Egg carton School Bus

For back to school, have your child make a school bus made from an egg carton.  Simply have your child color or paint the carton yellow.  (A cardboard carton works best)  For the older child, have him/her look through magazines and have him/her cut out pictures of children and glue them on the inside of the carton so that the faces are seen through the holes of the carton.  For younger children, simply have them glue the children in place.  Cut circles from black construction paper (again, the older child can cut these) and glue for wheels.  Another idea for wheels- use bottle caps and paint them black.  Then write "school" on the carton, and your child has his/her very own school bus.

Sit for school

Here's another tip to prepare your kids for school.  Start having your kids sit at the table, or at a desk, to do table top tasks.  Summer is full of fun, sun and lots of gross motor activities.  School is full of sitting and completing fine motor activities. Your child needs to start practicing being able to sit and complete fine motor activities.  Have your child color, or write a story.  Play board games to practice taking turns. Have your child increase the time he/she is able to sit so that he/ she will be ready when school starts.

It's School Time!!!

It's that time of year again- back to school time!  While most parents are ready to send their little ones back to school, it's important to make sure the kids are ready, as well.  Aside from the hand writing, scissor skills, spelling, reading, etc., kids need to be physically ready for school.  Working in the school environment, we hear all the time about the importance of kids getting enough sleep.  A tired child is not as able to learn as easily as a well rested child.  Think of your productivity at the office when you didn't get enough sleep the night before- it is not up to par.  Same goes for a child in school.  We know the summer brings a relaxed schedule, with later bedtimes.  If your child has not yet started the school year, start now by having your child go to bed earlier each night until he/she is at school bedtime.  Practice getting up earlier, too, so your child is able to do so for school.  Remember, consistency is key.  Children love routines and their bodies flourish by having them. Get an alarm clock, many different, and inexpensive models found at stores like Target and Walmart, and Kohls.  Have your child work on waking up to the alarm clock.

Sea shell creatures

Wondering what to do with the shells you collected at the beach this summer?  Here is a cute idea.  Take one shell and glue it to a piece of wood.  Add eyes which you can make from tiny marshmallows or can buy at a craft store.  Glue another shell to the first shell to make seashell creatures! If the kids want, they can paint the shells first to make colorful creatures!

Here is a cute craft idea to do with the kids this summer.  Cut a paper plate in half and paint it into a watermelon.  You can use just paint to make the watermelon, or, you can use actual watermelon seeds.  To do this, make sure the red paint is pretty thick and the kids can put the seeds right onto the paint- no glue needed.  Once the paint dries, the seeds will stay on the paper!

Fine Motor on Vacation

Having just got back from the beach (a four hour car ride for us) I look back at how natural it can be to introduce kids to essential motor skills while on vacation!  If you're headed to the ocean try these activities:

• In the car, try playing small car bingo games with the little doors that slide open and closed, or find books with flaps to open.  Also, using a cookie sheet or tray with a lip can be helpful to position crafts and books.  Try placing a sheet of thick shelf liner or Dycem to help hold things in place.
• In the hotel or house, bring new foam or interlocking puzzles from the Dollar Store for a quick surprise, sometimes novelty gains attention!  Kids can help fold towels or arrange everyone's shoes for helpful movement and sorting activities.
• At the beach there are plenty of things to do that help improve motor and dexterity skills!  In the sand, practice using those tools, pinching up sand crabs you find to help place them in wet sand to burrow was one of our favorites this year.  You can find rocks and shells in the ocean to sort into holes you dig or bury your child's hand and tell them to raise out on finger at a time.
• The ocean provides plenty of sensory input, from walking in different sands (wet and dry), to the sound of the waves, to the rush of the water over their ankles.  Depending on your child's abilities, swimming in, jumping over, diving through, and body boarding with the ocean's waves provide tons of sensory input and heavy work, playing against resistance.

Hope this helps you think of some new ideas next time you get a chance to get away!

Learning letters

Recently, I have had a few parents of kindergarten going kids ask for different ways to teach their kids to recognize letters. I always find that kids, especially little boys, like gross motor activities. So, a few suggestions: play hop scotch with letters, but tell the kids which letter to jump onto (good for numbers, as well). Make paper "targets" with letters on them and have the child throw a ball at them. You can put them on your wall, garage or even on the driveway and have them throw at the letter you state. I recommend focusing on a few letters at a time. Once these are mastered, add some more (maybe 2-3). It's a good idea to teach both upper and lower case letter recognition at the same time. Learning is easier when the kids are having fun!