Stepping Stone School
Supporting Families & Learning at Home
May 22nd
At Stepping Stone School, our mission is to offer not only exceptional nurturing and education for our students, but also extraordinary support and care for all parents and families! Many families are finding new and creative ways to engage and educate their children while at home. We compiled a list of fun and educational activities and resources for you to use with your family.
WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU!
Children can discover why dogs’ expressions, like tail wagging, are so useful when living in a pack!
Community & Cultural Awareness
Ways to be Kind to Animals
1. Read a Book about Being Kind to Animals 
Many great lessons begin with a book! Some suggestions include  Tails are Not for Pulling  by Elizabeth Verdick,  May I Pet Your Dog?   by Stephanie Calmenson,  and  Buddy Unchained   by Daisy Vix.

2. Support your Local Animal Shelter
Learn more about homeless animals in your community and how you can help. Collect donations for your local shelter or spend some time volunteering - many shelters have junior or family volunteer programs. And in spring, animal shelters are often looking for foster homes for orphaned kittens.

3. Adopt, Don't Shop
If you are considering bringing a pet into your home, adopt from your local animal shelter instead of purchasing from a breeder or pet store. Here are some awesome adoption resources  here .

4. Learn about Animals' Needs
Being kind to animals includes giving them the proper care. Start the conversation with this  free printable game   inspired by Dr. Seuss'  Which Pet Should I Get?  

5. Practice Caring for a Pet
Help children get involved in caring for their pets at home children can help to feed, water, or play with your pets. If you don't have pets of your own, offer to help a neighbor or friend with pet care, or  create a pretend pet grooming salon  for your stuffed animals!

6. Bake Dog Cookies
Make homemade treats for your dog, your neighbor's dogs, or even the dogs at your local shelter. Get my favorite  hot dog chip dog cookie  recipe here.

7. Make Cat Toys
Don't forget our feline friends! Make easy homemade toys for your own cats or the cats at the animal shelter. Find two  easy cat toys children can make here .

8. Create a Wildlife Garden
Being kind to animals extends far beyond our pets. Support the animals in your backyard by  creating a wildlfe garden  or a  butterfly garden .

9. Make a Bird Feeder
Be kind to the birds in your yard by making a super easy  homemade bird feeder   from a cardboard tube. Or try this version made from a  pine cone .

10. Thank the People who Care for Animals 
Learn about people who care for animals every day such as veterinarians, animal control officers and animal rescue workers and volunteers. Download these  free printable kindness postcards
and send them a note to tell them how much you appreciate what they do to be kind to animals too!
Art & Creative Expression
Feather Painting
Make a open-ended art activity about pet birds…painting with feathers! Students can make different types of lines and textures with the feathers.  
Fish Aquariums 
Make fish aquariums with oil pastels and watercolor paints. Students draw their fish aquarium with the oil pastels first then paint the water with watercolor paints.  
Fishbowl Craft
What you need:
  •  2 paper plates (one with the center cut out)
  • Transparency paper or plastic wrap
  • Small shells
  • Blue paper or crayons to color background blue
  • Sand (not pictured in sample)
  • Gems or sequins for bubbles
  • Cutouts of fish and seaweed (or have kids draw) 
  • Silver Sharpie or crayon
  • Glue sticks
  • Liquid glue
  • Scotch tape

Here's how to put it all together:
  1. Cut a circle out of the center of one paper plate.
  2.  Tape a piece of transparency or plastic wrap tightly over the whole. This will make your window. Be sure to place tape on the inside part so you don't see the tape when the plates are glued together. Set this plate aside.
  3. Cut out a blue piece of paper and glue to the top of the other plate, or have children color the other plate blue with a crayon. 
  4. Next decorate with seaweed, fish, and shells. Use glue sticks to glue paper shapes to the blue background. I used liquid glue to attach the shells. 
  5. Once your fish are in place add some clear gems to make air bubbles.
  6. Using the glue sparingly outline the bottom plate with liquid glue. Place the top plate with the window on top of the bottom plate. Go around the outside edge gently pressing the two pieces together.
Writing and Literacy Readiness
Harry the Dirty Dog 
Written by Gene Zion and Illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham
Harry hates baths, so when he gets very dirty, he runs away to avoid a bath. How will his owners get him back? Read along to find out!
Word List:  Harry The Dirty Dog
The word list can be used with the book  Harry The Dirty Dog .
Use these cards to practice writing, reading, or make a picture dictionary. You can also use the cards in “Writer’s Workshop”. Place these cards on a table with some paper and markers. Offer it as an option to copy words on their paper.
You can use these cards to practice clapping or stomping the syllables in the words.
Mathematical & Scientific Concepts
Shadow Puppet Theater
When light shines on something transparent, like glass or a clear Ziploc sandwich bag, the light passes through. But when light shines on opaque materials, like paper, the light is blocked and creates a shadow on the other side. The closer the puppet theater is to the flashlight, the bigger the shadows are. That’s because the puppet theater blocks more of the light if it’s closer to the flashlight. 
Materials:
  • Ziploc sandwich bag
  • Pencil
  • Piece of cardboard, at least 6”x7”
  • Scissors
  •  Tape
  • Flashlight
  • Scissors
  •  Shadow puppets and stage printable
Steps: 
  • Gather your materials.
  • Cut out the stage frame from the printable (link below) to make the template. Use a pencil to trace the cut-out paper template onto the cardboard.
  • Use the scissors to cut out the cardboard along the traced lines. Cut slits in the middle of each of the trapezoid-shaped stand pieces (using the dotted lines on the templates as references). The width of the slit should be the thickness of your cardboard.
  • Tape the edges of the Ziploc sandwich bag into the frame, then wedge the frame into the stand pieces.
  • Cut out the simple shapes from the second printable. Put the shapes in the Ziploc bag.
  • In a dim or dark room, set up your puppet theater about two feet from a blank wall. Shine the flashlight toward bag so that it casts a shadow against the wall. Try moving the flashlight closer and farther away from the bag. What happens to the shadows? How big can you make them? How small?
Pet Graph
Call family members near and far and ask them what their favorite pet is! Then you and your child can chart the answers on this graph!
Character Development
Continue Teaching Ownership at Home 

Infant Teach Me at Home
Age Appropriate Puzzles: 
Part of taking ownership involves problem solving and reasoning with regard to daily choices – What will the result be if I do this action? Or Do other solutions exist? 
When children are solving puzzles they are building some of those basic problem solving strategies. Through guidance over the years some of these basic strategies will carry over into social problem solving as well. 

Toddlers Teach Me at Home
Focus on Feelings: 
Part of taking ownership involves self-knowledge with regard to identifying our feelings and appropriate responses to those feelings. 
As Toddlers grow in this area, caring adults are able to teach them appropriate responses. 
Practice identifying feelings in others while reading a book - point out facial expressions and social cues to help the child identify how the character is feeling. 
Help the child put words to his feelings by stating how the child is feeling, “I can see that you are feeling sad about...” And then offer a way for the child to deal with that emotion

PreK Teach Me at Home
The Blame Game: 
Begin by explaining to the child that winners admit when they're wrong and make changes, while others blame people or offer excuses. 
Then, initiate a sign that can be used whenever you or the child hears someone making an excuse or attempting to blame another. In the same way, make another sign that can be used whenever someone takes responsibility and owns up to something they did. 
Physical Development
Outdoor Fine and Gross Motor Development with Chalk!
For this outdoor project you will need sidewalk chalk!
You can choose items found in nature like flowers, ferns and rocks. Once you have gathered all of your supplies, you can create designs or pictures using the items and chalk. This is a great way to work on those fine motor skills!

You can use the chalk to draw a trail of "pet" paw prints to follow. You can draw prints of a dog, cat, bird, etc. When you are finished, your child can run like a puppy, fly like a bird, swim like a fish, hop like a frog and rabbit, and crawl like a cat, along the trail as you follow each paw print. You can even draw the animal at the end of your path!

To expand on this you can draw a line with a loops and turns and have your child follow the line!
Cognitive & Phonological Development
Pet or Wild Animal  
The best part about this science sorting activity is that identifying what is a pet and what is a wild animal, is not concrete. Have your child sort through these photos and talk about why they would put each photo in the category that they did
Guess The Pet  
This activity uses reasoning and boosts children’s vocabularies as they learn more about common pets. You can play it at mealtime, in bed or road trips.
Ingredients
  • 2 Rice Cakes
  • 1 small tbsp smooth peanut butter or cream cheese
  • 1/4 carrot, thinly sliced then trimmed into triangles for ears
  • 1/2 banana, sliced for cheeks
  • coconut thread, for whiskers
  • 4 currants, for eyes
  • 2 raisins, for nose
Directions
  1. Spread Rice Cakes with peanut butter or cream cheese
  2. Place the carrot and banana slices onto the peanut butter.
  3. Arrange the coconut, currants and raisins to make the face.
  4. Serve.
Our YouTube Channel features over 60 videos of our beloved teachers reading stories from our Classic Literature Library, Teaching Daily Lessons, ASL and Spanish vocabulary!
Tune in to learn about S.T.E.A.M education, Superhero Movie Reviews, unicorns, and a variety of interesting topics chosen and produced by our School-Age classes!
Emotional & Social Development
Pet Grooming Station for Kids

This is such a great pet care sensory play activity! Does your child love animals?   This fun pet grooming station for kids is perfect for any animal lover. You can discuss how to care for animals and dicuss animal feelings and caring for others while you do this activity. This is also a great practical life activity for children.

All you need for this easy set-up is a few favorites. We used a few   pet figures, a couple of   favorite puppy dog stuffed animals, a container for water, a towel, a toothbrush for cleaning, and a toy brush for pampering. .

Pretend play is a wonderful avenue for children to learn social-emotional skills as well as work through struggles.