Daily Activity for Kids – Day 6 – Make Slime
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 6 – Make Slime (taste safe)
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are home with their children and looking for things to do. This is a daily post to give you ideas of fun things to do. It comes from activities that we implement at our daycare centre using our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum. Since we are closed during this time, we are sharing the activity for you to implement in your own home. Enjoy!
Today’s Activity: Make Slime (taste safe)
Today we are making slime that is safe for tasting. It probably won’t taste good but it won’t hurt to taste it. It also has a nice texture with the chia seeds.
Step 1: Collect the items you will need.
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- 1 ¾ cup of water
- Food colouring
- 3-4 cups of cornstarch
Step 2: Mix the chia seeds, food colouring and water together.
Step 3: Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Step 4: Uncover and add the corn-starch a little at a time. About a cup at a time. Mix and then continue until your achieve the desired level of consistency. It should be like regular slime – slimy but can easily be taken off hands.
Step 5: Store slime covered in the refrigerator. You will need to add a little water each time you take it out to use it. It will reactivate the slime.
Did you know that slime resembles both a liquid and a solid? This is a great discussion to start with your children. You can look up other items that have similar properties, or you can compare and chart items that are liquid and items that are solid. See how many you can name. Did you know that slime can be destroyed by vinegar? When you are finished playing with your slime, add vinegar to it and watch it completely dissolve.
This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM (science an
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 5 – Online Kids Activity
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 5 – Online Kids Activity
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are home with their children and looking for things to do. This is a daily post to give you ideas of fun things to do. It comes from activities that we implement at our daycare centre using our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum. Since we are closed during this time, we are sharing the activity for you to implement in your own home. Enjoy!
Today’s Activity: Create a New Animal Species – Online Kids Activity
Have you ever wanted to create your own animal species? Maybe you thought a dog mixed with a cat would be a good idea and you invented the “Cog” or the “Dat”. We found an amazing free website that allows you to do just that. It is called “Switchzoo”. We have a challenge for you. Follow these five steps to complete our Switchzoo challenge.
Step 1: Go to the website www.switchzoo.com. Click on the link “Make and Play”. Then click on the Switch Zoo Habitats Map and pick your favourite animal. We picked the elephant to start with.
Step 2: Switch off various parts of your animal with the pictures provided and create your new animal. Don’t forget to name it. We created a Rabbiturtphant
Step 3: Then move around the habitats creating all kinds of unique and fun animals. You must name each animal you create.
Step 4: Pick your favourite animal creation and make up a short story about it. We want to know its name, where it lives, what it eats and if you would keep it as a pet. If your child can write, have them write the story. If not, you can ask them questions and record their answers in a story format.
Step 5: Share you creations with us by either sending us a picture and the story through Facebook or IG. We would love to hear about what animals you made. You can post it in the comments here!
Switchzoo is full of other ways to enjoy the website. You can listen and figure out which animal is making the music you are hearing or you could take an adventure and create a new biome as well. It is a great place to learn and have fun.
This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM (science, technology and language and literacy).
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 4 – Ice Painting
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 4 – Ice Painting
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are home with their children and looking for things to do. This is a daily post to give you ideas of fun things to do. It comes from activities that we implement at our daycare centre using our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum. Since we are closed during this time, we are sharing the activity for you to implement in your own home. Enjoy!
Today’s Activity: Ice Painting
Today we wanted to provide you with a simple activity that not only involves colour and art but also involves a bit of science. We are going to show you how to make ice paints.
Step 1: Gather the following items
- Ice cube tray
- Water
- Food colouring
- Popsicle sticks
- White paper
Step 2: Fill the ice cube tray with water but be sure not to over fill them.
Step 3: Add a small drop of food colouring to each cube. If you want to mix colours, have your child add a drop of a different colour to see what happens. You can have them guess the result before doing it.
Step 4: Cut a popsicle stick in half and use the flat end to mix the water and food colouring together. Leave the popsicle stick in and freeze overnight.
Step 5: Once frozen, have your child paint on white paper to see the results. You can have them mix the ice paints and see what colours they can create.
There are so many learning opportunities with this activity. Children learn how to freeze water and what temperature water needs to get to freeze. You can discuss colour mixing with your children and have them test various colours. Before doing this have them make predictions of what could happen. As they are painting, you can discuss with them why the ice cube is leaving colour on their paper. You can also discuss why the ice cube is melting. Once they are done painting, you could put all of the ice cubes in a large bowl and watch what happens as the colours mix together. Opportunities are endless for learning and fun.
This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM (science and art).
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 3 – Scavenger Hunt
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 3 – Scavenger Hunt
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are home with their children and looking for things to do. This is a daily post to give you ideas of fun things to do. It comes from activities that we implement at our daycare centre using our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum. Since we are closed during this time, we are sharing the activity for you to implement in your own home. Enjoy!
Today’s Activity: Scavenger Hunt
With spring weather approaching, why not get outside for some fun, exercise and a break from the indoors and what better way to do that then with a scavenger hunt.
Step 1: Prepare your scavenger hunt list. It can include the following items.
- Something colourful (you can also name a certain favourite colour)
- A pine cone
- An acorn
- Something smooth
- Something rough
- Two kinds of leaves
- Two kinds of sticks
- Something bumpy
- A flat rock
- Something fuzzy
- Something pretty
- A chewed leaf
- A flower or petal
- A piece of litter
- Something you think is a treasure
Step 2: Plan where you will go. Will it be a local park, a hiking trail, or even your own backyard? You can decide to collect each item and bring it home or you can take pictures and make a collage of your journey to remember it.
Step 3: You can separate into teams to make it a fun challenge (make it competitive) or work together as a family to complete the list together.
Step 4: Once you have all the items (either collected or pictures), take them back home and create a fun story with the family using the items you have. E.g. There once was a beautiful (insert your something colourful) who became friends with a pine cone named (name your pine cone) and then keep going until you reach the end of your story. This builds language and literacy skills.
Step 5: Make a collage picture of all the items you collected. You can glue the actual items on the paper or pictures of them to your collage picture. This will be a lovely keepsake.
This is something that you can do daily or weekly. You can change your list each time. Every child loves a scavenger hunt!
This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: language and literacy, science (nature), art and physical activity.
Daily Kids Activity – Day 2 – Travelling the World
Daily Kids Activity – Day 2 – Travelling the World
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are home with their children and looking for things to do. This is a daily post to give you ideas of fun things to do. It comes from activities that we implement at our daycare centre using our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum. Since we are closed during this time, we are sharing the activity for you to implement in your own home. Enjoy!
Today’s Kids Activity-Travelling the world
Children and even adults of all ages love to imagine and pretend. Where would you go if money wasn’t an option? What would you see? What experiences would you have? In today’s activity, you get to travel anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home!
Step 1: Grab a computer, tablet or phone and sit down with your child to visit these sites together for great travel ideas. These kid-friendly websites are sure to give you some ideas for places you would like to visit.
www.kids.nationalgeographic.com
https://outdoorfamiliesonline.com/
https://www.familyadventureproject.org/
Step 2: Have a discussion with your child about the places you see online and have your child pick a place they want to visit. This is where you will go today.
Step 3: Find a space in your home to build a fort. Use sheets, blankets, furniture, pillows, anything that you have accessible to make your fort resemble where you are headed. Think about what you will need in your new place based on climate, such as blankets if it is a cold place.
Step 4: While sitting in your fort, use the laptop/tablet/phone to find out information about the place you are visiting. Talk about the animals who live there, food they eat, local temperatures etc. The websites listed above are a great start. You can even find videos that will give you visuals of the place you are visiting and have them playing in the background.
Step 5: Extend the learning by adding on more activities throughout the day. You could make a local food from the area (e.g. Pizza for Italy, Tacos for Mexico etc.) Take the music from the place you have visited and create a music video including all the family. Make it fun and get moving. Grab some paint or other creative materials and make a picture of something you saw on your visit. It could be the food, the village, the ocean, etc.
This is something that you can do daily. Plan a list of home vacations you will take over the next few days. This is a fun and creative way to educate your children and have fun in the process. Let your imagination go wild! Your kids will love it!
This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM science (cooking), technology (computers), engineering (building), art and language.
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 1 – Kindness Rocks
Daily Activity for Kids – Day 1 – Kindness Rocks
During this COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are home with their children and looking for things to do. This is a daily post to give you ideas of fun things to do. It comes from activities that we implement at our daycare centre. Since we are closed during this time, we are sharing the activity for you to implement in your own home. Enjoy!
Today’s Activity: Kindness Rocks
Step 1: Go for a walk in the neighborhood and collect rocks of all sizes. Try to find some as big as the size of a child’s hand.
Step 2: Put out some paint in various colours and paint the rocks. We encourage both adults and children to participate and paint their own rocks. You can use a paint brush or a toothbrush to make it easier to paint smaller rocks. Let them dry completely.
Step 3: Get a permanent marker and write a kind message on the rock. Ask your child what they would like to say to help someone have a great day. This helps children develop empathy.
Step 4: Go for another walk in the neighborhood and leave the rocks out for other people to find them.
Step 5: This can extend beyond Day 1. Go back to the places you left the rocks and see if they are gone. Make it like a scavenger hunt. If they are still there, you can move them to another spot.
This activity can be repeated and if enough people in the community are participating, you could also go out and find other people’s rocks. This could have a huge multiplier effect. Share this activity with a friend and you can also go out and find each other’s rocks. Most of all, have fun and know that you may brighten someone’s day!
Check out our boredom busters page for more ideas.
Boredom Busters for Kids of all Ages
Boredom Busters for Kids of all Ages
In light of the social distancing protocol and closure of schools and events due to the COVID pandemic, we thought we would provide you with some safe alternatives to prevent boredom and still allow families to have some outdoor fun as well. These are some safe activities to do with families during this time.
1. Go for a walk. On a walk you can admire everything that is still blooming and alive outside. Take a breath of fresh air, count the number of dogs you see, count any flowers you can see blooming, or just enjoy the sunshine. If it’s raining, take an umbrella and rubber boots and still get out there.
2. Go on a hike. Being out in the woods is a safe place to be and still follows the protocol of social distancing. Collect sticks, pinecones, other items that can be used for activities inside the house. Again you can look for squirrels, climb trees and just enjoy the outdoors. Be sure to stay away from flooded rivers and lakes that may be high in the early Spring.
3. Make spring cleaning a fun game. Have your child(ren) clean out old clothes, toys and other items they can donate to a local charity that collects these items. Research the charity online with your child so they can see where the donations will go. A visual helps them understand what they are doing and why.
4. This a great time for family board games and puzzles. Grab a board game you haven’t played for a while. Sit down, no tv on and enjoy the time together. Work on a puzzle together as a project or make a LEGO structure.
5. If you want to help your child with educational activities while they are off school, visit the page www.kidsactivitiesblog.com – they provide enough activities to keep the kids busy for the entire time they are off.
6. Have a lip sync battle at home. Turn on your favourite music and create fun memories by singing and dancing together.
7. Make a movie. Use a phone or tablet to record your movie. Put on costumes and make it up as you go. Have fun with it and involve the whole family in the movie. Let everyone take turns recording and performing in the movie. You will have a great keepsake to look back upon.
8. Make food together. Whether baking banana bread or preparing a special tea party snack, cooking can involve the whole family with everyone participating.
9. Make a family art project and get creative. Everyone can use their own special talents to contribute to it. Some may like making designs on a computer while another may love painting. Try to incorporate everyone’s contribution into one project and make it a family keepsake. Art is great for reducing stress when there are no expectations and everyone does what they like.
10. Make a bird feeder and watch the birds come to enjoy your creation. There are many bird feeder recipes online to choose from.
While these are only a few activities to keep you and your family busy, try remembering back to your childhood and the things that you loved doing. This is the time to shut off electronics and get back to the good things in life. Enjoy it!
There are still things that are not cancelled in this trying time so enjoy the good things: getting outdoors, music, family, reading, singing, laughing and of course, hope.
STEAM Discovery Summer Camp Oakville
STEAM Summer Camp Oakville
S T E A M Discovery Summer Camp 2020 – Oakville
STEAM Summer Camp Oakville – Are you looking for a fun, active and educational summer camp in Oakville for young children 4-5 years old? Many parents are scrambling at this time of year trying to find the best experience for their child while they are off school for the summer months. For young children, it may be difficult for parents to trust that their child is safe and being well taken care of in a summer program. So, how do you choose a program to ensure your child is safe, happy and has an enjoyable summer?
Alpha’s Discovery Kids S T E A M Discovery Summer Camp offers a fun and educational summer program for children 4-5 years old. The summer camp will focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math activities in addition to physical activity to keep children active throughout the summer. Our summer camp program is designed specifically for 4- 5 year old’s to keep them engaged and learning while having fun.
Participants will have the opportunity to explore through inquiry-based learning activities that develop critical thinking skills and problem solving abilities. Participants will also develop their independence, social capabilities and self-esteem, all in a positive environment.
Each week, the summer camp will incorporate a balance of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math activities. In addition, physical activity both indoors and outdoors will be incorporated each day to ensure that children burn off some steam and stay active. Throughout the summer, field trips are planned to extend the learning in each area.
Click here to register or request more information
Why Choose Us
• Our camp program is run by teachers – not student camp counselors like many other programs. Our teachers are trained to work with children and have a child development background and experience.
• Our program offers a balance of indoor and outdoor activity to keep kids physically active and engaged in learning.
• Our S T E A M activities will give your child a head start in a growing field to develop skills that will help them prepare for the future.
• Our program is designed for 4-5 year old children so you can be sure that it will be age- appropriate and safe for them.
• We are licensed by the Ministry of Education so you can be sure that we maintain a safe, stimulating and engaging environment for young children.
• Our premises are inspected by the local Health department and we maintain safe and sanitary practices to ensure a safe and clean environment for children.
• We offer field trips to extend learning experiences beyond the classroom.
• The program includes before and after care between 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
• We have FUN!
Summer camps can create memories that will last a life time. Join us at Alpha’s Discovery Kids STEAM and Sports Summer Camp this year. Not only will your children learn positive skills and stay active, they will also have an enjoyable summer!
Dates/Cost:
Summer 2020
June 29 – July 3 – $220
July 6 – 10 – $275
July 13 – 17 – $275
July 20 -24 – $275
July 27 – 31 – $275
Aug 4 – 7 – $220
Aug 10 – 14 – $275
Aug 17 – 21 – $275
Aug 24 – 28 – $275
Aug 31 – Sep 4 – $275
Please note that field trip costs are not included in the weekly fee. Field trips cost is $20 per trip.
Payments:
Deposit: $75 at the time of registration (non-refundable)
Balance is due June 29th for weeks Jun 29 – Jul 31 Balance is due Aug 4 for weeks Aug 4 – Sep 4
Thanks for reading STEAM Summer Camp Oakville
Thanks for reading STEAM Summer Camp Oakville. If you have any questions about Alpha’s Discovery Preschool & Daycare, in either Mississauga or Oakville, feel free to contact us at any time.
E is for Engineering
At Alpha’s Discovery Kids Preschool and Daycare, we understand the importance of educating children using a wholistic approach. Engineering is a key component of our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) program which is one of our four pillars of learning. You may be wondering how we teach young children engineering skills. This may seem like an abstract concept that young children wouldn’t understand. So first, let’s define engineering and then discuss how we teach those skills to young children.
Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge to solving problems in the real world. Therefore, people use engineering skills to solve problems, which may include learning how things work and building things that we will solve problems in our daily life. So, if you look at it that way, young children are constantly in the process of engineering. They are so inquisitive and they are constantly trying to figure out how things work. It starts with simple tasks, like opening a closed cupboard door or moving a car up and down a ramp. Every activity that they are participating in, is giving them the opportunity to problem solve. One day, these simple little tasks will teach them to solve bigger problems. Teaching children how to think creatively and learning to solve problems prepares them for the future.
Engineering is the process by which young children discover how the things in their world are built and how they work. Whether it is building a block tower, or it is exploring a simple pendulum, engineering is a natural part of everyday, early learning.
Now that we understand what engineering is and how it relates to young children, how do we foster the development of engineering skills. Exploration is a major component when it comes to engineering, so we need to give children opportunities to explore. The ability to freely explore something is important while avoiding too many rules and instructions. This will help the children to solve a problem creatively and lead to understanding and insight.
Another way to foster engineering skills is to let the children play. As parents and educators, we can be over-protective of this generation of children as we try to eliminate any area of risk for them. We fear the slide is too high, that they shouldn’t climb up it. We begin to instill fear in them that isn’t there. Let them play in mud and make mud pies, let them play with sticks and blocks and shovels. Let them be kids and explore. Playing in mud won’t hurt them, it only creates opportunities to problem-solve, create and imagine.
At Alpha’s Discovery Kids, we provide planned activities to the children every day that builds on engineering skills. We provide specific materials to let them build and engineer with. It is important to have a plan and purpose, as well as have the freedom to play and explore. It is okay to create challenges for young children to engineer and build.
Here’s some things you can try at home. Give your child a basket of blocks and challenge them to see how high they can create a tower. Gather rocks outside and create a rock tower. Provide different shapes and sizes of these materials so that they learn what order to place the items in, from biggest to smallest, from fattest to thinnest. It is important to allow the space needed for when the tower does fall, or they make it too tall or too wide.
Provide children with random material in a basket and see what they can build and create. You can put paper, glue, scissors, random craft supplies and let them create and imagine. It is important to ask thought provoking questions along the way. The key is to have one-on-one conversation with your child throughout the engineering process.
Visit our curriculum page for more information about how we incorporate engineering into our four pillars of learning through STEAM curriculum. We have truly developed an exceptional program that focuses on the child as a whole. We believe that language, literacy, STEAM and mindfulness can provide children a path for continuous growth.
A is for Art in STEAM
At Alpha’s Discovery Kids, we understand the importance of educating children using a wholistic approach. Art is a key component of our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) program which is one of our four pillars of learning. We believe that incorporating art into everyday learning is essential. It can encompass science, math, language, engineering and more. Art builds creative skills which are essential to success in all other subject areas. A good scientist, mathematician or engineer must also have creative skills. Art allows children to explore and learn, be creative and use their imagination.
It is important for educators and parents to foster this learning. Art projects can be as simple as a crayon and a piece of paper or as complex as making a nature scene from cutting out pictures and gluing them to paper.
Preschoolers and toddlers do not care about the finished product. They love the creating process, from smearing paint with their fingers on paper to gluing pom poms to a box. It can be hard for parents and educators alike, to sit back and allow the process to happen. We naturally want the sun in the sky and the tree on the ground and not the reverse.
As kids manipulate a paintbrush, their fine motor skills improve. By counting pieces and colors, they learn the basics of math. When children experiment with materials, they dabble in science. Most important perhaps, when kids feel good while they are creating, art helps boost self- confidence. And children who feel able to experiment and to make mistakes feel free to invent new ways of thinking, which extends their learning well beyond the art project.
Art helps children develop their fine motor skills by grasping a pencil or crayon, a paintbrush or chalk. This developing skill will help your child to button their coat or to begin writing. Art activates the critical thinking part of the brain. Children begin to understand that their actions have consequences; if I push harder with the crayon, the colour gets darker. It teaches children to match concepts, like size, shape, they can make comparisons to other items they are using.
What can you do as a parent to build these skills? Having children describe their artwork to you is a great form of communication. It allows them to use their language skills as they process what they have made. You can assist them in learning new words as you ask them questions about their project. Giving children a creative outlet allows them to relieve stress and work through things happening in their lives. Encouraging children to be artistic and express themselves helps facilitate learning and self-esteem.
It is hard as adults not to draw for our children. Instead of drawing your own version of a tree besides theirs, try copying them. Draw the same picture as they are. Make big scribbles, draw big lines and small lines. If children are focused on what the adult is drawing, it takes away from their artwork.
Think about this, if you were at an event and you were told what to wear, how to sit, what to drink, what to eat and how to dance, would it be enjoyable? Ensure that you are giving children choices. Let them decide the materials they want and how and when they want to use them. You have to be prepared for a mess. Have the proper area available and let your child explore. It is okay if they peel the paper off the crayon and roll it along the paper. It’s okay if you provided a paintbrush and they use their fingers. Always focus on the process and not the product. Let them know they are doing a great job and that you love their artwork. Your voice
will always be your child’s inner voice.
Art is about letting it go. As long as your child is safe (i.e. Not running with scissors), let them
explore. This may involve letting them sharpen the pencil crayon for 15 minutes or 15 times
during a 20-minute experience, but children learn best through play and exploration.
Visit our curriculum page for more information about how we incorporate art into our four pillars of learning through STEAM curriculum. We have truly developed an exceptional program that focuses on the child as a whole. We believe that language, literacy, STEAM and mindfulness can provide children a path for continuous growth.