outdoor time, bring an art basket outside, supplied with sidewalk chalk, markers, paper, crayons and watercolor paint.
For an open-ended play activity, consider recycling old boxes including: Capri Sun boxes, shoe boxes and cardboard boxes. Include the boxes in the outdoor area for the children to build and construct during outdoor time.
Take Tinker Toys and other connecting manipulatives outside and build structures, during outdoor time. Once the children build a structure, encourage them to start over and create something different.
Provide the children dramatic play clothing to use during outdoor time and dress like firefighters, police officers and postal workers.
During outdoor time take your multicultural dress-up clothes outside and encourage the children to dress up and talk with each other about what they are wearing.
Take your multicultural dress-up clothes outside and encourage the children to dress up and talk with each other about what they are wearing, during outdoor time.
During outdoor time, have a child choose which writing materials will go outside – clipboards, paint or chalk.
Play Peek-a-Boo with infants on the playground using a familiar object, such as a hat or a blanket.
During outdoor time, set up activities for the children to choose from, including sensory play, relays, kickball or games.
Take different sizes of cardboard boxes outside for the children to use in play, during outdoor time. Talk about how they use the boxes in different ways. Say, “This box used to have cereal in it, but you used it for a doll wagon.
Take different sizes of cardboard boxes outside for the children to use in play during outdoor time. Talk about how they use the boxes in different ways. Say, “This box used to have cereal in it, but you used it for a doll wagon.
Read Over in the Meadow by Olive Wadsworth. The children may ask questions like, “What do otters eat” or “Why do turtles dig?” Allow time between pages for the children to ask questions and discuss the different animals.
Solicit responses from the children about their knowledge of rainbows by generating a word splash around rainbows.
Play a song with a steady beat. Provide a dancing scarf and have the children pass the scarf around the circle to the tempo of the song. Use a bell to control the direction that the scarf will move. For example, play Hap Palmer's “Slow and Fast.
Choose a child to be the page turner during story time. As you read, encourage the child to turn the pages for you.
Add paper and paint to a zip-top bag and seal it. Let the infant look at it, touch it and crumble it. Talk about how it feels, such as smooth, squishy or cold. Talk about the colors and what the paint looks like (red, blue, purple, shiny, thick).
Encourage the children to paint using some unique "brushes" such as toothbrushes, the bottom of a soda bottle, a dish brush and bubble wrap clipped with a clothespin.
Cover the table with butcher paper. Provide the children with tempera paint in a tray and several sizes and types of paint rollers. The rollers are examples of a wheel and axle, a simple machine.
In preparation, cover brightly colored copy paper – neon colors work best – with black tempera paint in the art center. Give the children coffee stirrers or cotton swabs with one end removed to write and draw.
