infant daycare

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 39 – Mailbox Letter 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Mailbox Letter Activity

Introducing new language skills and word recognition can be fun for children of all ages. Nothing is more exciting to a child than to receive mail that is addressed to them. This activity uses the mail to teach word recognition.

Step 1: Create a mail box using a cardboard box, shoe box or any other item you have at home that will work. Your child can decorate the mail box using paint or crayons to make it their own.

Step 2: Once the mail box is complete you can begin to send your child letters, addressed to them. Inside each envelope, on a piece of paper you can write down words to teach your child. You can start with words they may recognize like their name or yours. You can add other words they would see in their day. For younger children, you could also draw a picture of the word to help them to “read” it.

Each day you could write a different word. If you want to make this even more fun, your child can take the word and put into google translate and it will pronounce the word for them. For older children you could use google translate to hear how that word would sound in a variety of different languages. You could also extend this activity by having your child write letters to you as well and mail them to you. You could use the real mail with the cost of one stamp or you could setup other mailboxes for each member of the family within the home. It’s a great way to communicate messages to each other.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: (STEAM – art, technology) and language and literacy skills.

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 38 – Calming Jars 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Calming Jars Activity

Creating calming jars can be fun and soothing at the same time. When children are stressed they sometimes don’t know how to express themselves in a way that is clearly understood by those around them. Sometimes it can come across as angry, sadness or a temper tantrum. Providing your child with a calm down jar can help in this situations. They are very easy to make.

Step 1: Gather the following materials: plastic water bottle, water, food colouring and sparkles.

Step 2: Mix everything together inside the bottle and place the lid on tight. You can glue it on or put strong tape around the opening to make sure that it cannot be open.

Step 3: Give it to your child and have them shake it. The colour and sparkles floating around will help to calm your child and distract them from their feelings.

You can expand on this activity by adding different things in the bottle. You can add small items that float or sink, or oil which will separate from the water.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: mindfulness and fine motor skills.

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 37 – Balancing 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Balancing Activity

Balance is important for the healthy physical development of children. Age appropriate balance and coordination allows the child to be involved in sports with a reasonable degree of success as it aids fluid body movement for physical skill performance (e.g. walking a balance beam). It also helps children develop and maintain appropriate controlled body movement during task performance which, when effective, limits the energy required and minimizes fatigue.

With good balance and coordination there is less likelihood of injury as the child is likely to have appropriate postural responses when needed (e.g. putting hands out to protect themselves when they fall off their bike). The physical attributes of balance and coordination also allow appropriate posture for table top tasks and subsequent success at fine motor tasks.

Using an actual gymnastics beam isn’t the only way for a child to learn balance skills.

Indoors, use painters tape to make a straight line on the floor. Encourage your child to walk forwards, backwards, and sideways.

Outdoors, use a plank of wood, a rope, or make a line with chalk for the same activity. When your child masters a straight line, add semi-circles or zigzags to add a bit more of a challenge.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: physical activity and fine motor skills.

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 36 – Build a Bird Feeder 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Build a Bird Feeder Activity

As Spring is upon us and the birds are chirping, now is a great time to attract birds to your garden space. Here’s an easy engineering activity to do with your kids: build a bird feeder.

Step 1: Gather the following materials: Pine cones, Peanut Butter or Shortening, String, Bird Seed.

Step 2: Tie the string on the end of the pine cone.

Step 3: Let your child spread the peanut butter or shortening on the pine cone with a popsicle stick or plastic knife. This builds fine motor skills.

Step 4: Roll the pine cone in bird seed.

Hang the pine cone bird feeder outside and enjoy the birds that visit.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM (engineering) and fine motor skills.

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 35 – Caterpillar Math 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Caterpillar Math Activity

Math introduces children to numbers, shapes, sizes and being able to recognize things that are different and the same. Caterpillar math is a great way to get children to count while making a fun insect at the same time. All you need is paper, a pencil, crayons and paint.

Step 1: Gather the following materials: Paper, Pencil, Crayons, Paint

Step 2: On the paper, draw the numbers 1-10 on the left side of the page. Beside each number, draw a caterpillar face.

Step 3: Ask the child to colour each caterpillar head with crayons.

Step 4: Using paint (green is possible), have the child use their finger to paint dots for each part of the caterpillars body according to the number on the sheet. E.g. one dot for the first caterpillar, two dots for the next one and so on up to 10 dots.

For younger children you could add the circles of the caterpillars body to make it easier for them to paint and count the dots.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM (art and math).

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 34 – Tape Art 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Tape Art Activity

Art is a fun and creative way to introduce children to expression, creativity and emotions. Georgia O’Keefe once said that “I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way-things I had no words for”. Art allows us to express ourselves in our own unique way. A fun project for children of all ages is tape art. It is simple and easy. You can create a great masterpiece to be framed. All you need are the following items.

1. Masking Tape
2. White Canvas or cardboard
3. Paint
4. Paintbrush

Have your child place the tape onto the canvas or cardboard. For younger children it can go anywhere they choose. For older children they can try and have the tape edges meet and create diagonal designs. Once their tape is down, those areas will be white. Then they can paint in the other areas. Once the paint is dry, they can peel off the tape from canvas or cardboard and they will have a beautiful abstract painting.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM (art).

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 33 – Exploding Milk 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Exploding Milk Activity

Exploding Milk is a fun activity where children get to mix colours and use ingredients that react to one another. It can be done in very easy steps and repeated over and over.

Step 1: Gather the following items.

1. A large flat tray
2. Milk
3. Liquid food colouring
4. Dish soap
5. Cotton swabs
6. Bowl
7. Glitter (optional)

Step 2: Start by pouring the milk into a baking dish or another flat bottom surface. You don’t need a lot of milk, just enough to cover the bottom and then some.

Step 3: Add drops of colour to the top of the milk! Go ahead and mix them all up. Add some glitter in there too, if you have some but that’s optional.

Step 4: Pour a bit of your dish soap into another bowl, touch your cotton swab tip to the dish soap to coat it. Bring it over to your milk tray and gently touch the surface of the milk with the soapy cotton swab! What happens?

Step 5: Discuss what happened with your child. Feel free to post your observations of what happened in our social media comments.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: STEAM (science), language and literacy. 

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 32 – Alphabet Hunt 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Alphabet Hunt Activity

When teaching young children to recognize letters, you can make it fun by turning it into a game. Taking children on an alphabet hunt teachers them new words and letter recognition.

Step 1: The game is simple and you only need paper, a pencil and the items in your house.

Step 2: On separate pieces of paper, write down one letter of the alphabet. A on one, B on another and so on for all the letters.

Step 3: Now find objects in your house that start with the letter on the paper. Depending on the age of the child, you can modify the game. For a toddler, you can point to the object that starts with the letter and ask them to say the word. You can help them with the names of the objects until they begin to say them on their own. This is an easy way to build and improve their vocabulary. For older children you can have them go around the house and collect items that start with that particular letter. It can be a fun scavenger hunt based on the beginning sound of the word. (e.g. find anything that starts with the letter A and bring it back). You can add points to make the game competitive based on how many things they bring back. If beginning sounds are too easy, try using the ending sound.

This daily kids activity incorporates many learning areas based on our Four Pillars of Learning curriculum including: language and literacy and physical activity. 

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 30 – Kids Yoga 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!

Daily Activity for Kids – Kids Yoga Activity

Introducing young children to yoga helps establish early healthy habits that can be carried into adulthood. Yoga can enhance a child’s strength, coordination and flexibility, while encouraging body awareness and self-esteem. It can help to relieve anxiety and stress and help to promote a sense of calm. This is a great activity to do before bed, before a nap, or in moments where a child may seem irritated.

Step 1: Find a quiet space in your home and put on some soft instrumental music or nature sounds. On a nice day, you can even find a spot outside.

Step 2: Gather a blanket or yoga mat for each participant so that they have their own space to do the activity.

Step 3: Try the 15 Easy Yoga poses for kids on the following website: https://www.momjunction.com/articles/easy-and-effective-yoga-poses-for-your-kids_00377906/

Step 4: Make sure you breathe slowly through each pose and enjoy the quiet time together with your child.