SHADES Out-of-School Time during COVID-19

I remember when I was in elementary school, (yes, I can remember that far back) one of my favorite recess time things to do was to play hopscotch. It was the thing to do, so much so that we would save our stones in our pockets. As a child hopscotch was just a game, but it turns out it was much more. I was developing large motor skills, hand eye coordination, learning to follow rules, working on my social skills, & counting. How to Play Draw a Hopscotch Diagram using chalk or painter's tape. Select Markers (stones, beanbags, buttons, etc...)   Explain the Rules Players take turns, standing in a line at the start/finish line. Each player will go through the following steps: Toss a marker in square 1. Hop in the first empty square. Balance on one foot in single squares and both feet in side-by-side squares. Hop to the end of the diagram turn around and hop back to the start. Do not hop into a square with a marker. On the way back to the start...

Who doesn’t love to play with messy stuff. I know I do so let’s get messy. I’m going to teach you how to make Rainbow Foam Dough . This dough only has two ingredients. It’s roughly a one to one ratio of cornstarch and shaving cream. There is a 3rd ingredient but it is optional; you can use water colors or food coloring.  You can start by coloring the shaving cream before adding in the cornstarch. Next slowly start adding the cornstarch to each cup and stir until it starts looking doughy (number of cups depend on how many colors you want). I personally liked the dough more on the wet side because it was fluffier and more fun to play with. The more cornstarch you add the thicker it will get. It’s your preference how you want it but the thicker it is it will be less foamy. Mine ended up being more shaving cream than cornstarch. This activity will get very messy so it is probably better to do outside or somewhere you don't mind a mess. Most of all H A V E F...

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...