To continue to open the dialogue for Pride Month reading stories that are inclusive to all families whether a child has two moms, two dads, one parent, or one of each are great ways to lay the foundation of acceptance from an early age. Love Makes a Family by Sophie Bear celebrates the one thing that makes every family a family is love. Initially this book inspired the invitation and I thought to further extend exposing children to the varying dynamics Mommy, Mama, and Me and Daddy, Papa, and Me are books that can be used to continue to demonstrate the loving bonds of families. Learning through play is vital to children. Research shows play can improve children's abilities to build the safe, stable and nurturing relationships that build social-emotional resilience . Being able to act out what they see in stories or experience in day to day life is essential for their emotional development. Setting a STEM invitation to play through building love makes a family deepens their connection of understanding and accepting different family dynamics. Children need to know that their families matter both in and outside of their homes, no matter what the family dynamic consists of. Through play they get to explore and honor that in an open ended way. This invitation consists of wooden blocks houses, rainbow arches, wooden hearts, and painted wooden pegs representing the colors of the LGBTQ community. By inviting a child do play through invitations such as these it will deepen their connection to the concepts/themes within the book, comprehend the storylines, enhance their language, creating more understanding, and open up great dialogue for acceptance.

In early childhood, manipulatives are learning tools that keep children engaged by simply manipulating. Since children learn best through play, manipulative play specifically requires that a child use objects to arrange, move, weigh, count, turn, order, sort, build, and so on. Skoolzy , provides manipulatives that help develop an array of skills. Every toy is designed to enhance development skills including hand dexterity, fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, logic, and color & letter recognition while the child takes the lead and play at their own pace. Their website helps you navigate getting tools by age or skill set and even comes with a unique downloadable activity guide for parents with tips and ideas. We were #gifted the Jumbo Nuts and Bolts , Basic Egg Shapes , and Bear and Language Bears . You can use coupon code: TINKERWONDERPLAY10 from 6/11-7/11 to get 10% OFF. Besides being great for playing in the classroom or at home, when I initially saw the bags they reminded me of busy bags. Busy bags are simple activities stored in a bag for toddlers or preschoolers so they are always ready to go! They are engaging activities that your child can do independently to keep them busy. They are great for car rides, flying on a plane, trips, doctor visits, or going out to restaurant. In our car I have a collapsible car organizer where I place these Skoolzy bags, books, figurines, coloring pads, and snacks. It has been a life saver when commuting to work, road trips, going out to eat, or going over to another family or friends house.

To invite children to learn about the true story of the Pride Flag reading the story Pride:The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag is a moving way to share the history of its beginnings. Social activist Harvey Milk and designer Gilbert Baker created the flag in1978 in San Francisco as a symbol of hope and pride for the #LGBTQ community. Harvey Milk was an American political and the first openly gay elected official in history of California who fought for equal rights. To extend the literacy, inviting the children to create a PRIDE flag is a great way to honor #pridemonth. To set this invitation to recreate a Pride Flag you will need a large piece of fabric as the base. Scraps of fabric in the colors of the rainbow. Fabric tacky glue and paint brushes. Simply invite the children to create a rainbow flag together. Whether you are an early childhood educator, parent, family member, caregiver, or anyone engaging with children it is necessary to create environments that reflect and support the diversity among us. Inclusive practices are an integral part of teaching children to be proud of themselves and their families, as well as educating those around us to be more understanding and tolerant. Children need to know that their families matter both in and outside of their homes, no matter what the family dynamic consists of. Planned Parenthood says, "the knowledge and respect that you foster when you have these conversations helps create a safer, more inclusive community for everyone." Reading books and integrating it with a hands on experience will further help lay the foundation for a better future.

Keith Haring was a popular artist and activist during the 1980s. Much of his work responded to social and political events. As an openly gay artist he represented a lot of what the LGBTQ community went through. He loved working with children, admiring their imagination, and encouraged them to collaboratively create art. Haring developed an eye catching distinct pop-graffiti aesthetic with fluid and bold outlines. His art often showed symbols of the power of love, social and political rights, animals, and human figures. His art portrayed his optimistic beliefs in humanity. After his diagnosis, Haring set up The Keith Haring Foundation , to provide funding and support to AIDS research, charities and education. To honor him during #pridemonth this DIY STEM invitation is a great way to showcase him a significant figure in the #LGBTQ community and his powerful art. You can read the books Drawing on the Walls and The Boy Who Kept Drawing to learn more about him, followed by this invitation. For this invitation you will need recycled boxes, tubes, and containers. Wrap it with butcher paper to make it a blank canvas for your DIY blocks. You can either draw his art on the blocks or invite the child to cover the blocks with Haring stickers. After they have completed creating their DIY Keith Haring Blocks invite them to create. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. With this STEM invitation the child is able to test how to build a structure through a lot of a trial and error, to test the right amount of pieces, to create a solid base, and attain basic engineering skills through using their fine motor skills. Building structures, whatever they may be, is an amazing way for a child to learn through play.

Love Is Love: An Important LGBTQ Pride Book for Kids About Gay Parents and Diverse Families written by Michael Genhart, illustrated by Ken Min. To open the dialogue for Pride Month for children about the importance of love and acceptance. The story shows that families gay, straight, and everything in between are all normal and it is love that makes a family. In the story there is a beautiful heart and what inspired the extension of this literacy experience is to recreate love rainbows with various loose parts. To set this invitation you will need recycled cardboard cutouts of hearts to be the base where the child can create rainbow filled hearts with loose parts. Since loose parts are dynamic in nature, it brings about authenticity of formulating ideas. They are adaptable to so many aspects of learning and provide more variables, possibilities, and creativity. The rainbow loose parts set here are translucent shapes , pom poms , recycled pouch caps, dyed wood bits , and ice rocks . Simply invite the child to create love in many different rainbow textures and colors to extend the literacy throw loose parts play. Through this hands on experience it will open dialogue even more about the book, connect how love comes in different forms, and that love is love. “Love is the same. Wherever you live. Whoever you are. And whomever you love. Love is Love.”

Researchers are uncovering the values of one of the most developmentally important forms of play - climbing. As humans from birth we’re explorers, thrill-seekers, problem-solvers, and above all, curious, therefore we are simply born to climb. We naturally don’t just love climbing for the excitement and the challenge - there are biological reasons at play that attract us to it. Climbing aids in mental and physical development, and has been shown to improve creativity, memory, and critical thinking abilities. Climbing works almost every major muscle group in the body, so children increase upper body strength (by using their arms and hands), their lower body (by using their legs), develop core stability, muscle control and balance when taking part in exploring a climber such as Children's Factory Step Up Climber #gifted and Climb and Play 6 Piece Set . This multilevel Step Up Climber will inspire curious climbers and crawlers to be confident and enhance the agility for infants and toddlers as they explore each soft section. Not only is this great for gross motor exploration it is also perfect for indoor and outdoor use. When you add the Climb and Play 6 Piece Set alongside the Step Up Climber it enhances the experience. The expanded vinyl foam squares can be lined up, moved in sequence, or used individually, so it’s great for building with as well. These sets perfectly complement one other to enhance their gross motor skills through play. Working on gross motor skills helps a child gain strength and confidence in his/her body. It also helps them get exercise and physical activity, which is important for a healthy lifestyle. Developing these skills through play such as this helps a childs ability to do more complex skills in future activities.

Dramatic play, imaginative play, creative play, role-playing, make-believe or just plain pretending…is a foundation of childhood development. These #gifted Environments® My First Soft sets: Career Set , Play Food Set , and Soft Dishes Set are such great sets to start or be additions for dramatic play, especially for toddlers. Giving children endless opportunities to imitate what they often see adults doing allows children to imagine themselves in new roles and act different scenarios. Children learn through play and are always exploring and experimenting – so sets such as these allows children to perform different roles and test their own creativity. They learn many things through trial and error, and what better way to try out various scenarios and situations than through pretending they are in them. In dramatic play, role playing helps children develop ideas about how the world works in so many ways. It is a type of play that every child needs to experience as it has so many benefits! It has profound positive effects on a child’s development. It fosters imagination, let’s a child explore themselves and the world around them, strengthens relationships, improves language/communication, builds empathy, fine/gross motor skills, life skills, and process feelings to help their social emotional development. A child’s imagination is one of their greatest tools in their development. Imaginitve play ignites their imagination to world full of wonder.

The Big Beach Clean Up is about a little girl Cora who is excited to enter a sandcastle contest. Unfortunately due to litter at the beach it is cancelled which makes Cora determined to save her favorite place. Cora sets out to collaborate with her community to clean up the beach. Not only is this book a great conversation starter but can be an inspiration to children in helping keep clean their community together. After reading the story you can set up a small world play sensory bin to extend the literacy experience. Small world play is simply when children explore figurines, loose parts, and sensory materials that reenact scenes from nature, books, fairytales, or a subject matter of interest. When small world play is accompanied with sensory materials it enhances comprehension, language, imaginary play, and tactile play. To set this small world play you will need sensory bin , sand, materials to make an ocean, rocks, shells , trees, people figurines , sea creatures , boat , trash cans , and a whole bunch of trash. After creating the small world invite the child to do their own beach clean up by removing the trash from the small world into the mini trash cans. It’s never too early to teach children about how we can all help make the world a better place. Not only is this great sorting practice, it’s also wonderful practical life activity through play. Activities for care of the environment are both fun and great for developing order, concentration, coordination, and independence. There are a series of steps that children will go through in this invitation such as sorting. That’s wonderful for developing concentration, organization, and the ability to follow directions. By reading the story to build their knowledge and have the materials that go with it, makes for an experience where that they are proud to do over and over again! Through play they can reenact what they see and hear in the story and feel even more empowered to have the ability to make imagination come to life just as the young girl did in the story

If you already haven't caught on my love for Frida Kahlo runs deep. For severals years I have been dressing up as her when she is the artist of the month at the centers I do administration for. The whole month our teachers have been reading stories and doing invitations that explore her and the art she created. This year Frida came COVID style. At each center I set up a table of her books, art work, dolls, and an easel. I sat at the easel painting a self portrait and the children slowly walked up and were completely enamored. After talking about the different styles of paintings Frida created we read several books about her. While children’s books open children’s eyes to differences, actual experiences have the most profound influence on what children think and believe. The integration of literacy, arts, and an experience such as this strengthens literacy skills, provides a deeper connection to the context, and fosters creative thinking. The children loved learning more about Frida and seeing her come to life! When children learn about artists the more well rounded and creative they become, they pay attention to detail and different styles of art. Art is a fundamental component of early childhood and more exposure leads to seeing the beauty around them and in others. Art can be rooted in history and a catalyst for change in culture, which is why it is so important to introduce children to all different forms of art. Experiences such as this will empower them to be creative, develop a sense of culture, and become aware of the beauty in the world around them. "Painting completed my life." Frida Kahlo

Food plays an integral role in our lives. The food we eat is intertwined with culture. By exploring food children can learn a lot about a particular culture. American Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage month has so many great opportunities to expose a child to. For this invitation to explore creating a dramatic play set up just like the book Dim Sum For Everyone by Grace Lin is great way to explore the cultural customs. In the story a young girl visits a dim sum restaurant where her family picks out their favorite dishes from the trolleys and enjoy a delicious meal together. As a fun way of sharing this experience of picking dumplings, cakes, buns, tarts, and other traditional foods from a trolley setting it up play food on cart and acting out what the whole experience of getting dim sum is fun way to introduce or carry the tradition at home or in the classroom through play. Children learn through play and are always exploring and experimenting – a dramatic play invitation allows children to perform, gain exposure, and test their own understandings of the world around them. The more we are inclusive about all cultures in classrooms or our homes, the more understanding we provide for everyone within our communities. To set this invitation you can use a cart, table , and asian play food in order to create the whole experience.

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist that is great to invite children to learn about during Asian American and Pacific Islander month. Her work primarily consisted in sculpture and installation, but she also has been active in painting, performance, film, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. The book Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn't Sorry by Fuasto Gilberti is a great way to learn more about the artist. It explores how Yayoi Kusama covers everything in dots which is what she is known for. A great way to integrate the book while giving the opportunity to recreate art just like Yayoi is through a simple sticker filled invitation. To set the invitation to you will need sticker dots ( primary , neon , foam ), recycled boxes/tubes/containers or to make it more interesting Mondo Llama paper mâché animals ( triceratops , unicorn , tiger ) as the child's canvas. Simply invite the child to cover these materials in dots just like Yayoi Kusama. Creating or playing with stickers can help kids with so many developmental areas. Children don’t even realize they are working on the following skills: pincer grasp, sensory exploration, hand strength, gross motor development, visual scanning, two step direction, bilateral hand coordination, separation of the two sides of the hand, color and shape recognition, and most of all creativity.

Tinkerwonderplay X Grow Maple Invitations: Join us for a new series Afternoon Activities. This Thursday 5/27 @ 4pm PST on Instagram Live. What is Grow Maple? Maple is coming together helping parents in more ways than one. Their mission is to improve the quality of life for families by providing an app support system you can count on. Find out more about the app here. Request access to help as they roll out invites . Materials you will need: · Ice · Water · Liquid Water Colors or Food Coloring · Sensory Bin, Plastic Container, or Pyrex Tray · Pipettes , Droppers , or Paint Brushes · 3-4 Cups How to Set Up the Invitation · In the sensory bin, plastic container or Pyrex tray place a bed of ice. · Fill up the cups with water and add drops of Liquid Water Colors or Food Coloring. · Provide your child with pipettes, droppers, or a paintbrush. · Invite your child to explore and paint the ice! The Why? Developmental Benefits of this Invitation · Science- As the ice melts they will explore a solid turning into a liquid. They will make predictions, observations, and theories throughout this whole process as well. · Color Theory & Recognition- When painting the ice they will explore color theory through mixing colors (red+blue= purple, blue + yellow= green, red+ yellow=orange). When stating and observing what colors they are using this naturally boosts their recognition and the names of the colors. · Fine Motor- By using a pipette, dropper or paintbrush they will enhance their fine motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination. · Language Development- Throughout this whole process by speaking with your child or the child simply speaking their language will thrive and improve.