Fun for Black Hills Early Learners

We are here to bring you fun activities for any child age 0-5 years. Happy learning! At the end of each activity domain and goals for the activities are provided. For a copy of the Early Learning Guidelines click on the photo

FUN ACTIVITIES Infants Making hand and footprints is just as much fun for you as it is for your baby or toddler. Stamping your baby's paint-covered hands and feet provides an experience that also assists in their social development and sensory awareness. Link to Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-1 With a simple kitchen colander your baby will be fascinated with this “Rainmaker” activity. It will also help develop their cognitive and fine motor skills. Link to Activity Here Motor Development Goal HPD-5 Check out this fun green pea sensory bag idea! The peas dance and bounce with every touch. It is so mesmerizing for your baby to watch! Link to Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-1 Toddlers Here is a cheap version of a fishing game using bottle caps pretending to be fish. Use a net that is designed to be used in a fish tank as it is very small and perfect size for little hands. Time for some Net Fishing Fine Motor Play. Link to Activity Here Motor Development Goal HPD-5 Here is a non-messy way to allow toddlers to explore fingerpaint. Link to Activity Here Motor Development Goal HPD-5 Let's make pom pom soup! An easy sensory activity for toddlers. Link to Activity Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-2 Preschoolers Make a Frisbee Tic Tac Toe. You will need a cheap shower curtain, colored tape and Frisbees. Tape the shower curtain to the ground, making a Tic-Tac-Toe grid with the tape. Stand behind a given line to throw a Frisbee on a square. Allow the players multiple tries to land in a square. Motor Development Goal HPD-5 Next time your preschooler says, "I'm bored" pull out the 'I'm Bored Jar'. Write out on paper activities like Play Four Square or Make Up a Silly Dance and put them in a jar. Have your child pick an activity. Link to Activity Here Check out this awesome process art project that allows children to use their imagination, work cooperatively, and explore the color theory in a fun and engaging way. Win/Win! Link to Activity Here Creative Arts and Expression Goal CD-12

‌

OUTDOOR FUN Infants It's important to introduce your baby to the outdoors. Here are safety tips for taking baby outdoors! Link to Activity Here Create an outdoor baby obstacle course that challenges them. Once your baby has explored the backyard and needs something new to entertain them, creating an outdoor obstacle course. Here are a few ideas for obstacles: Cardboard boxes cut to make tunnels or turns Pool noodles set up ‘croquette style’ for the baby to crawl under or ‘speed bump’ style to crawl over Outdoor chair cushions to make the baby crawl over A small play slide that the baby will need help climbing up and sliding back down from Motor Development Goal HPD-4 Grab a blanket, sun umbrella and your portable speakers (or just your phone) and head to a local park or your backyard to dance with baby to your favorite tunes. Babies love being bounced and twirled around in your arms and listening to familiar songs. Communication and Oral Language Goal Goal CLL-1 Toddlers Rainbow Foam is easy to make. Within minutes, you can create a beautiful rainbow or simply a couple of shades to create an engaging sensory activity for your toddler. Link to Activity Here Scientific Exploration and Knowledge Goal CD-8 How about whipping up some pink foamy cupcakes. Great activity to do outdoors. Link to Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-2 Frozen paint is a perfect process art activity for toddlers on a warm/hot day. Link to Activity Here Scientific Exploration and Knowledge Goal CD-8 Preschoolers Take the mess outside and make a paper mache castle. Link To Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-2 Here is a great math and science activity that is fun too. So make a quick check list and head outside to find creepy crawlers and tally up what we found! Link to Activity Here Mathematical Thinking and Expression Goal CD-4 Blast those darn piggies with water balloon Angry Birds! Inspired by the popular video game Angry Birds this takes the game outside into the sun for fun all summer long. Link to Activity Here Scientific Exploration and Knowledge Goal CD-8

EVERYDAY MOMENTS Infants Everyday moments are learning moments. Link to video on making everyday moment count for your baby. Link to Video Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-1 Turn the daily task of diapering into a fun, one-on-one learning time. Link to Activity Here Communication and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-1 Toddlers This Fishing Quiet Game is a DIY non-electronic activity that is easy to take anywhere you may have to wait or on car trips! Keep it inside a zippered pencil case so that it is easy access.  Link to Activity Here Motor Development Goal HPD-5 Social Stories are a great tool to teach children important skills such as picking up their toys. Link to Story Here Developing a Positive Sense of Self Goal SED-1 Preschoolers Kids learn best through concrete experiences, and nothing can be more hands-on than following a recipe and eating the results. From baking muffins to making soup, this mealtime task gets high marks from experts because it covers so many basics. What kids can learn: You might not think of a recipe for muffins as a set of rules, but that’s exactly what it is—and a preschooler quickly learns that leaving out the sugar can have yucky-tasting consequences. Plus, all that stirring and pouring helps hone fine-motor skills.  Link to Video of Kids Can Cook Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-3 Turn the camera phone on and your child can pick up some very cool scientific principles of light, What kids can learn: Get your child to snap a photo series of his shadow (or do it for him); by identifying which side of the photo his shadow is on and how long it is, he can learn about the earth’s rotation and the sun’s position. Or teach optics with apps like CamWow (for iPhones) or Effects Booth (for Droids). Both apps, which let you pick a variety of real-time filters that make objects look like something in a funhouse mirror as they bulge, elongate, and split in two, are fun (and funny) ways to talk about how light travels, and how it can be distorted by hitting a convex or concave lens. Link to Article on Photography for Kids Scientific Exploration and Knowlege Goal CD-9

LITERACY Infants Finger plays are an effective way for children to learn language in a playful way. Link below to video of Dr. Jean demonstrating fingerplays. Link to Video Here Communictation and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-1 Your early efforts to introduce a love of language and books have a profound and far-reaching influence on infants. Link to Article Here Foundations of Reading Goal CLL-4 There’s something about rhymes that kids absolutely love! Sing a nursery rhyme or narrate a story in a sing-song fashion and watch the little ones giggle with glee! ‘Merry Music’ is a simple but fun activity for babies between 12 and 18 months of age. Link to Activity Here Communictation and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-1 Toddlers Use chalk to write a letter (or your child’s name) on a blackboard or sidewalk. Then, give your toddler a wet paintbrush and encourage them to trace and erase the letter. Keep going until your toddler is ready to move on (or until your hand gets tired). For another variation, you can also write letters on a whiteboard with a dry erase marker and, again, have your toddler “trace and erase” the letters with a wet paintbrush. Same idea, new activity Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-5 All you need for this Alphabet Activity is masking or painters tape. Any kind will work, but the activity is more fun when you have multiple colors to work with. Link to Activity Here Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-5 With a glass door or low window you can make an easy Erase the ABC's Easy Alphabet activity. Link to Activity Here Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-5 Preschoolers Keep your preschooler active while learning letters with a Name Broom Hockey activity. Link to Activity Here Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-5 Literacy activities for preschoolers should be fun! Set up a Shop, Café, Doctor’s Surgery or a Vet (the ideas are endless) and have your child serve you. They can make signs, forms, lists and menus and have fun while playing with literacy. Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-6 10 word games that encourage conversation and early literacy that you can play on the spot or prepare yourself with just some paper and pencil. Link to Word games Here Commuiniating and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-3