Make it at Home Monday: Cinnamon Playdough

Ah, Labor Day... It marks the unofficial end of summer. It signals the onset of school season--and S will visit his new preschool classroom and meet his new teachers tomorrow! It gives permission for all things pumpkin spice scented...even playdough! Since S will be starting school this week, I wanted our "last day of summer" to be extra special. He chose a trip to the science museum this morning (I think I might cry in the car after I drop him off!). He also chose a self-directed science experiment at home this morning and dropped a purple plastic bowling pin in the toilet (I think I might inquire about extra early drop off and maybe slow down when I send him out the door...).

Parents have all kinds of mixed feelings when it comes to sending off their babies to school for the very first time. I am, indeed, looking forward to going to the bathroom with the door closed. And then drinking a tall cup of coffee before going back to the bathroom with the door opened because Y can't walk in yet. Or drop something in the toilet. S has his own mixed feelings about this special occasion. He is very excited and also very nervous. Some of us contend with our mixed feelings by baking delicious cookies to slip into our children's lunchboxes. Some of us are on strictly gluten free diets and are going the baking mix route instead. And for those of us who fit into the latter category but also love to play at home in the kitchen, there's playdough!

We love playdough here. We use it in a lot of play and learning activities, and when we can, we make our own. I enjoy trying out new recipes for playdough, but more often than not, I return to this treid and true classic stove-top recipe. And as often as I make playdough here, you'd think I would remember to put cream of tartar on the shopping list when I run out. Yet, I always seem to forget! What is cream of tartar anyway?! So the last couple of times I've made playdough here, I've tried some substitutes (after doing some research on the topic via Google search).

So after our morning at the science museum, S requested to play with playdough after his nap and while he and Y have been napping, I've been playing in the kitchen slaving over the stove to whip up a wonderfully Autumn-scented playdough using ingredients you probably do have in your kitchen already:

Cinnamon Playdough
Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 3 tsp white vinegar*
• 3 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 TBSP ground cinnamon
• food coloring (This is optional--I love the natural color the cinnamon adds to this dough that makes it look--and smell--almost like cookie dough! It will be the perfect addition to a cookie-themed story stretcher we'll be doing later this week!)

*I will admit I was skeptical about substituting in vinegar for the cream of tartar. I have a super schnoz and I hate the smell of vinegar. The smell was not particularly strong in the finished playdough and with the addition of a scent (like the cinnamon in this recipe or an essential oil of your choice), you could easily overpower any residual vinegar aroma that may be present after cooking. Alternatively you can use lemon juice in place of the vinegar.

Instructions: Combine your ingredients in a pot over medium heat and stir continuously until a stiff dough forms in the center of the pot. Then you are ready to take the dough out of the pot and let it cool until it is comfortable to touch. If your little chefs are helping you in the kitchen, please make sure the dough is cool enough for their little hands to handle! Knead the dough until smooth and enjoy using it as is or with your favorite clay and playdough tools. We have especially enjoyed using playdough in our sensory table lately as this both creates a great play space and contains the associated mess. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag between play sessions to keep fresh. For best results, make sure your dough is totally cool before storing!

Invitation to Play: Playdough Name "Cookies"

Name recognition is a very important early literacy skill. Recognizing their names and the letters in their names is one of the first ways children learn to read and write. And well before they are ready to independently autograph their most prized work and possessions, children can practice name recognition through play. This simple invitation to play and create their names using cookie cutters and cinnamon playdough is the perfect addition to a pretend bakery shop for the cookie lover in your house. Just make sure they realize it's not actually cookies or cookie dough. While it is edible, this recipe will be super salty and won't taste anywhere near as good as it smells!

Well, it's time to wake up those sleepy heads and get back to our end-of-summer celebrating. We live around the corner from a 7-Eleven and I'm pretty sure there's a slurpee with my toddler's name on it just waiting for him there. However you're celebrating summer's end, (or counting down the hours until school starts), I hope you're having a great Labor Day and Happy Playing!

Tu B'Shevat Theme: Do You Know the Parts of Trees?

Do You Know the Parts of Trees?

The bottom flaps open and close
with velcro to reveal a picture
of the parts of a tree!

We had just finished preparing a batch of homemade blueberry muffins when I sent my toddler to go play so I could safely pop the baking pan in the oven. Moments later as I was cleaning up, he came frolicking back in carrying a pine cone from his Nature Observation Station. He remembered painting it a few months ago when we were learning about Autumn. "No put in mouth!" he said, which is his way of saying it's not something we should eat. "You're right, but some animals do eat the seeds inside pine cones. They carry seeds from pine trees." He left the room, pine cone in hand and returned a few moments later with an acorn. "No can eat it!" he announced. "You're right. We can't eat acorns, but squirrels and chipmunks and other animals do. They are the seeds from oak trees." He was quite pleased, left again and returned in just another moment carrying a thick slab of bark we'd found on the ground in a nearby park this Fall. "What is it?" he asked. "That's bark from a tree. The bark protects the tree trunk."



This exchange was such a beautiful example of how a science/nature observation station can work to spark conversations and influence language development. It was also the perfect transition into our school activities today as I formally introduced the topic of trees and Tu B'Shevat!

The famous coconut tree of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of our very favorite trees of all time! It's also a great way to tie in some letter, early reading and pre-writing activities into our tree theme.

Our Table Time activity this morning was one that combined a familiar and beloved children's book (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. & Jon Archambault) with pre-writing and name recognition skills. I found and printed the template on this great blog post, where you can find a variety of story stretcher ideas related to the book. I set letter stamps for each of the letters in my son's name and provided a written and stamped example. He had a lot of fun (and fine motor practice) stamping the letters of his name all around and up the coconut tree. He also enjoyed singing the little song I taught him to remember the spelling of his name!

To help introduce our theme, we began with a fabulous book we borrowed from our library, Janice May Udry's A Tree is Nice. My son loved curling up on my lap as we read and looking at the lovely alternating black and white and color pictures done by talented illustrator, Marc Simont. While he was still on my lap, I began singing him the little song I composed to help teach the parts of trees. You can sing it as a lap rhyme as well or act it out standing up!

Do You Know the Parts of Trees?
t.t.t.o.: Do You Know the Muffin Man? by: Michal Lipp

Do you know the parts of trees, the parts of trees, the parts of trees?
Oh do you know the parts of trees that help them grow and grow?

The roots, they hold the tree in place, the tree in place, the tree in place,
The roots, they hold the tree in place and soak up water, too!
[tickle/touch toes]

The trunk moves water up the the tree, up the tree, up the tree,
The trunk moves water up the tree and brings it to the leaves.
[touch hands to belly or hips]

The branches stretch up far and wide, far and wide, far and wide,
The branches stretch up far and wide to carry all the leaves.
[stretch arms up and out]

The leaves, they soak up the sunlight, the sunlight, the sunlight,
The leaves, they soak up the sunlight and help the tree make food.
[wiggle fingers and then rub belly at "help the tree make food"]

So now you know the parts of trees, the parts of trees, the parts of trees,
Yes, now you know the parts of trees that help them grow and grow!
We sang our way through this journal page, which I found and printed for free from Teachers Pay Teachers. If you are a teacher or home educator, I highly recommend utilizing the many amazing resources at teacherspayteachers.com. I found a lot of great materials searching for free pre-K items related to trees.

We finished our school time together with a fun gross motor game. I found these dry-erase dice at the Dollar Tree earlier in the school season. On each of the six sides, I wrote a tree-related action. You can play, too--and even make your own die by recycling a square tissue box or instead using index action cards.

Here are our tree actions:

1. Sway in the wind (sway side to side)
2. Wiggle your leaves (reach arms up and out, wiggle fingers)
3. Touch your roots (bend down and touch toes)
4. Curl up like a seed (crouch into Child's Pose, small and tucked in like a tiny seed)
5. Stretch your branches (reach arms up and out, stand tall on tip toes)
6. Stand BIG and TALL like a tree (stand up straight and tall, for a more advanced version, try standing on one foot with other foot lifted to toe or pressed below or above your knee as in Tree Pose)

Our weather outside was quite cold for a park visit on our first day and we are looking forward to some milder temperatures in the days to come so we can go on a Parts of a Tree Nature Scavenger Hunt at a local park and bring home some more additions to our Nature Observation Station. Until then, I have to make a like a tree and leave!

Happy Playing!

Sneaky Reader Post: Letter "M" Activities & Name Games

Welcome to the very first in a series I call "Sneaky Reader Posts!"
I've recently begun teaching (very part time) a reading/early literacy program to a local preschool class. The program I am teaching through was developed by a former teacher turned reading specialist who now teaches other teachers how to teach reading! It uses a variety of fun and evidence based methods to develop early literacy skills in pre-kindergarten aged students. Among these early reading objectives are:

• recognizing first names in print
• recognizing that letters make sounds
• identifying rhyming words
• identifying parts of a book (front cover, title page, end pages, back cover, title, author's name, illustrator's name)
• identifying action words (verbs)
• identifying descriptive words (adjectives)
• hearing and recognizing the number of beats (syllables) in words
• developing an understanding of words and word meanings--teaching little kids BIG words, as I often say
• increasing opportunities to listen to spoken language, conversations and stories read aloud
• practicing where reading begins on a page and moving from left to right
• illustrating and dictating sentences and on a particular topic through the use of journals

The goal of programs like this one or many of the amazing programs offered at local libraries for children under the age of 5 is not to create fluent readers by kindergarten. Educators recognize that children learn to read and write at different ages and stages. The most important part of developing competence in this area is by and large developing confidence in this area! Surely through exposure, opportunity and encouragement, the rest falls into place all in due time. In the mean time, children who are positively and playfully exposed to literacy at a young age develop a lifelong love of reading that will carry them as learners throughout the years to come.

My mother also taught preschool and when I was in grade school, returned to college and completed a degree in childhood literacy. For many years she tutored children who struggled with a variety of reading difficulties and trained early childhood teachers in the area of early literacy. I have only one sibling, an older sister (also an early childhood educator!) who was an avid reader growing up. She loved to read and reading came easily to her. I, on the other hand, was a reluctant reader until I was in high school. While I enjoyed creative writing, composing songs, and had a love and fascination with language, I was not the type to take to her room and snuggle up with a good book by choice. Lucky for me, I lived in a house where fostering a love for and competency in reading was nurtured but never forced. I had plenty of opportunities to develop the important skills associated with competency in reading and writing, plenty of great teachers along the way, and eventually I learned that a great book can be a great adventure, a great escape, and a great companion. 

Schedules can be busy and family time limited when it comes to extracurricular activities, appointments, homework and more. Some children love to read; some are hesitant. For a variety of reasons, we must get sneaky with our little readers--and the time to begin this is in early childhood! Any kindergarten teacher, preschool teacher, librarian or educator will tell you that the most important thing you can do to support children in early childhood is to read to them. Read, read, read and read some more! Even when you've read this book for the 857th time, feel free to read it again (or temporarily hide it and selectively introduce a new favorite). Recognize the value in your children seeing YOU read for pleasure as well. Never feel guilty for taking some time in the morning with coffee and the newspaper or spending a quiet evening together reading books on the couch. And in between that, enjoy some tips of sneaking early literacy activities into your daily routine. You can find many ideas on Pinterest, in other blogs, via your local librarian or your children's teachers. You can also find some here in my Sneaky Reader Posts. Here are some marvelous ones related to the letter "Mm" to get you started:

Mr. Munch/Munch Monster

Mr. Munch is a Munch Monster who has a hardy appetite but a sensitive palate. You can make your own Munch Monster using a recycled baby wipes container (pictured at the top of this post) and gluing on some eyes and accessories. This makes a fabulous tool for fine motor development as children learn to recognize letter beginning sounds. You can designate your Munch Monster a lover of only one letter (like the letter "Mm" as shown here) or use him for different letters on different occasions. I used letter shaped sticky notes so I can remove the letter "M" and replace it with a different soup du jour when the fancy strikes. Younger toddlers (like my son) might use letter magnets to feed Mr. Munch his favorite letter. When we play together, he "feeds" Mr. Munch his favorite letter, "Mm" and we say a hardy "mmmmmmm" together so he can begin to recognize that letter sound. If you wanted to play with the letter "Tt," you might say "tasty!" or "terrific!" As a child advances, you might mix in some other letter magnets that are not "Mm" (or your designated letter) to challenge your child to feed Mr. Munch ONLY his letter of choice. 

Alternatively, you can use pictures on flash cards or laminate your own of things that begin with the letter "Mm." Mr. Munch likes monkeys and mops, moons and money...mmmmm! Mix it up a bit with some pictures that do not begin with the letter "Mm." Zebras? Yuck! Violins? None for me!

 You can also make a Munch Monster using a paper plate folded in half. Children can draw on a mouth, a nose, and eyes and/or use stickers. They can make their monster look scary or silly, but he'd better be hungry! Inside his "mouth" should be an uppercase and lowercase letter (Mm in this scenario). Older children can trace or write their own. Using sticky notes, have your child(ren) dictate, draw or write words beginning with Mr. Munch's favorite letter to feed him.

Name Games:

What's a word that begins with Mm that we can all relate to? ME, of course! Children love opportunities to be the star of the show when it comes to learning and playing together. One of the very first words they come to recognize, read and write is their own name. Here are some clever and sneaky ways to develop important early literacy skills using your child's name.

• First letter recognition: have child(ren)'s name(s) written on a sentence strip or piece of paper. You may also wish to have an ABC chart on hand to show all of the letters. Hold up one name for the child to recognize and sing this song to the tune of "Have You Ever Seen a Lassie?":

Have you ever seen a ___________[insert child's name] , a _________, a ___________

Have you ever seen a _____________, it starts with a _____ [insert first letter of name].

• Rhyme Time: help your child to recognize rhyming sounds by rhyming their name! Some results will be quite silly and giggles are OK! You can even sing the popular name jingle below, inserting your child's name, other family members' names or friends' names:

Jane, Jane, bo-Bane, Banana-fana-fo-Fane, Fee-fi-mo-Mane, Jane!

• Recognizing Syllables: words are comprised of a beats, or syllables and different words have different numbers of beats. Using your child's name is a great way to encourage recognition of syllables in words. Try saying your child(ren)'s name(s) and clapping the number of syllables in each. Make a chart together recording the number of syllables in each child's name or the names of everyone in your family. You can also make or use a drum or tambourine to sing this song together, tapping out the number of syllables in each name:

Rum, pum, pum! This is my drum! [tap out rhythm, children can tap their knees or clap the beat]

My name is __________, what's your name?

[First model your name, then insert child's name. Each child will get to tap the syllables of his/her name on the drum before passing it to the next participant! "Bob" would get one tap, "Mary," would get two, "Olivia" would get four, and so on...]

• Words are like a puzzle made up of individual letters. In advance, prepare two sentence strips with each child's name. Hold up a child's name to show a whole word. Cut (or have older children cut) between each letter of their names. Can they put together the puzzle of their name by placing the letters in the correct order. They may use the uncut name strip for reference. 

• Tactile Awareness of Letter Formations is vital to development of writing skills. Many early readers may be reluctant writers. Drawing, tracing and writing are not skills that come easily to all children for a variety of reasons. Sometimes there can be a contributing factor like hand weakness or upper-body weakness that make using writing utensils difficult. Sometimes visual processing difficulties can make aspects of reading and writing more challenging. In some cases, additional support may be needed, but in many cases, the developmental skills required for writing will fall into place in due time. Some reluctant writers may need alternative methods for developing tactile awareness of letters (their shape, how they are formed and eventually how they are written). In previous posts, I've touched upon the use of a variety of manipulatives and materials to introduce letters including magnets, foam letters, puzzles, stamps, stickers, cookie cutters, blocks, sand letters, stencils and more. Sensory play can be another great method to introduce pre-writing skills and tactile awareness of letters and playdough is a perfect medium for this! Using store-bought playdough or even your favorite homemade recipe, have your child(ren) form the first letter of their first name. Can they form all of the letters in their name? You can also use letter cookie cutters to cut out their special letters or rubber stamps to imprint their name in playdough. Playdough is one of my go-to mediums for letter and word practice. It can really introduce children to the shape and feeling of each letter and as an added bonus, working with playdough helps develop the small muscles in the hands and larger muscles in the upper body necessary for successful writing!