For our Community Helpers themed week will be talking about the ways people help us in our neighborhoods and what their roles are. We'll learn more about doctors, nurses, construction workers, mechanics, pilots, garbage workers, firefighters and police officers.
Here is a quick video recap of our week (click the photo below).
GROSS MOTOR ACTIVITIES
I found this great little community helper clipart pack and turned it into a gross motor activity. I cut out the helpers and their buildings and then hid all of them around our house. He had to find them and match the worker to their building. We reviewed the titles of the workers and went over the name of the places they work.
We read the story, Trashy Town and then he used his Tonka garbage truck to pick up the "trash shapes" I scattered around the house. I used math manipulative shapes I had but you can make construction paper shapes. Also, if you don't have a garbage truck you can use any truck you have. Once he gathered all of the trash, it was time to sort by shape!
I made three signs out of construction paper and taped a popsicle stick to each one. I played some music (Moana soundtrack as per request), and he started to dance. If I held up the green sign it meant dance fast, the yellow meant go slow and red meant stop. It was a lot of fun and a great way to get some energy out! Now he is familiar with what the colors mean, he loves to point out the traffic lights when we are in the car together.
I used the community helper building photo cards from earlier in the week and taped them around the house. You can do this outside as well but it was raining here. We reviewed each place of work and things we might do at them. Then, he went for a drive! He has a little ride-on Mack truck that he drove around but you can let them run to each building. He went to the restaurant to grab us a coffee, then to the post office to mail a package and the garage because his truck got a flat tire!
FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES
We put on his Melissa & Doug doctor costume and I printed out the Bear (link on calendar below) and set out some bandaids. He knew just what to do! I told him Bear had a few boo-boos and he needed Dr. G's help. He loved it! OH! And peeling the backs off the band-aids were a big hit!
My son loves to use his hammer to fix everything (things we don't even want him near) around the house. This activity was a great alternative for him. He suited up in his Melissa & Doug costume and got straight to work! I called out a letter and he hammered in the nail. To set this up, I took a box (one with thick cardboard or you can use a foam flower block) and wrote the letters in his name on one side. Then I gathered some skinny nails (you can use thicker ones) and poked them into each letter a tiny bit, just enough so they stood up.
We did a similar activity earlier in the week but this one he wanted to add in his cars. I put some paint in a muffin tin, added a little water to thin it out and he painted the construction paper. For the cars, I added a few blobs of paint to a paper plate and he rolled the tires in it and then drove the cars on his paper. I also put out some Q-tips so he could spread the paint around.
SENSORY PLAY
To set up, I squeezed some paint of his choice into a muffin tin and added a little water to thin it out. Next, we reviewed the names of the tools that a doctor uses. Then, he got to painting! He would pull the paint up the syringe and then push it out real hard. One time a bubble formed and he thought that was very exciting! He also experimented with putting the syringe directly on the paper and pushing out the paint (note, it will go all over the place, so be careful).
I started by cutting a paper plate into the shape of the car. Next, he painted it blue by either using a sponge brush or his fingers (his choice). Once it dried, he added the windows, wheels, a star and siren.
We read the story, Doctors and What They Do, and made our own Doctor kit. We reviewed the names of the tools they use and then he glued them into his bag. After it dried, I added the front label with his name.
THEMED SNACKS
'
I used one banana and cut in half. I cut one of those halves into half again to make the wings. We added raisins for the windows, a strawberry and some whipped cream as the jet stream and clouds.
He got on his Melissa and Doug chef costume to help prepare this fun snack. I cut a graham cracker into fourths and he spread a little peanut butter in the center of each. You can add a little strawberry jelly as blood if you'd like, but we left that part off.
I used an apple slicer to slice a red apple (body of car). Next, I placed two toothpicks into the side and added purple grapes (wheels), one on each end.
Click the photos below to grab your FREE weekly plans and materials list.
Have fun and don't forget to tag me on Instagram @toddler_fundamentals !
No comments:
Post a Comment