Infant - Baby Massage: Place your baby on their back and begin slowly rubbing each body part. Name body parts as you massage gently. Starting with the head and moving gradually down to the feet. Typically, massages last less than 15 minutes, but should only be continued as the baby is enjoying it. You can also try placing the baby on their belly for a short massage. Talk softly with the baby during the massage. PDM3.0b

Resource: Check out Pathways.org for benefits and guidance on infant massage.

• Bright Idea: Talk softly with the baby during the massage and add prompts to what you are doing and what you will do next during the massage!

Toddler - Self-Care Station: “I do it!” If you hear this phrase often, think about setting up a toddler-friendly self-care station. When a child learns how to do a new task, such as putting on a shirt or shoes, it is important to make time for a child to complete the task independently. Giving a toddler this time helps reduce control battles and boosts their self-confidence! To set up a self-care station, keep items that a child can begin to use independently with supervision from a trusted adult within reach. Items could include clothes for the day, shoes, and even a hairbrush! PDM1.4e

Preschool/Pre-K - Fashion Show: Picking out outfits in the morning can sometimes lead to frustration for the child and parent, especially as children are gaining more independence and their own sense of style. Try picking out outfits the night before school. Without the weekday morning crunch time, parents and caregivers can talk more about outfit choices and lessen the next morning’s stress. Make it fun by having a mini fashion show and use this time to talk about the parts of the outfits that make them feel the best! PDM1.3e

• Bright Idea: Use dolls and doll clothes to show the children how to put clothes on. Use dressing boards to teach how to button, zip, or VELCRO.

Staff - Filling Your Cup: A Quick Guide for Educators: Are you filling up your own cup? This free webinar gives you our best tips to help you maintain your energy and renew each day.Filling Your Cup: A Quick Guide for Educators (34 minutes)

Families - Obstacle Course: Spend some time with your family today and get active! Work together to build your own obstacle course using things around the house. Crawl through couch cushions, roll along the carpet, and hop down the hallway. Getting active is a great way to practice self-care, and children will love to watch their caregivers get silly and play along!

Book Suggestion - You Tube: I Take Care of Myself, by Gladys Rosa-Mendoza

Infant - My Favorite Things: Place a variety of objects, such as blocks, soft books, rattles, and stuffed animals, within reach of the infant. Provide time and support as the infant chooses the toy they want to pick up and play with. Say, "You chose the rattle, Jacob." CLL1.0b

• Bright Idea: Ask the family to bring a familiar item from home.

Resource: Link to All About Me Infant Board

Toddler-Interview Me: Make a pretend microphone by stuffing a ball of aluminum foil into one end of a cardboard tube. You can also use a store-bought microphone. Give one child the microphone and ask two or three of the other children to “interview” him. Before you begin, talk about the kinds of questions to ask, focusing on those that cannot be answered with just yes or no. Start with “what” questions: “What did you play with in centers today?” or “What kind of ice cream do you like?” Do this activity once every two weeks or so to give lots of practice. When the children are fluent with “what” questions, move to “why” questions such as, “Why do you like dog books?” or “Why do you like soccer?” This activity can be done in large group. CLL1.4c

Preschool/Pre-K- Boots Everyday: Read Gossieby Olivier Dunrea about a duckling that loves to wear red boots all the time, until one day she can’t find them. Encourage the children to turn the pages in the book so they can help Gossie find her beloved boots. Have the children draw a picture of something they love to wear every day. Create a class book for them to read. CLL8.3c

Staff-Decorate Cookies Together: It’s so much fun to decorate cookies with icing and other fun toppings. Ask each person to decorate their cookie as a showcase of their personality. After everyone finishes, they can explain what each color or symbol represents.

Families- Pass the Mic:  At the end of the day, play a quick game of “Pass the Mic”where each member of the family can tell their favorite part of the day and why.

When each member is talking, the others stay quiet and listen. Pass the Mic teaches children the value of turn-taking.

Book Suggestion: You Tube – I Like Me, by Nancy Carlson

Infant-Mimic Me:Hold the infant face-to-face with you. Use deliberate movements such as opening your mouth, raising your eyebrows, or smiling. Watch for the infant to mimic you. When the infant mimics your movement, respond with a smile and narrate what the baby is doing. APL2.0a

Toddler -Let's Pull: Sit on the floor, facing the child. Take one end of a long scarf and give the other end to the child. Start by pulling gently on the scarf and show the child how to pull back. When he/she begins to pull hard, pretend to fall over. This activity reinforces turn taking. You can also add labeling such as, “You get a turn. Now I get a turn.” PDM5.1a

Preschool/Pre-K- Teamwork is My Thing: Read the book Teamwork Isn’t My Thing, and I Don’t Like to Share! By Julia Cook. Have the children talk about how they can work together during class activities. They can draw pictures and use them to make a class book. This activity can be done in small groups. APL3.4c

Staff - Families and Teachers Make a Great Team: Today’s families are increasingly complex and diverse. As a professional working with young children, you’ll need to gather a solid foundation of information as you partner with families. Check out this helpful list of 25 important questions to ask when you meet with a young child’s family. Excerpted and adapted from Understanding Families, Second Edition, by Marci J. Hanson, & Eleanor W. Lynch, these questions are a great starting point for learning about children and families and preparing yourself to meet their needs.

Families: Cross the Creek:  Create lines parallel to each other on the floor using tape, jump ropes, or the edge of carpets to create a “creek” bed. Have your family jump from one side to the other. The trick is that they must make room for the other people jumping because you will all be jumping on the count of 3! This activity teaches teamwork and cooperative play.

Book Suggestion - You Tube: Teamwork Isn’t My Thing and I Don’t Like to Share by Julia Cook

Infant - Look Who's Here: Place photos of the infants on magnetic board under one of two columns: "I'm Here" or "I'm Not Here." As the infants arrive, invite a classmate to help you move the child's photo to the "I'm Here" column. SED5.0a

Toddler - Follow the Leader: Walk around the room with the children behind you. Encourage the children to imitate your actions as you walk. For example, wave your arms over your head or do marching steps. Use clear, simple words to label each action. Encourage older toddlers to label their actions. Older children may want to take turns being the leader as well. PDM5.1b

Preschool/Pre-K- Note Writers: Supply notepaper and envelopes in the writing center. Encourage children to write notes that can be folded and placed in envelopes. They may deliver these notes to classroom friends or take them home to their families. CLL9.3c

• Bright Idea: Provide a variety of writing tools and adapt when needed.
• Add playdough or even sponge hair rollers around a pencil for improved grip.

Staff -Zoning to Maximize Learning: With your classroom team, fill out this form by entering the activities and transitions of one day in the lefthand column and the responsibilities of each teacher during each activity or transition in the rest of the chart. Think about who should lead the activity, who should support the activity or transition to the next activity, and who should clean up from the previous activity or perform other tasks. During transitions assign one adult to clean up the previous activity and support children who are still finishing. Assign another adult to begin the next activity, welcoming children and supporting their interactions.

Families: - I'm Good At: Sing this song to the tune of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. Allow everyone in the family to have a turn to tell what they are good at.

Tell us what you are good at, Tell us what you are good at,

Tell us what you are good at, Let’s tell all our friends.

Be sure to include comments when everyone responds such as, “Yes Arya, I have watched you and you are good at kicking the ball.”

Book Suggestion - YouTube: A Friend Like You by Charnaie Gordon and Frank Murphy

Infant - Bang, Bang Go the Pots: Place the infants near each other. Give them Tupperware bowls or pots turned upside down with spoons for banging. Use this opportunity to become a guided commentator, for example say, “Keora raises her hand and bangs the pot!” SED5.0b; APL1.0b

Toddler - Activity Cube: Create an activity cube with a different movement on each side. During group play, have a child roll the cube and have all the children perform the movement. Include movements, such as bunny hops, froggy jumps, or jumping jacks. Be sure to label each movement and verbally scaffold the steps with demonstration based on abilities. PDM1.1b

• Bright Idea: Consider the abilities of all children and make sure the activities are movements all can attempt. For example, if all children are not able to walk, consider bear crawls, snake slithers, and dog rollovers.

Preschool/Pre-K - Make Some Music: Show the children a variety of objects such as empty coffee containers, cardboard tubes from dry cleaner pants hangers, or empty bottles with a few beans inside. Ask them to brainstorm how these items could be used as instruments. Encourage them to add other classroom items to the selection. Play lively music and enjoy your homemade instruments. Take dictation for a class language experience chart, “If you don’t have a _____, you can use a _______ instead.” This activity could be done during a large group time. CDCP2.4a

Staff: KEY: Keep Educating Yourself: One of the “keys” to success for providing a truly inclusive environment is to consistently strive to know more and become more “talented” each day. Look for a book about inclusion that interests you such as Preschool Inclusion Toolbox or look up a podcast such as The Inclusion Podcast. DECAL also has an inclusion training on OLLI. Go to GAPDS to search ”SEEDS Count Me In” and register. This training is also available in Spanish.

Resource: The Sherlock Center creates adapted versions of popular literature for use by students, teachers, and families.

Families - Dance party:  Host a family dance party where everyone gets time to show off their own special moves! Not a dancing family? Maybe draw, sing, write, cook, or play your favorite game together! During this time talk about all the things your family members do that are special.

Book Suggestion: YouTube: Incredible You by Rhys Brisenden

Infant- Hello, Goodbye: When parents or friends arrive in or leave the classroom, encourage the infants to wave to them. Wave your hand and repeat, “Bye-bye Mommy,” several times. You could also gently hold the infant’s hand and make waving motions. CD-CP2.0b

Toddler -Tube Talking: Give each child a paper towel roll to talk through. Model quiet,loud, squeaky, and laughing sounds. Select a leader to make a sound for the other children to imitate. Take turns leading. Add description and peak children’s interested by using visuals like quiet mouse, talking turtles, and loud lions. APL3.1d

Resource:  The Head Start Center for Inclusion offers a library of visual supports for teachers to use with children in the classroom. Look for the voice volume visual supports linked here.

Preschool/Pre-K - Making Faces: Add flannel faces, eyes, ears, noses, mouths, and hair to the reading center so children can create representations of themselves or their friends on the flannel board. Use paper instead of flannel if you do not have a flannel board. Students can create collage art of themselves and their friends’ using features cut out of paper! CD-SS1.4b

• Bright Idea: For children who have difficulty squeezing glue bottles, place glue in a cup and encourage them to paint the glue with a brush.

Staff - Team Trivia: Most trivia games revolve around static subjects like pop culture, math, or literature. However, you can also create a personalized trivia game that uses tidbits about co-workers as prompts. First gather information. Select a facilitator to interview staff or send out a survey. You could even create multiple-choice style quiz in a free online platform such as Kahoot and play virtually or face to face.

Families: Make a video: Encourage families to work together with their children to create a video explaining what being a super friend means to them and send it to the teachers to share with the class.

Book Suggestion: YouTube - Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall