Fun With Letter N - Creating a Night Sky

As part of our activities for Letter N, we created a picture of a night sky. We went through the days of creation and talked about God creating day and night on the first day. I told David that N is for 'night' and we were going to make a picture of a night sky. The 'night sky' done by David is my favourite of all the pieces of artwork he has done thus far. Here it is:

This piece of work may look sophisticated, but it is actually very easy to do.

Materials used:

- a piece of black card stock or black construction paper mounted on cardboard.
- a paint brush
- glue stick
- gold and silver glitter glue
- pre-cut crescent and stars (I used two star-shaped craft punches to punch out stars of different sizes from gold and silver metallic paper.)

I dribbled some silver glitter glue onto the black paper and asked David to spread it out using the paint brush. He enjoyed doing it as he had never 'painted' using glitter glue before. The glittery effect was certainly enticing to him!

After that I dribbled gold glitter glue and asked him to spread that out too. It did not matter if the colours came together. He had complete freedom to spread the glue as much as he wanted.

After the paper was 'painted' with glitter glue, I asked him to paste the crescent and the stars onto the paper. Although the paper was sticky with glitter glue, I knew the crescent and stars would come off easily when the glue became dry. That was why I asked David to use the glue stick to apply glue to the crescent and stars before pasting.

David didn't really like getting his fingers all sticky, so I prepared a piece of damp cloth for him to wipe his hands whenever he felt like it. (In fact, I always need to have a cloth ready for him whenever he does painting or other forms of process art. He is one who doesn't like to get his hands dirty.)

When the crescent and stars were all up and the glue had dried sufficiently, the 'night sky' looked like a masterpiece! Vincent van Gogh, I love your painting "The Starry Night", but David's "Night Sky" will always be more beautiful in my eyes!

Fine Motor Math Activity - Counting Beads on Pipe Cleaners

Young children are often capable of recognising number symbols from 1 to 10 and reciting the numbers (one, two, three, four....) in the correct order. However, many of them do not yet grasp the concept of one-to-one correspondence. One-to-one correspondence is usually explained as the ability to match one object to one corresponding number or object. A child who does not understand one-to-one correspondence may skip counting an object when counting by rote memorisation, or count the same object twice or more. Preschoolers may take months or longer to master this foundational mathematical skill. Therefore it is important to provide young children with lots of opportunities to practise "one-to-one correspondence" in as many different contexts as possible.

Below is a picture of a set-up that provides opportunity for practising one-to-one correspondence when counting. I folded a sticker label into half on one end of each pipe cleaner and labelled all of them from 1 to 10. You can use paper and glue too if you do not have sticker labels. I also prepared a bowl of beads to be used with the pipe cleaners.

I asked David to tell me the numbers that were labelled on each pipe cleaner. He had no difficulty recognising them. I explained to him that if the number on the pipe cleaner is '2', he had to thread 2 beads onto the pipe cleaner; if the number is '5', he had to thread 5 beads. He caught on quickly and started to count the beads while threading.

This counting activity is also great for practising fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. A steady hand and good coordination are both needed to pick up a small bead, find the hole in it, and insert the pipe cleaner through the hole. It may seem like a very simple task for us adults, but it really takes some practice for young children to do it well. David had been exposed to threading activities before and now has no problems with threading beads of this size.

Initially I was a bit concerned that David may not have the patience to thread all the pipe cleaners. He had to thread and count and check the number of beads for each pipe cleaner. Would he get frustrated or lose interest? In the past our threading activities were never this long and he did not have to deal with numbers and accuracy. I was prepared to let him stop if he showed any signs of frustration. After all, he only just turned 3 and only very recently learned to thread beads this small. My concerns were unfounded, for he apparently enjoyed the task and was able to stay focused. He would happily show me the completed pipe cleaner whenever he finished counting and threading for one number. I gave him lots of encouragement throughout the process and I believed that motivated him a lot!

The picture above shows the fruit of his hard work. Each pipe cleaner has the correct number of beads on it. Well done, David!


For more ideas on fine motor activites, you may wish to follow my "Fine Motor Skills" board on Pinterest:

Creating Music with a Water Bottle Xylophone

One morning, David came running to me and said,"Mummy, I want to play xylophone!" I was wondering why he had the sudden interest, then I thought it could be due to the xylophone image we have on one of our letter X resources.

"But we don't have a xylophone!" I replied. "Wait... maybe Mummy can make a xylophone for you. Let me see..."

And so a simple request to play on a xylophone resulted in the set-up below - a water bottle xylophone experiment!

You probably know by now that I collect lots of recyclable things. Glass bottles from bottled pasta sauce, kaya spread and bottled seasonings have been accumulating in my kitchen cabinet. Due to lack of space, I have actually sent some to the recycling bin in my neighbourhood. I kind of regretted doing that when it was time to make this "xylophone" at home. How I wished I could have 8 glass bottles of the same size so I could play the whole scale! It would be much easier to play songs too if there were more notes. Alas! I only had 3 big glass bottles of the same size, and so had to settle for just 3 notes - doh-reh-me.

It took a bit of time calibrating the amount of water in each bottle so it could produce the correct note. More water will produce a lower pitch, and less water will produce a higher pitch. When it was finally done, I took a pair of metal chopsticks and showed David how to make music by hitting the glass bottles. Do you know you can play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with just doh-reh-me? It was like an eye-opener for David. He immediately took over and starting playing his own "symphony" :)

Below is a video of how the water bottle xylophone was used to play a song. Enjoy!

Fun with Letter M (Part 2) - Magnets and Magnetic Painting

As part of our activities for Letter M, we did some hands-on activities with magnets. Specifically, we did a 'magnetic' vs 'non-magnetic' sorting activity, made a magnetic discovery bottle, and created a piece of art with 'magnetic painting'.

Magnet Sorting Activity

Below is a picture of the set-up for this activity. I chose some magnetic and non-magnetic items from around the house and placed them in a basket. There were two distinct spaces for David to place the magnetic and non-magnetic items. I showed him a bar magnet, told him what it was, then proceeded to show him what to do with it. The interaction went something like this: "What is this? Yes, it's a paper clip. Bring the magnet close to it. Does it stick to the magnet? Yes! That means the paper clip is magnetic! Now put the paper clip here. This word says magnetic, so we put all the magnetic things here. Now what is this? (Hold the cup) Yes! It's a cup. Do you think it's magnetic? Let's test it with the magnet. Does it stick? No! The cup is non-magnetic, so we put the cup here..."

David particularly loved testing the paper clips and house keys with the magnet. I gave him more paper clips to see what would happen if he were to place the magnet close to many of them. He was surprised when the paper clips all came rushing to the magnet. Then he wanted to do it again, and again, and again...

He was so proud to be able to hold the bunch of keys with a magnet this way, with just the rim of the ring chain touching the magnet!

The final result of our sorting activity. I arranged the items neatly before taking a photo, David wasn't too interested in putting the things down neatly during the activity. He was too eager to move on to the next item!

Magnetic Discovery Bottle

Materials used:
- some pipe cleaners, cut into shorter strips
- a clear plastic bottle, filled with water
- magnet

The picture above shows the set-up. I asked David to put a bar magnet on the side of the bottle near the pipe cleaners and observe what happened. The pipe cleaner strips were attracted to the magnet and they all clumped together in the process. It was interesting to watch magnetism at work in this setting, through thin plastic and water. I added water into the bottle so David could have some fun watching and feeling how the magnet could 'drag' the pipe cleaners all over the bottle (in slow motion). You can do this activity without water too. I had to discard the pipe cleaners after some days because they started to rust in the water.


Magnetic Painting

Materials used:
- one paper plate with 3 dabs of paint (primary colours - red, yellow and blue) on it
- one paper clip
- magnet

Directions: Place the magnet under the paper plate, touching the base, just below the paper clip. It should attract the paper clip even though the paper plate is a barrier. Drag the paper clip using the magnet so it moves in various directions on the paper plate. As the paper clip cuts through the colours, it will leave a trail of the colours it comes in contact with.

David sat down, held the bar magnet in one hand, and started to slide the bar magnet around, touching the base of the paper plate. It was interesting to watch as it seemed like the paper clip was moving by itself! To me, it was as if a robot was moving around, cutting through the colours and painting on its own!

As the paper clip cut through the colours more and more, the effects of colour mixing could be observed. The secondary colours, orange, green and purple, became more visible.

This was really an exercise in patience. It took quite a long time for David to 'paint' the plate. Above is a picture of the 'magnetic painting'. I thought this was a unique way to paint, and David certainly experienced and learned about the effects of magnetism through this activity!

Fun with Letter M (Part 1) - Marble Painting and Marble Run

There are several hands-on activities we did for the letter M. In this post, I'll focus on our activities with 'marbles'.

Marble Painting

Materials used:
-  a piece of drawing paper
- a cardboard box to hold the paper (You can also use a baking tray or container lid.)
- few dabs of paint (different colours) on the paper
- several marbles (there are 6 in the photo but I added more halfway to speed up the process of painting)

In this process art activity, the painting is done not with brushes, but with marbles! The idea is to move and rock the cardboard box in such a way that the marbles can roll over the paper in various directions. As the marbles cut through the paint, it will leave a trail as it moves about in the box.

David was totally engrossed in trying to move the marbles all over the piece of paper. I think it took quite a bit of strength and coordination to do it well, judging from the way he moved.

He was very intent to get the marbles cover as big an area as possible, and many times his head was very nearly going into the box due to his total preoccupation with the task at hand :)

The picture below shows the final product. I thought it looked like an abstract piece of art and can be used as a beautiful piece of wrapping paper!

Marble Run

I have been collecting cardboard tubes (toilet rolls, kitchen towel rolls etc) for craft and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities for some time. I was so glad when we finally came to letter M, for I had been planning to make a marble run for play and learning. I cut some openings on the cardboard tubes for a more visual experience but you can use the cardboard tubes as they are. I used lots of tape to tape the cardboard tubes onto a blank wall. If you have older children, you can involve them in designing the marble run. This is a good STEM activity as they will be learning about slopes, angles, gravity, engineering and problem solving. As David was rather short I made a very simple marble run on the wall so it would be more accessible to him. I placed a tissue box with its top trimmed off (you can just use a shoe box) at the bottom of the marble run to 'catch' the marbles. To prevent the marbles from bouncing off and from making loud noises when landing, I padded the box with some newspaper.

David had great fun playing with the marble run. He kept putting new marbles in through the top opening and soon started experimenting by dropping the marbles in through other available spaces. It was fun even for me as an adult to play! When my second son came home he couldn't resist and had to join in the fun too! It may seem like the youngest was just playing and having fun, but even in such a simple play activity, he was learning about how things work, and having a lesson in gravity even without being conscious about it!

Loose Parts Play in the Home - Setting up Invitations

In my previous post I gave an introduction to loose parts play, gave examples of "loose parts" and described how this type of play is beneficial to children. In this post I will attempt to describe how loose parts play can be incorporated in the home, giving examples from my own homeschool.

Although there are no specific directions on how loose parts are to be used when we present them to children, parents do play an active role in deciding what materials to give them. Giving meaning to loose parts requires parents to think about the possibilities of how a child learns and also consider the materials and environments that the child uses. A carefully put together collection of loose parts designed to allow for open-ended play and exploration is also known as an "invitation to play". This term is deeply rooted in the Reggio philosophy that believes children are able to direct their own play when they are offered open-ended and meaningful resources to explore.

Here are two examples of my "invitations to play" at home:

Cardboard Tubes and Pom-Poms

When David was presented with some cardboard tubes and pom-poms to play, this was how he went about playing with them:

First, he stacked the cardboard tubes to form a tall tower. (Good motor skills required for this one! He did a good job and I was very proud of him!)

He then took the cardboard tubes down, emptied the bag of pom-poms, and stood for a moment. (I suppose he was wondering what to do next?)

He built three shorter towers this time, then proceeded to drop pom-poms randomly into each one. He stopped when one tower was filled to the brim.

After that he started to do colour sorting with the pom-poms and cardboard tubes.

Just a simple invitation to play, but so many possibilities! David was fully engaged for about 40 minutes. It was very satisfying to witness such spontaneous play in this extremely simple set-up.


Buttons, Glass Gems, Pom-Poms, Fake Coloured Gemstones and Paper Prompts

I set up the above "invitation to play" while David was having his breakfast on the high chair. He saw what I was setting up and couldn't wait to come down and play! (Tip: Set up invitations to play while your children are eating if you know they will take a long time to finish their food. This will motivate them to eat faster! Haha!)

A closer look at the loose parts. Loose parts can be so beautiful, don't you agree?

David started by placing coloured gems on the zig-zag pattern like this. I had expected him to just put the gems on the lines and trace them, but obviously he had a mind of his own. I was reminded that we are all different and can have different ways of doing things.

After finishing his 'work' on the zig-zag pattern he started working on the spiral one. This time he chose to place coloured buttons on the line. He was quite particular about the size of the buttons he chose (I have big and small buttons in the tray.) He wanted the big buttons on the outer curves and when they were all used up he filled the inner curves with the small buttons.

This was how it looked at the end. I simply love the colours!

David then proceeded to work on the paper with big, black dots. He put big, colourful pom-poms on the dots to cover them.

The above picture shows how the invitation to play turned out at the end. I really love the results. They are so pretty!

I left the invitation out on the table after he finished. A few hours later he wanted to play again. This time he used the blue glass gems to trace the spiral pattern. He started working on another spiral pattern but left it unfinished, which was alright with me as I knew he had worked hard concentrating on working these patterns for the day.

This invitation to play provides the opportunity for children to train themselves in patience and concentration. It is also a great activity for improving fine motor and hand-eye coordination skills!

I have just given two examples of loose parts play in the home. As you can see, they are not difficult to implement in the home at all. What is needful though, is that the parent must have an open mind. Try not to 'force' your own ideas onto the child or interfere with his or her tinkering. If your child is really stuck you may try working on your own project with the same materials unassumingly. Let your child see you creating and tinkering, and he or she will soon want to imitate you! Don't feel discouraged if your child does not show interest in the invitation that you set up. Children, like adults, have their preferences too. Many times the same invitations that were unattractive initially became interesting to them weeks or months later. Try offering the same invitations at a later time or do some variations to suit your child's preference.

Loose parts play in the home need not be complicated, yet it offers so many possibilities for the child to play and explore. I strongly encourage parents to try to incorporate this type of play in the home. I'm loving the results, and I'm quite sure you would too!

For more ideas and information on loose parts play and invitations to play, you may wish to follow my "Loose Parts Play" board on Pinterest: