Table Time
Activity: Spring Time Bingo
Materials:
Click here to download Bingo printable
Prep:
For two players: Print 4 copies of Bingo printable. Cut two of them up to make individual pieces and save two for Bingo boards.
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.
Expanding 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
Materials:
Saran wrap
Tape
Prep:
Gather materials.
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!
Expanding 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
Book:
Breathe Like a Bear by Kira Willey – Flower Breath (follow along as Dr. Laura Mraz reads this mindfulness meditation here)
Tape
Materials:
Paper
Crayons
Or scraps around the house to make a flower
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to practice bringing attention to breathing in a fun and playful way
Expanding 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
Materials:
Glass cup
Shaving cream
Blue food coloring
Water
Prep:
Gather materials.
Activity:
Fill glass 3/4 full with water
Fill remainder of glass with shaving cream
Drop food coloring into “rain cloud”. Watch as the cloud collects the rain water before eventually letting it all rain down
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!
Expanding 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
Materials:
- Cushions or blankets
- bench
- playground chalk
- The Bunny Song is a great way to encourage participation in this activity. Click here to access Blue Bird Day’s Song Library and sing along with Dr Laura Mraz!
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to focus on jumping and landing with both feet at the same time.
Expanding 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!
Mealtime
Activity: Play With Food
Materials:
Sensory bin
Cups
Dry rice or beans or water beads
Pretend food or play doh
Dolls
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!
Expanding 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
Materials:
Clothing items in your child’s closet
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
Expanding 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
