Adhesive Card Stock= Sticker Anything

Match My Picture

Ages: 2 years - 4 years

Supplies: 
Scissors
Card stock
Adhesive cardstock
*If you can't find adhesive card stock use glue.

Benefits: Matching, shapes, order of operations

I got this from JoAnn's it's $9.99 and was 40% off (Size 4.5x6.5)

Activity: 

Prep:

1. Cut out pieces to make a scene. Cut 2 of each piece. 
2. Fold a piece of card stock in half  "hot dog" wise and cut along the line. 
3. Draw a line down the middle. 
4. Adhere 1 copy of the scene to one side of the paper 

Play: 

Give the pieces to the child and have them match your picture. 

Scribble Art

Scribble Art 

Ages: 2 years to ?? I do this with my friends sometimes.

Supplies: 
Paper
Marker/ crayon/ colored pencil (you choose)

Benefits: Imaginative play

A man with 3 eyes. I was black pen. He was green crayon. (Age 3)

Activity: 

The child draws or scribbles a picture.

You ask them what it is.

Then, with their permission, you draw on top of it to bring out the details they describe.

**Make sure that the child agrees to coloring together so you don't make them feel like what they drew doesn't look like what they say it is.

With older kids (ages 4+), we take turns scribbling with no intention what it is and then sit back and look at the scribble and see what stands out to us, the same way you gaze at clouds. We also take turns drawing the details we describe.

Dirt Table/ Car Wash

Dirt Table/ Car Wash

Ages: 18 months-5 years

Supplies: 

Match Box Cars

Dish Soap

Water

Water table or 3 plastic boxes/ buckets/containers

Rubbermaid lid

Sponge cut in half or old wash cloths or paper towels

Dirt 

Benefits: order of operations and tactile play 

Activity: 

Set Up: 

1. Dig up a small patch of dirt and put a few scoops on the rubber maid lid. Add water to make it mud. 

2. Fill 3 plastic containers with water. Add dish soap to one. 

Play: 

Let the kids drive the cars through the dirt. 

When they're ready to play car wash, dip the car in a container with just water. 

Next put the car in the soapy water. 

Use sponges and wash cloths to clean the cars. 

Then put the cars in the 3rd container to rinse off the soap. 

Then line then up to dry or use a dry towel to dry the cars. 

Modifications: 

• Build an obstacle course for the cars on the dirt table. 
• Make a parking lot using sidewalk chalk 
• Make roads on the dirt table. 

Race Track

Cereal Box Race Track 

Ages: All ages.

Supplies: 
Cereal box
Tape
Scissors
Toy Cars
Painter's tape

Benefits: ...It's fun?

Activity: 

1. Take an old cereal box. 
2. Open the box up on one side. 
3. Cut off flaps on the top and bottom (set aside flaps) 
4. Cut the box in half "hamburger" ways, which means across the middle. 
5. Tape the 2 sides together. 
6. Bend the edges slightly to give the cars a little bumper. 
7. Turn the track over. Reinforce any folds in the box by taping the flaps over the folds to prevent them from bending backwards. (You can also use popsicle sticks or heavier cardboard if the box tops aren't strong enough.) 
8. Tape the ramp to a chair and the floor using painter's tape (it won't ruin your furniture or floor when it comes up.) 
9. Send cars shooting down the hill. 

Modifications: 

• Make a longer track. 
• Make 2 tracks so you can race cars or tape straws down the middle to make 2 racetracks.
• Make obstacles for the car to go through after it comes down the ramp. 
• Time the cars to see which car is the fastest. 

Counting Cutouts

Counting Cutouts

Ages: 18 months- 5 years old

Supplies:
Glue stick
Scissors
Card stock
Marker/ pen
Googly eyes (optional)

Benefits: Hand/ eye coordination, counting, colors, animals.

Activity: 

Choose a theme: farm animals, under the sea creatures, shapes, types of transportation, fruits or veggies. 

Choose 5 different types of things from that category and give each thing a number. Example from above: 1 fish, 2 turtles, 3 crabs, 4 starfish, 5 shells. 

Cut out the number of objects associated with that number.

With the child, glue each piece to the paper starting with 1 and going up to 5. Mix up the pieces and have the kids pick out the shapes to encourage sorting, matching, and counting.
Draw faces and stick googly eyes to the animals.

Hang it on the fridge or in their room, and you can use this as a teaching tool in the future.

Modifications: 

• Ideas for categories: Fruit: apple, oranges, grapes, strawberries, lemons.                                                                            Transportation: bus, car, airplane, truck, boat                                                                                      Shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, heart                                                                                  Farm: cat, bunny, duck, dog, chicken 
• If they are too small to glue the pieces on, have them hand them to you and they can watch you glue the pieces on the paper. 

Dump Truck Nature Walk

Dump Truck Nature Walk 

Ages: Walking to 4 years

Supplies: 

String 

Dumptruck

Benefits: Comparing sizes and shapes, listening, exercise, colors, vocabulary 

Activity: 

Tie a string/ leash/ spare bag strap to a toy dump truck. 

Go for a walk with the child pulling the dump truck. 

Encourage them to collect things from nature to put in the dump truck. 

When you get home, unload the dump truck and talk about the things you've found. 

Compare sizes, shapes, and colors. Talk about where each item came from. If it is a part of something bigger, for example, a pine cone, talk about pine trees and what pine cones are. 

Modifications: 

• Make a list of things to find before you leave the house. See how many items you can find. Ex: a grey rock, a yellow leaf, 5 dandelions. 
• Play I spy with things they can pick up. "Stop! I spy something green to put in the dump truck!" 
• Take small items from home (like small plastic animals). Tell the child to wait and close their eyes and hide the small items in the grass or on the sidewalk or on stoops up the block. When the child opens their eyes, go on a hunt to find the items and put them in the dump truck. 

Finger Puppets

Finger Puppets

Ages: 18 months- Elementary school

Supplies: 
Cardstock
Scissors
Sharpie
Glue stick.

Benefits: storytelling, imaginative play, matching, language, body parts.

Activity: 

• Cut out a pear shape about 2.5 inches across the widest part of the pear. About 3.5 inches high. 
• Cut out heads and arms for the animals. 
• Cut 2 finger size holes in the pear shaped card stock (They work the best if they fit your fingers rather snug- try and customize them to you and the child's fingers) 
• With the child, mix up the pieces. Either you or the child can pick a pear color. Ask the child to help pick out the parts that match the color you choose. 
• Glue the head and arms on the puppet. 
• Repeat for every color. 
• Put your fingers through the holes for legs. 

* I made this activity for the child's mom to do with their child. I don't draw the shapes before I cut them out so that's why I didn't write that step. If you need to draw the pieces before you cut them out. Draw them next to the pear so that you can estimate the size of the head and arms. 

Modifications: 

• You can just draw an animal or person and cut it out as one piece (with the head and arms on the animal already) 
• Paint your fingernails to look like shoes. 
• Act out a play with the puppets. 
• Draw the arms and heads and pears and have the child cut them out and assemble them themselves.