Kids activities

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.

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 29 – Ball Toss 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 – Ball Toss Activity

Physical activity is an essential component of everyone’s overall health and wellness. Getting regular activity offers short- and long-term benefits for your physical and mental health, including reducing your risk of disease, building stronger bones and muscles, increasing energy, and decreasing stress levels. Exercise is essential for everyone throughout their lives, so we need to be educated on the benefits of exercise and how to incorporate daily physical activity as early as possible. Early childhood physical activity promotes increased interest in wanting to continue into adulthood. But what do you do when you can’t go outside? We have a great idea to keep kids active while indoors.

Step 1: Gather various size balls and baskets/containers you have at home. They can be any size. The size of the ball will determine the size of the basket needed.

Step 2: Place the baskets or containers at various distances from where the child will be standing. You can use a measuring tape to record the distance between the child and basket and you can keep a record of how many times the ball goes in at different distances. The builds math skills such as counting, measurement and recording results in a chart.

Step 3: Have your child throw the ball and try and get it into each basket at various distances. Once they have succeeded doing that, you change up how they throw it. For example, opposite hand, between the legs, backwards etc. Record the results of each attempt and how many were successful.

This activity can be done with children any age. For older kids, you may try to use a smaller ball and smaller containers to make it more difficult. You can also add points for each container and add up the points for the total score.

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

Daily Activity for Kids – Day 28 – Measure Me 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 – Measure Me Math Activity

There are several ways to make math fun for children without them realizing they are learning. Children are always asking how tall am I? Have I grown? When will I be taller than you? Some families chart their child’s growth by putting a pencil mark on the inside of a door. Other families may measure their child’s height with a measuring tape.  We have a fun activity you can do inside your home. All you need is some fun tools to measure with. You can use blocks, Lego, spoons, rulers or a measuring tape if you have none of the above. Ensure that the items you are using are the same size.

Step 1: Pick a body part to measure. It could be a hand, foot, leg or your entire body.

Step 2: Line up your measuring tools beside the body part you are measuring.

Step 3: If you are using Lego, blocks, spoons, etc. count how many it takes to be the same length as the part of the body you are measuring. (e.g. foot – 3 lego blocks long)

Step 4: Record your results on a graph and compare your measurement to your child’s. This will show them how much more they need to grow. You can place the Lego beside each other so they have a visual of it as well. You can do this for every person in your household and compare the size of your hands, feet, arms, legs and whole body.

You can take this activity beyond measuring yourselves and you can measure anything. Have your child guess how many Lego’s the TV would be or the height of the chair. You can even measure a family pet, doll or you child’s favourite stuffed toy.

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