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· Wrap one end of a piece of yarn with masking tape to create a stiff point. Then tape the other end of the yarn to a table to provide some stability for the yarn. Give your child a plate of colorful O’s cereal or stringing beads and direct her to make a necklace. If the cereal pieces are difficult for your child to handle, try providing some lifesaver candies that are larger with larger holes. When your child is comfortable stringing, add another aspect to the activity by suggesting that she create a pattern with the colors she places on her necklace.
· Use food coloring to create two or three small jars of colored water. I suggest creating the primary colors red, blue and yellow. Then allow your child to use an eyedropper to pull up some of the colored water and then drop it onto a white coffee filter that has been flattened into a circle. When your child mixes some of the colors, new colors will appear!
· Write your child’s name with a blue or pink highlighter pen. Then ask your child to trace the letters with a yellow highlighter. The blue color will turn green and the pink color will become orange when covered with the yellow ink. This gives your child immediate feedback regarding the accuracy of his tracing. Or you can draw a row of small circles, a row of small squares and/or a row of small triangles, for instance, to reinforce shape configurations and shape names.
· Ask your child to use a tweezers to transfer small cotton balls or pompoms from one bowl to another. Direct your child to hold the tweezers with his thumb and forefinger to strengthen his pincer grip. Place the full bowl on your child’s left side and the empty bowl to the right so that his motion moves from left to right.
· Provide a snack of small pieces of food and direct your child to pick up one piece at a time using the thumb and forefinger of her dominant hand. Goldfish crackers or cereal pieces work well, for example. To create an additional learning opportunity, try placing the pieces of food in a line. Then direct your child to pick them up starting at the left and moving to the right and ask her to count each piece as she picks it up.
· Give your child a bowl of small buttons or beads and ask him to sort them into groups based on color, size, or another attribute that he describes. (Perhaps he will sort buttons based on the number of holes - two or four.) Remind your child to pick up each button or bead with his thumb and forefinger as he places it in the correct pile.
· Ask your child to create confetti by cutting sheets of colored paper into small pieces. Supervise your child to be sure that she is holding the scissors correctly, with her thumb above her fingers. Let her have some fun throwing the confetti into the air and the ask her to pick up each piece and put it in a bowl, using only her thumb and forefinger.
I hope you and your child have fun with these activities and enjoy some indoor time together!
