Preschool Edition
I’ve discovered that books combined with songs are the way to go with my girls. Going on a Bear Hunt has been a hit with all of my kids. Recently we’ve discovered Mr. Steve performing the book as an interactive song, there’s the reading of the book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, and there’s the Cosmic Yoga version too. And then, take it off the screen! Set up household items as squishy grass, squelchy mud, or a cave/fort. Go outside for a walk and pretend like you’re on a bear hunt. You could hide a teddy bear somewhere and lead the kids on a path to it, or a sibling or parent could hide behind a tree and pop out and chase everyone. There are plenty of other ways to continue the adventure with pictures, surprise twists or even changes in the story!
Pete the Cat is another great launching place since many of the books have songs within them and are stories that are easy to re-enact in person or with stuffed animals, or to add surprise twists and changes to the story. You can use playdough to change the color of shoes, or use paint/markers to fill in outlines of shoes to create your own story book. What better message for today than: no matter what you step in, just keep on walking along and singing your song! For more ideas, here are 32 Resources for Entertaining Toddlers and Preschoolers. But my point is always that this is just the beginning. Taking what your child brings into their imaginations from the screen or book is where the learning and play and fun just begins!
And a plug for Together Tales with the Whitman Storytellers. My husband and I worked with the Whitmans at the Hong Kong International School the year that SARS hit, and aside from being awesome people, they are also amazing teachers, storytellers, and experts at staying connected during quarantine.
K-2 Edition
Who doesn’t love bubbles? No, seriously. Tip: If you dip your hands in the bubble solution, then you can touch and catch and put your finger through bubbles. And go figure? Cosmic Yoga has a mindfulness video on thought bubbles. A stretch? Well, bubbles are elastic! And speaking of a stretch, why not have siblings make and use thought bubbles to communicate with each other in a new way, or have kids make cartoons with speech bubbles?
Another fun idea that our kids came up with during their collaborative learning time is to let us have a date night at home. They created the menu (prix fixe menu consisting of crackers and canned soup, but hey it’s better than having to cook myself!), set and wrote reasonable prices, and then prepared, served, and calculated the cost for their fine service (if they try to gouge you, just give a tip and consider the meal free--ha!). *Disclaimer: We have an amazing au pair and she was heavily involved in this effort.
3-5 Edition
Most kids are loving the chance to play digital games, but now they get to be the expert. Have them write a review or market it with media they create. What is the game? How do you play? What are the best parts or the hardest parts? What can you learn by playing the game? What are your pro tips?
Speaking of writing, for kids who enjoy creative writing, they might enjoy these online tips and classes by Story Pirates!
Finally, my older son loves to do “research,” which often means looking things up on the internet. I’ve been trying to figure out how to carefully monitor and focus his searches. So I had him come up with a topic to research, we brainstormed questions we have about it, and then I found 5 sites that he could use to do his research. I pasted the links within the document so that there weren’t just blind Google searches happening. And then it actually became his own launching pad. He did a “report” on Jupiter, and then decided to write a science fiction story using some of the things he learned about space and Jupiter to create realistic features (and totally made up adventures) for his story.
Do you have other ideas to share? Launch them our way!
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