Activities

Give the children in the sensory center balls of brown clay to manipulate and fill a recycled candy box. Clay requires more strength than using play dough. Encourage the children to form candy shaped balls and put the candy shapes in the box.

Read the book The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. Talk about the choices the ladybug made throughout the book. Present similar scenarios to the children related to the classroom and have them talk about their choices.

Create a set of cards that represent various choices children can make throughout the day. Examples of choices could include helping a friend, running in the classroom and washing hands before lunch.

Sit with the infant facing you, either on the floor or in your lap/arms. Make faces while looking at the infant, such as sticking your tongue out or smiling. Encourage the infant to mimic your expressions.

Provide materials for children to use to make musical instruments in the art center. For example, rice or dried beans inside a paper tube stapled at each end could make maracas.

Provide manipulatives such as blocks, pipe cleaners, magnetic forms, Q-tips®, popsicle sticks or play dough and encourage the children to use them to make letters in the writing center.

Assist the children in grasping and holding a writing tool, such as a marker, while making marks on paper.

Fill a shallow container with a small layer of soil, and add water. Provide cups, bowls and sand toys for the children to explore the mud. Demonstrate and explain to the children that water and soil create mud.

You will need muffin pans, measuring spoons and pom-poms for this activity. Have the children use the measuring spoons to fill the muffin cups with pom-poms. Prompt the children's thinking by asking which measuring spoon holds more.

Place the infant on a blanket or mat. Give him/her a wooden spoon and aluminum pans. Encourage the infant to hit the pans with the spoon. Say, “Malcolm, hit the plate with the spoon.

Set the ingredients for Oobleck on the table (one cup of water, two cups of corn starch and a few drops of food coloring.) Give each child a small bowl, a craft stick and the ingredients. Ask the children to mix the ingredients.

This play dough recipe requires no cooking. Mix 1/2 cup salt and 1 cup flour. Gradually add 1/2 cup water. Knead the mixture until smooth. If it's too sticky, add more flour. Have the children pour the water, mix and stir ingredients.

Make play dough, and encourage the children to ask simple questions about the activity. Model by saying, “Do you want to know why we are putting in water? It's so the flour will stick together to make the dough.

During outdoor time, make props, such as a fire truck or police car, out of huge boxes. Paint them to look similar to the real thing. Cut a hole in the top and bottom so the children can get into them. Attach a rope to use as shoulder straps.

Individually or in small groups, involve the children in measuring ingredients to make pudding. Say, "We need one cup of milk." Help a child pour from the small pitcher of milk into the measuring cup and then into the bowl with the pudding mix.

Give the children paper with various lines such as curved, straight or zigzag. Have the children use scissors to cut the paper. You can then have them glue their paper scraps onto construction paper for abstract art.

While in the writing center encourage the children to create a simple sentence of three to four words and write their sentence on a sentence strip. Next, they cut the strip apart into separate words.

Take the time to teach the children how to use all of the different math center materials. Many of these items will be unfamiliar to them, such as geoboards, Unifix® cubes and attribute buttons.

Add manners cards to the dramatic play area. Have the children practice using manners during play activities.

Create a chart-paper-sized map of the playground. Have it laminated and cut it apart into large puzzle pieces. During outdoor time, have the children put the puzzle together.