March 30, 2020

Bravo! this Week | March 30

We’re back this week with another edition of Happy at Home – a list of activities from our Bravo! Curriculum, adapted for home. We hope that these activities help to bring some happiness to your days this week.

Share your #happyathome activities with us by tagging @DoodleBugsUSA on social – we would love to see you!

Infants and 1YOs

Tugging Box – Poke holes throughout an empty cardboard box. Thread ribbon through two holes and tie knots at each end. Seal the box closed with tape. Show baby how to pull the ribbon – they’ll be exposed to basic cause and effect as one end of the ribbon is pulled and the other end gets shorter.

Block Play: Up and Down – Bring out some blocks, and show baby how they can be stacked up on top of each other, and then knock them down! Babies love this process, and will want you to repeat it over and over. Introduce some early math concepts by counting the number of blocks you’ve stacked.

Toddlers

Ball Balance – Place 4-6 large plastic cups or circular containers on the floor, along with assorted balls (wiffle balls, tennis balls, playground balls). Some cups can be right side up, and others upside down. Show children how to balance the balls on top of the cups/containers. Older children can even try to stack a few cups on top of each other, and then balance a ball on top!

Washing Bin – Put a towel on the floor and place a bin of soapy water on top. Encourage children to choose some waterproof toys to add to the bin. Add some washcloths and show children how to use them to wash the toys!

Building in Shapes – Use painter’s tape to create large shape outlines on the floor, and place some blocks next to them. Show children how to build with the blocks inside of the shape, talking about which shape you’re building in. Add some people and animals for more fun!

Preschool

Jumping Station – Set up a jumping station either outside using hula hoops/circles of chalk, or inside with painter’s tape. Show children how to hop with two feet forward, from hoop to hoop/circle to circle/tape to tape.

Leaf Rubbings – While children are playing outside, invite them to gather some leaves from the ground. Bring the leaves inside (or to a table outside), and peel the labels off of some crayons. Show children how to place a piece of paper on top of the leaves, and rub the crayons over the paper, making an imprint of the leaf. Encourage children to continue to do this on their own, or use art materials to add more to their leaf rubbing artwork.

Noodle Shapes – Cook spaghetti noodles according to the package instructions. Add a small amount of olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking together. They can be dyed by splitting into separate resealable bags with a few drops of food coloring. Mix with tongs and let sit for a few minutes so the color soaks into the noodles. On pieces of paper draw different large shapes. Place the paper and noodles out on a table – show children how they can arrange the noodles on top of the shapes you’ve drawn, or look at the shape as they build their pasta shapes on a plate.

Pre-K

Family Photo Drawings – Bring out some paper and drawing materials for children, along with some family photos for them to view (whether printed photos or on a phone – any way works!). Talk with children about the people who are in the photos, and encourage them to use the photos as inspiration for their drawing. When children are finished, help them label their photo – either by writing down the words that they say, or supporting them as they try to write for themselves.

Folding & Clean Up – Have children learn how to help with the laundry! Show children how to sort the types of clothing, how to fold them, and how to find pairs for socks. When you’re finished, children can bring their clothes to their own closets and dressers to put them away.

Playdough Measuring – Add a ruler or tape measure to some playdough exploration. As children roll “snakes” out of their playdough, they can line them up to see how many inches long the snake is. As they roll more snakes, you can help them compare the lengths – which snake is longer, which snake is shorter? Have a piece of paper and a pencil ready to write down each snake’s length.

School Age

Cup Construction – Plastic drinking cups are a great material to provide children for exploring – they can use them to create tall towers, balance the cups on top of each other, and race siblings or parents in cup stacking challenges. Children may even come up with other ways to use the cups!

Beach Ball STEAM Challenge – Provide children with a stack of index cards and a beach ball. Challenge them to build a tower using the index cards that is strong enough to support the beach ball if they place it on top!

Paper Airplane Testing – Provide children with some traditional printer paper. Invite them to fold some paper airplanes. Then, test how far their airplane can fly! How can they adjust their design to make the plane fly farther? You can click on the link here to see additional paper airplane designs.

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