Hello, Pre-K community!
This shutdown has been uniquely tough on families with littles. Their minds and bodies have not slowed down, despite sensing that things are different. Though they may not be at a place to understand the entirety of what's going on, they are picking up on every emotional cue.
Their worlds are changing, too. They may have just adjusted to going to school only to have to be home again full time. Or they may have been schooling at home all along. Either way, many educators are looking for a way to engage both mind and motor skills. Tactile learning can be a great stress-reliever!
Though as a parent I would often cringe at messy learning experiments, when I taught preschool we often powered through despite the dreaded clean-up, as it was part of the expectation of going to school. And then a funny thing happened. As my 5-year-old used to say, "I changed my brain."
I found that in the end, the reward outweighed the mess. The kids had fun and were able to release tension - there wasn't the pressure or expectation to sit still or keep things neat. They could truly explore with broad guidelines. There's something so freeing about being able to explore, no?
I had to be willing to laugh at the mess while it was being made (maybe even join in!) and take the clean-up in stride. The end results were well worth it.
This week, we are featuring a video from Ryan's World featuring a messy, but fun, rainbow baking soda and vinegar experiment. (It could be a great way to use up older bottles of food coloring, too!) I would suggest aprons and perhaps a dropcloth, or heading outdoors if the weather is cooperating.
Vocabulary in this video: agitate, reaction, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple,
To see the video and curriculum guide, go to our Watch! page under the Educational Media tab and search by Pre-K or scroll down to What's in this video?
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