Illuminating Early Development: Engaging Infant Minds through Light-themed Activities

 As an early childhood educator, we are sometimes called upon to design or develop activities for children in preschool development.  Just recently, I had the opportunity to come up with some activities that worked with the theme of light for ages 12 weeks to one year old.  At the end of this post, you'll get a freebie of some of the activities that I developed for this project so keep reading.  :)  

Light is a fascinating and captivating concept that can capture the attention and curiosity of even the youngest minds.  We can stimulate a child's senses, encourage exploration, and promote early learning development through engaging and playful activities centered around light. 

Dancing Lights Sensory Play: 

Infants are naturally drawn to light and its captivating movements. Set up a safe and controlled environment with various sources of light, such as colorful LED lights or a small disco ball, and allow your little one to interact with the dancing lights. Encourage them to reach out, touch, and follow the lights with their eyes. This activity aids in developing hand-eye coordination and enhancing visual tracking skills. 

1. Shadow Play: Create a playful and imaginative atmosphere by using a flashlight to cast shadows on the wall. Use your hands, toys, or cut-out shapes to create different shadow figures. Watch as your infant's eyes widen in amazement and curiosity as they try to understand the magical dance of light and shadows. This activity promotes visual stimulation and cognitive development.

1. Glow-in-the-Dark Sensory Bottles: Fill clear, sealable bottles with water and add glow-in-the-dark paint or glitter. Secure the lid tightly and watch as the contents glow when exposed to light. These mesmerizing bottles can be shaken to create a captivating sensory experience, aiding in visual tracking and providing a soothing effect for infants.

1. Colorful Lightbox Exploration: Create a simple lightbox using a clear plastic container with a light source inside. Place translucent colored objects or toys on top of the lightbox and watch as the light illuminates them, creating a stunning visual display. Encourage your infant to explore the colors and shapes, fostering sensory and visual development.

Engaging infants in activities centered around the theme of light can be a wonderful way to introduce them to the magic of the world around them. These activities entertain and stimulate their senses and encourage early learning and development. Remember to always prioritize safety and supervise your child during these activities for a joyful and enlightening experience.

Want a free copy of these activities?  Click on the picture below to get a set of them.  

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The Teaching Bug

Alphabet Printable Activities

Hello!  It's that busy time of year we all love as teachers.  Everyone is ready to run out the door including yourself to get all the holiday errands and shopping done.  I know...I know.  It's hard to keep the little ones motivated in these last few days of school.  Especially my little kindergartners who could not wait to see what presents they would get or what trip they would take.  This time of year it's hard to teach any new concepts and it's a great time to review some concepts that some of them may be struggling with.  

   I have some ideas to share to help you get through the holidays.  Here's one that I have always used to keep my students motivated during center time.  These alphabet puzzles were always a hit with my preschoolers when I worked with that age group and my kindergartners.   I keep them on hand when I need to keep my students motivated through the holidays.  You can grab them here for free.

One other activity that I have also used to reinforce the alphabet is this one.  

We can never get enough practice identifying the lowercase letters b and d.  And I'll let you in on a little secret.  This free pack has silly glasses the kids can make to help them remember the difference.  Color them red and green to make them go along with the holiday or add some fun holiday stickers.  They are learning and having fun. Instructions are included.  Grab this freebie here.  

If your spend a little time grabbing this freebie....don't forget to check out this game that goes along with it.  And guess what?  It's free too.  :)  

Before I go...I wanted to share with you two other activities that I've just recently added that would make great morning work, center activity, items for the substitute folder, or just something to add for students to do right before or after a holiday activity.  Just a warning...these are not free but very affordable.  :) You can grab it here and here.   

Have a wonderful holiday.  

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The Teaching Bug

Teaching Kindergartners to create Sentences

In the past, teaching my kindergartners to write sentences was challenging.   You have little ones who can not quite read yet.  Often I heard I don't know what to write about or we would provide them a picture and some of them could write a sentence and others could not.  So this activity came to mind and it worked.   We used this over and over again before we turned them loose on their own sentence writing. 

First,  I modeled the activity and walked the students through each part step by step.  At this age that is critical to success.  I laminated all the pieces, just my preference, and then once it was modeled I had the students work with the one sentence collection with partners.  Each page has a different picture on it so the kids can see what their sentence is about.  It also helps them think about some other sentences they can add  to it later.  Each group was required to get their sentences put together correctly and then have me and my assistant to go around and check.  Then the children were given the recording sheet to write out the sentence they made.  The next day we used the same sentence sheets but they were switched among the groups so the kids did not receive the same one and asked the do the activity again. 

   For the first week or so, depending on my group, I had the first set of one sentence sheets placed in my writing center.  After they seemed to get it and we worked on additional sentence making activities I introduced the next set of two sentences and then finally the set of three sentences. 

The recording sheets that are included in the pack were turned in at the end of the center activity time and it let me assess to see who was struggling with forming sentences. 

After the kids worked for a while on these.  I also required them to come up with a sentence on their own and record it on the recording sheets as they progressively got better. 

 

 

 

 

If you like what you see you can pick it up here:
  

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The Teaching Bug