One for Fun - Make Your Own Puzzle

Hope you are all managing okay, where ever you are! I came across this fun (and easy) activity today and thought I'd pass it along. 

How-To: 

1.Cut the front off of a cereal box or cracker box.

2. Cut the box front into pieces - 8 to 10 pieces for an easier puzzle, more for a harder puzzle. You can cut basic random shapes (triangles, rectangles) or shapes with trickier notches or angles. 

Variations: You can also use an old family photo glued onto thin cardboard or cardstock, or have your child draw a picture. Just wait until the glue is dry before trying to make your puzzle. 

Tip: Encourage your child to cut their own pieces so they can make a puzzle for you!

Area of Development: fine motor skill, problem-solving, mathematical thinking 


Resources: 

Cereal Box Puzzles:  https://happyhooligans.ca/homemade-puzzles/

Other Puzzle Ideas:   https://happyhooligans.ca/homemade-puzzles-for-toddlers-and-preschoolers/

Thanks also to educator Deanna Pecaski McLennan, author of Spring Math Walk and an FDK educator in Southern Ontario, for the idea.

One for Fun – an art activity for bored young children and overwhelmed parents

Here’s an easy art activity to try:

1. On a blank sheet of paper, draw a big doodle with straight and curved lines that cross each other in many places.

2. Colour in the spaces between the lines using paint, crayons or coloured pencils.

Can you make a happy doodle? A sad one? 

Tip: You can play this as a game by drawing with a partner and taking turns, adding lines and colours. You could also assign a colour to each dice roll (e.g., 1 = red, 2= blue, 3=green, 4=yellow, 5=black, 6= purple).

For another take on this activity, check out Happy Hooligans HomemadeDoodle Art!

Area of Development: creativity, problem-solving, self-confidence, emotional learning

Happy creating!

Day 3: Fun Ideas for Bored Kids & Overwhelmed Parents - Math with LEGO® Bricks

Although people often think of worksheets when they think of math, there are lots of fun games and hands on activities to try with young children.

Some ideas for using LEGO® bricks to build math skills in a fun way:

Measuring: Build a measuring stick of 10 or 20 LEGO® bricks. Search around your house or yard for things that are taller or shorter than your measuring stick. Can you find something exactly the same length?

Patterning:  Use your LEGO® to create patterns. You can make patterns with colours, different sized bricks, different brick orientations...so many ways to try it! Challenge other people in your family to create patterns too!

Addition game: Play a tower (or other structure) building game with your family members. Roll one or two dice to see how many pieces to add. Keep going until you reach 25 (or other agreed upon number). You can also play this as a subtraction game, by starting with a tower (or structure) of 25 pieces and taking away bricks, to see who can completely lose their structure first.

Area of Development: mathematics behaviours, measuring, comparing, counting, patterning, problem solving

More LEGO® math ideas for kindergarten and preschool:

http://kidzactivities.net/lego-math-activities-preschoolers/

https://simpleplayideas.com/lego-learning

Wondering why I'm posting math activities on my reading & writing blog? Read my post here to find out. 

Day 2: Ideas for Bored Kids and Overwhelmed Adults - I'm Bored Read Aloud & a STEAM challenge

Give yourselves a pat on the back for making it through another day! My goals for each day are:

• be active -- I've been enjoying Yoga with Adriene onYouTube and long walks with my dog
• be creative -- I write everyday, and draw something most days
• learn something new --  I read about new learning activities and writing techniques
• do something relaxing -- read a good book, play a game, watch a funny show

In case you're wondering why I'm posting about this, check out my blog post here.

Today's Learning Link:  A funny read aloud from Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ridpath Ohi 

Area of Development: literacy

Extra STEAM activity:  The main character in the story created a pirate ship. Create your own vehicle to help a bored potato travel! Or build an imaginative, indoor playground where a bored potato could play.

Area of Development: problem-solving

How are you coping? Do you set any goals for yourself?

Daily Ideas for Bored Young Children and Overwhelmed Parents - Literacy

One of the things I’ve noticed is the huge number of read alouds, construction challenges, games and drawing lessons popping up everywhere on the internet. I don’t know about you, but I’m experiencing a bit of overwhelm.

As I’ve seen in many places, good advice to remember is that parents are not teachers. As a parent, first and foremost you need to cherish, love and keep your kids happy and healthy. You do what you need to do to during these challenging times. Please stay safe and follow recommended social distancing measures.

At the same time, I know it’s challenging to keep children busy all day long. So I’m going to be posting a fun learning idea or link with resources as I can (hopefully daily but we’ll see how that goes). 

Since I have the knowledge and learning from my background as a kindergarten teacher in Ontario, I’ll include information about the related areas of development and learning (for parents who are worried that their children are missing their learning). Please note that I’m doing this as a good samaritan, drawing on my expertise to be helpful, rather than as part of my employment as a teacher. 

Parents of young children can also visit Ontario.ca/learnathome.

Be well & have fun!

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Today's fun resource:  KidLit TV

Area of Development: literacy

This resource has been around for a while. It has a library of read alouds by authors and book-related activities. I especially love Ready, Set, Draw! Here's an example:

Have fun exploring!