As we were researching campgrounds for our next family adventure, my husband and I were reminiscing about past trips and how much fun we had. Since we have friends with kids joining us, he asked what kind of activities I was going to pack. So, I thought I would share what are in my opinion, the best toys and games for family camping.
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GLOW IN THE DARK
Any game or activity that involves things that glow in the dark is always a hit!
WATER PLAY We will be right next to a river and pool on our next trip, however we will want to play with water on land, too. Water balloon fight, anyone? GROUP PLAY Here are some of our favorites to play while dinner is cooking or when we are just hanging out at camp. QUIET OR RAINY DAY PLAY It has rained at least once on every.single.trip we have been on over the years. We have learned to embrace it and prepare for it. And sometimes, the kids need a few minutes apart, so these games and activities work well for that, too. I hope you consider adding one or more of these fun games that are sure to make wonderful family memories for years to come. Check the link below for other amazing games your family will love.
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Festivals and events may be cancelled this summer, however there is treasure to be found at home with your preschooler. Get creative and let Experience Preschool with Mother Goose Time, help.
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We will visit our local beaches this summer, however, if we decide to stay home, we will still have plenty of fun. And I know she is learning, even though she thinks she is just playing with gold coins and sand. Here, I used materials from this month's subscription box from Experience Preschool with Mother Goose Time. I simply added her little tray of Kinetic sand and as we played Counting Treasure, I was able to see which numbers she knew and if she could count items using one-to-one correspondence. Dancing on Alphabet Island played in the background.
You can read here how we kicked off this fun summer theme at home and around our community.
When each Mother Goose Time box arrives, Iris wants to know where the theme poster is because she loves the little magnifying glasses that come with it. There are little prompts on the handles such as, "How many palm trees can you find?" If your child enjoys Seek and Find books or playing I Spy, they will certainly dig the monthly poster. I am amazed by how much her vocabulary has grown just since we stayed home from the "COVID-19 shut down" which makes me appreciate her and our preschool box even more. Amid shut-downs and new rules regarding how we live and work, I have found the very best treasure of all, more time with Iris.
We are so excited about our Treasure Island curriculum box from Experience Preschool with Mother Goose Time. As much as possible, we plan on taking our activities outdoors. This theme naturally lends itself to outdoor learning, right Matey? We began our week at the beach, looking for treasure and "pirate ships." There are some tall ships (which we call pirate ships) that are available to ride on in our area and we were able to spy one getting ready for the season. We also took a stroll through a marina. Simple experiences like this provide wonderful opportunities to enrich your child's vocabulary and strengthen your relationship as you are spending time together. We talked about docks, anchors, life jackets, sail boats, fishing boats and much more. Iris now has real life experiences with these items and will be able to make connections to them later. At home, we played the theme music that came in our Experience Preschool With Mother Goose Time box. The songs have a real island feel and feature fun sounds like steel drums. One of the games in my Teacher Guide was called Island Hop. I played the CD and Iris hopped from Island to Island (hoola hoops). When the music stopped, she had to freeze, which caused a lot of gigles!. We plan on playing this game with our neighbor friend, too. To provide some background knowledge for Iris, we talked about the Topic Poster that showed a photo of an island and we recalled a few movies we watched recently that featured islands. Included in our monthly curriculum kit, are two books, suggestions for other books relating to the topic and many hands-on games. Click here to view what comes in an Experience Preschool with Mother Goose Time kit. Iris had so much fun playing the game, Number Island. She rolled a die, counted the dots and then found the matching number island floating in the water. She experimented with trying to make the numbers stay at the bottom of the dish tub and was delighted to see them stick to the side of the tub. Of course, we ended up splashing water and having such great fun we needed a change of clothes. When the weather is too warm to play outdoors (or we just need a break from the sun) there are plenty of games we can play indoors such as counting shells. These beautiful number cards, photo and shells were included in our kit. Thanks for coming along on today's adventure! Hope to see you soon.
The late winter, early spring of 2020 is sure to go down in history as one of the most unusual pandemics. Restaurants and businesses shut down and children were sent home to learn. Many parents had to juggle working from home while educating their children. Now that the dust has settled, we have to wonder what effect this will have on our children. As an early childhood educator, I spent hours in webinars this spring, learning about the social-emotional consequences of isolating children from their peers and the world. Brilliant minds are coming together to suggest how we can support children now and when we return to our school buildings. ECE professionals are committed to doing what it takes to make children and their families feel that school can once again be a happy and safe place to learn. What kind of learning gap can we expect, however? Will it be the "COVID-19 Slown Down" or "Slide?" Each fall, teachers are prepared to review last year's material. Some children will need more remedial work than others and many factors come into play. After the COVID-19 shutdown, however, and schools deciding to advance children to the next grade, what can we expect? This article claims students could be behind a full year. Before school let out this year, I hope educators communicated to parents the importance of practicing key skills over the summer. I also hope that parents were supplied with resources for their specific child. There are many wonderful free resources out there and those that cost very little. Most publishers such as Evan-Moor are happy to support parents and provide a discount for workbooks and other resources. I shared one of my favorite resources and a few easy strategies in a recent blog post. What can parents do? Parents can ask their preschool directors and or school administrators what type of plans are in place to support their child, academically, socially, and emotionally. Revised health care plans should be shared with parents also. Over the summer, parents can support their child on the home front and make sure they spend at least 15 minutes a day working on key skills appropriate for their age and grade level. Read, sing, work on puzzles, and explore the community. Provide rich sensory experiences at home through cooking, crafts, or the outdoors, such as hiking or visiting area zoos. Visit farmer's markets, marinas, libraries, whatever your community has to offer. Provide rich experiences which then become background knowledge for future learning. Here in Michigan, Governor Whitmer has announced that in-person learning will occur this fall and the full plan will be released on June 30. In the meantime, my program is preparing for several scenarios. We are expecting to review the basics and move forward as children are ready. Let's all do our part to slow down the learning gaps caused by the COVID-19 shutdown.
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Summer Vacation is here. Yes, we have about 2 1/2 glorious months of summer fun, yet something is happening that you may not even be aware of: Your child is quickly losing knowledge gained during the previous school year. Teachers lovingly refer to the knowledge lost as "Summer Brain Drain." Teachers will spend the first month of school reviewing "old" skills with their students and trying to gauge where each child is at, skill-wise. You can help your child's brain stay sharp however, with just 15 minutes of practice a day. You will be surprised how easy it is to fit in this practice session each day.
Make learning fun for your child and think out of the box. Learning can take place in a house, tent or on the picnic table. Your child (and their teacher) will be less frustrated this fall and your child will have an advantage over their peers. Happy Summer!
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AuthorSheila Anderson has over 25 years experience in the Early Childhood Field and still loves going to "school" everyday. Archives
January 2022
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