Informal Family Child Care Project

What to do? Talk about what is happening as you and your child run fast, walk slowly, stomp like a dinosaur, or dart like a pigeon.

Why? Your child will learn words and develop skills in running and moving. This simple activity is a first step to forming an intentional plan about how to coordinate and control their body and actions.

For Preschoolers: Describe the move and make it like a "Follow the Leader" game. For School age children: Describe the move and have them do it. Create a word wall and write words like "fast, slow, forward, backward, etc."

What to do...Give your child a safe, hand-held mirror. Have him or her look into the mirror and make faces and actions. Offer them a comb, toothbrush or washcloth. Ask them to practice smiling, brushing their hair, move their eyebrows, brush their teeth, wash their face, etc. As they are doing it describe his/her actions and facial qualities. For example: "Wow, your eyes go up when you smile or move your eyes".

Why is this important? This activity builds your child's social and emotional and language skills. The more your child learns about himself or herself and what he or she can do, the more comfortable he or she will feel in new situations.

For school age children: Give them a safe mirror and ask them to draw a self portrait as they look at themselves in the mirror. You draw your self-portrait as well and compare the two together!!!

What to do? Get a clear bottle (i.e. a used water bottle). Add water in the bottle about halfway and add six drops of oil. You can also get two paints/markers (red and yellow), mix them to make a new color (orange). Encourage your child to be a detective in discovering what caused something to happen. Ask them to tell you "How did that happen?" Offer a different idea if the explanation is inaccurate. Do not correct the child's theory but simply offer another view. Encourage any effort to figure out the cause of the mystery.

School age children: After the activity, give him/her a piece of paper, a pencil and have them draw what they notice. Let them write what they think cause things to happen.

Why is this important? Exposing children to activities that promotes curiosity, and persistence helps them build their approach to learning and social and emotional intelligence. They explore cause and effect! Try it with water freezing, a broken toy or leaves falling from trees.

What to do? Give children in your care simple and safe problems to solve. Offer the child choices when facing the problem. Ask them "which is best?" Some activities that can help with making choices are building a tall tower, playing board games, playing catch, playing JENGA and/or deciding which clothing to wear or snack to eat. For example: Build a tall tower with the child. Allow the tower to fall. Ask the child "do you think the tower needs a wider or shorter bottom?" Build the tower again and see what happens. Continue to encourage the child to come up with their own idea or give them choices.

For School-age children: use the same process for helping them make good decisions in school. For example: Give them choices for getting along with other children, setting time management skill for homework or projects.

Why is this important? Children need to know how to select the best solution to solving a problem. Weighing alternative paths of action is a key step in solving problems. Later children will use this skill independently to solve other problems successfully.

What to do? Go on a community walk or stroll around your home. Give the child in your care a baggie or bag and encourage your child to find small items that they feel are "treasures" or interesting on the walk. Ask him or her to collect the interesting items in the baggie. Find time to ask the child to display the items they collected and talk about them. Begin to ask the child questions about the item. For example: "What did you find interesting about this item?" If you are not sure what to ask remember to use your 5 "W"s...What?, Why?, When?, Where? Who?

For school age children, when you begin to look at your child's collection create a list of adjectives your child uses to describe the items or give them adjectives to use. For example, "big, small, shiny, rough, or bumpy" Afterwards, you can begin to sort or categorize them.

Why should you do this? This activity builds your child's personal choices and interests, which supports their decision-making process.

What to do? Shapes are all around us. Point & say: That window is a rectangle. Ask: "What shape are the wheels on the car?" Or "Can you find a circle, square, rectangle and triangle?"

School-age children: Look for shapes on the bridges. Show pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge, George Washington Bridge or a bridge near where you live. Play "I spy" naming the shape you see and see if they can find it.

Why should you do it? You can help build your child's math and language skills by pointing out shapes and asking questions about them.

What to do? As you put the dishes away, count the plates 1-by-1 with your child. Try it again with the bowls. Forks? Cups? Can your child count the cups by himself(herself)? You can help by counting items during everyday activities.

School-age children: Be creative! You can count the number of steps to the car, bus stop or to school. Incorporate addition, subtraction or multiplication.

Why should you do it? Counting is one of the first math skills that children learn. Keep counting. You're preparing your child with math literacy!

What to do? Encourage your child to be curious. Give children opportunities to ask questions.

Preschool children: Show them an item (ex: a toy, book, a picture, snack, etc.) and you start asking questions about it (ex: how does this toy work? Am I supposed to hold it or put it down)? Tell the child it's their turn? You can prompt them by asking "what do you want to know about ______?" You do not need to answer the question, but you can if you want to!

School age children: Give them scenarios (ex: A girl or boy doesn't want to go to the supermarket with her/his mother." Ask them to ask questions about the scenario. If they need help ask them "what do you want to know about this situation?" Write down their questions.

Why should you do it? Kids have lots of questions! Encouraging them to ask questions, encourages them to be curious. Curiosity guides learning. It also supports a child's ability to problem solve.