Winter Sensory Activities 

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Winter Sensory Activities
  • Snowy Sensory Bottle: take a clear bottle and fill it with cotton balls, blue glitter, white glitter, white sequins. Secure lid tightly and shake.
  • Snowy Sensory Bin: this one is edible! Find a container appropriately sized for sensory play and fill it with potato flakes (typically found in the soup aisle of most grocery stores, look for instant potatoes). Add in whatever toys you like.
  • Snowflakes: pre-cut some q-tips to create snowflakes. Attach a clear piece of contact paper to a table or window with the sticky side facing towards you. Press the cut q-tips into the shape of a snowflake. You can layer another piece of clear contact paper on top of the snowflakes to create a long-lasting art project.
  • Cotton Ball Snowmen: you’ll need construction paper cut into snowmen features (eyes, nose, arms), cotton balls, and glue. Begin by allowing the children to glue cotton balls onto a piece of paper in the shape of a snowman. After the snowman is made, allow the children to add whatever features they’d like to their snowman.

Embracing a very COVID Christmas

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Don’t let this almost yearlong (and counting) pandemic get you down this holiday season. Here is a fun, easy activity to do with children to fully embrace social distancing and to stay safe and healthy.

 

Ugly (Christmas) masks – A spin-off of the holiday favorite, Ugly Christmas Sweaters.

At this point I feel like we’re all in one of two categories when it comes to the face mask. It has either become an extension of you and you don’t even notice wearing it anymore, or you still roll your eyes every time you put it on. Either way, we’re still stuck wearing them and still could have to for some time to come. Why not make it festive and decorate your own?! Grab some green and red masks, glitter, tinsel, beads, etc. Add some hot glue and you’ve got yourself a Christmas mask! Your kids will love doing this activity with you!

 

Image found on Pinterest.com

Project First Choice (IECMH)

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This program is part of a statewide effort by the Maryland State Department of Education to help child care providers learn skills to work with children with challenging behaviors. This program gives providers skills and knowledge needed to retain these children in their child care programs and better prepare them for entering school.

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Welcoming a New Baby

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Within a few weeks we will be welcoming our baby girl into the world. Over the past 6 months we have been trying to prepare our son for becoming a big brother. I feel like my toddler has already had to deal with so much change due to me being sick earlier in the pregnancy, COVID-19, and now I am just too pregnant to be a fun play companion for him. I see him struggling to adjust to all the changes. He loves to entertain, and like many toddlers he struggles with sharing attention. In those moments that the focus is not him there is an increase in challenging behaviors. Teleworking has been good practice for us all on trying to balance giving attention to him and completing work tasks. He has improved on keeping himself busy during those moments in which he can’t engage with us.

I wanted to share some resources and ideas we have been using to help our son prepare for a new baby. We have been using a baby sister doll to teach him how to be gentle. He is not gentle with much, but he is so sweet to his baby sister doll. It has been a great teaching tool on how to care for baby sister and keep her safe. We have watched different videos with new babies with their siblings. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood has some amazing videos on preparing for and meeting a new sibling. We often refer to the episodes to continue discussion on baby sister coming. We have included him in picking out baby toys that can be passed on to his sister, picking out baby clothes, and preparing her crib. We have had ongoing discussions on how he can be involved with his baby sister once she is here. Over the course of the next few weeks we will discuss who he will be staying with while I have the baby. I am having a C-Section, so we have had ongoing discussions about being gentle with me and not wrestling. That is still a work in progress. I know to some degree he is processing it all because he often includes baby sister in the family unit when playing with trucks, dinosaurs, and stuffed animals. He also likes to act like a baby. My husband and I have had conversations on what behaviors we might see from our toddler once the baby is here, and how to support him as he adjusts. Below are some links to resources we have found helpful.

https://childmind.org/article/preparing-child-new-sibling/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-I8t8NFzE4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grnI1vYiDGk

https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Tigers-Neighborhood-Big-Brother/dp/B00PHD6F2M

https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/childrens-books-about-a-new-baby-sibling

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/baby/7-books-to-prepare-your-children-for-a-new-baby/

Is it a struggle to get sunscreen on your children?

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Do you find your kids fight you when it’s time to put sunscreen on? I know my daughter hates it almost as much as I hate trying to rub into her skin. Here’s a fun activity you can do with your kids to teach them the importance of sun protection:

All you need is sunscreen (SPF of your choice), a paint brush, and black construction paper. You kids can then paint a picture using the sunscreen! Lay it out in the sun and come back later to check on it. Your kids will see where they painted is where the paper was protected and not faded by the sun.

A fun variation you can do is experiment with several different SPFs to see the different protection levels. You can also teach about the importance of reapplying by painting back over some of the pictures throughout the day, and not painting over others to show protection levels. Have your kids tally guesses on which pictures will stay protected!