Monday
Morning
Activity: Painting with Yellow & Blue
Note: All activities we plan for little children work best when we prepare the space before inviting the child to participate.
Fill a small cup or jar with rinsing water. If you have a painting board or cutting board you would like to use, you can pre-soak your watercolor paper in the sink or a plastic basin 15 minutes before beginning. Then take your paper out of the water and smooth it onto your surface with a damp sponge. This can be done on a counter or table as well if you do not mind the paint staining, but it will need to stay in that place until dry, most likely 24 hours. If you are working with a different type of paint, or do not have a painting surface, you can adapt all of these directions to fit your individual needs. The aim is to have fun experiencing color!
When the space is prepared, you can invite your child to the "art studio" to be a painter. Sitting down with your child and painting first or with them, will facilitate an excitement for the activity and infuse the moment with creativity. Painting can be a very soothing, calming experience. You may decide to hum or play classical music while you paint. You can also tell a story.
Prepare the space by singing a song. Make up your own tune and words if you prefer! Peter Paintbrush loves to paint, on this lovely painting day. He dips his feet and wipes the well. Then he visits the color.
Place the paintbrush on the non-dominant side of the child.
Encourage your child to work with Peter’s feet gently.
Ask them to pick up the paintbrush and wake Peter’s feet on their opposite arm. This allows the child to cross the vertical midline.
Begin with dipping Peter Paintbrush’s feet into the color yellow.
Ask your child to leave some open windows of white paper, ensuring that every bit of white is not covered with yellow.
Rinse Peter’s feet well in the rinsing water.
Dip Peter’s feet into blue. Invite blue to the party!
“I wonder if yellow and blue will invite any other friends?”
When green miraculously appears, you can exclaim with delight that yellow and blue have invited green!
Talk about other seasonally appropriate demonstrations of green. The baby leaves, new shoots of tender green grass, the slender leaves of the tulips, the moss on the trees are all wonderful examples of spring green!
Springtime Game
On Mondays in Buttercup class, we play a game. This is one of the springtime games we play. You can play this on Mondays or any time you wish.
You will need a sheet and a pillow case. Have your child curl up like a little brown bulb (are you a tulip? Or perhaps a daffodil?). Cover them up with the sheet. You can rub their back and head as they lay as still as a sleeping bulb.
Then, when King Winter rages, vigorously shake and flap the pillow case directly over your little bulb, still tucked in under the sheet.
If you have more than one child, they can take turns being the bulb and King Winter, or they can both get under the sheet and be bulbs together. If you have more than three players, the fourth person can take on the role of spring tiptoeing around the sleeping bulb.
When you say the line “lifted their heads” the sleeping bulb begins to wake up, comes to standing and then as the sheet is whisked off of the sleeping bulb by the person holding the sheet, they can “jump out of bed!”.
Not only is this great fun, but it’s a nice way to practice and teach positive, gentle touch. You may rub the “sleeping” bulb the whole time they are under the sheet. This is a gentle stimulation of the tactile sense.
The children love this game.
The Little Brown Bulbs Game
Some little brown bulbs lie asleep in the ground
So snug and so cozy they made not a sound
King Winter he raged and he roared overhead
But the little brown bulbs stayed asleep in their beds.
Then Spring came a-tiptoeing over the lea
With fingers to lips so carefully
The little brown bulbs they lifted their heads
The slipped of their nighties and they jumped out of bed!
Yes they jumped out of bed!
Snack: Rice Day
Prepare the amount of rice that you desire according to the number of bellies you will feed. Feel free to use the variety of rice your family likes best. We use a 3:1 ratio. Add a pinch of salt to the water.
Toppings:
Tamari, butter, nutritional yeast (golden sprinkles), and sunflower seeds, or any other seeds your family likes.
Sides:
Carrot and celery matchsticks (or other veggies your family enjoys)
The Adventures of Ms. Stephanie
Afternoon
Evening Wind
Adapted from Wilma Ellersiek
Blow the evening wind so mild
Rest my little flower child
Lu lu lu lu lu, lu lu lu lu lu
Flowers Grow
Words by Monica Stone
This verse can be accompanied by gentle therapeutic touch to help your child come to a state of rest and wellbeing.
The flowers, they grow on your ten little toes
With forefinger and thumb, gently caress and massage each toe
All the way up to your little nose
Gently draw finger down the length of child’s nose
The petals, they softly brush your cheek
Gently brush each cheek with back of your hand
As you lay down and fall fast asleep
Gently run fingers along child’s brow
The Windmill
If I could have a windmill, a windmill, a windmill
If I could have a windmill, I know what I would do.
I'd have it pump some water, some water, some water
I'd have it pump some water, up from the river below.
And then I'd have a duck pond, a duck pond, a duck pond
And then I'd have a duck pond, for ducks and geese to swim.
The ducks would make their wings flap, their wings flap, their wings flap
The ducks would make their wings flap, and they would say "Quack! Quack!"
The geese would stretch their long necks, their long necks, their long necks
The geese would stretch their long necks, and they would answer "S-S-S-S-S!"
If I could have a windmill, a windmill, a windmill
If I could have a windmill, I know what I would do
Coloring Activity
Explore lines, shape, and color with crayons (or whatever you have available).
Make a beautiful rainbow, a ship sailing on the seven seas, or a forest for Sammy Squirrel!