January 2018 Newsletter!Here you will find activities in each of the 6 importanttypes of play: reading play, construction play, STEMplay, creative arts play, active play and music & danceplay that will allow you to continue the learning fun athome! To find out more about the benefits of play, visitthe Day of Play website!

Reading Play1. Sensory Alphabet Play: Teach the alphabet, letterrecognition, and simple words to your preschooler bytargeting all the senses! You will need paper, glue, and avariety of sensory materials. This is a nice activity because itcan be done in segments, a few letters at a time, until you andyour child have collected an entire alphabet's worth! Grab atray or an old cardboard box to decorate in to contain themess. Then put your piece of paper inside the box and write aletter on it in white glue. Then go on a hunt in the house for asensory material that begins with the same letter. Forexample, write the letter C, and go collect a small cup ofcoffee grounds. Then let your child pour the coffee groundsover the paper so it sticks onto the glue C. Shake off theexcess into the tray or box and then write the word coffeeunderneath the big letter C. Continue this exercise with asmany letters as you can think of! Try sprinkles for S, garlic forG, basil for B, pepper for P, etc. You can also use coloredletters to get your point across, for example adding redpowder to the letter A for apples. Be creative! This is a funhands-on way to introduce your child to letters and words! 2. Rhyming on the Go: Help develop your child's earlyliteracy skills through rhyming! Rhyming is a great way to

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practice phonics, which will help your child learn to read. Thisactivity is great because it requires no materials, no setup,and no time out of your busy schedule! Next time you'repreparing dinner or a snack, are driving with your child in thecar, or are waiting in line at the store or at the doctor's office,start up a quick game of rhyming on the go. To play, lookaround and name an object that you see. Then your childshould say a word that rhymes with it, and continue goingback and forth naming rhyming words until you're stumped!(Anyone else with you can play too - mom, dad, siblings,friends) Then, have your child look around and name anobject, and repeat the game! This game is great because it isso fast paced and simple for kids, it can be adapted to playanywhere, and it never gets boring! 3. Thank You Santa: Simple thank you cards are a greatway to get your child to practice their writing while alsolearning the value of gratitude. Have your child create a thankyou note or a post card to send to Santa saying thanks fortheir favorite Christmas gift! Take a piece of constructionpaper and fold it in half or cut it to size. Have your childdecorate the front and write a simple "Thank You" inside andsign their name, or for the first or second graders, have themwrite a simple sentence thanking Santa for their favorite toy.Tell your child you will mail it to the North Pole so Santa will besure to receive their note!

Construction Play1. Hammering Practice: This fun activity is great practice forkids who are developing their fine and gross motor skills - andis safe enough for the little guys too! You will need Styrofoam(a wreath shape works great), some golf tees, a bowl, and ahammer. Place the Styrofoam and the golf tees in a bowl.Then model for your child what the activity is by picking up agolf tee, placing it in the Styrofoam and hammering away.Then hand the hammer to your child and supervise themplaying! This is a fun way for your Kindergartener or earlyelementary student to practice their hand-eye coordinationand motor skills! 2. Toilet Paper Knock Down: Next time you buy a packageof toilet paper rolls, play this surprisingly entertaining gamewith your children. Tell your kids that you'll be playing withtoilet paper and they won't be able to contain their excitement!Open a package of 30 rolls or whatever you have in yourhouse, and let your kids start stacking. There are no rules -they will just want to build and build and of course knock downtheir creations! Let your kids experiment with different ways toknock down the toilet paper, by running through it, rolling aball, throwing a ball, etc. After the initial play is out of theirsystems, take turns building towers and knocking them down.Once the tower has fallen, count all the rolls on the ground.Continue playing to see who can knock down the most rolls!

3. Rock Towers: Next time you have 5 minutes to spare on adry winter day, go outside and collect a bunch of rocks andflat stones from the driveway, backyard, or street for yourchild to build with. Then invite your child to build a rock towerwith the stones you've collected for them. See if they canmake a design, use a pattern as they build vertically, andmake sure that their tower stays balanced. This is a greatway for your child to explore, observe, and learn theprinciples of balance and symmetry. Watch and guide themas they learn to use comparable sized stones on the samelevel and as they realize that the flat stones are essential tokeep the tower structured. This should spark questions andlearning for your child and requires a lot of experimentation,focus, and motor skills!

STEM Play (Science, Technology, Engineering

and Math)1. Shivery Snow Slime: Make this sparking, freezing snowconcoction with your child to introduce them to an exciting dayof sensory play! The slimy, chilly, sparkly snow is sure to be abig hit with the kids who are dying to play with the real thing. Inone bowl, mix together 2 cups of white glue, 1 1/2 cups of verywarm water, glitter, and (optional) a few drops of peppermintextract to make it smell like winter! In another bowl, combine ¾teaspoons of borax with 1 1/3 cups of very warm water. Onceboth are mixed, mix the contents of the two bowls together. Letyour child mix it all up with their hands for a few minutes andwatch the slime form! Ask your child to describe the snowslime, how it is similar to real snow and how it is different. Letyour child play and build with the snow. Put it in snowflakecookie cutters, form a snowman or snowballs and have a ball!Store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator after playing to keepit cold for the next time. 2. Snow Storm in a Jar: After a big snowstorm, make thiscraft to recreate the excitement, or make it while your kids arepatiently waiting for the first snowfall of the season. You willneed a jar, baby oil, white paint, water, glitter, and AlkaSeltzer. Fill the jar ¾ full with baby oil. In a bowl, have yourchild help mix together some very warm water and white paintto make white water, and pour enough into the jar so that thejar is almost full. Then, ask your child sprinkle in some glitterand wait for the glitter and water to settle on the bottom of thejar. Once you're all set up, break apart an Alka Seltzer tabletand have your kids drop in little pieces and watch thereaction! Every time the storm starts to settle, tell them to dropin another piece! Then discuss snowstorms with your childand maybe check the weather online to predict when the nextone is coming. 3. States of Matter - Root Beer Float: Teach and review thestates of matter with your second or third grader, or go over

the basics with your Kindergartener or first grader. This is anactivity that all kids will love because it uses root beer floats toteach or reinforce states of matter! You will need vanilla icecream and root beer. Start by pouring some root beer into aclear cup. Ask your child to describe properties of liquids - dothey change shape, do they move freely, etc. Use questions toguide the conversation for the younger kids. Once you'veestablished what a liquid is, bring out the ice cream and askabout solids. Do solids have a definite shape, do they movearound, are they hard or soft? Then put a scoop of ice creaminto the cup of root beer. Then ask your child to observe thecarbonation and bubbles forming in the cup of root beer. Askor tell your child that the fizz is a gas, and discuss theproperties of a gas, like oxygen - that they expand and takeup space. This is an engaging and fun way to get into thebasics of the states of matter with a yummy snack!

Creative Arts Play1. Sticker Snow Globes: You will need a mason jar (or anyjar with a lid), glitter paillettes (or sequins), plastic 3D stickers,water, and vegetable oil. First, open the jar and press on yourstickers - but make sure the mason jar is upside down whenyou apply the stickers since it will mainly rest on the lid! Next,fill the jar almost full with water. Then add two drops ofvegetable oil to the water, which will keep the glitter fromsticking together and slows it from falling straight to the bottomafter shaking. Next, add a bunch of glitter and then screw onthe lid of the jar. Give your child the go ahead to shake it upand watch it snow! 2. Reindeer Hand Prints: You will need brown paint, apaintbrush, glue, googly eyes, a red pom pom, and whitepaper. Squeeze out some brown paint into a dish and paintyour child's hand brown. Have them stamp their hand onto thecenter of the white paper and let it dry for a few minutes. Next,have your child glue two googly eyes onto the palm of thehandprint, and then glue the red pom pom below that for thenose. Have your child decorate it or just sign their name, andhang it up as a winter decoration!3. 3. Snowman Potato Prints: For this wintery craft you'll needa potato, colored paper, white paint, glitter, glue, and brownand orange construction paper. Start by cutting a potato inhalf and giving one half to your child. Have them dip the flatpart of their potato in the white paint and stamp some"snowballs" onto the colored paper to create their snowmen!Let your child stamp away on a scrap paper while theirsnowman is drying. Once it is dry, let your child cut out arms,buttons, eyes, a smile, and a nose from the constructionpaper and glue them to their snowman! Then add glitter tocreate a winter wonderland. Voila! This is a beautiful snowycraft that gets your child excited about the cold and workingon their fine motor skills!

Active Play1. Living Room Ice Rink: Get your kids up and "skating" inthe convenience of your living room with only some plasticbags and tape! Just take a plastic bag and cut two rectanglesout of it, wrap your child's feet in a rectangle, and tape itaround their foot to create the ice skates. Then clear the livingroom and let your child "skate" around the rug or floor! Thengrab your child's hands and pull them around the room asyou run in circles. Your kids will find all sorts of creative waysto skate and entertain themselves with this simple and funtrick! 2. Simon Says: Get Active! This version of the children'sclassic can be adapted to get your kids up and moving anddeveloping their gross motor skills! Explain the rules to yourchild - that they are only supposed to perform the commandIF you introduce it by saying "Simon Says!" Incorporate a lotof movement oriented commands like "jump up and down","hop on one foot", "run in a circle", "skip across the room","crabwalk to me", "walk backwards", "do a dance move" or"do 3 jumping jacks". Feel free to add any other activecommands you can think of! This is a great way to teach kidslistening and focusing skills while working on their gross motordevelopment and getting them moving! 3. Cornhole Sock Toss: This fun craft-game is perfect forone of those snow days where your child is itching forsomething to do! This is a great game because it incorporatessome arts and crafts first, and then will get your kids activeand playing, AND because it can be kept for reuse! You willneed an old cardboard box, paint, a paintbrush, white paper,a black marker, and a knife. Take the box and make twodiagonal cuts across opposing sides of the box, so the twosides are now triangle shaped. Open it up and cut off theextra flap, so you're left with half a box cut diagonally. Thenflip it over so the peak is sticking into the air, and cut amedium sized hole in what was the bottom of the box. Nowenlist your child's help to decorate! Let them paint the box theirfavorite color, then cut out two circles from the white paper foreyes and decorate them with the black marker. Glue themonto the box once the paint is dry. Next, go grab some rolledup socks to use as beanbags and let your child fire away,trying to get the socks into the hole! Once your child isexhausted from all the fun, store it away for the next snowday!

Music & Dance Play1. Nibble Nibble Crunch: This fun winter poem will be ablast to recite with your child or a group of kids!

A chubby little snowman had a carrot nose. Along came abunny and what do you suppose? That hungry little bunny,looking for his lunch, ate the snowman's carrot nose... Nibble,Nibble, Crunch! 2. Snowman Poem: This is a fun poem to recite with yourchild on a snowy day when you're stuck inside, or once you'vemade your snowman craft listed above! Teach your child thewords and encourage them to act along, using their snowmancraft as a prop, to make this poem come to life!The snowflakes are falling, so softly, so gently. They fall on thetreetops, the grass and on me. I build a big snowman, outsidein my garden, I look through my window and what do I see?My snowman is smiling, he's jumping and waving, He picks upa snowball and throws it at me. He looks very funny, but only Isee him. He's my special snowman and always will be. 3. Snowflake Dance: With your child or a group of kids, pickout your favorite winter tune and play the Snowflake Dance!Discuss how all snowflakes are different and unique, andreview how they whirl and twirl down to earth from the sky.Then explain that for this game, the kids are going to pretendthat they are snowflakes, and they will be dancing just likesnowflakes do in the wintertime! Encourage them to becreative since every snowflake is different. This is a funactivity to do on a snowy day so the kids can look outside forinspiration, but they will love using their imaginations AND theirbodies for this festive dance!

Created by Caroline McCabe

Edward Street Child Services50 Portland Street

Worcester, Massachusetts 01608