Fun for Black Hills Early Learners

We are here to bring you fun activities for any child age 0-5 years. Happy learning! At the end of each activity domain and goals for the activities are provided. For a copy of the Early Learning Guidelines click on the photo

FUN ACTIVITIES Infants A bag of cotton balls will cost you very little and can be used in a variety of ways. Cotton balls are great because they naturally discourage mouthing (because of their bizarre texture) and don't contain anything harmful (They still could be a choking hazard, so please always supervise infant play!). Link to Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-1 Make a yarn maze at a low level and see if baby notices and watch the reation. If you have a toddler they will enjoy creating their own maze. Link to Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-2 Make a Sensory Crawl for Infants to Explore. Link to Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-1 Toddlers Watch the video to learn how to make a colorful water xylophone. Link to Video Here Scientific Exploration and Knowledge: Goal CD-8 Kids love to play the floor is lava. The carpet has turned into lava! Tape down squares of paper around the room. Kids have to jump from square to square to stay safe, getting a lot of good indoor exercise in the process. Motor Development Goal HPD-4 This shake it up art activity is no mess, which is awesome, and kids love it because they can shake, wiggle, and make noise too! Try this unusual and interesting way to paint. Link to Activity Here Scientific Explorationa and Knowledge Goal CD-8 Preschoolers Let your child's creativity shine by painting their own shoes! Use acrylic paint or fabric paint, in any color you’d like. These DIY painted shoes for kids are perfect for starting a new school year with personalized shoes. Link to Activity Here Creative Arts and Expression Goal CD-12 Nuts, seeds, and dried fruit are all you need for typical trail mix recipe. Trail mix is a great super snack for kids meaning that they like it! Nuts and seeds provide super easy to eat heart healthy fats. They are also all rich with fiber and protein!  Make it together for an afterschool treat or take to school snack. Link to Recipe Here Physical Health and Growth Goal HPD -1 Watch this video to learn to make an easy puppet using socks. It's a great craft project for kids, that can provide hours of fun and imaginary play. Link to Video Here Creative Arts and Expression Goal CD-12

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OUTDOOR FUN Infants When you're out with your older infant, listen for sounds everywhere. Do you hear a car horn honking? A dog barking? The "whoosh" of a bus door? Use these to make up a sound song: "Beep, beep, beep" or "Whooshhhhhh!" Invite your child to sing the sound song taking turns, back and forth. Your child's brain is wired to pay attention to what's new in their environment and how it fits with what they already know. By calling attention to details, you're inviting them to be observant and to become a critical thinker. Construction of Knoweldge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-1 Collect Nature objects. A little bit of contact paper hung on the frence and let the fun begin! This activity could be done on a deck or patio as well if baby isn’t yet standing. Flower petals, or even sand could be sprinkled for beautiful creations. Scientific Exploration and Knowledge Goal CD-8 Toddlers With still a few warm days ahead try using a slim sheet of ice as a canvas. Link to Activity Here Scientific Exploration and Knowledge Goal CD-8 When you are outdoors with toddlers there are many opportunities for fun and easy literacy experiences. Link to Activities Here Comunication and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-2 Make and play a simple Press Here Movement Game. Link to Activity Here Press Here Audio Book Motor Development Goal HPD-4 Preschoolers Paper mache is easy and inexpensive to make and you may be surprised by how strong and it is. Also the possiblitiles are endless for what you can create. Try this simple paper mache bowl. It is a messy activityso great for taking outdoors. Link to Activities Here Creative Arts and Expression Goal CD-12 Take playdough outside for some fun with this Dirt playdough recipe. Link to Activity Here Scientific Exploration and Knowledge Goal CD-8 Print out this free scavenger hunt for kids and head outside on a color walk! Children love trying to find things in nature to represent each color on their list, and it’s such a great way to explore the outdoors together. Link to Activity Here Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning Goal CD-2

EVERYDAY MOMENTS Infants/Toddlers As you get your child dressed, talk to parts of their body in a fun voice. For example, "Hey arm, it's time to get in the sleeve. Foot, here is your sock." You can watch what they do and respond. When they're able, they will lift their foot or stretch out their arm to help you! When your child hears you talk about what you're doing in new and fun ways, it helps them become curious and engaged in learning. Curiosity, Information-Seeking and Eagerness Goal AL-1 Preschoolers Waiting in line or at an appointment? Encourage Bash to notice the people around you. Can he count how many people are wearing sneakers? How many are wearing hats? Look for more or less: Are more people wearing sneakers than hats? Then invite him to ask you to notice something and take a turn to ask the questions. By asking your child to notice details about the people around you, you're helping them focus. You're also helping them learn ideas like counting, comparing, and seeing what's more or less. Mathematical Thinking and Expression Goal CD-4

LITERACY Infants  Parent–infant lap games are a joy to babies. The lap games in the practice guide below are often the first ones a baby plays. They will help your child vocalize and “talk” to you more and more Link to Guide Here Communication and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-1 Tell stories without a book. The good thing about made-up stories is that you can make them up as you go along. Babies usually find the voice of a caregiver calming and soothing. Older infants and toddlers will be able to recognize some of the words in your story and develop their own images in their mind! Communication and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-3 Toddlers Toddlers who often see printed material (pictures, letters, words) come to realize that print is connected to meaning. Let your young child explore magazines, catalogs, and fliers while you point out how words and their meanings go together. Link to Guide Here Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-4 To play musical alphabet get some plain paper and write letters using red and blue markers and write some letters in blue and some in red. Use a mix of letters, but there is no need to use all twenty-six. Place them around a room with lots of space to move and groove when music plays. Play the music and groove. Pause the music and call out a letter, ” RED H” or “BLUE T". This gives your child help to find the letters since they have the color as a hint. Children should stand on the letter and then repeat as long as there is interest. Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-8 Ever notice that little kids want their fun on instant replay? If they liked a song the first time, chances are they want to hear it again and again, so songs like “B-I-N-G-O,” with its repetitive refrain that spells out the farmer’s dog’s name, are especially tot-friendly. Another toddler song that fills the requisite for repetition: “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Link to BINGO song Link to Wheels on the Bus song Communicating and Oral Language Development CLL-1 Preschoolers Writing letters to family is an excellent preschool writing activity because most young children are very interested in getting and sending mail. They are usually very intrigued by the whole process and thoroughly enjoyed this fun activity. For young preschoolers you can also buy blank postcards so they can decorate them and mail off to friends and family. Link to Activity Here Foundations For Writing Goal CLL-9 One player states a “category” and the other players take turns naming items that belong in that group. The category can be as broad as “animals,” or as narrow as “types of dogs.”Traditionally, a clapping rhythm keeps up the pace so players won’t take forever to come up with a response. The category chosen determines how difficult or easy the game is. The game continues until players run out of ideas for the category. Communication and Oral Language Development Goal CLL-3 Many daily activities can help preschoolers pay attention to sounds and learn how sounds are the same or different. The article below will give you strategies to help your preschooler. Link to Activity Here Foundations For Reading Goal CLL-7