Tips for exploringearly learning at home

Grab the junk mail and old magazines! Lookfor each letter of the alphabet and cut themout. Let your kiddo make a collage of letters!Can they spell their name? You can also go on a letter hunt in eachroom and see how many different ones youcan find. Don't forget numbers too!

LOOK FOR ABCS AND 123S

Explore the five senses around the house orclassroom! If possible, taste something sweet, salty, ortart like a lemon. Smell different spices, andlook for different textures to feel! Think of interesting things you can see andplay music together!

F IVE SENSES FUN

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Take letter shapes, scrabble tiles, letterpuzzle pieces, etc. and bury them in asensory bin. You can use any fillers such as rice or sand. Set up a letter wash with warm, soapywater and foam or plastic letters

MAKE AN ABC / 123 SENSORY B IN

If you don't want to use a pencil and paperto write or trace letters just yet, you canuse a tray covered in salt, cornmeal, rice,or flour. Sand is a non-food option! Kids can use fingers to trace lettersthrough the materials on the tray.

MAKE A NUMBER /LETTER

TRAY

Use the playdough letter matswith more than just playdough! You can use many small itemsthat you already have on hand,including erasers, pompoms,LEGO bricks, stones, coins, andso much more to build letters.

BUILD LETTERS

D ISTANCE EDUCAT ION

Cut pool noodles into chunks that willstack well. Using a permanent marker,write a letter or number on each piece. Kids can stack letters and string numbersonto a rope! Place them around the roomand go on a hunt.

POOL NOODLE

LETTER /NUMBERS

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How many things are square in yourhouse? How about circles, triangles, orrectangles? Shapes are everywhere! Head outside and look for shapes in theneighborhood. 

GO ON A SHAPE HUNT

Take this walk inside or outside and picksomething to count together! Forks in the drawer, stuffed animals on thebed, flowers around the mailbox, cars on thestreet are all great items to count. Look athouse numbers.

GO ON A COUNT ING WALK

Tips for exploringearly learning at home

Add a roll of pennies to a sensory bin orsandbox! Kids will love the treasure hunt, and thenthey can count the pennies for you after! You can also add a piggy bank for practicing fine motor skills too.

MAKE A TREASURE HUNT

All you need is a ruler and a dozenclothespins. Number them 1-12. Have your kiddo clip theclothespins to the correct numberon the ruler! Grab a measuring tape to addmore numbers!

RULERS & CLOTHESP INS

Try non-standard measurement with anyitem that you have multiples of that are thesame size such as paper clips, blocks orbuilding bricks. Trace your hands and feet on paper andmeasure them! What else can youmeasure?

MEASURE TH INGS

Dig into the cardboard recycling bin! Grabcereal, granola bar, fruit snack, crackerboxes, and the like! Cut the fronts off the boxes and then cutthe front into simple puzzle pieces. Have the kiddos reassemble the box fronts.

HOMEMADE PUZZLES

D ISTANCE EDUCAT ION

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Tips for exploringearly learning at home

Add measuring cups and spoons to asensory bin. Also, add bowls forfilling.  Discover how many quarter cups fill awhole cup. Kids love scooping,pouring, and of course dumping. Try water, rice, or sand!

PLAY WITH MEASURING CUPS

Who can fill the cup the fastest or whocan get to 20, 50, 100 the fastest? All you need is dice, cups, and the samesize small objects. Roll the dice and add the correct numberof items to the cart. Work together orrace each other!

MAKE A MATH GAME

Explore the tasty side of math(and science) and bake a recipetogether. Show off those measuring cupsand spoons! Have your kiddo help you add theright amounts to the bowl.

BAKE TOGETHER

D ISTANCE EDUCAT ION

Anytime you can pair an early learningactivity with a book! Even if it's not a letter, shape, or numbertheme book, you can hunt for shapes, ABC's,or 123's. Count what's on the page or go on ashape hunt. Look for letter sounds.

ADD A BOOK !

Fill ice trays with water and add red, blue,and yellow food coloring. When frozen, remove the ice cubes andplace a yellow and blue in a cup. In anothercup, add a red and a yellow, and in a thirdcup, add a red and blue ice cube. Watchwhat happens!

TRY ICY COLOR M IX ING

Set up a taste test for the five senses with avariety of apples! Explore the taste of different varieties,listen for the crunch, smell the scent, noticethe skin color, feel the shape and differentparts! Discover your favorite apple too!

TAKE A TASTE TEST

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Tips for exploringearly learning at home

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Snuggle up and read a book together!

Play a board game together!

Go on a nature walk and talk aboutthe world around you!

Paint a picture!

WHEN IN DOUBT . . .

Explore different textures by makinghomemade playdough. Click here forfun and easy playdough recipes. Foam DoughSuper Soft PlaydoughKoolaid PlaydoughNo-Cook Playdough

HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH

There are tons of sensory bin fillers totry that are both food and non-fooditems. Click here to learn more.Favorites include rice, dried beans, sand, aquarium gravel, pompoms, dry pasta,cereal, and of course, water!

Simple scoops, tongs, and otherkitchen utensils are great additions.

SENSORY B IN F ILLERS

Combine science, art, and literacy! First,

write your kid's name in large letters on

heavy paper. Then trace the letters with

white school glue. Next, sprinkle salt on the

glue, shake off excess, and let it dry. Once

dry, drip food coloring mixed with water onto

the letters and watch what happens!

SALT AND GLUE LETTERS

ADD MORE S IMPLE SC IENCE

Grab a magnifying glass and lookat things more closely. What can you look at moreclosely? Shells, seeds, leaves, bark,insides of fruits like peppers, etc. There are so many possibilities!

USE A MAGNIFY ING GLASS

D ISTANCE EDUCAT ION

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B a k i n g S o d a , v i n e g a r a n dc o o k i e c u t t e r s

O o b l e c k w i t h c o r n s t a r c h a n dw a t e r

M e l t i n g i c e w i t h w a r m w a t e r

C l i c k h e r e t o s e t u p s c i e n c ea t h o m e .