Sewing cards are a great way to help your child learn the process of sewing. You can easily make sewing cards at home. You’ll need a single hole punch (1/4 inch is the best, but a regular single punch is fine), some colourful yarn and either cardstock or cardboard (cereal box is easiest) and a tapestry needle (it has a rounded tip). Trace the shape out on the cardstock or cardboard. Then, punch holes around the perimeter. Have your child choose the colour of yarn/thread and show them how to thread the needle. Then, demonstrate a running stitch (“up through the bottom and down through the top”). Sit with your child until they get the hang of things. You can make sewing cards for any season. Right now, butterflies, ladybugs and caterpillars are great options.
Instructions and templates to make sewing cards: https://www.auntannie.com/Textiles/SewingCards/
Skip counting is a great activity that will prepare your child for memorizing their times tables in Elementary School. It is wonderful introduction to the concept of multiples. For this activity, you’ll need a long strip of paper and two different colours of markers. With one coloured marker, print the numerals 1 – 20 on a sheet of paper (all numerals should be on the same line). Explain that you and your child are going to Skip Count to 20. It’s best to start with easy multiples (2, 3, 5). If you Skip Count by 2’s, start at 2 and circle it with the second colour of marker. Then, count over 2 more spaces (you’ll land on 4) and circle that numeral. After you have reached to 20, go back and ‘skip count’ with your child the numerals that are circled. If you are Skip Counting by 2’s, you will have circled (2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20). You can use the same number line for skip counting by 3’s and 5’s . . . just use different colours of markers!
Skip Counting Hopscotch: https://www.playdoughtoplato.com/sidewalk_chalk/
Skip Counting Video (by 2’s): https://youtu.be/hae10bsW_CM
Skip Counting Video (by 3’s): https://youtu.be/0y_dLi_BUjg
Skip Counting Video (by 5’s): https://youtu.be/uDSWMjtMff4
Skip Counting Worksheet: https://www.worksheetfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/skipcounting_train_wfun_1.png
Many children’s songs are rhyming songs. Not only are they catchy and singable, they also teach children about rhyming words. This aural training is crucial as a pre-reading activity. By developing an awareness of rhyming words, your child is paying attention to the sounds that make up words and learning to identify ‘word families’. This week, we encourage you to listen, with your child, to “The Ants Go Marching” . . . and “Down by the Bay”. Create extra verses to go with the song! Play a game where you say the name of an object, and your child comes up with a rhyming word. It doesn’t matter if the word is ‘real’, as long as it rhymes. Have fun!
The Ants Go Marching video: https://youtu.be/2S__fbCGwOM
Down by The Bay (original by Raffi): https://youtu.be/jAjhLexlrDc
Down by the Bay (adapted version): https://youtu.be/Yt1czlnCUCg
Printable puzzle rhyming cards: https://mk0freehomescho2g81n.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Rhyming-Puzzle-Cards-FHD-Oct-2017.pdf
Printable picture rhyming cards: https://www.mamaslearningcorner.com/rhyming-picture-cards/
Since we’ve been talking about pollinators and the parts of the butterfly, this is a great follow up activity. As you and your child may have learned, butterflies use their proboscis to drink nectar from flowers. We can use this information as a springboard into looking at the different tastes we experience. In a Montessori classroom, we use the Taste Bottles as a gustatory sorting exercise. You can do the same thing at home! We would suggest keeping the taste experiences to: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. A link has been provided below to explain how to do this activity. You’ll need: salt, sugar or something sweet to be dissolved, lemon juice and cocoa powder (or green tea). Dissolve each of these ingredients in water. If you don’t have eyedropper bottles at home (you’d need 8 for the pairing exercise), you can have 8 glasses/mugs/jars with a teaspoon in each. Your child, to taste the liquid in the container, would lift the spoon from the container vertically (that way, most of the liquid will drain off) and place it on their tongue. The object of this activity is to pair the same liquids together using only the sense of taste. You can also try this same activity with a blindfold and pieces of fruit etc.
Description of taste testing activity: https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/sense-of-taste-fun-with-tasting-bottles/#:~:text=In%20Montessori%20education%2C%20tasting%20bottles,the%20tastes%20from%20each%20set.
On your next walkabout with your child, gather a few flat, smooth stones. Down by a river or stream is a great place to find them. When you get the stones home, wash them up and let them dry. You’ll need some red paint, some black paint and some white paint. Acrylic works the best. You can try other colours with your ladybugs too.
Video on making painted ladybug paperweights: https://youtu.be/vRtBRbQSXSw
Another rock paperweight project: https://youtu.be/fGJZO1S-5V8
https://www.todaysparent.com/baby/how-to-play-with-your-baby/ - Visit this website to find “8 Games to Play with Your Baby”. You will find lots of other information on this Today’s Parent site as well.
https://www.redtedart.com/ - Follow this link to a website full of easy craft ideas for children.
