Table Time Activity: Spring Time Bingo
Skill Check
Begin by modeling labeling the different images on the Bingo sheet. See if your child will point with you to the different pictures. Offer lots of praise and encouragement for participating!
See if you can encourage your child can match the cut images with the ones on their Bingo board. You can model the activity with your own board and narrate for them what you are doing.
Growing My Skills
If your child is ready to advance their skills, try tossing the squares into a bowl and take turns picking one out to match onto your board.
Take the activity one step further by introducing a winner as the first person to make a straight line. At the end, practice congratulating the winner as well as encouraging or consoling the loser.
Floortime Play Activity: Spring Suncatchers
Skill Check
While outside, look for signs of spring like new leaves, weeds, cloves, and even a few blades of grass. Collect your child’s favorites and talk with one another about what you like about the items. For example, how the grass can tickle one another, or how the weed has pretty white flowers on it.
When you get home, encourage your child to help you tape the items to some saran wrap. Encourage your child to try and stick the items on themselves; the challenge will be good for their fine motor and problem solving skills, even if they wind up needing to ask you for help in the end!
Growing My Skills
The finished product can be taped up in a window to be admired throughout the week. Practice remembering with one another the things that you like about the items, where you found them, and other key events from your “spring hunt” together.
To increase the challenge on future walks, try turning the hunt into a more structured activity by giving your child a scavenger hunt list of items to look for!
Relaxation Time Activity: Mindful Breathing
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to practice bringing attention to breathing in a fun and playful way.
Growing My Skills
Read “Flower Breath.”
Make a flower together.
Practice breathing in and out while “smelling” your flower.
Count the number of petals on your flower and take breaths in and out with each petal.
Creative Time Activity: Making Rain Clouds
Skill Check
The goal of this activity is to excite your child’s curiosity and to have fun with one another. If they don’t show interest at first, model the activity yourself and see if your excitement can draw them in!
Growing My Skills
When your rain cloud runs out, see if you child wants to play again! This time, step back a bit and see if your child can remember the different steps to recreating the activity.
Encourage you child to participate with each step of preparing the activity as well; they make take a little longer, but it is a great learning opportunity for them to try!
Movement Time Activity: Hopping into Puddles
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to focus on jumping and landing with both feet at the same time.
Growing My Skills
Jump into a pile of cushions and keep moving the target further away!
Jump down from a bench onto the floor. Try to stick your landing!
Jump onto a bench and try to jump back down! How many times can you do it in a row?
Draw a floor ladder in chalk outdoors and try to jump 4-5 times in a row!
Play baseball outside using mats or rugs for bases.
Mealtime Activity: Play With Food
Skill Check
The goal of this activity is to assess your child’s tactile processing and teach your child that food is safe and can be fun!
Growing My Skills
Practice dumping and pouring items into a sensory bin.
Model holding a cup with one hand while pouring with the other.
Then explore the different textures in the bin, labeling the experience of touch.
Play “house” and pretend to eat your child’s favorite meal.
Use play-doh to make “food” and grab toy utensils.
Practice cutting and using both hands at the same time.
Have your child feed the play-doh to a doll or toy.
Language Time Activity: Spring Clothing
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to provide opportunity for your child to increase use, expand, and improve understanding of language through play.
Growing My Skills
Play dress up with different items of clothing (e.g., sun glasses, bathing suit, snow boots, rain coat, scarf).
Ask different questions to determine if it is a spring weather item (e.g., Is this something you wear in the spring? When in the year do you wear these?)
If your child doesn’t want to change clothes, you can hold up the items or play dress up with a doll.
You can be silly with this to increase engagement!
Higher level skills such as categorization can be targeted by grouping the clothing items.
Target increased expressive language by taking turns describing the clothing.
