Read below to see what your child is learning and find fun online activities for the week.
Peek-A-Boo: Pop Goes the Squirrel
Watch this squirrel variation on “Pop Goes the Weasel” that will get you giggling—and maybe even popping.
They say peekaboo is all about object permanence, and you really can watch this concept gain traction as your baby develops. Play the following sequence of games every month or so. Your baby will probably master the first game at around five or six months and the last around 12 months, and it’s pretty fascinating to watch how things unfurl in between.
- Let your child watch you hide a small toy under a washcloth or inverted cup. See if she looks for it.
- This time, put out two cups or washcloths. Hide the toy under one. See if your child looks under the right cup.
- Put the toy under the cups or washcloths and as your child is watching reverse their positions. See what she does.
As your child watches, place the toy under one cup or washcloth and then move it under the other.
Beach Days: Listen and Say
Young children need consistent practice listening for—and then making—the differences in sounds. It’s easier (and more fun and rewarding) for them to start with animal sounds or environmental sounds (e.g., dolphins and seagulls) before letter-sounds.
You can extend the learning in this vocal play activity by adding new sea-side sounds. How about a sea lion, a foghorn, or a motorboat?
Or…try creating your own silly sounds! Remember that these are sounds…not words…and they don’t need to have any meaning! Ask your child to imitate them. Try using a variety of letter-sounds to expose children to the full spectrum of the alphabet. Make up silly movements to go with each silly sound!
Make your sounds along with this!
Carnival of Music: Steady Beat
The most fundamental property of music is beat, the underlying, unchanging, repeating pulse. Feeling and moving to a steady beat develops a sense of time and the ability to organize and coordinate movements within time. All locomotor movements rely on a sense of steady beat, as do many other skills and developments, such as reading. The awareness of beat occurs while greeting everyone with a steady beat motion, drumming, marching along with Liberty Wagon, playing together with rhythm sticks, floating and marching in Balloons and Bands, moving in a variety of ways in Stop on a Dot, and moving together on the Merry-Go-Round.
While many children move innately to the steady beat, some children may not. This skill can be acquired over time with practice and experiences that focus on different learning styles. Encourage parents to practice with their children in a variety of ways. These students may respond to having the beat tapped gently on their shoulder or knee by a parent or other adult, drawing dots to a steady beat, or moving to the beat with a prop.
Take a trip to this carnival!