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!
Farm Circle
Preparation:
A sheet or cloth on the floor to suggest the river, a stick, broom, or another cloth creates the "hedge row". You can use a bench, a 2x4 on the floor or another sheet folded to make the "bridge". Get creative here! Are there items in your home or yard that you can implement for this obstacle course?
Prologue:
Set the space before you invite your child into this game.
You can simply speak the first stanza or make movements to introduce the circle.
Farmer Circle:
In the spring the farmer planted seeds within the ground
She tended it and watered it until some leaves were found.
They grew and grew into a vine that covered all the land
And then a blossom, kissed by bees, did a pumpkin yield.
The farmer watched it day by day til it grew big and fat
And when the harvest day had come,
upon her horse she sat.
Begin to lead galloping with your child
The farmer awoke at the break of day.
She sat on her horse and she galloped away
She galloped away with her reins in her hand
To ride through the country to survey her land.
Galloping at a moderate pace around the room
Song: Feel free to sing or speak
This is the way the farmer rides,
A-gallop, a-gallop, a-gallop
Galloping movement
Leap across the rive blue
Leap across the cloth on the ground
Jump right over the hedgerow, too
Jump over a stick or cloth
Cross the bridge to the other side
Walk across a bench, 2x4, or slenderly folded cloth
To see our friends from far and wide.
Now we're at the garden patch to bring the harvest in at last.
An orange pumpkin big and fine
Gesturing a large pumpkin with arms
Grows before us on the vine.
This pumpkin vine is big and thick
Touching fingertips together to suggest a thick vine
To pull it loose will be a trick. Now grab the vine and give a tug
As though taking a firm hold of the vine and pulling meeting strong resistance
Oh my! This pumpkin's sitting snug.
We pull and pull with all our might.
This big fat pumpkin is not light
Gesturing as if pulling harder
At last! The pumpkin has come free.
Let's take it home for all to see
Pretend the pumpkin is loose, falling slightly backward but remaining upright
Into the wheelbarrow-plop!
Let's put it in and homeward clop.
As though picking up the pumpkin and placing it in a wheelbarrow
Wheel my barrow, home we go.
Wheel my barrow, steady, slow.
Now you can take hold of your child's feet while they use their arms to walk across the floor.
This may be a challenging movement for your child. Take it slow and steady and have fun!
Into the house our pumpkin we take, so good warm soup we can make.
Gesture carrying the pumpkin, and stirring soup.
We'll toast some bread and butter it up and thank the Earth for our full cup.
Gesture spreading butter on bread and prayer hands to indicate gratitude.
End circle with a blessing verse:
Earth who gives to us this food,
Sun who makes it ripe and good,
Dear Earth, dear Sun, by you we live,
Our loving thanks to you we give.
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)
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
My Big Blue Boat
I love to ride in my big blue boat, my big blue boat, my big blue boat.
I love to ride in my big blue boat, over the deep blue sea.
My big blue boat has two red sails, two red sails, two red sails.
My big blue boat has two red sails.
Come ride along with me.
My big blue boat goes splish and splash, splish and splash, splish and slash
My big blue boat goes splish and splash, over the deep blue sea.
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!