Indoor Exploration of Minibeasts
We love to share play and learn ideas from home-learning mothers and educators we've come to know through this small business, and hope you will be inspired by their activities that they do at home with their children. We enjoy working with like-minded parents who love to help their children play and learn! In today's post, we welcome Cherie, a creative and dedicated Mama teaching her preschooler Kaye at home. She writes and shares her experience and ideas at @little.miss.kaye on Instagram. We love her beautiful invitations to play and learn. Happy Reading!
[N.B. This was written in April 2020 during the Circuit Breaker period in Singapore to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus.]
With Singapore implementing circuit breaker measures last week, it has been difficult for us to head outdoors and explore nature. Today while reading "Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt" by Kate Messner, Kaye was fascinated by the minibeasts illustrated in the book. Since we can't explore bugs outdoors, we brought nature into our house!
I set up a tray filled with soil and hid the Yellow Door Education bugs sensory stones from Tickle Your Senses. I included a brush and magnifier so Kaye could brush away the dirt and examine the bug closer. For this particular setup, I didn't include minibeasts books and flashcards on purpose, as I want to find out what Kaye already knew about bugs and what she finds most interesting and would like to know more about.
When Kaye saw the exploration tray, she started hunting for bugs with her brush. She identified and named each bug as each sensory stone was revealed while reflecting on her own encounters with bugs (e.g. "Remember we saw lots of big red ants during Forest School?"). She used the magnifying glass to have a closer look at the ant and spider before correctly naming them, casually mentioning that spiders have eight legs while ants have six. She also matched Toob insects figurines to those on the sensory stones.At the end of her exploration, Kaye played with her sensory stones while telling her own insect stories.
When the circuit breaker period is over, we will surely be outdoors looking for bugs, as nothing beats real-life outdoor experiences!
Photo credits: Cherie from @little.miss.kaye
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