When a child(ren) is showing extreme interest in a subject matter building upon their curiosity honors their learning process and provides for a meaningful experience to guide a child's exploration in something they are interested in. Since the children at our centers are getting even more and more excited for Halloween we decided to continue their current interests by inviting the children to make their own baby doll mummies! Before we invited them to create mummies we have been reading Halloween books and talking about what mummies are and where they came from. We learned that some of the most famous mummies were found in Egypt inside the pyramids! For this invitation we set a table with baby dolls and crepe paper streamers! (You can also do it with gauze or toliet paper.) We invited the children to make their own baby doll mummies by wrapping them in crepe paper! The mummification process unfolded with so much discussion of which body parts they were wrapping, what techniques they were using, and even where these babies were going trick or treating after they got all dressed up! After the children were done wrapping their mummies we unwrapped the crepe paper and used it to make spooky spider webs on our cardboard haunted house!

There are so many wondrous takes on creating potions during this time of year. After reading the story Bone Soup which about a skeleton named Finning who hopes to stir up a cauldron’s worth of Halloween magic for a feast. Setting up a hands on invitation to create bone soup is a great way to extend the literacy experience. To set this invitation up in a sensory bin, water table, or tuff tray with a cauldron + ladle of slime and/or water, spooky critters, bones, eyeballs, and more halloween fun to ignite creativity and a child's imagination through play for making Bone Soup. Invitations where children are exploring sensory materials such as water and slime will enable the children to experiment with science and math concepts. Children begin to understand and investigate with ideas such as more/less, same/different, many/few, empty/full, before/after, greater than/less than. They also learn physics principles such as the effects of force (increasing the water flow through increased force); effects of gravity (water runs downhill) etc. Children also gain physical learning through water play, such as precision in pouring, eye-hand coordination, and other skills. Exploring with sensory materials is captivating, engaging, engrossing and absorbing to almost all children. When children are freely given the opportunity to experiment cause and effect with materials, they use and discover so much language, figure out why things happen, and cultivate critical thinkers that can problem solve. Science experiments tap into the "whys" of the life which supports their natural curiosities as they discover the world around them. Science in the early years is all about exploring, asking questions, and curiosity. So let them experiment, explore and create bone soup!

The juxtaposition of art materials on playground equipment makes for rich memorable experiences that prompt children to see things from our everyday experiences in a new light. We took our pumpkins, Colorations Tempera Paint, Butcher Paper and Slides to create this STEAM invitation to explore action art. With taped butcher paper on to the slides we placed puddles of paint on the top of the slide, and invited the children to experiment pushing the pumpkins down the slide. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) invitations such as this are a great way to expose a child to both action art and science all together. Scientists, mathematicians, engineers and artists all use the same critical thinking skills to find new and innovative solutions. Through the process of experimenting and exploring with pushing the pumpkins down the slide to paint the children are given opportunities that instills innovation, creativity, curiosity, and imagination, which provides for a stronger cognitive foundation that will support them to adulthood in all aspects of their life. Engaging children with a combination of art, science, and gross motor action is a dynamic way to teach and expose them to a style of painting where there are no mistakes or boundaries. When children use out of the norm tools to paint they become more thoughtful and creative about the techniques they use as they experiment. 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. Exploring art, color, gravity, movement, and different techniques of creating, will only enhance and open a child‘s way of thinking creatively while helping them cover so many domains of learning. “Action Art projects result in products to be enjoyed and admired, but it is the process of exploration and experimenting that stimulates the child’s learning from discovering and creating…” from Action Art .

This STEM invitation lets children build and balance materials through open ended exploration with pumpkins! With plastic cups, cds, and pumpkins the children were invited to stretch their thinking by introducing the engineering and design process. 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. Since there are no wrong or right way to do this invitation, the possibilities are endless. When a child is left to create and explore, it stretches their problem-solving skills by all the ways they have to figure out how to balance the pumpkins, cups, and cds. Through all these trials, the children are able to analyze the situation more critically and come up with solutions on their own way. STEM subliminally provides awesome real life lessons that are so valuable and enriching to a child and through these images we get a window into the glimpse of mastering a new skill. The beauty of STEM, you can do the same invitation and modify or enhance the process by providing different materials. Here are three other ways to to do STEM with pumpkins STEM pumpkins , Invitation to Build Five Little Pumpkins , Five Little Pumpkins STEM with Natural Wooden Blocks .

The beauty of cardboard and process art is that anything and everything can be used as a canvas or morphed into something creative. Cardboard is such a versatile material that provides a great surface to paint on. Since it comes in so many different sizes, textures, and shapes it allows the children to explore art in a different medium, use their imagination to think of a range of ways to paint cardboard boxes, and promotes collaboration as the children can work together to paint and talk about what they are creating. Since the children at our centers are excited for Halloween we decided to honor their current interests and assemble a "Haunted House," with recycled boxes and let them paint with Colorations Tempera Paint from Discount School Supply! This inspired so much excitement and engagement as the children transformed and reinvented these boxes into a spooky house! When we provide opportunities for a child to paint freely and express their feelings in a visual way it will further help build their social emotional development. Painting allows children to explore emotions and find safe ways of expressing them. Active engagement in the arts yields positive results children internalize and externalize emotions. Researchers tell us that children who participate in arts over an extended period of time show more sophisticated social skills such as sharing and cooperation, reduced shyness and anxiety, and reduced aggressive behavior. Children who engage in arts regularly are better able to control their emotions and express them in productive ways. Since the social emotional development of a child is the foundation to support all of the other domains when a child feels empowered and confident through painting they will also enhance their fine & gross motor development, hand-eye coordination and control, openness to experiment/take risks with tools provided, further develop their language as they express what they are doing in the process, and continue to have the avenue of using their most powerful capability creativity + imagination.

During the end of October each year, Día de los Muertos the ancient Mexican traditions honors ancestors and loved ones who have passed. The preparation of sugar skulls, delicious food, flowers, art, and shrines are made for the festivities of singing, dancing, and reminiscing. The book Día de los Muertos (Celebrate the World) is wonderful to read to children in order to learn more about the celebration. After reading the story to extend the literacy experience you can provide a hands on invitation to decorate Calaveras just like the traditions in the books. These amazing wooden Calaveras are from the Dollar Tree and are perfect to invite children to decorate with loose parts loose parts ( translucent mosaic craft shapes , transparent pattern blocks , transparent rainbow pebbles ). 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.

To continue learning about National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month the book Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors has lively pictures that presents a slice of the Latino culture through food and fun for children to discover a world of colors all around them. Continuously reading stories that honor cultures establishes an inclusive environment. The more children learn about all cultures in classrooms or our homes, the more knowledge and understanding we provide for everyone within our communities. To extend the literacy experience through the arts inviting children to create a collaborative mix media collage inspired by all the colors of the books helps deepen the connection of the story, enhance color recognition, and ignite creativity through process art. To set this invitation you will need butcher paper, glue, washi tape, pom poms, foam shapes, crepe paper, craft sticks, and fabric. Invite the child(ren) to create a collage full of beautiful colors just like the book. Experimenting with different medias and varying textures always brings a special spark of interest and engagement because of the open ended process for children. Children who engage in process art such as this learn to think with an open mind, to look at situations creatively, and empower their talents. They develop critical-thinking skills through making self directed decisions, how to use different materials, or how to work with one another to make a collaborative piece. By creating freely children gain confidence while acquiring the foundation to look at the world with the confidence that they can accomplish any goal. When children create art, they are proud to be unique and take risks, while honoring their innate creative artistic style. "The basic law of children's creativity is that its value lies not in its results , not in the product of creation, but in the process itself. It is not important what children create, but that they do create, that they exercise and implement their creative imagination.” Vygotsky Here are some other ways to invite a children to learn about the culture through open ended play based invitations. Paletero Man Round is a Tortilla Frida Kahlo Two Border Towns Día De Lose Muertos Pablo Picasso Dreamers Monarch Butterflies One is a Piñata One-to-One Correspondence with Loose Parts

The story "Little Tree" by Loren Long , is not only a great book to read on how and when leaves changes, the seasons, weather, colors, and more. It is a great book for opening up discussion about facing change, challenges of growing up and letting go. Since the world looks and feels different for many children this is a great way to connect how nature constantly changes and life does as well. When we read books related to what is going on in the world around them, it makes more intentional and motivating for children to explore. Information can be gained from these books in context of a story. The pictures and words can impart a lot of meaning and information to help the children learn more about at topic, relate their own experiences, and guide the children's curiosity about how the world works. To extend an intentional literacy experience to further ignite a child's wonder setting an invitation to recreate fall foliage with loose parts + fall colored sensory bottles on a light table is an open ended way through to play to help them comprehend and retain the information from the story. To set this invitation provide a light table where the children can explore fall like loose parts (acorns, wood rounds , fabric leaves , expired pasta, cinnamon sticks, wooden leaves, and twigs . You can also add fall colored sensory bottles. To make these Growing Up Yang Inspired sensory bottles you will need an empty sensory bottle. Fill 3/4 of the bottle with warm water, add fine fall colored glitter , fill the rest of the bottle with clear glue , add glue to the rim of the cap, and shake well. Through this type of invitation children are really creating and exploring with what they have and what they already know, and combining that to create a whole that’s greater than the parts. Watching how the different combinations of materials inspire the child to create different variations truly honors a child's free creative play intentionally. Another way to explore this book is from this Loose Parts Invitation from a couple years back!

I still haven't been able to find the right way to convey the debilitating feeling of helplessness, triggering images/videos, and the scope of what's happening in Iran the past couple of weeks. For now here is a little bit of The Iran I Know, social media platforms providing up to date information and ways to help. The Iran I know, is where my great grandmother was a principal of an elementary school, where my grandmother owned and operated her own beauty salon, where my mother obtained her Bachelors Degree pregnant and raised my brother till the age of four all during the revolution. The Iran I know, is where my grandfather taught mathematics, where uncles paved the way for engineering, where my father obtained a Bachelors Degree and two Master Degrees while traveling the world and speaking three languages. The Iran I know and was raised to be proud of was rich in culture, fashionable, multi faith, modern, liberal, progressive, inclusive, and western learning. The Iran I know, where my grandparents, parents, sibling, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends came from was forward thinking. The Iran I have yearned to travel to has been non existent since my family immigrated 35 years ago. The Iran I know, is one of the biggest reasons I am passionate about exposing children to culture and celebrating diversity on all fronts. The Iran we all want back, can only be done so through change. Here are some accounts to follow in order to gain more perspective on what is happening: @camanpour @sahar_ghorishi.x @bottomofthepot @shallyzomorodi @iranianpopart @yelmjouie @shirinrajee @yasharali @moj @from____iran @middleeeastmatters @masih.alinejad @iamyasi @theslowfactory @golfarhani @nazaninboniadi @mandy @iamnazaninour @thecaspianchef @quirkypenstudio @chaiandconversation @nicolettemason @cyrusveyssi @donya.delsouz @nimayajam @sharsanjar Help Iranians in Iran Women life Freedom

Spooky season is here, which means it’s time for Goblin Jamboree , Bay Area Discovery Museum annual Halloween festival! Enter to win admission for a spooktacular day for the whole family! From hay mazes to slime banquets to spider web-weaving and Disglow Parties, celebrate Halloween under the Golden Gate Bridge and experience the power of joyful learning. Two families will be chosen! How to enter:⁠ Head over to IG and like this post and follow @bayareadiscoverymuseum ⁠ + @tinkerwonderplay Tag 2 friends in the comments you want to go to Goblin Jamboree with Bonus entry: Reshare this post to your story ⁠ Giveaway ends Thursday, October 6 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Good luck! ⁠

Planning for Kids' Fall Activities can take a long time. Starting today, we will plan Kids' Fall Activities for you! Pre-loaded with Notes, To-do’s and Events, discover Tinkerwonderplay's plan in @growmaple’s newly launched Browser. Simply tap “use it”, and immediately make the plan yours. Why plan for Kids' Fall Activities in hours, when you can now plan for it in seconds? Never start from scratch again! Now you can use plans made by other homes and brands you love and make them your own!Browse plans for birthday parties, family trips, or chore organization. Then simply tap “Use it” to add them to your home. With 9 different categories and over 300 plans to choose from, there is a plan that is just right for you. Browse for a plan Tap “browser” to view plans Use the tabs to view different categories of plans Search for a specific type of plan Use a plan Tap a plan to view more information about the contents Tap “Use it” to personalize this plan in your home View your plans Tap “home” to see all the plans you’re using Personalize the plan by updating the notes, to-dos, and events Brows Plans Here!

To continue learning about National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month One is a Piñata book of numbers is a great way to discover a fiesta of numbers/counting from one to ten with many of the featured objects are Hispanic and Latinx origin. After reading this story to extend the literacy set out a butcher paper with the numbers 1-10 and loose parts ( gem cubes , transparent pattern blocks , transparent rainbow pebbles ) to encourage exposure through practicing one-to-one correspondence through loose parts play. The process of experiencing numbers & developing a number sense starts in the early years. There are two stages of counting that all children go through – rote counting & rational counting (one-to-one correspondence). Rote counting is when a child learns the number names & can say them verbatim in sequence. Rational counting is when a child is able to assign the correct number name to each object as they are counted in succession. The difference between the two is that the first is a process of memorizing names in sequence & the second is the process of developing an understanding of the value of numbers. So why is it important to expose children to open ended one-to-one correspondence invitations such as this? When children are exposed to invitations where they match an object to the corresponding number & begin to grasp that numbers are symbols to represent a quantity this will help guide young children to understand the meaning or value of the numbers. Numbers and symbols are abstract for children so 1:1 correspondence is the connection between the symbol, the language, and the quantity. By asking them to count objects to the symbol; the child will be exposed to coordinate their counting with the objects by collecting or pointing to them. Providing loose parts for children to practice 1:1 correspondence by sorting objects into the corresponding numbers leave children to explore or sit with them and use intentional language and open-ended questioning to extend their thinking and enhance their learning in a way where they have time to practice with no pressure. Here are some other ways to invite a children to learn about the culture through open ended play based invitations. Paletero Man Round is a Tortilla Frida Kahlo Two Border Towns Día De Lose Muertos Pablo Picasso Dreamers Monarch Butterflies