Teaching Children Joy: Body Part 4

 Teaching Children Joy: Body Part 4

Enjoying Senses

 "What is it?" Game

We got blind folded and tried to identify smells, taste, and objects.

Taste

 For our taste activity Fluttershy tried to identify:

Sugar

Salt

Grape juice

Peanut butter

She did great with peanut butter and salt, but for some reason she didn't identify sugar and the grape juice.

Touch

 I tried to use objects with interesting textures for our touch part of our activity.

We used:

Sandpaper

Cotton Ball

Elastic

Marble

Popsicle stick

Yarn 

Smooth stone

 Smell

 We tried the above items.  I was surprised that she identified all but cinnamon.  (Which I'm not sure she's smelled before, but I thought it was a nice smell)

Identify sounds

I found a couple of fun sited to have my kiddos try to identify sounds.  The first one was at

http://www.fisher-price.com/us/littlepeople/clubhouse/games.asp?section=animalsounds
http://www.fisher-price.com.

Rarity really got a kick out this game.  She laughed the whole time.

The second game we played we found on

magic school bus

A fun game that has you identify sounds from everyday objects.  

Teaching Children Joy: Body Part 3

 

Teaching children Joy:  Body Part 3

Appreciation for the body

Today we learned to appreciate what different body parts can do and what would happen if we didn't have them. It was a very interesting activity.  

Focus on one sense activity 

 Touch

 

 I provided Fluttershy with a bucket of various objects and while she was blindfolded asked her to identify each item.

Hearing

Sense of hearing: What can you here?  We listened to sounds both inside and outside.  We heard an airplane, cars, birds, and a dog bark.

Taste

Tasting her food samples.

Pretend you don't have a certain body part

What do you use to pick of things?  Thumbs

 Tape your thumbs to your hand and try to pick up:

 a penny

small objects

turn a page in a book

The importance of eyes

Try to put a puzzle together with a blind fold on.

Fingers

Cover your fingers with a sock so you can't use your fingers.

Fluttershy started to get frustrated with this one. 

Arms

Stick one arm in a pocket and try to pick up a ball or try to catch a ball.

Knees

While keeping your legs straight, try to walk up stairs.

Teaching Children Joy: Body Part 2

 Teaching Children Joy:

Joy in the body Part 2

"What is joy is in the body! The joy of work and of hard purposeful effort, the joy of singing, the joy of sport and activity, the joy of tenderness and physical touch, the joy o controlling physical matter.  Children have a tendency toward them all.  Softly feel a baby's head, rough-house with a two-year-old, with a three-year-old squeeze shapes from a square block of clay, and you'll see the opening melodies of the body's joy."  (From Teaching Children Joy. By Linda and Richard Eyre)

 In our part 2 of Joy in the body Talk about:

What what different body parts can do

Make a large puzzle of the body out of paper

 After we traced her body (I put a different part on each paper)  I had her put the puzzle together.

 I cut out each piece and had Fluttershy put together with tape.

Today's lesson was very simple, but very fun for a 4 year old.  Now there is a picture of her on her bedroom wall.  For the benefit of Rarity I had Fluttershy point to each body part and name them.  Rarity likes to repeat what her sister says so she was repeating right along with her. 

Cute Rarity moment

We had been eating a snack and Rarity finished and went to play.  Several minutes later she ran back into the kitchen and asked for more I’s.  I couldn’t figure out what she was saying so I asked her again.  More I’s she says.  What does that mean?  Perplexed I ask her a third time.  More I’s.  This time getting a little bugged I can’t figure out something she’s saying so clear.  Hmmmm.  

Well we were eating pretzels before so I ask her if she wants more pretzels and she says “no”, “more I’s.  I decided to get her a pretzel anyway.  That’s what she wanted.  Apparently our stick pretzels looked like I’s to her so she called them I’s.  At  28 month old she knows her alphabet  from playing with foam letter and leap frog videos but I find it neat that she saw a letter in her snack.   

Teaching children joy: Body Part 1

 Teaching Children Joy:

The Joy of the body

"If you could give our children just one gift, what would it be?"

"All Children have an inherent ability to radiate many kinds of joy."  Some joys are innate and need to be preserved in children; the joys of faith and receptivity to the spirit, spontaneous delight, interest and curiosity, trust, honesty, and condor." (From Teaching children joy by Linda and Richard Eyre)

I've been reading a really interesting book that had prompted some fun learning experiences.  Teaching children Joy by Linda and Richard Eyre is a fun guide for parents with young children to help nourish and strengthen these joys that children are born with.

I'd love to share our journeys in discovering these joys in a several part series.  

Today we start with:

The joy of the body Part 1

 

Learning to name the body parts

"Simon says, touch your toes."

A couple of fun games to teach this is: "Simon Says" and "The Hoky Poky". 

"Simon says, touch your nose."

 Fluttershy (age 4) knew everything we did today, but Rarity (age 2) didn't.  It was good for her to see her sister point to everything I asked her.  She really good at following her sister.  At her age she's so much more advanced than her sister was at her age thanks to Fluttershy being a good example and sharing her knowledge with her sister.

"Simon says touch both your elbows."

"Simon says, raise your left arm."

"Simon says, touch your head with both hands."

"Simon says, put both hands and feet in the air"

"Simon says, stick out our thumb."  Like her version?

 Playing "The Hoky Poky".

 

You put your left foot in.

You put your right arm in.

Rarity need some help from daddy for balance on this one.

You put your head in.

We added you put your elbow in.

During the next few weeks we will be doing lots of neat activities.  I think Rarity (age 2)  will really learn a lot from these. 

Mashed Sensory Activity

 Sensory bin:

Mashed peas

 This was a interesting sensory experience.  Most of my activities are usually welcomed by Rarity.  This time Fluttershy took to it and I couldn't get Rarity to play.  In fact she didn't want to even touch it. I showed her how to get her hand in there and squish it.  But she still wouldn't touch it.

 Now Fluttershy on the other hand was a different story.  She really enjoyed the mashed peas oozing through her fingers.  I had to clean up my cupboards afterward because she kept taking handfuls of the mush and liked to make it plop in the tub.