* All Better Baby *

When children are at play I have noticed they enjoy playing house. It could be in the kitchen, at school, the grocery store, the doctors, or any where else they may choose. This activity, All Better Baby, I chose to do with my class because they are all about their boo-boos.

What You Will Need

Baby Dolls, Doctor Tool Toys, Band Aides, and anything else you would like to put in the center that you think would go along with this dramatic play.

With this activity there is no set steps or directions. This activity is open-ended play which means there is no end result. The child makes the decisions on how their play at the Doctors office will go.

                           

   

    This activity turned out very well. The children played Doctors  to the babies. They made sure all there boo-boos were fixed and healthy. The conversations I heard between the children were a bit shocking. They used language as if they remember going to the doctors themselves and some of the questions they asked and things they did. Needless to say the children stayed in the Doctors center for quite awhile. I'm sure if I wouldn't have told them its was almost lunch time they still would have been playing through lunch and nap time. There are so many way you can extend this activity. The children actually extended this activity on their own. Instead of making sure the babies got well, they switched it up a little bit and decided to be the patient while another was the Doctor. They were checking each others temperatures, listening to heartbeats, giving shots, and fixing boo-boos and putting band-aides on them. All Better Baby was definitely a success.

* Muddy Barn Animal Bath *

We all know how cute farm animals are. We also know that farm animals can get real muddy too. I chose this activity to do with the children because we have been learning the farm animal names and the sounds they make. So I thought this would be a great activity for them to do.

What You Will Need

One bucket with sand, farm animals, a bucket of soap water, a scrub brush, a bucket of water, and then a dry bucket.

First you start of with letting the child play what ever farm animal they want from the muddy sand pin.

Then let them put their farm animal in the wash bucket and let them scrub a dub and wash the animals the animals until they are all clean

 

Once they are squeaky clean its time to rinse the soaps suds off by taking a dip in the water.

After they are done rinsing the animals it is time for them to dry off. So fresh and clean!!!

This activity turned out to be a lot of fun for the children. They loved playing with the sand and water and playing the role of a caregiver towards an animal. This activity helps build their sensory skills and fine motor skills. I would extended this activity but switch it to in the kitchen an the children would be able to wash, rinse, and dry their very own dishes..

* Rain Shakers *

I don't know about you, but I love the way the rain sounds against a roof top. I chose this activity to do with the children so they could create their own calming music.

What You Will Need

Colored construction paper, rubber bands, tape, scissors, paper towel roll, beads or rice, and stickers, markers, crayons, etc.

Start off by helping the child take the paper around the roll and then tape it. Take another colored construction paper an fold it over the bottom and wrap the rubber band around it for the child.

After you do that turn it back on its bottom. Give the child some of the beads and let them drop them into the tube until they are all in the tube.

Fold another piece of paper over the top and wrap another rubber band around the tube for the child. Once that is done let them decorate the tube with stickers, crayons, markers, etc.

Once they are done decorating their rain shakers it is time to test them out. Some sounded like slow rain showers and others sounded like a heavy rain storm. There is nothing like an afternoon rain dance!!! 

This activity turned out really good. I wouldn't change anything about this activity but I would extend it by maybe making a lesson on musical instruments and making different types of instruments. The children stayed engaged from beginning to end. Some decorated theirs with marker, some with stickers, and some with both. They created their very own music instrument. They shook them as they danced in the rain. Making these rain shakers give the children creativity and imagination. Also it lets them build their fine motor skills.

* Skittle Experiment *

Who doesn't love the famous candy Skittles? Who doesn't love doing experiments? I have an activity that involves both skittles and an experiment and the kids love it!!!

What You Will Need

Two bags of Skittle candy, small white plates, warm water, and colored paper.

First you want to pour the skittles in a bowl or on a plate. After you do that have the children sort the colored skittle onto the piece of color paper that matches the skittle. As they do that have them say the color that they are sorting onto the paper.

Then have the children put the same of one color all the way around the plate, helping if they need any assistance. Once they are placed around the outer side of the plate pour the warm water over them until the skittles are covered in water. Then watch as the color of the skittle starts blending in with the water.

We loved doing this experiment. The kids were making the ohhh an ahhh sounds as the colors were blending with the water and meeting up in the middle. This activity wasn't just an experiment of what would happen once the water was poured over the skittles, but it also was having the children practice their colors an on how to sort them by colors. This activity was definitely a success. We even took it a step farther and practiced different color patterns

* Ball Hoop Toss *

Come one come all!!! Step right up and try to get the ball in the hoop!!! Who doesn't love anything to do with bouncing balls and a hoop ring net. I chose this activity to do with the children because our class loves balls an they even more love throwing the balls.

What You Will Need

In this activity you will need balls and a hoop net whether its store bought or you decided to be creative and make your own.

   

After you have these materials together you let them choose their ball an let them throw and try to make the hoop. We had different types of balls smooth, spikey, and fabric balls so they could have their own choice in what ball they would like to use.

This activity was chosen because my children in class love balls and loves to do things with them whether they are throwing, rolling, bouncing, etc. Although I was not able to get an exact shot of them throwing at the hoop they enjoyed it very much so that they wanted to keep tossing the balls until lunchtime. This activity may seem like a simple thing to do but it helps them with their gross motor and also sensory because of the different feels of the balls. I would definitely keep this as an activity to do with them. Next time I could add in rolling the ball under the hoop and tossing it over the hoop. This activity I think is an open ended activity because their is so many different ways you can use the hoop and balls. 

* The Mixed Up Chameleon *

     I as an infant toddler teacher have a lot of favorite books to read to the children but one of my all time favorites is The Mixed-Up Chameleon. When I knew we was going to create a blog about activities I knew I wanted to do an art project with the kids based on the book The Mixed-Up Chameleon. Who doesn't love a color changing Chameleon?

What You Will Need

Two different colors that combined to make a new color, zip lock bags, a permanent marker, and a print out sheet of the chameleon.

Once you have everything you will need take the Chameleon print out and put it in the zip loc bag and trace it on to the bag. Once you have done that pour a quarter size amount of each color in the bag and zip it up.

Once you have completed that you give each child one and let them feel it, smack it, squeeze it, and spread it. As they watch an see the colors changing before their eyes.

Once the child decides they are finished the project is finished and when they are done we have a pretty mixed-up chameleon!!!

This activity was pretty cool watching the colors mix and turning into a whole new color. The children loved it. Overall it turned out great with no trial an errors. The older toddlers have been learning the colors blue and red the last three weeks so I decided to use these two colors to show them that two  familiar colors can make up a new color. This art activity introduced a new color but also had them working on their fine motor skills and sensory skills. I would definitely do this activity again.