I hope you have had a chance to enjoy the sunshine in between the smoky days. It is a different beginning to fall for sure — smoke and 80 degree days are not our typical October weather pattern.
This week we will continue to have activities with pumpkins, leaves and apples. We will look at the difference between pumpkins and apples. We will examine their seeds, stems and blossom ends. Some children will enjoy touching the goo inside the pumpkin and others will prefer to just look.
We will use the ramps to roll pumpkins and apples. The children will race them and try to guess which is faster – the apple or the pumpkin. We will also have some games with the pumpkins, leaves and apples. Hide and seek is a favorite for the older kids. We will hide the leaf cards, apples, small and big pumpkins in the play area.
We will talk about patterns during Circle Time.
The book Look Look Look by Tana Hoban shows the children 3 different views of the same object and lets them guess what it is. This is a fun game to play with your child. Have them look at different parts of something familiar to them and see if they can tell what the object is.
You can play I Spy With My Little Eye as you go on a walk or in your home. Let them have a chance to be the one who picks the object and you guess what it is …. so fun to see what they choose for the object to find.
This last week the older kids played a game of What’s Missing? Show your child a pattern of 3 or more objects and talk about what is there. Repeating out loud the pattern they are looking at. Such as “red ball, orange ball, blue ball”. Say it several times. Then take one item away (orange ball) and have them try to remember what was taken away. Repeat the pattern by saying, “red ball, something is missing, blue ball”. You can either remove the object or cover it up with a small container or cloth. After doing this with your child allow them to do the ‘taking away’ and have you guess what is missing.
With the younger children when the object is covered up it is actually gone in their mind so it is a big surprise when it is uncovered again — playing a version of Peek a Boo with just one object is great fun for them.