June Activities
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In March you counted what you saw around the house. This month, try estimating. See what 1, 5, or 10 of something looks like. Start with a small cup or a ziploc bag. Fill it with items that are medium-sized: marshmallows, crackers, cotton balls, large hair beads. Ask your child to guess how many are in the cup, and then count them together. Take the same cup and fill it with something smaller, like grapes, pennies, or cheerios. Have your child guess how many of each fit in the cup. Ask, "Why do you think the same cup holds only 5 marshmallows, but 10 grapes?"
Other Ideas:
- Do the same game but use larger containers, and try putting different items in.
- Ask your child, "Now can you guess how many of my feet it will take to walk across the kitchen or living room?" Walk across the room and count together.
- Say, "Your feet are a lot smaller. How many of your feet do you think it will take to cross the room?" Have your son or daughter walk the way you did, and count together.
- Later, you can have another family member or a neighbor guess how many feet it took each of you, so you can show off the game again!
Related Books
- How Many, How Many, How Many?, by Rick Walton
- Much Bigger Than Martin, by Steven Kellogg
- Mouse Count (Cuentas Ratones), by Ellen Stoll Walsh
July Activities
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Gather together a large dishpan and different sized containers (cups, plastic bowls, tupperware). Using a child's pool, your kitchen sink, or a bathtub, have your child explore how water fills containers. See how many containers of water can fill a larger one. Or try the reverse: start with a large container of water and talk about how that water can fill lots of little containers. Ask, "What do you think will happen if you put your hand in a full bowl of water? Why does that happen?" Try putting a sponge in the full container, instead of your hand. Squeeze the sponge to see how much water comes out. Try to find different shaped containers (Round, square, rectangular) that hold the same amount of water.
Other Ideas:
- Add a drop or two of food coloring to the water and watch it change colors. Ask your child to choose a color he/she likes, and ask what two colors need to be mixed to make that color. See if it works.
- Sink and float game: Take different items from around the house and have your child guess "What do you think will happen to this when we put it in the water?" Talk about sinking and floating. Try a rock, a sponge, a spoon, a straw, an empty water jug, a full water jug.
- At the end, you can add liquid dishwashing soap to the water to make bubbles.
Related Books
- In a Small, Small Pond, by Denise Fleming
- Splash, by Ann Jonas
- Who Sank the Boat?, by Pamela Allen
- Hundirse y Flotar, by Maria Gordon
August Activities
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Take blank sheets of paper and fold them in half. (You can staple along the fold, if you have a stapler.) Say, "Let's make a book about you! What would you like people to know about you?" (Helpful questions: "What makes you happy? What is your favorite color? What do you like to eat? How old are you? Who do you live with? What does your house look like? Do you have any pets?") You can write the answers (or let your child write some of the words in the answers, if she/he is ready). Write your child's name on the cover. Other things to write: your address and phone number. Have your child "read" the book to another family member or to a neighbor.
Other Ideas:
- Picture Book: Gather some photos from around the house of your child. Help your child glue them on to a page and ask your child to tell you about the pictures, as you write down what he/she says.
- Face Book: Title each page with a part of your child's face - My Eyes, My Nose, My Mouth, My Ears, My Hair, etc. For each page, have your child look in the mirror. Say, "Look at your eyes and try to draw them on this page." Title the last page "This is Me!" and ask your child to draw his/her whole face.
Related Books
- Amazing Grace, by Mary Hoffman
- I Like Me! (Me Gusto Como Soy!), by Nancy Carlson
- William's Doll, by Charlotte Zolotov
- Peter's Chair (La Silla De Pedro), by Ezra Jack Keats
- Faces (Caras), by Barbara Brenner
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