Social-Emotional Development
Fanciful Spiders
Twist pipe cleaners together to make a fanciful 8-legged spider. Tie a small length of string or ribbon to the spider and demonstrate how the spider can move and bounce while you read or sing the story. Encourage your child to try. Work together to make the spider move slowly or quickly.
Cognitive Development
Sun Puppets
Using a paper plate or a circle cut from paper, invite children to draw a face on their “sun” and then help them glue their sun face to a popsicle stick or tongue depressor. Accept all marks as facial features. It may not look like a face to you. Invite children to wave their sun puppet as you recite the poem. For the words to Mister Sun, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlzvrEfyL2Y
Language Development
Itsy Bitsy Spider Story
Read or sing this story at home. Join us on Instagram or Facebook for BrightPath Story Time to watch our version. Continue the conversation with your child by asking questions about the story.
“What made the spider fall?”
“Who dried up the rain?”
Modify the song and your voice to include a Great Big Spider or a Teeny-Weeny Spider.
Physical Literacy
Spider Walk
Participate with your child by moving like a spider. Bend over forward or bend backwards and “walk” around the room. Describe your actions as you move. “I am moving forward, I am moving backward” “I am moving fast, I am moving slow.”
Creative Activity
Sun-Dried Art
Using watercolour paint, encourage your child to express creatively on paper. Once they are done, take their masterpiece outside to dry in the sun. Together, observe and comment on how the sun-dried the paint and the differences you see.
No water-colour paints? Mix water with food colouring for a similar effect.
Additional Resources
Check out this YouTube video by Dr. Jean Feldman. She shares lots of ideas of how to play with your child using simple items from around the house. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0xibLFsSNE
This website has a variety of activities for children. You will find games, jokes, recipes, crafts, answers to science questions, hidden pictures and more. https://www.highlightskids.com/