Social-Emotional Development
Calming Strategy - Lion Roar
Try roaring like a lion to release stress.
Encourage your child to roar like a lion. Demonstrate taking a deep breath and then roaring as you exhale.
Cognitive Development
Numeral Stones
Gather 6 stones large enough to write a numeral on and 15 twigs or other small items. With a permanent marker, write the numerals 0-5 on the stones. Explain to your child the numeral zero is an empty set, it has no members. Show him the numeral 0.
Have your child place the appropriate number of small items with each numeral stone. For example, they would place 3 twigs with the stone that has a 3 on it. Have your child place twigs for all stones.
Language Development
Land & Water Animals
Discuss with your child animals they might see at the zoo. Make a chart with your child of zoo animals that live on land and those that live in the water. See how many animals you can come up with. Count how many are in each category. Have your child choose their favourite zoo animal and talk about the animal’s habitat with them. Encourage them to draw their favourite animal in its habitat. With permission, write their words about their drawing.
Physical Literacy
Zoo Animal Walk
Decide on a start and stop line with your child. Have them stand at the start line and you call out a zoo animal. Encourage your child to move from the start line to the stop line like that animal. Here are a few suggestions to get you started. Kangaroo--jump from a squatting position, bear—walk on hands and feet, monkey—knees bent with arms swinging from side to side, elephant—swinging trunk, heavy steps, giraffe—on toes and stretching. Your child will probably come up with other animals to add to the fun.
Creative Activity
Foil Art
Cover the work surface. Mix equal amounts of glue and water. Have your child use a paintbrush to “paint” the glue onto the foil. They can then add tissue paper pieces to the foil, as desired. Add any other decorative items (feathers, sequins, glitter, etc.) and allow to dry.
Additional Resources
https://www.freechildrenstories.com/ - This website has a selection of free original stories for children ages 3-10 and novels for middle-grade children written by Daniel Errico.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/play-learning/learning-ideas/early-numeracy - This Australian website page gives suggestions to help your infant or toddler develop numeracy skills. But, don’t stop at just this page. This website contains loads of information, both articles and videos, on parenting for all age groups. Some of the topics covered include behaviour, communication, sleep, nutrition and fitness, play and learning, safety and more.
Learning at Home Preschool Week 18
Learning at Home Preschool Week 13
