SHADES Out-of-School Time during COVID-19

When you're running out of activities to do at home, take something old and make it something new. Simply taking a dry erase marker and some Lego blocks you can help your child with, reading, math, and fine motor skills. Helping bridge the gap between education and fun can be challenging. Taking an activity your child already enjoys and adding educational pieces, takes regular play time and normal instruction time and turns it into adventure learning. With this activity you can create a number line, have the children spell out their name, connect upper and lower case letters, as well as write in site words and practice spelling out the words.This activity can also be used for older kids, by adding fractions or having them create longer words. Let the learning begin.  This activity was created by Rachel Clair

Mark your calendars! I am a big nerd when it comes to space. I think what goes beyond Earth is absolutely phenomenal. Whenever there is some type of astronomical event, I try my best to witness it. I mean how cool you get to say you were there to witness the biggest full moon of the year?! Even though some astronomical events have already taken place this year, there are still plenty more to come this summer! Some of these events will take place here in America, while others are experienced on the other side of the world: 1.     May 7 th , 2020 – Full Moon According to in-the-sky.org, “ This month's full moon will take place unusually close to the time of month when the Moon also makes its closest approach to the Earth – called its  perigee . This means the moon will appear slightly larger and brighter than at other times.” Although the difference may be hard to tell with the unaided eye, you will still be able to see the full moon in all its glory. 2. ...

Growing up, my little brother was one of the pickiest eaters.  He wanted nothing to do with condiments, ordered everything plain, and eating his vegetables was the last thing on his mind.  Do you have a picky eater or have a hard time getting your children to eat their vegetables?  Let me share a few tips and tricks on how to sneak those healthy foods into your child's diet. Smoothies Smoothies are one of my favorite go-to treats on a warm summer day (or honestly any day) and children love them as well.  Last year at the Sam E Hill SHADES program, we introduced new healthy foods to children once a week and smoothies were by far the favorite.  If they had known there was spinach in the smoothies, that may not have been the case, but as far as they knew it was a delicious cup of sweet goodness.  Several great recipes can be found at  The Everyday Mom Life . Baked Goods Believe it or not, there are many ways you can hide vegetables into your fa...

Going Green DIY Recycling Projects with your Preschooler Planting Seeds for flowers or vegetables.   We did this easy activity at SHADES after school program – Ft. Sanders.   Whether you are introducing your kids to gardening, or make crafts or science projects that involve growing seeds – it can often be beneficial to use seeds that sprout quickly!   We used plastic cups so they could watch the seeds grow!   This is easy, quick and simple to do. Take potting soil or seed starter and fill the cup up about halfway, then put a couple of seeds deep into the soil, add water and put near put on a windowsill. Garden Yoga.   I did this as a challenge activity with my after school kiddos.   They simply get into different poses: a tree, a frog, a seed, a flower or a butterfly.   They seemed to really enjoy this challenge! DIY Recycled Robot.   An easy project to do using a lot of imagination. ...

Do you know the importance of sleep for children? It’s when their bodies grow and rest. But is all sleep the same sleep? And what can we do to help our children get it? Children don’t just need 8-12 hours of sleep per day (depending on their age), but they need that much quality sleep. Usually around this age, children have a draw on their sleep time from schoolwork, sports, social activities, and electronics. With our current situation, children typically are having less physical and busy activities through the day, like they would if they were in school and after school activities. Therefore, they don’t seem to be as sleepy, which makes it easy to slack on a good sleep routine. This time, however, is just as important as any other for getting quality rest.   It might be tempting to think that your children can get by with less sleep than they need, or that they should be able to cope fairly well with a few skipped hours here and there. However, all children thrive...

I bet you didn't realize that children were working on their developmental skills when stringing up a simple beaded bracelet.   Activities like beading a bracelet builds on fine motor skills, cognitive, emotional & socials skills.  Children are building & strengthening the muscles in their fingers. They are making decisions; what style of bracelet, what pattern, size, color will the beads be. When working with other children they are leaning to communicate, building on their vocabulary & to share. Bracelet making can even give a child a sense of accomplishment.

Self-control is a very important skill that children need to master. Many preschoolers may not yet have the  ability to regulate their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Self-control is a strong indicator to many Kindergarten teachers that children are ready for school. It is a cognitive process that allows them to manage themselves in order to achieve a specific goal.  K ids need self-control to be able to sit still, pay attention, follow directions, and control their impulses. For example, children who exhibit self-control can wait their turn when playing a game, can refrain from hitting others when they’re mad, and can delay gratification. "I WANT IT NOW!" Teaching children self-control is one of the best ways to prepare them for success. There are several games that can help kids strengthen their self-control by  developing self-regulation by listening carefully, paying attention, and following directions.   Red Light, Green Light:  One c...

I was sitting on my back porch the other day when I looked next door in my neighbor’s yard and saw the cutest little bunny rabbit emerging from the woods. I started observing the rabbit’s behavior when a thought popped in my head - Why not give a few steps for the children to be able to observe their own animal and deem themselves zoologists! 1.        Print Off or Create Your Own Observation Log In order to successfully become a zoologist, you must be able to keep record of all the different animals you have observed. You can print the picture below or use it as a guideline for your own. Having kids sit and take notice to what is going on around them is an excellent way to hone in on their focus and listening skills.   2.        Stay Quiet When observing an animal, whether it be in your yard or in the wild, it is important to stay quiet. Try and make as little noise as possible. More than often you will...

Math learning made simple at home with your Preschooler Math learning you say…yuck!  That’s right math learning at home.  There are so many fun activities you and your child can do together learning about math   while being at home. Geometry.   These fun activities involve critical thinking skills and brain activity. Your child will learn about patterns and shapes.  Recognizing shapes are critical to making a pattern.  Shapes are a circle, rectangle, triangle, square, etc.  You can make a shape collage using colored construction paper.  A memory game by placing 3 different shapes on a mat, cover them taking one shape away.  Remove the covering and ask your child what looks different and which shape is missing.  Another cute idea is making a shape book.  Using about 4-6 pieces of paper stapled, draw or cut pictures out of a magazine identifying a shape! Color Sortin...

While we are stuck indoors, here is a fun thing to do outside and get some fresh air! I enjoyed making my Oobleck video so much that I wanted to continue on with the theme. Let’s learn how to make a paint mixture called “Sidewalk Chalk Paint” with the same exact ingredients. You can make Oobleck and sidewalk chalk paint with only a few ingredients: cornstarch, water and food coloring. You will also need a few supplies: measuring cups, mixing container, spoon, paintbrushes and multiple bowls or muffin tin for each color of paint. So now let’s get to mixing. You will need a ½ cup of cornstarch, ⅔ cup of water and multiple colors of food coloring. Start by mixing together the water and cornstarch and stir until the cornstarch dissolves. You will know when it is mixed right; it will feel like stirring milk with no lumps. Usually the chalk paint calls for a 1:1 ratio but that is best for painting on paper and since we are painting on a sidewalk we needed a different ratio of...

April 22, 2020 marks the 50 th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day was created as a day to inspire people to dedicate one day celebrating the Earth in hopes that it will spread to years of doing it. While we cannot gather to together to celebrate, and things will look a bit different than in previous years, families can still celebrate Earth Day at home. Study Earth STEM Use the  NASA Earth Day 2020: 50th Anniversary Toolkit . NASA is providing a wealth of science resources from across the agency for outreach to young people. The programs, games, videos, books, images and posters are free for teachers, students, parents and anyone. Participate in  Earth Challenge 2020 . Get the app for  Android  and  iOS devices  that enables you to gather scientific information on air quality and plastic pollution near you. Pick up litter For some of us right now, going for a walk is the most exciting part of our day. Picking up litter around ...