Story Time: Scroll down for the Books of the Week

Choose one book each day to focus on

Scroll down for the Books of the Week. Pause during the book reading to discuss what you see and ask your child to identify items either by labeling or pointing. Keep a list of what they were able to identify and share it with us!

After reading the books/watching the videos, MASK UP and go on a nature-texture walk or trip to the SUPERMARKET (even if it's just around the block). While walking ASK QUESTIONS and talk about what you see and feel; discuss the variety of textures (ie soft, hard, smooth, rough). Allow your child to explore fruits and vegetables, maybe pick up textured foods and explore the inside! Allow your child to explore what you've discovered and we'll be using some of these materials throughout the week.

Literacy Activity:

Choose an activity to work on over a couple of days or choose one activity per day

Vocabulary words to target this week: hand, feel, touch

Other words to consider: hard, soft, rough, smooth, bumpy, sticky, wet, dry

EXAGGERATE the target letters below and pair those sounds with the vocabulary words

(Focus Letters: H, F, T)

*Feel free to add your own words, the key is consistency. KEEP LANGUAGE GOING ALL DAY*

CLICK HERE FOR NAME MATS

CLICK HERE FOR LETTER PRINTABLES

There are puzzles, tracing, painting, play-dough mats to choose from. The goal is to have your child engage with letters of the alphabet but also to be able to identify the letters in the vocabulary words. Experiment with what your child shows the most interest in. Target fine motor skills, following directions and communication. Allow your child to use glue, safety scissors, paint, markers, stickers, etc. For play-dough and paint recipes, click on this link below or check our "Resources" page.

NO PRINTER? NO PROBLEM! DRAW LETTERS FOR YOUR CHILD TO TRACE WITH THEIR FINGERS, MARKER, ETC

STEAM:

Science/ Technology/ Engineering/ Art/ Math/ Science

Choose an activity to work on over a couple of days or choose one activity per day

Examples of questions to ask:

What happens when ___? How do you think that works? How could you change that?

What does that remind you of? What would happen if ___? Tell me more.

*Remember to narrate play and ask questions; label objects, animals, parts of things (ie leaf on stem), colors, sizes, tastes, quantity.

*This is where you can use the items gathered during your supermarket trip or nature walk.

1. Autumn Sensory Bin: Add these leaves, acorns, sticks, pine cones, mini pumpkins, etc to bin or large bowl. Invite your child to explore the variety of textures (ie rough, smooth, pointy, bumpy) using their hands. If you have a magnifying glass, assist your child to observe the items up close. Remember to ask a lot of questions and narrate the activity. Consider placing some items in the freezer or warm up (test before giving to your child) in the microwave to experiment with different temperatures.

2. Finger Paint: Invite your child to finger-paint and talk with them about how the paint feels (e.g., slippery, cold) as they paint. Consider adding textured substances (ie sand, dirt) or oils/ spices to the paints (be sure to be mindful of allergies) and encourage your child to smell the paints as they work. No paint? No problem! Use one of the recipes on the Resources page.

3. Goop: Gather some cornstarch and water, add paint if you'd like. Consider adding a texture (ie coffee, sand, marbles, beads, or another texture that your child may enjoy), consider adding a visual element (ie glitter, paint). Talk about the sensation of the goop (ie wet, cold, hard, soft). Encourage exploration and language.

4. Texture Paint: Provide tools that produce interesting prints (potato mashers, textured rolling pins, forks) for your child to use as painting tools instead of using paintbrushes. Talk with your child about the print each tool makes. Allow them to explore the materials and consider adding some favorite toys like legos, trains and cars! Remember to talk about the materials, promote language and have fun!

5. Texture Collage: Invite your child to use a variety of textured materials to create a collage. Encourage them to explore the texture of the materials they select and reflect on what they see when finished. Assist your child to create a face, animal or favorite character. Allow your child to experiment with the materials and textures.

6. Sorting: Remember that walk you took and you gathered materials from the environment (e.g., leaves, acorns, pinecones, etc.)? or gather a variety of materials from around the house (varied textures) as well as containers or colored paper for sorting. Assist your child to sort materials based on textures, size or quantity. Consider providing direction to have your child place items on colored paper (ie put the leaves on the orange paper, put the acorns on the blue paper).

7. Feely Box: Cut holes in the sides of a shoebox or other small box. Place an item inside the box and invite your child to put their hands in the holes and identify the object using only their sense of touch. Start off with using a favorite toy of known object (ie ball, train). Discuss the texture of the item and provide clues to what it could be. Alternatively, place items of similar texture (ie soft, hard, wet, dry) and have your child indicate which box has what (ie which one is soft?) or label what it is inside; provide models as needed.

8. Masking Tape Bracelets: Create a bracelet from masking tape by wrapping it LOOSELY around your child's wrists sticky side OUT. Encourage your child to find items of different textures and stick them onto their bracelets, or consider providing items for your child to use (ie "Let's make a 'soft' bracelet" and place feathers on the tape).

9. Sand Paper Rubbings: Cut a few letters (e.g., first letters of children’s names) out of sandpaper. Invite your child to place a piece of paper over a letter and rub a crayon on the paper over the letters. Discuss what happens and help the your child consider why the letter emerges on the paper. Have your child label the letters or model labels for them to imitate; if possible, experiment with different colors and varied grain sandpaper.

Books of the Week

Once finished with the book, go through it again and PAUSE video to get a better look at pictures; assist your child to identify pictures (focus on labels, body parts, sounds, shapes, tastes, verbs, colors, quantity.

Use this as an opportunity to talk about how we use our sense of touch. Discuss colors, shapes, quantity, and patterns. Pause the books at any time to answer questions, ASK questions, and point out important information. At the end of the book, talk about it some more. Ask WH questions (ie WHAT did we just read?/ WHAT did you see?)

Interested in more books? Check this out: My Five Senses Library

Videos of the Week/ Music and Movement

When exploring these videos, use this as an opportunity to talk with your child about parts of their bodies and the function of body parts (ie touch/ feel with hands/ feet), EMOTIONS and following directions and imitations.

It's important to engage with your child, narrate videos and PAUSE video if you need to. Have your child perform emotions and movements with their bodies. Write down any reactions or words and share with us!

The goal here is to HAVE FUN! Making mistake and having a do-over is OKAY, it's all part of the learning process!

Check out these activities!!

If you need some time to relax and calm down, take 10 minutes.. just click here for our Calm Room.