March 27 – March 31
This week we will be looking at colors. We will talk about rainbows, the sun in the sky and clouds. There will be a rainbow of colors in the sensory table, at the the play-dough table and at art. The children will have an opportunity to mix colors and to talk about colors they see in the classroom and outside. The spring flowers are one way you can talk with your child about colors as you walk around your neighborhood. The daffodils are out and the tulips are getting ready to bloom – lots of colors to talk about and to practice “focus”. Children can be expected to stay focused on an activity for 1 minute times their age (2 minutes if you are 2, 10 minutes if you are 10). Of course, they are able to stay focused for much longer when it is an activity they are particularly interested in.
The ability to focus and control (your body) involves the developing executive functioning skills including the ability to pay attention, learn and remember rules, and the self-control to not act on initial impulses. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news
You can play ‘I SPY’ as you walk: I spy something___(insert a color). Kids love this game and then you can let them take turns being the leader and the one who gets to find something for you to ‘spy’.
Other ways you can work on focus –
- Switch words to a familiar song and see if your child notices (wheels on the train instead of bus). This is a fun and creative way to sing songs that encourages focus and listening skills.
- Play a sorting game when you clean up toys – let’s find all the blue toys, put all the round toys in the basket, who has a soft toy?
- Try singing a song while waiting in a line or at a restaurant. This gives your child a tool for managing a situation that they cannot control. An example would be: going to a restaurant.
When working on their “focus” and “control” skills you allow them an outlet to deal with the frustration that might occur while waiting in a line, when they are hungry and waiting for the food to come, sitting at a table while others finish their meal. Being able to control bodies, emotions and actions is a skill children need to learn. You can help young children learn these skills by realizing what methods help them calm and re-center and encourage them to employ those methods when they need them or when they are staring to lose control. These skills will help them develop impulse control necessary for concentration as well as giving them a chance to work on developing executive function skills.
Rainbow Song
I see rainbows, I see rainbows,
Way up high In the sky.
Red and orange and yellow,
Green and blue and purple
Great big rainbow, Great big rainbow
I see rainbows, I see rainbows,
Way up high In the sky.
They are made from sunshine,
Shining through the raindrops
Great big rainbow, Great big rainbow
Rainbow
Red and orange, green and blue
Shiny yellow, purple, too
All the colors that we know
Are way up in a pretty rainbow
Bunny
Here is a bunny with ears so funny
And here is her hole in the ground
When a noise she hears, she pricks up her ears
And jumps in her hole in the ground.
Baby Bird
A mother bird laid and egg with care
And when it hatched a baby was there
She ate and she ate
and she grew and she grew
and then one day away she flew
Story of Colors
(Similar to Brown Brown Bear)
Red kite, orange butterfly, yellow sun, green grass, blue bird, purple flower, rainbow
We are starting rainbow week and Nick’s wife Greta sent me this great picture taken by her friend from her boat in the Shilshole Marina. Perfect timing to receive a picture of a rainbow. I was especially amused that it was a picture taken from Shilshole, sent to Madison WI and then sent back to Seattle! — Teacher Janice