There is no denying that children learn best by hands on experiences and providing hands on open ended sensory experiences are extremely beneficial for a young child’s development. Children’s Factory #gifted this Indoor/Outdoor 4 Pack Sensory Tablue Set that can be configured in a row for individual play or a circle for community play. The Sensory Tables feature durable plastic table and lid and a convenient lower shelf for supplies. To set this invitation you can place any sensory materiel (water, sand, pasta, dried beans, etc.) along with measuring tools, figurines, or loose parts. In this invitation we set Multi Colored & Sand Kidfetti® Play Pelle ts along with measuring tools and Easter Eggs. Sensory play stimulates the child‘s brain and builds neural pathways that improve sensory processing systems. In addition to enhancing their senses many sensory activities also encourage social & pretend play, math, science, language development, hand-eye coordination, and so much more.

Been soaking up extra newborn cuddles thanks to #gifted Bonsie skin to skin wear. Skin to skin time is the first step in developing a loving, empathetic and lifelong bond according to Bonsie. Benefits of Practicing Skin to Skin: Baby Stabilizes heart and breathing rates Helps baby regulate temperature and blood sugar Helps baby sleep more soundly and wake less often. Mom Increases levels of oxytocin in mom and baby Promotes healing for mom Helps baby cry less Lowers mom's risk of postpartum mood disorder Development Boosts brain functioning & development Allows for the sharing of good bacteria between mom and baby Boosts baby's immune system and protects against illness and disease Breastfeeding Helps initiate breastfeeding Helps baby attach to caretakers if breastfeeding is not an option Builds moms milk supply Helps baby gain weight faster Shop the collection now!

If you haven’t checked out the FB Live on Discount School Supply on their IG and FB ,here is a bit more about one of the products! Whenever I get my hands on anything that is translucent, I immediately have to put it on a light table. Discount School Supply #gifted these Excellerations® Translucent Building Bricks - 206 Pieces and simple way to enhance the experience is providing a light table for the child to create and explore the blocks. Children are naturally drawn to the glow of the table and are often calmed by the visual stimulation as they play. Light has a way of focusing their attention and illuminating new perspectives, therefore adding this sensory element opens their mind to a whole new perspective of building. The light table while make the colors even more vibrant which in turn can help them understand color, shapes, and sorting. Any types of blocks are essential in all stages of early childhood. They provide opportunities for early STEM concepts that will provide skills for children throughout the rest of their lives. Building with blocks such as these, help children enhance their visual-spatial skills. Encourages thinking and reasoning, these skills are what make children become well-rounded, independent and successful adults. Involves focus and patience, children need to work slowly and carefully to be successful at creating their designs. Using their imagination boosts cognitive, academic, language and social growth. When building, children need to decide what will or won’t work. Through building, children learn to experiment and make new discoveries about how things work. Builds confidence, once that masterpiece is finished, children are so proud of their accomplishments. It increases their belief in themselves.

The book The Shape of Home written and Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh , is about a Iranian girl’s first day of school in America. Through the eyes of Rashin it explores how everything she encounters is a different shape than what she's used to. From the foods, letters in the books, & children/families. When she goes to school her teacher asks each child to imagine the shape of home on a map which opens up the discussion of each child’s country that their family is originally from. This book is such a great way to open up the discussion of different cultures and countries in the classroom. After reading the wonderful story and having the discussion with your child or children in your classroom you can invite them to explore more cultures/countries through open ended play. With Excellerations® Photo Block Building Around the World #gifted and Excellerations® Photo Block Multicultural Play People you can integrate the literacy experience and add a new dimension to comprehending the book with real photographs of buildings/people from around the world. These blocks are fantastic for encouraging block play while teaching children about diversity and different international countries/cultures. Rashin Kheiriyeh has become one of my favorite authors and illustrators who is an internationally recognized, award-winning female illustrator/author who was born in Iran.

Take learning outdoors with this open ended STEM invitation to play. There is no denying the benefits of outdoor play . You can enhance a child’s play, curiosity, and imagination outside by setting up a STEM invitation outside. Discount School Supply #giffed Excellerations® Wood Jungle Animal Blocks which are perfect for creative block play. To enhance the building process pairing them with Tree Blocks is a great way for the child to create a jungle habitat. The animal block images readily relate to real photos of jungle animals which are perfect for storytelling and imaginative jungle adventures. Alongside the natural tree blocks and being outside, it truly invites the child to build and create a life like small world play of the jungle habitat. Any types of blocks are essential in all stages of early childhood. They provide opportunities for early STEM concepts that will provide skills for children throughout the rest of their lives. Through open ended play such as this they can reenact what they see in stories, real life, discussions and more. This type of play is an integral part of the developmental learning process by allowing children to develop skills in a developmentally appropriate natural manner. True open-ended play let’s a child imagine anything and supports hours of creative play. So let them play!

The book Sugar and Milk written by Thrity Umrigary and illustrated by Khoa Le is a timeless story about a young immigrant girl who joins her aunt and uncle in a new country. As she struggles with her transition into a new culture her aunt tells her story about Persian refugees seeking to be embraced by a kin in India. The Persian refugee leader shows the king how both groups can live alongside one another in harmony and their presence will sweeten lives, like sugar in milk. The king embraced the refugee, welcoming him and his people. The young girl now sees her new home as a journey with a sweet future after hearing the story. With everything that is going on in our world this timely book about immigration and refugees demonstrates the power of diversity, acceptance, and tolerance. To extend the literacy experience you can set up an invitation to explore tea, sugar, and milk through sensory play. You will need two tea bags, lukewarm water, kettle, cups, sugar, “milk” (white liquid water colors or tempera paint mixed with water), and a sensory bin. Simply invite the child to create their own sugar and milk tea through sensory play. Invitations such as these provide "life skills" that they will carry on the rest of their life. Pouring through water play aides 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 and effect as well has hand eye coordination when pouring the water. This type of learning through play by doing the work, helps their brain engage and create and expand their neural pathways since so many of their skill sets are being used and further developed. Hence why play builds brains. The more children are given opportunities of opened ended play such as this the higher their level of thinking will grow and develop along with continuing to build life skills.

Rainbow season is upon us and here are four rainbow process art invitations that you can do! To set these invitations you will need Colorations® 1/2 Gallon Simply Washable Tempera Paint, Rainbow set of 6 Colors #gifted, butcher paper, tape, scissors, paint scrapers, fidget spinners, slinkies, cotton rounds, mallet, and Excellerations® Color Paddles . 1. Rainbow Scrape Art: To do this invitation dots of paint on the butcher paper, followed by letting the child scrape the dots and drag the colors with BioColor® Paint Scraper . 2. Fidget Spinner Art: To do this invitation dots of paint on the butcher paper, followed by letting the child spin the fidget spinners through the paint. 3. Slinky Art: To do this invitation dots of paint on the butcher paper, followed by letting the child dip the slinkies in the paint. 4. Splatter Art: To do this invitation dots of paint on the butcher paper, cover the paint with cotton rounds, and invite the child to splat the cotton rounds with a mallet. 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. The process with these types of invitation involves a lot of beneficial development. Exploring art, color, gravity, movement, media, will only enhance a child‘s way of thinking creatively. Here are other rainbow invitations: Rainbow Pouring Station , Invitation to Create a Rainbow with Loose Parts , Invitation to Explore Erupting Rainbows , Rainbow Pipe Cleaner Fine Motor Finger Gym , Invitation to Explore Rainbow Bubbles.

What we do as parents and educators matters. Children carry the seeds we plant, the seeds we water, the seeds we tend to, that help them bloom throughout the course of their life. As an adult is our duty to plant the seed of compassion, empathy, and acceptance for all humanity. If we come together and remember we are doing really important work, teaching the next generation of human beings, we can and will do important things to move forward together and advocate for our ability to stand up for humanity. Whether you are impacted directly or not, NO CHILD should tolerate hate or ignorance in any form. We must advocate for the humanity of the LGBTQ+ community. The best way to lay the foundation is through exposure. Below are some LGBTQ+ books, resources and ways to plant the seeds of compassion, empathy, and acceptance in your home or classroom. 1. Invitation to Paint My Rainbow 2. Love Makes a Family 3. Invitation to Create a Pride Flag 4. Love is Love Loose Parts Invitation 5. Invitations to Create Marsha P. Johnson Flower Crowns 6. Keith Haring Love on the Light Table 7. Keith Haring DIY STEM 8. Invitation to Create Julián at the Wedding 9. Invitation to Create Julián Is a Mermaid Here are two blog posts that expand on this even more Invitation to Live with Intention and Do Better .

When Discount School Supply #gifted Excellerations® Photo Block Building Around the World it inspired recreating one of my all time favorite STEM invitations of creating famous landmarks from around the world! To set this invitation you can print out images of landmarks from around the world, provide blocks ( translucent blocks or foam wooden blocks ), & the photo building blocks. Invite the child to explore, build, and create landmarks around the world! Since children are natural builders, having these photo blocks and images from around the world are a merely a point of inspiration that can also lead to enriched discussions about Geography as well as basic engineering concepts, techniques, and designs. Through this type of play, they will see that there are many different ways of building, all the different architectural styles that distinguish landmarks, and how interesting each structure/materials used are. That is the beauty of STEM, always further igniting a child’s curiosity to create and explore!

Reginald Laurent has been described as a master colorist one of the premier abstract artists in the United States. Laurent is proficient in several mediums and techniques, but abstracts are his passion. He is a self-taught, award winning Chicago native that has been featured in many exhibits showcasing his vibrant detailed signature style art. He is an exemplary artist to explore and learn about during #blackhistorymonth since his art has so much purpose. “My art imitates life because it is representative of the diversity and inclusion of every culture, the backbone of what makes the world such an interesting place.” Since his canvases are filled with bright color and detailed designs that seem to move and dance right in front of your eyes, children are going to be naturally enamored and engaged with his creations. To begin this invitation you can print images of his work or display them on an IPad as a slideshow to inspire the children to create just like Reginald Laurent. To create a collage you will need construction paper, butcher paper, scissors, glue, and recycled scraps. Cut out similar abstract pieces in various colors, sizes, shapes beforehand. Place either black or white paper as the base and invite the child to collage however they want!

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an American artist and educator whose exuberant colorful paintings used the techniques of pointillism and abstract expressionism. She became the first African-American woman at the age of 80 to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. To honor her influential work for #blackhistorymonth an invitation to recreate her art work in order to inspire children to become creative just like Alma. You can read the book Dream Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison or show images of her art work to spark their creativity. Next to set the textured water color invitation you will need: glue gun , glue sticks , recycled card board, liquid water colors or water color palette , and a paint brush. Before inviting the child to paint take the glue gun and recreate similar designs of her art work with the glue gun in the cardboard and let it dry. Invite the child to paint with either liquid water colors or water color palette . Invitations such as these opens a child's mind to the many ways of creating art. When children learn about artists the more well rounded and creative they become. Art is a fundamental component of early childhood education therefore continuous exposure leads to seeing the world in different ways and learning about different forms of art. Click here for another way to recreate Alma Woodsey Thomas’s art with loose parts!

To celebrate another amazing artist for #blackhistorymonth , here are two ways to let a child create just like Basquiat! Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent. His unmistakable brand of contemporary art astonished the New York scene by making the transition from graffiti artist to internationally acclaimed Neo-Expressionist. Basquiat drew inspiration from his upbringing and heritage. His art also honored the histories of African Americans. Before inviting the child to create just like the artist, reading the story Jean-Michel Basquiat by the Little People, Big Dreams series is a great way to explore the life of the artist and the story of how he of achieved incredible things that began as a child with a dream. To set up the invitation first take laminating sheets and with a permanent marker draw outlines similar to his drawings. Grab a light table , acrylic mirror , or white butcher paper as the base. For the 1st invitation you will let the child create and explore with loose parts: buttons & pipe cleaners. For the 2nd invitation you will let the child color the laminating sheets with dry erase markers.