There are so many enamoring parts about Christmas! This invitation explores the magic of the holiday by inviting a child to decorate christmas trees, ginger bread, and ugly sweaters with loose parts. To set this invitation you will need card stock paper , recycled cardboard, contact paper, ginger bread + ugly sweater cut outs . These will be the “base” for the children to decorate. In a tinker tray, you can fill it with glitter / rainbow Pom Poms, acrylic ice rocks , gem stones , buttons , sparkle pipe cleaners , and bells . Simply invite the child to design the trees, gingerbread, and ugly sweaters with loose parts. Christmas Tree Two Ways: 1) Roll card stock paper into a 3-D triangle and wrap it with contact paper for child to stick the loose parts on or 2) Cut recycled cardboard into different sized triangles. Gingerbread: 1) Wooden ones pictured here or 2) You can cut out paper ones and laminate them. Ugly Sweaters: 1) Pre-made ones pictured here or 2) Cut out sweaters from felt fabric .

Another afternoon activity with Grow Maple is set for rescheduled for 12/15 @ 4pm! Join us as we make a STEAM Salt Snowflakes. Here’s what you’ll need: Recycled cardboard boxes cut up into different sizes (small, medium, large). Glue Salt Food Coloring or Liquid Water Colors in a cup with a little bit of water. Pipette or Paintbrush To create the Salt Snowflakes you will need to create designs with glue. You can either draw the designs with the pencil before hand, and let the child trace the lines with the glue if they are able to. Or you can set an image or figure of a snowflake and let the child create their own design with glue. Next sprinkle it with salt and let it dry overnight. Then provide the child with food coloring or liquid water colors to paint the snowflakes. They can use either pipettes, or paint brushes. Pro-Tip: Before inviting a child to create the snowflakes, you can read a book, show images or videos of snowflakes to open up a discussion and ignite their curiosity about them. For example showing the structure of a snowflake and explaining how no two snowflakes are exactly the same and they are all six-sided hexagonal shapes due to the molecular structure of ice. This will integrate and deepen their connection with snowflakes. If you want to continue to extend their learning about snowflakes through STEAM process art click here for more activities!

Angeles Feeding Chair (Availabe on: Amazon , Discount School Supply , Children's Factory ) #gifted from Children's Factory is not only the perfect solution for feeding your infant/toddler but for activities as well. The one-piece chair with a removable dishwasher safe tray is easy to stack up and store, which is perfect for any home or classroom. To set this invitation to explore winter holiday actives you will need: foam blocks , large bells , gift bows , shaving cream , flat marbles , ziplock bag , and blue tape . The first invitation is Holiday Toy & Object Rescue. You will use the blue tape and tape down the foam blocks, gift bows, and bells on the tray . Invite the child to release the holiday toys + objects from the tape while enhancing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The second invitation is a "Snow" Sensory Bag. You will take the ziplock bag place the white, clear, and blue flat marbles and shaving cream, seal the bag securely. Tape the ziplock bag on all four corners onto the tray. Invite the child to explore and discover the materials through their senses in a great mess free way! As always with any activity close supervision is highly recommended to ensure safety.

This is an invitation to create is a STEM activity that teaches children about Hanukkah. The Jewish Festival of Lights, is an eight-day holiday where after dinner, the family gathers to light the menorah candles -- a new one each night until all 8 are lit. Playing with a dreidel is another aspect of the holiday. The traditional game is with a dreidel, which is a pointed, four-sided top which can be made to spin on its pointed base. The more we learn and represent all cultures in classrooms and in our homes, the more knowledge and understanding we provide for everyone while making every child feel seen and heard in their community. To set out this invitation you will need assorted wood bits , glue , an example of real menorah and dreidel, candles, and books about the holiday. Before inviting the children to create reading the stories will ignite their curiosity and provide a base knowledge about the symbols of the holiday. Placing real examples or images of the menorah and dreidel will provoke the child to pay attention to the details of the what they will create on their own. Simply invite the child to glue the wood bits to create their very own interpretation of a menorah and dreidel. STEM preschool activities such as this are designed to engage and stretch their thinking. Introducing the engineering and design process is a natural fit due to the fact that children already like to build and problem solve. This invitation is a perfect opportunity to change a simple building activity to challenge them to think and create in new ways and enhance their interpretation and perception of weight, height, and balancing. There was no wrong or right way to do this activity and the possibilities are truly endless. They are able to stretch and grow their problem-solving skills by collaborating with one another on how to create a menorah or dreidel. They also enhance their mathematical awareness when they have to count the number of candles and holders. Through these trials, children are able to analyze the situation more critically and come up with creative solutions. STEM provides awesome real life lessons that will build a child's cognitive skills throughout their lifetime.

Often it can be isolating having young children, and how stressful navigating the overwhelming terrain of pediatric therapy can be. That’s why community and connection are central to Spirited Play Labs. They offer a range of enrollment-based services, including: Play Labs, Community Playdates For All, Monthly Memberships, and Birthday Party & Private Event Rentals. Come play, eat, and chat-adults and children welcome! December 10th, 2021 5-8pm @ 2220 Camino Ramon, San Ramon. RSVP TO L INDSAY@SPIRI TEDPLAYLABS.COM

With so much delicious food during the holidays this Healthy Soup activity I created with @himamaapp is a perfect way to explore new and familiar foods through hands on learning. All you need is: Book(s) About Healthy Foods, Soup Pot, Pretend Play Foods, Bowls, Water, and Ladle and Utensils. Reading stories about healthy foods and extending the literacy experience through play is a great way to expose children to new and familiar food, learn more about healthy habits, and create a love for nourishing their body in mindful ways. The more children are aware of the variety of foods and where they come from the greater sense of openness they will have to eating healthy. Through hands-on no pressure play they may experience so much pleasure in reenacting cooking that they will become more prone to eating a variety of foods.

Steve Spanglers Jelly Marbles™ from Discount School Supply are packed with so much learning and fun. To set this invitation to explore the marbles first you will need to place the tiny solid spheres in water, and in a couple of hours they will absorb over 150 times their weight in water and grow. After they have grown, you can place them in a sensory bin. Next you will need Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set, different sized clear containers placed in a sensory tray, and 3-4 cups filled with Colorations Liquid Water Colors and water. The first part of this invitation is letting the child explore and transfer the water beads to different size containers. As they transfer the water beads with the tools this provides opportunities for the refinement of hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. It allows a subtle and indirect preparation for writing by gently encouraging the hand to curl into the 'pincer grip' used for writing. Working with fine motor tools provides an engaging exercise which captures a child's attention and promotes attention to detail and sustained concentration. Transferring the waterbeads requires precise movement and helps in hand-eye coordination. Once they have filled up the containers with the water beads you can invite the child to 'paint' the Jelly Marbles with the twisty droppers and liquid water colors for the second half of the invitation. As the child uses the droppers this enhances their fine motor skills,increases their color recognition, and lets them use their senses in a myriad of ways. Painting on the Jelly Marbles is an interesting surface to paint on – quite different from using paper, which will spark the interest of the child immensely while cognitively challenging the child to paint in a distinct way. Being that the Jelly Marbles are a sensory material, and children learn best through using their senses this will allow the child to creatively explore and retain new skills. Through hands on learning they are developing and enhancing multiple layers of skill sets that will provides the stimulus children need to confidently continue to ignite their curiosity through their learning journey.

Discount School Supply has always been our go to for getting the best and long lasting quality rugs for our classrooms. When they #gifted Friendly Fish Seating we were completely enamored by the calming ocean print. Since the ocean brings relaxation to many, the high quality imagery makes for creating a serene corner filled with ocean animals. Children need a place they can retreat to when they need to think, rest, or just decompress. Comfy corners give children a safe place to calm down and relax. This is a great start to instill independent doable self regulation practices. Typically in a comfy corner whether it is in a Early Child Hood Classroom, Bedroom, or Playroom the goal is to make it as inviting as possible. With soft materials, calming colors, books, plush items, and plants it instantly relaxes a child. When emotions are in full effect aka tantrum central, providing a safe space for a child to “come back to down earth” will empower the child to be able to regulate their emotions. This comfy corner provides children to focus and wind down, teaching them to take time in a quiet space to deal and work through their feelings, appreciate relaxation, and gives them a skill they can benefit from now and in the future. Like I said, at all of the three centers I do administration for have always purchased rugs from Discount School Supply because of their finest commercial grade quality, lifetime protection/warranty, KIDPly® backing, Advanced stain protection, Class 1 Firecode rating, and 100% made in the U.S.A. The majority of the time after creating #gifted content for Discount School Supply all the materials are put in the classrooms at the schools. This rug went to one of our infant centers and the children were squealing once it was placed in their room. So thankful for such an amazing product.

Looking for an open ended sensory activity while enhancing a child's letter recognition? Check out the activity I created with @himamaapp! In this activity the child will explore sensory play while enhancing letter recognition! Sensory play is, quite simply, any activity that stimulates the senses. When children play with a sensory bin, they are playing with a variety of materials + textures which stimulate the mind and body through the tactile experience. They explore so many concepts such as science, math, senses, language and more. This activity enhances the sensory play experience and further develops letter recognition by placing letters for the children to dig and discover followed by sorting/classifying them in the muffin tin. Activities such as this provide no pressure, explore their senses and deepen the child’s connection to have a love for learning as they discover and obtain new skills and information. For more activities check out more on Hi Mama's amazing abundance of resources !

Bath time can become pretty repetitive, so to mix it up and add a little fun using spray bottles is a great way to change things up while enhancing a child's fine motor skills and color recognition. It is also great for containing the mess in a space that is easy to clean up right away. To set this invitation you will need Colorations® E-Z Pull Extra Large Clear Trigger Sprayers , a small drop of Colorations Liquid Water Colors , and enough water to fill the whole bottle. You can do it in your bath tub, shower, outside on a large piece of butcher paper/cement, or ia large sensory bin. Simply invite the child to spray away on the bubbles, tile, water, etc. Theses specific spray bottles are designed to be easy for small hands to squeeze so it makes it more feasible for the child to squeeze without frustration. Spraying with a spray bottle puts the child's hands to work as well as strengthens the tiny muscles that are in their hands. As they press and release the spray bottle it is quite similar to the manipulation of scissors. Tasks such as this will help build fine motor skills that are important for their overall development and will refine other fine motor activities such as lacing beads on a string, writing, cutting, and so on.

To continue honoring Native American Heritage Month, the book Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi! written by Art Coulson and illustrated by Madelyn Goodnigh t is such a great way to c elebrate diversity, math, and the power of storytelling! In the book Bo wants to find the perfect container to showcase his traditional marbles for the national Cherokee Holiday. He goes through so many different sizes to find the right fit. After reading the story to make the literacy experience come to life setting up an invitation to explore the volume and capacity of varying containers is a great way to integrate the book through a hands on measuring activity that uses math. To set the invitation gather various baskets, trays, cups, jars, containers along with loose parts such as flat rocks, marbles, and wood rounds. Next invite the child to explore fitting the loose parts into the containers. Through this they are discovering and exploring math just like the story while learning about volume and capacity through form of measurement. Learning about measurements starts as early as infancy and develops throughout early childhood often without any adult guidance. The child‘s mind applies concepts of measurements in many of their everyday activities from infancy and throughout their childhood. Whether they are stacking blocks, weighing rocks, seeing how long a worm is, sorting objects, filling a container like in this invitation, measurement is present everywhere and everyday in their lives. When building on children's intuitive early concepts of measurement both in formal and informal ways to develop their vocabulary and understanding of measurement and comparison through exploring loose parts and reading books with mathematical themes will help develop a strong foundation of mathematics at a young age.

November is Native American Heritage Month. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the diverse histories, traditions, and cultures of the Native people. Playing tribute to rich ancestry through reading stories is great way to honor the people. The book Fry Bread written by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal is a story about family, history, culture, and traditions, new and old. Fry bread is food . It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate. Fry bread is time. It brings families together for meals and new memories. Fry bread is nation. It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond. Fry bread is us. It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference. 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. After reading the story you can invite the child to create their own fry bread with play dough , Textured Rolling Pins , Wooden Sculpting Tools, Baskets , and a frying pan just like the story. Since children learn and retain information through their senses integrating a sensory material to represent a big part of their will deepen their comprehension and connection to the concepts of the story. The book also has the recipe to make real fry bread!