Music and movement contribute to children's overall development. Listening to and making music helps children's developing brain. Music calms their body during naptime and during a transition time. It creates a current that enables them to transcend their minds to a happy place. Each experience should be fun and meaningful for them. Iinstruments are the distinctive elements that make the music come alive. The children listened and focused as they moved their hands up, down, and side to side. Each movement created distinctive lines and circles. Each child interpreted the music differently.
Cognitive/Language/Memorization
Through games and playing, children can nurture their imagination, improve their ability to listen, as well as develop important cognitive skills that will aid their future development. Memory games give space to critical thinking, and that helps children nurture their attention to detail.
Creativity/Fine Motor Skills/Imagination
The children listened to a read aloud in Spanish, Tu Mama es una llama? (Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino). Then the teacher asked to draw or paint their favorite animal from the story. Teagan indicated that she liked the bat and Llama. She chose different colors to draw her picture.
Color/Fine Motor/Creativity/Language
Ziploc Painting is another form of art. The simplicity of this activity encourages children to add different colors, and by doing this, they observe how colors merge and change when mixed. Aria squirted droplets of different colors but managed to maintain them apart. She appeared to squish and press with her fingers and observed the colors spread.
Science/Sensory/Imagination
Rain Cloud Experiment
A clear cup with water, add a layer of shaving cream, and several drops of food coloring, you can create a "rain cloud!" As the children observe, we can explain that when the clouds get too heavy, the drops fall through as rain, like in the experiment.
This is Teagan rain cloud!
Literacy/Cognitive/Language
Reading to and with children, and engaging them in conversations, are great ways to build their vocabulary. Children need to be exposed to new words multiple times and in different contexts to fully understand their meaning.
The children listened to Llama Llama Loves to Read by Anna Dewdney. Some questions and an activity followed the reading.
What is the first letter of your name?
What are the other letters?
What other words can you make that begins with the first letter of your name?
Example: Sandra-Snake
Teagan and Mommy had a great time creating many words:
Virtual Class
