During the Lunar New Year lanterns provide illumination, are said to be lucky charms, and a wish for the bright future. The story Playing With Lanterns by Wang Yage is about a young girl experiencing the joy and excitement of the custom lighting of paper lanterns for the New Year. After reading the story we invited the children to paint and decorate lanterns for our upcoming annual Lunar New Year Parade. We provided white lanterns, Colorations tempera paint , Bio Color metallic paint , paint brushes, tissue paper, gold foil , lucky money envelopes , and stickers to let the children freely create unique lanterns. To provide a different art experience we hung the lanterns for the children to paint through a type of art called Action Art. The process with this type of invitation involves a lot of layers of their development enhancing. The child will use their cognitive skills to figure out how to manipulate the lantern to stay in place in order to paint. They began to observe and ask questions to strategize how to effectively paint the lanterns. With the canvas being out of the norm, the child's fine and gross motor skills were challenged. All aspects of this process, from painting on different media, standing upright to using small & large muscles, trying to manage the movement of the lantern, gives the child an opportunity to be completely immersed in the process of creating in a unique way! Exploring art, color, gravity, movement, media, will only enhance a child‘s way of thinking creatively. Every time we provide children with the opportunity to create art all on their own, we are reminded of how engaging and important process art is. Here are 9 more Lunar New Year Invitations Ideas!

An igloo, also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of suitable snow. The structure is built from blocks of compressed snow which are carefully shaved and placed to fit in optimal positions. The igloo works by the thermal conductivity being low by stopping heat from being transferred into the surroundings which makes for highly effective insulators. After learning about igloos and reading the story Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett we invited the children to recreate igloos. We provided Dollar Tree containers in clear, white, blue colors, recycled styrofoam blocks, and Discount School Supply Ice Blocks. We invited the children to stretch their thinking of how to create an igloo by exploring the engineering and design process with all of these materials. In the early years a child's work is to constantly problem solve through play. This invitation is a perfect opportunity to challenge a building experience to think and create in new ways with out of the norm materials while learning about how different types of structures are built. When a child is left to create and explore, it stretches their problem-solving and observational skills by all the ways they have to figure out how to build an igloo. STEM subliminally provides awesome real life lessons that are so valuable and enriching to a child. Through these images we get a window into the glimpse of all the unique ways a child interprets information, expresses creativity, all while building and mastering new skills. The beauty of STEM is that there are limitless opportunities for the child to create.

Baby Beluga is quite possibly one of the most special early child hood songs that is close to my heart because of one magical teacher that I was lucky enough to work alongside with and be mentored by years ago. She is now an angel and everytime we hear the song it reminds me of her magic and how she sang it with her class everyday. Raffi's joyful children's music, has been a staple of children's lives for decades. I can attest to this because I remember listening to him in preschool myself and we have been playing his songs at our centers for 15+ years. The song is about a young beluga whale that swims freely with arctic creatures around. In the book you can see the images of the ocean and animals at play. After reading the book or singing the song you can recreate baby belugas world through sensory play. In a sensory bin or Tuff Tray create an oobleck mixture (corn starch, water, liquid water colors ) as the water. Freeze different sized ice blocks and provide arctic animal figureines , seas shells, and cups/bowls. Invite the child(ren) to play baby beluga in the deep blue sea!

Hibernation is one of the most interesting aspects certain creatures do to survive the cold, dark winters to turn down their metabolism, save energy and also not having to forage for food or migrate to somewhere warmer. The book Winter Sleep follows a child and their grandma explore how the earth goes to sleep for the winter. The tale unfolds the different habit of many sleeping animals create snow blankets with trees, twigs, leaves, rocks, moss, and more. Through the illustrations you can see what goes on underground, understand more facts for each animal, and expand the knowledge of the natural world. A great way to extend the literacy experience is providing a STEM building experience where a child can great a winter sleep environment with loose parts, foraged nature, play dough, hibernating creature figurines , bottle brush trees , tree blocks , on a bed of insta snow in a tuff tray . Simply invite the child to create and build a bed for all of the creatures in the book to get some winter sleep!

The story The Lights that Dance in the Night by Yuval Zommer is a wonderful way to explore and learn about the Northern Lights that appear during the winter season. The book goes on a journey from space to earth showcasing the magic for animals and people living in the frozen lands. Before or after reading the story you can open the discussion even more about the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights are also known as Auroral displays appear in many colors, forms in patches or scattered clouds of shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow. The bright lights are collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere and are seen above magnets poles of the northern and southern hemisphere. After reading the story you can invite the children to recreate scenes from the story with Glow Construction Blocks to be ice or the northern lights, bottle brush trees , wooden peg people , and arctic animals figurines. As they play with the open ended materials so much literacy comprehension/language will be developed, spatial awareness through building, color recognition exploring the light from the blocks, imagination blossoms as they act out with the figurines, and the freedom to be creative in their play. Another book we love by this author io The Tree That’s Meant to Be Nature Loose Parts Play .

One of the most amazing things about the Holidays is to see how so many cultures celebrate in different ways. Potato pancakes called latkes are symbolize the miracle of Hanukkah, when the oil of the menorah was able to stay aflame for eight days even though there was only enough oil for one day. The symbolism of Latkes comes in the form of the oil in which latkes are fried. After reading the story Meet the Latkes by Alan Silberberg book to integrate the literacy experience you can either make some latkes or invite the children to create some of the latkes families with loose parts and play dough. To set this invitation you will need loose parts ( acrylic ice rocks , tooth picks, coconut shells, googly eyes , metal bolts , wooden geo shapes) play dough , Textured Rolling Pins, and Wooden Sculpting Tools . Play-dough is a staple in early childhood. It is a powerful way to let a child use their imagination, strengthen the small muscles in their fingers, and encourage a child's language + literacy, science, math and sensory skills. It is quite possibly one of most powerful props for learning. Adding loose parts to decorate the latkes play dough molds inspires the children to think more creativevly while providing endless opportunities to continuously stimulate their curiosity. Since loose parts are dynamic in nature, it brings about authenticity of formulating ideas and you can see a child's creativity shine in their creations. Since children learn and retain information through their senses integrating a sensory materials and loose parts to represent part of the book will deepen their comprehension and connection to the concepts of the story. Here are some other fun ways to explore the holiday Hanukkah: Spin-Art Dreidel , Invitation to Create a Dreidel and Menorah , and Hanukkah Loose Parts Play

Steve Spangler Science Insta Snow Sensory Exploration 3 Ways. 1. Invitation to Paint Insta Snow with Colorations® Liquid WaterColors Discount School Supply: We invited the children to paint on insta snow with pipettes & Colorations Liquid Watercolors. When children are painting the snow they will enhance their color recognition when they are stating, discussing, & observing what colors they are using. By using the pipette to draw the colored water it will enhance their fine motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination. Throughout this whole process by speaking with your child or the child simply speaking their language will thrive & improve. 2. Insta Snow Pouring Station : Pouring stations have limitless options & endless engagement. As they pour, scoop, mix, from one container to another it will aid children to understand capacity & investigate with ideas such as more/less, same/different, many/few, empty/full, before/after, greater than/less than. Not to mention cognitive skills through cause & effect as well as hand eye coordination when pouring the insta snow. Throughout the whole process a child will also build upon their language skills as they speak throughout the process whether they state observations or ask more questions. This type of learning through play by doing the work, helps their brain engage & create + expand their neural pathways since so many of their skill sets are being used & further developed. Hence why play builds brains. 3. Arctic Snow Animals Small World Play : Small world play accompanied with sensory materials are a great way for extending literacy, language, imaginary play, & tactile play. Through this play they can reenact what they see in stories, shows, experiences, & environments around them to deepen their understanding of the world. This type of play can be defined as where children accept & assign roles, then act them out. When children engage in small world play they break through the walls of reality, use their imagination, pretend to be someone or something different from themselves, explore different worlds, & have actions to go along with the roles they have chosen to play. Open-ended play & exploration such as this is an integral part of the developmental learning process in early childhood. The more children are given opportunities of open-ended play such as this the higher their level of thinking will grow & develop along with continuing to build life skills, a love for learning, endless curiosity and wonder.

Today we experimented and explored candy canes through two different science invitations. Candy Cane Fizzy Science: For this invitation we set candy canes on top of a bed of baking soda and provided vinegar for the children to experiment and see what will happen when they combine the materials. As they squirted the vinegar with the pipettes, the candy cane's red color melted, fizzy bubbles were formed, and the smell of peppermint came about. The more they experimented, the materials went from solid to liquid states, and because of all of this so much rich language and observations were made in a collaborative effort. Excavating Candy Cane Tinsel: We placed frozen candy cane tinsel, shimmery warm water, and pipettes to let the children experiment and explore how to excavate the tinsel from the ice. The children worked together using different techniques of squirting water or pouring water to release the tinsel. Again they were able to collaborate and watch ice go from a solid to liquid state. Scientific opportunities such as this let children learn and explore their environments through a multi layer hands on approach. As they learn about cause and effect, cycles of nature, comparisons, chemical and physical changes, reactions and properties of matter, their curiosity about how the world works continues to form. When a child's curiosity continuously builds, children learn to be patient with projects that take time and how to make decisions based on the data they gathered. They are exposed to the basic skill for "scientific research" which is the ability to observe and realize how things are the same and how they are different. Developing this ability to understand likeness and differences builds a science base as well as a skill for future math and reading skills.

There are so many amazing celebrations during the holiday season, and the more children learn about all cultures in the classroom and in our homes, the more knowledge and understanding we provide for everyone while making every child feel seen and heard in their community. We have been reading so many books about Hanukkah during story time and today we learned more about the Hanukkah Menorah and Star of David through loose parts play. We invited the children to decorate with loose parts ( translucent mosaic craft shapes , transparent pattern blocks ,and menorah candles). When a child uses loose parts to create drawn out images, shapes, or designs invitations, it gives opportunities to work on spatial awareness, exposes them to different forms of art, paying attention to detail, and enhancing their language skills as they communicate what they see or what they are doing. As they manipulate the loose parts to fit inside, outside, or around the designs they are enhancing their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and shape recognition. Here are some other fun ways to explore the holiday Hanukkah: Spin-Art Dreidel and Invitation to Create a Dreidel and Menorah.

The story Pick a Pine Tree written by Patricia Toht and illustrated by Jarvis is about the magic of the Christmas season traditions that friends and families take part in. One of the most important of all is picking out and taking home a tree. After reading the story, we invited the children to explore Christmas trees in two different ways. Invitation to Paint a Christmas Tree: For this invitation we used recycled cardboard, poster board paper, and foraged eucalyptus leaves, twigs, and Colorations BioColor Metallic Paint. We invited the children to freely paint the trees on a vertical surface. Painting vertically encourages 1. Shoulder/Elbow Stability 2. Bilateral Coordination 3. Midline Crossing 4. Wrist Extension/Pencil Grasp 5. Visual Attention and Hand-Eye Coordination 6. Spatial Awareness 7. Sensory 8. Core Strength and Posture. Visual arts deeply affect children, for it is one of the most important forms of communication. Painting at the easel has a fluidity that is different from other art media that children use because when they paint this way, they express and honor their creative artistic style more freely. With open ended painting they are given a foundation to look at the world with the confidence they can accomplish a goal by honoring their creativity. Invitation to Decorate a Christmas Tree with Loose Parts: For this invitation we used wooden tree cut outs, moss, wood rounds, and pony beads . We invited the children to freely create and decorate their own Christmas trees with loose parts. When a child uses loose parts to create drawn out images, shapes, or designs invitations, it gives opportunities to work on spatial awareness, exposes them to different forms of art, paying attention to detail, and enhancing their language skills as they communicate what they see or what they are doing. As they manipulate the loose parts to fit inside, outside, or around the designs they are enhancing their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and shape recognition.

The beauty of loose parts is that you can repurpose them for other invitations. After doing the The Tree That’s Meant to Be Nature Loose Parts Play to get a second use out of the the foraged loose parts you can create a frozen winter excavation. Place the foraged wintry nature loose parts into ice molds and freeze them. Once they are frozen pop them out on the tuff tray, sensory bin, or tray. Provide twisty droppers , water, and tools. Invite the the child excavate and release the wintry loose parts. There is so much science, water play, cognitive and fine motor development all packed into this invitation! A child is able to explore and finding a deeper connection with nature. A while back we did another wintry excavation outside, check that out here: Invitation to Explore Frozen Winter Nature.

The book The Tree That's Meant to Be by Yuval Zommer , is about celebrating our differences and sticking by our friends, spreading kindness and generosity during Christmas. A tree is left all alone after not being chosen for families to bring home, so forest animals gather nature to decorate and make the tree feel special. After reading the story go on a nature walk to forage a whole bunch of different wintry nature loose parts and sort them in a tinker tray. Set insta snow in a sensory bin/tray Tuff Tray. Place leaves in the shape of the tree and invite the child(ren) to decorate the tree just like the story. You can even place forest animals to create a small world play as well. Place leaves in the shape of the tree and invite them to decorate the tree just like the story. You can even place forest animals to create a small world play as well. After your done playing save the wintry nature loose parts for other invitations and stayed tuned for other ways to use them in more invitations this week!