60 EarlyChildhood Activities

+Bonus Resources

Treasure Chest of Activities

1. Fast-Paced Portraits: Provide children with paper, pencil and a hard surface to draw on and invite them to draw a picture of the child next to them (child A will draw child B and child B will draw child A, and so on). If you have an odd-number of students, partner up with a child! Explain that they have 1-minute to draw a picture that portrays their classmate. When time is up, invite children to take turns sharing their drawings with each other; listen in and enjoy their comments!

2. Aluminum Powered Activities:

a. Draw or paint (with finger-paint or using brushes on an easel) on foil (wrap it over a piece of cardboard, or just cover the easel) and encourage children to use the mirror-like substance to draw what they see in the reflection. Some children may draw themselves, but others may illustrate what they see reflected behind them!

b. Sculpt aluminum letters or other pieces (or, cover letters and/or numbers with the foil).

c. Cover pasta with foil and make sparkly patterns while creating necklaces, bracelets, belts, crowns, and so on.

d. Invite children to use foil to cover pasta and then encourage them to categorize and sort by shape, size, etc.

e. Tear off various sized foil and place it w/various 2D & 3D classroom materials. Invite children to determine which foil pieces are sized in a way that they will completely cover the 2 & 3D items. For example a smaller piece of foil will not likely cover a large block, but will cover a mini-car or a Duplo block. Within this simple activity children are problem solving, predicting, and using what they know about mass & measurement (all while preparing them for the kindergarten Common Core Standards.

f. Tear art w/aluminum foil! Encourage children to tear pieces large or small and provide various art materials to support the open-ended discovery.

g. Build an aluminum foil river and invite children to predict which items will win in various river races!

h. For winter-appropriate fun, encourage children to wrap different blocks with foil; they can then build ramps, shiny houses, or whatever floats their boat!

3. Cardboard Boxes & Tubes, Oh My!

a. Create a ramp using a flat piece of cardboard (or a wrapping paper tube). Encourage children to set up several ramps at varying heights (i.e. table, chair, shelf, or just have another child hold the ramp). Ask children to predict which items and cars will reach the finish line first, or which car will go the furthest (you can add measurement here, problem-solve how to make the cars go further, and so much more)!

b. Work with children to create a ball or marble run; perhaps the children could make aluminum foil balls to run through too!

c. When interest in the ramps fades, move said ramps into the art center (or the outdoor play area); pour paint down the ramp and set a large sheet of paper at the end. Invite children to roll marbles or cars through the paint and onto beautifully fun works of art!

d. In addition, encourage vocabulary, spatial reasoning and comprehension with simple cues such as, “Show me how to make your car zig-zag?” Or, “Please roll the blue marble under the red marble?” and so on.

e. Flatten larger boxes and affix them to the floor so children can ‘ice skate’ in their stocking feet! What a great way to keep bodies moving and sillies silly when it is raining or snowing outside! One of our webinar attendees suggested using wax paper on the children’s shoes (versus socks), which would definitely add a whole new layer of ice skating pleasure!

4. Tape is Terrific!

a. Put out a few rolls of colored tape and stand back! Children can measure, construct letters, shapes and numbers, make any fashion of art (whether on paper or as a sculpture), and predict the amount of tape it will take to cross an entire classroom, the length of a friend, and so on!

5. Perfect Painting Mediums

a. Using store reward cards (donated by other teachers and families) kids will have a blast painting; they can make super-straight lines and angles, mix colors and altogether cooperatively play!

b. Legos are fun to dip and stamp, dip and smear, or just plain paint with! The children also LOVE to clean the painted Legos; set out a tub of soapy water and a drying space and they will scrub away!

c. Any safe and child-appropriate kitchen utensil should be considered for painting purposes! Pastry brushes, cookie cutters, forks, rolling pins,

whatever you can find or borrow! Painting is always more fun when you introduce undiscovered treasures!

d. Household items such as brooms, hand brooms, Swiffer dusters, and sponges also act as innovative paint brushes!

e. Pour some paint on a very large sheet of paper (or cardboard) and invite children to ride tricycles and bikes through the paint and onto the paper. Endless hours of easy, inexpensive play that inspires children to MOVE their bodies. Let the paint dry and then carry these pages inside for another cool art extension.

f. This activity can also be done with playground balls (especially the ones you are ready to get rid of!); pour paint onto a large sheet of paper (or cardboard) and invite children to bounce or roll the ball on the paper. Children will get a kick out of a “tricycle car wash” when it is time to clean up!

g. Turn on some music and lay out a large paintable work space; invite the children to remove their shoes and socks, step into washable paint and make lovely art as they move and groove to the music! Encourage them to look at what their feet do when the music is fast; slow, upbeat, sad, and so on.

6. Super Science

a. Set out a tray to work as a ‘lab table’ and invite children to mix paint with baking soda. At first, they will see bubbles galore and as they add more, they will witness a volcano!

b. Pour baking soda into a baking sheet or shallow tray; cover the entire bottom of the tray. Add food-colored vinegar to cups and invite children to fill eye-droppers as they drop the vinegar drops into the baking soda. Endless fizzy fun ensues!

c. Dancing raisins, anyone? Pour clear sparkling water (or soda) into a see-through cup or container and invite children to add raisins into the liquid. Dancing raisins they will see! Set up several clear cups along w/4-5 raisins for each cup and include different liquids for each cup; encourage children to predict which liquid has the power to make the raisins dance.

d. Generate a testable research question and to conduct a scientific investigation in the context of teaching scientific concepts such as buoyancy and density, OR, put water in your water table and invite

children to test their theories about fruit and vegetables and whether or not they sink or float (peeled and unpeeled)!

Various Explorative Activities:

a. Use a pizza cardboard circle (i.e. pizza restaurants are usually willing to part with a few of these!) and create all kinds of circle-graphs! For this case, invite children to cut pictures from catalogs and resources to create a color wheel.

e. Clay and Legos? Why not; just press and play; the imprints leave very cool patterns and designs.

f. Why not try upper & lower case letter matching with Duplos or Legos (i.e. affix tape to blocks and then write upper & lower case letters to sets of blocks that “fit”.

g. More Legos or Duplos than you know what to do with? Write letters (for children to spell with), shapes (for children to sort or pattern with), or numbers so children can create a number line.

h. Select a few ‘mellow’ Beatles (or other non-child-market) songs and play them for your class; invite children to listen to the instruments playing and encourage them to think of ways to use their bodies as they mirror the sounds (i.e. hands slapping the carpet, a flat palm against an o-shaped mouth, or snapping). Replay the song(s) and invite the children to play along.

i. Encourage the children to listen to different songs and then make a graph illustrating their favorite– post the graph in your classroom and invite families to join in the fun!

j. Play music near your Art Center and perhaps the different melodies will inspire the children to paint, draw or create in ways they may not even realize are tied to the music.

k. Venn diagramming can be somewhat overwhelming but I have found that when the opportunity to create one arises we are more successful with the Venn compare and contrast if we START with a simple T-Chart. If and when you create graphic organizers with your students, use as many visuals as possible. I prefer using pictures (cut from magazines, etc.) alongside (or in place of) the words.

l. Mix tissue paper and eye-droppers filled with water to create beautiful art pieces (in this case, we were rendering our own sunrises).

m. Or, show your students a video of a sunrise and ask them to tell you the first things that pop into their heads as they watch. Record their answers and post them alongside the beautiful sunrise artwork!

n. Write conversation topics or starter sentences on craft sticks (see the Open-Ended Starters Visual Guide for suggestions); put them in a container and pull them out (or have a child pull one out) when you want to get children talking.

o. Place a small tent (or, use one of those empty boxes & create a tent/fort area) in your classroom. These hide-outs often become a favorite for the quietest children (you may hear them chatter like never before)! Invite children to go on a “camping trip” and join them in the fort/tent to chat. Doing so can help you build up learning opportunities for quiet learners.

p. Create an obstacle course using cardboard boxes or pieces of furniture. Run around, jump over them and crawl through them.

q. Unleash the tape we talked about earlier and work with the children to create ‘balance beams’ or simple “follow-the-leader” lines throughout your classroom (or outdoors); encourage children to practice their balance while staying on the lines & then get ready to record the funny things they come up with as they try to stay out of their “imagined hot lava”, and so on.

r. String yarn through the classroom (building or outdoor play area) and intermittently affix clothespins with clues about where to go next (i.e. go from A to Z, 1-20, etc.)

s. Add a strip of masking or colored tape to wooden blocks and then add your own flair; numbers (so children can sequence them), letters (put in alphabetic order); straight or curved lines and invite the children to explore on their own…You can also put rhyming words on the tape and invite children to build with rhymes!

t. If you are still allowed to use shaving cream in your state, set out smaller foam blocks, a tub, and shaving cream and invite children to enjoy the sensory sensation of building in foam! If you can’t use shaving cream, I recommend bubbles!

Open-Ended Questions

What do you think…? Show me how you…

I wonder why… Can you tell me more about why…

How did you… What did you do first?

What can you tell me about… Why did you…

How do you know? Can you think of another way…

What do you think? What do you think would happen if…

What could you do instead? How did you do that?

What does it remind you of? What can you do next time?

Tell me what happened. How are you going to do that?

What is it made of? What do you think will happen next?

What could be added? What else can this be used for?

What else is like this? How can you do it faster?

Fun Conversation Starters

1. What is the yuckiest thing you ever smelled?

2. When was the last time you were silly? What did you do that was funny?

3. What is your favorite thing that _________ does for or with you?

4. Where do you like to go in the car?

5. What type of super-hero would you want to be?

6. What is your favorite weather? Why do you like that weather?

7. When did you last say, “uh-oh”? What happened?

8. What is the messiest part of the house?

9. What is the coolest thing you have ever seen?

10. What is the best gift that you ever received? What made it special?

 

Teachable Moments for Parents

Following are some ideas to help you make the most of life’s mundane moments with some creativity and fun (not to mention, cognitive development, language development and social & emotional growth)!

Prep & Prepare- Prepping your child for what to expect during an upcoming appointment helps alleviate worry and fear. When you go to the doctor because your child has a sore throat, talk to your child about what will happen. “What do you think the doctor will do to help your throat feel better? Do you remember what to say when someone asks you to “Open wide” You say, ‘Ahhhhhhh.’ Sometimes doctors use a long Q-tip to see the back of your throat more clearly and the Q-tips can be tickly but even if it feels a little funny when they do that, they are really good at looking quickly!”

Practice Patience with Paper- Throw some paper and drawing materials in the car or in your bag and as you wait, encourage your child to draw a picture that shows what hurts, what they think the dentist will do, what the doctor/dentist will look like, and so on. As your children work, say things like, “Tell me about your drawing,” Or, “How did you know to draw that?” Open-ended questions such as these can extend the amount of time your child draws, as well the overall experience!

Peruse the Periodicals- Take advantage of the periodicals that usually abound in waiting rooms:

o Encourage your child to pick a magazine and to find pictures that show different emotions (happy, surprised, tired, bored, and worried).

o Ask your child to find his/her favorite picture or image from the magazine. Ask, “What is it about this picture that makes it your favorite?”

o Ask your child to peruse the pages that show images of things they are familiar with, foods they have eaten, and places they have been. Reversely, ask them to browse for things that are brand new! What do they want to try, what do they want to see?

I Spy- Throw “I Spy with my little eye” into any situation and interject a little creativity into the game. For example, “I spy with my huge, fly-filled, eye, giraffes running in the grass and a lion sneaking nearby…who am I and where do I live? I am an African elephant living in his natural habitat.” OR, “I spy with my little eye a number that is less than 20 but more than 10.”

Brainteasers, anyone? Play “Guess the Letter” or “Guess the Number” as you take turns writing letters and numbers on each other’s backs (guess which letter or number was written and then switch). You can also draw simple shapes.

Stock-Up on the Storefront:

Plan to visit the store when your child is not exhausted and not hungry; it makes for a more pleasant experience all the way around! Here are some other ways to save your sanity at the store!

Makin’ a List and Checkin’ it Twice- Write your shopping list and then ask your child to ‘check your work’ (regardless of his/her reading/writing abilities!). Provide a notepad and writing utensils to copy your list. Or, keep a wipe-on/wipe-off board and dry erase marker for store-outings and invite your child to make his/her own lists as you shop.

Shoppers-In-Training- As you shop, invite your child to help you with simple tasks (while keeping your eye on the little shopper(s)!):

o Find a bunch of five bananas

o Choose the turkey hotdogs our family eats and show them to me

o Show me the gallon, pint, quart of milk or juice (great vocabulary for any child)

o Can you find the paper towels that are cost the least? Which are the most expensive?]

o Follow-up with conversation such as, “Why are some more expensive than others?” Perfect answers not required, we just want to get those brains busily pondering…

o Find two pieces of fruit (or vegetables) that are green (big, small, sour, etc.)

Time Check- Encourage your child to estimate and predict how long it will take to complete different tasks. For example, “I think it will take us 4-minutes to find our fruits and vegetables.” Share your estimates too and compare your predictions when you reach the finish-line (a.k.a. the checkout lane)!

Lend a Helping Hand- When it is time to unload groceries into the car, or out of the car and into your home, encourage your child to assist. “You are so strong and helpful; I know you can carry at LEAST two bags at a time!”

Beat the Boredom

Highway ABC’s- This fun, team-game begins when you start your journey by looking for the letter /a/ (or, for a word or object that begins with the letter /a/). Encourage teammates to look at road signs, bumper stickers, and storefronts as they explore. As you find each letter, move onto the next; the longer it takes to get to the letter /z/, the fewer times you will hear, “Are we there yet?!”

Would You Rather? Play a simple game of “Would You Rather” with questions like, “Would you rather be a kitten or a puppy?” Or, “Would you rather live somewhere really cold or somewhere really hot?” Encourage your children to create and ask their own “would you rather” questions!

Animal Clues- Think of an animal and give a few clues to so others can guess the animal. For example, “I’m thinking on an animal that is big, white, furry and cold! (The answer is polar bear).” Players take turns choosing animals and giving clues.

Pack a Picnic- This game provides many fun variations! The first player says the phrase, "I am going on a picnic and I am packing ______." The next player repeats what the first person is bringing and adds an item beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. If players struggle to follow the alphabet, try numbers instead. For example, “I am going on a picnic and I am packing 1 apple. I am going on a picnic and I am packing 2 yogurts.” You can also practice patterning as you pack for the picnic (i.e. “I am going on a picnic and I am packing green olives. I am going on a picnic and I am packing yellow cheese. I am going on a picnic and I am packing green pickles. I am going on a picnic and I am packing yellow bananas.”