Resources for Distance Learning
The Windmill School staff would like to share these resources with you to enhance your "Distance Learning" time with your preschooler. Additional activities and resources will be added each week, so please check back for new ideas. It is our hope that these activities will enhance the time you and your preschooler spend together.
Have you ever wanted to go on a SAFARI!! Well now you can! Take a walk through the Cincinnati Zoo to check out all the animals! Be sure to stop and hang out with Fiona the Hippo! http://cincinnatizoo.org/home-safari-resources/
What's more fun than getting messy? Nothing! Roll your sleeves up and show your parents how to get messy!
Check out these Ooey Gooey Lady Sensory Activities!
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Did you know you can make play dough at home?
Here's our Windmill Recipe:
2 Cups of Flour 1 Cup of Salt 2 tsp of cream of tartar
2 TBSP of oil 2 Cups of water Drops of food coloring
Add all of the dry ingredients together first and mix.
Add oil, water and food coloring and mix.
Cook over the stove top on medium heat. Stir constantly until a ball forms.
Once the ball has formed, remove from heat and knead the dough.
Store the playdough in a ziploc bag or airtight container!
Next time you are on a walk, look for some California poppies!
Have you ever noticed what happens to the poppies when it is cloudy or night time?
Check out this link to Cosmic kids yoga www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
Make a Musical Wall
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Tie your pots and pans to the fence!
Add a wooden spoon or a serving spoon!
Make some music!!
Balloon Blow Up
Materials: Plastic Water Bottle, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 packet of yeast, 1/2 a cup of warm water
Procedure: Put the sugar and yeast into the bottle.
Carefully pour in the warm water.
Put the neck of the balloon over the water bottle.
Over the course of the morning the balloon will inflate.
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Try these fun ideas for art and science projects at https://tinkerlab.com
DREME: Family Math
Family math is parents, caregivers and young children engaging each other in fun
early math learning at home and on-the-go!
https://familymath.stanford.edu/activities/reading-together/?role=preschoolers
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Rhyming!
Watch one of our favorite books being read...Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnvD4w5ppLY
Make your own cards with rhyming words! You can print some here!
Butterflies
Use coffee filters and water colors to make butterflies!
Hang them around the house or make a butterfly mobile!
For fun and creative ideas check out the process of separating colors and chromatography!
Make a Fort!
Find an old box, get under a table, get those sheets out of the closet!
Make a creative cozy space for your child!
Include flashlights,books and stuffed animals!
For great fort ideas check out this website!
Make Your Own Paper Airplanes!
Planes can be decorated before or after folding.
Paperclips are optional, but help hold the plane together and give it a little weight.
https://www.primroseschools.com/blog/how-to-make-a-paper-airplane/
Squishy and Slimy!
Try out these recipes for different types of slime!
Try without any glue:
https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2018/11/no-glue-slime-recipe.html
Try making frozen slime:
https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2014/05/frozen-slime-recipe-for-kids.html
Alphabet slime? Can you spell your name?
https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/04/eye-spy-slime-recipe.html
Puffy Paint!
Get out some glue, shaving cream and paint!
Mix it together and see what happens!
Get the full recipe here:
How to make colored rice-
1 cup of Rice
Water color(or food coloring)
1 Tablespoon of Vinegar.
Put all ingredients in a plastic bag and mix, mix, mix!
Lay your rice out on wax paper, parchment paper or a baking sheet to dry. As soon as it is dry, put in a shallow bin or tray and have fun!
Color Magic
Fold a paper towel in half. Color a design on the top page with a black permanent marker.
Then scribble color patches on the second page.
Put some water on a plate or tray and then lay your paper towel in the water.
Watch the MAGIC!!
Make Your Own Finger Paint!
2 cups of flour
2-3 cups of cold water
2 tsp of salt
food coloring or paint
Mix together and add color -
either paint or food coloring.
Mix continuously until thick and smooth.
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Take a Scavenger Nature Walk​
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Find 1 Dandelion
Find 2 Pinecones
Find 3 Acorns
Find 4 Rocks
Find 5 leaves
What can you make with these items? Add some paint or glue. What other pieces of nature can you add?
Supplies:
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1 egg
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1 cup vinegar
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clear jar or glass
Directions:
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Pour 1 cup of vinegar into jar
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Add the egg
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Leave the egg in the vinegar for one day.
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Remove the egg and feel it.
Muffin Tin Sorting!
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Have your child sort objects into the different compartments of your muffin tins! You can sort pompoms, buttons, blocks, beads, beans, pasta, nature items, paper clips, the possibilities are endless...
Roly Poly Fun Facts
1. Roly polys aren't bugs at all. They are crustaceans!
2. They have a hard exoskeleton called a cuticle and it is made from chitin.
3. Their color ranges from gray to brown but on rare occasions you might find a bright blue or purple one!
4. Roly polys can live up to two years.
Painting with Shapes:
Use Duplo blocks as your paint brush! What kind of shapes can you make?
Have an adult use scissors to cut sponges into different shapes. Use the sponges with paint to make art!
Use your wine corks to make prints. What shape does it make?
When the art work is complete give children a small tub of clean soapy water and encourage them to wash their paint items at the washing station!
Bake Some Cinnamon Sugar Scones!
Make these yummy cinnamon sugar scones from
Make a Home for Your Stuffed Animal
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Make a home for your stuffed animal out of
recycled materials around your house.
You can make a nest for a bird or make a
home for any toy animal.
What kind of home would make your animal happy?
Frames With Loose Parts Collages
Use loose parts to make a collage in a frame. Consider using leaves, acorns, flowers, nuts/bolts, corks, even dry pasta! To create a frame you can use paper or a placemat or a shape made with tape. Get creative and make something wonderful. If you want to make your creation last, try taking a picture of it.