May 18, 2020 - Day 39 of Flexible Learning
- Suzanne Flammer
- May 17, 2020
- 5 min read
Happy Monday Everyone... It was a Great Weekend! I was able to plant my flower pots so I may enjoy a beautiful yard. What did you do? Hope you enjoyed it, too!
Please note it is important to keep in mind your child's IEP goals. These skills may be addressed through the provided activities as well as the very natural everyday interactions such as daily routines and play. Play with your child as play is a child's work. All areas of development - cognitive, social/emotional, motor, and speech/language skills are achieved through everyday activities including play. It is through play that your child learns, grows, and will retain new skills and information.
These are all suggestions for you to have in one location; if you find, that you need additional resources for your child. Our key word is Flexible and that is very important when working with young children. If you are in need of other resources, please just contact me.
I will continue to send a morning email each school day with links to this page, Ms. Cosgrove's morning message, and attendance form.
Please continue to email me your pictures. I love seeing your faces!
Theme: Butterflies/Flowers
Suggested Activities
Read Aloud - Waiting for Wings / Butterflies
The below link will open up to 2 read aloud stories as well as additional activities related to butterflies. Please take the time to explore this site... It is GREAT!
Calendar Activities
Month of May Song
Days of the Week Song
Counting Song
StarFall Calendar
Virtual Field Trip - Learn About Butterflies
Butterfly Crafts
To create these butterflies use 2 pipe cleaners. No pipe cleaners - twist strips of aluminum foil to the size of pipe cleaners. Have your child nearly fill them with beads - no beads - small pieces of macaroni, cereal, or cut up straws will work. Twist each side into a large oval with a little bit extra left for the antenna/body or clip it with a clothespin. Then twist each oval in the center to create the upper and lower wing for each side. Using the small piece of pipe cleaner in the center add one bead on each side for a spacer and then twisted them together to connect both sides and create antennas. Beads/Straws + pipe cleaners = amazing fine motor creations!
Butterfly Life Cycle Sensory and Sorting Play
Materials - Food Coloring, Rotini pasta, Bowtie pasta, Shell pasta, green grass or torn tissue, and sorting tray or container
Place the desired amount of pasta into a plastic bag, add a few squirts of food coloring, and give the bag a good shake. Once the pasta is colored as you’d like, spread the pasta on paper towels to dry. Dry each shape a few colors - great for sorting. Once all of the pasta is dry, mix together with green grass in a sensory container or basket. Have your child dive in and play! Encourage your child to comment on the various shapes of pasta.
Each type of pasta represents a different aspect of the butterfly life cycle. The curly rotini pasta is a “caterpillar”, the shell pasta is a “chrysalis”, and the bowtie pasta is a “butterfly.”
With this bin, have your child talk about what happens after a caterpillar emerges from an egg. This is a hands-on way for them to retell the life cycle. Have your child sort by color first, placing all of the same colors together no matter the shape. After everything was sorted by color, we sorted by shape, with all of the butterflies together and so on. Once that is done, have your child sort by color and shape at the same time. For this, all of the yellow butterflies were placed together while the yellow chrysalises were gathered in a different group. Have your child order the life cycle by "chrysalis", "caterpillar", and "bowtie" with all the pasta shapes. Count out how many of each. After the final sorting is done, count how many pasta pieces were in each group. Then mix back up so your child may continue scooping and pouring the pasta together!
STEM - Butterfly Life Cycle Balloon
Materials - black marker, vinegar, baking soda, an empty clear container, a tray, a funnel, and a measuring spoon.
Draw a butterfly onto a balloon on one side. Draw a caterpillar onto this same balloon on the other side. Fill the empty plastic container with vinegar. You only need a little bit to make this reaction. Then fill the balloon with baking soda by inserting a funnel into the opening and placing a spoonful into the funnel to fill inside of the balloon. Attach the balloon to the plastic container with vinegar. Careful not to spill any of the baking soda inside of the container. When you hang the balloon be sure to hang it on the caterpillar side and talk about how the caterpillar forms a chrysalis that hangs. Now it’s time for the STEM Challenge!!! Can make your butterfly grow? Encourage your child to LIFT UP the caterpillar balloon and allow the baking soda to fill into the container. WATCH and see what happens next! Step by step photos are available from the below link.
Spring/Letter/Number Printables
The below link is a site that provide free printables for you to access for your child, if you have a printer. Please utilize these along with the other suggested activities, if needed. You may need to scroll to bottom of page to download. Some sites may require you to enter an email in order to download the printables. I have provided the entire site so you may select the pages that you feel are useful.
Letter Review Weekly Activities
We have completed our weekly letters. The remaining weeks of the year will focus on reviewing and reinforcing letter recognition as well as initial sounds. The suggested activities are designed to be practiced throughout the week.
Letter Activities and Alphabet Songs
Alphabet Name Letter Hunt / ABC Hunt
Have your child write their name on a piece of paper or index card. You may need to assist your child. Have your child look through books, magazines, and or newsprint to hunt for letters from their name. Let them check off each letter of their name on the paper or card. Extend the activity - find pictures or objects of items that begin with the sounds from the letters of their name. Find upper and lowercase letters. Write family members' names and repeat activity. Extend activity to have your child find all letters of the alphabet. You may need to write letters to have your child match the letter. Have your child name letter and say initial sound of letter.
Rainbow Name
Have your child write their name in pencil. You may need to assist your child. Have your child trace each letter using 1 color of the rainbow for each letter. Repeat with a 2nd, 3rd, etc colors.
Letter - Mystery Box
Find and place 5-7 items/pictures that begin with the a single letter. Have your child label each item/picture - talk about the item/picture - place items/pictures in box. Have your child recall the items that have been placed into the box. Repeat this activity daily with your child. Some items/pictures will be recalled easily - others may require a clue. Make this into a game with your child. This is an activity that we do during our circle time and was enjoyed by all.
Sensory Writing/Play dough/Object Letters
Write your name as well as other letters and numbers in shaving cream, rice, sand, or flour. Any substance will work to give your child that sensory input when writing letters.
Use play dough to form letters. You may write a letter on a piece of paper and have your child roll out play dough to cover the letter. Cover the letter with small objects such as buttons, beads, cereal, or macaroni.
Letter Scavenger Hunt
Have your child search for items that begin with letter any single letter. Have your child name/label each item emphasizing the beginning sound of the letter
Music/Movement
Butterfly Dance
For our butterfly dancing activity, first try to tie a few scarves or light weight pieces of fabric together to make colorful flowing wings. Put some soft classical music on to have your child flutter around the room flapping their beautiful wings.
Miss Melinda's Music Class
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