Sanity Saver: Carrot Math

Sponsored by: BlueCross BlueShield of WNY

Written by: Dan Walsh
STEM Educator

Supplies ideas:

Orange, green, and brown construction paper, glue, scissors, pencil, marker

Sanity Saver: Carrot Math

Length:

10-15 minutes

Academic Subjects:

Math

This lesson supports the following standards:  K.CC.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20 K.CC.B.4 4.
Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities.

Directions for Carrot Math:  

Carrots are a healthy and nutritious snack! Did you know carrots grow underground, and their leaves grow above ground!? This morning when Farmer Dan went out to walk the fields, he noticed a ton of carrots popped up through the ground. He was very surprised! But Farmer Dan needs our help counting the leaves on each carrot. Can we help him!?

1.) Using our green construction paper, we are going to cut out six leaves. The leaves should be about two inches long.    

2.) Trace out three carrots and then cut them out.   

Sanity Saver: Carrot Math

3.) Glue the carrots onto the brown piece of construction paper. Make sure they are all facing the same way and have room for the leaves on the top.

4.) Write 1,2,3 on the carrots separately.

5.) Have the child match the number to the right amount of leaves and glue them down!   

Sanity Saver: Carrot Math

Vocabulary:

Silo– a tower that stores grain, which is sometimes used as food for the animals. 
Barn– a large building where grain and hay can be stored, and animals can live.
Tractor– a strong work vehicle that can haul farm tools or trailers. 

Sanity Savers: Shape Balance with Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Sponsored by: BlueCross BlueShield of WNY

By: Amelia Schrader
Senior Manger of Learning and Education 

Materials

Sidewalk Chalk Paint (recipe here) OR Sidewalk Chalk  

Length:

Prep: 5 minutes
Play time: Unlimited!  

Academic Subject(s):

Art, Physical Education  

We have been having beautiful spring weather this week and there is no better way to celebrate than by going outside and getting out some energy! This simple activity is a new way to practice fine motor development, balance and shape recognition. We hope you have has much fun as my family did while playing this fun balance game! 

Directions:

Step 1: Prepare your sidewalk chalk paint or gather up your regular sidewalk chalk.  

Step 2: Select the shapes you want to mimic. For my family, we did a circle, triangle and square.    

Step 3:  Where you want to end your balance pathway draw your desired shape. Then work backwards creating a line that represents the shape you chose.  For example, my shape balance line is a looped line, the square balance line is formed by right angles and the triangle balance line is drawn using 60 degree angled points. (See images for clarification)  

Step 4: Now it is time to walk your balance line! Have your little one carefully walk the line one foot in front of the other!  The fun and learning doesn’t have to end there! When your little one reaches the end you can encourage them to do some extra physical activity while reinforcing elements of the shape. For example if your circle line has 5 looping circles have your child do 5 arm circles while standing in the circle at the end. This reinforces the idea of the shape and the number of loops they walked through.  

Vocabulary Words

Balance: the ability to stay up right and in control of your body movements
Circle: a figure (shape) with all points equidistant (equally distant) from the center
Triangle: a figure (shape) with three lines and three angles
Square: a figure (shape) with four lines of equal length and four right angles   

Check out our other Sanity Savers posts here! 

Sanity Savers: Gross Motor Dice

Sponsored by: BlueCross BlueShield of WNY

By: Amelia Schrader
Senior Manger of Learning and Education 

Materials

Farm Gross Motor Dice
Person Centered Services Gross Motor Dice
Scissors
Tape or Glue Stick  

Length:

Prep: 5 minutes
Play time: Unlimited!  

Academic Subject(s):

Art, Physical Education  

This fun game is inspired by the fourth floor of the museum – our Farm to Fork Play Zone and our Person Centered Services Community Treehouse! This game will get you up and moving like the animals represented in these play zones!  

Directions:

Step 1. Cut out the cube outline on the dotted line. You should cut out one large shape, not several small squares.
Step 2. Create a crease on each of the solid lines.
Step 3. Using the creases as a guide, fold the sides into a cube shape.
Step 4. Tuck the tabs inside the cube and use small pieces of tape to secure the cube together.
Step 5. Now it is time to play! Roll the cube to determine which animal to move like! If you do not have access to a printer you can still do this fun activity! Draw the images of animals on some paper and glue the paper on a cube you already have at home. You can also make a spinner from a paper plate, pencil and paper clip (instructions here) and play as a spinner game instead of a dice game!  

Vocabulary Words

Cube: a three dimensional object made of six equal squares
Gross Motor: skills that allow people to do things using large muscle groups (i.e. walking, crawling, standing, jumping etc.)

Check out our other Sanity Savers posts here! 

Storytime: Val Drapeau Reads Froggy Goes to the Doctor

Storytime: Val Drapeau reads Froggy Goes to the Doctor by Jonathan London

Froggy is going to the doctor for a checkup, and he’s feeling a little nervous. “What if the doctor wants to give me a shot?” he thinks. He worries as he dresses and then he can’t sit still in the waiting room. Finally, it’s time to go in and change for his exam, but . . . OOOPS! He’s forgotten his underwear! And that’s just the beginning of Froggy’s hilarious doctor visit that ends reassuringly with a gold star and a lollipop.

Sanity Savers: How Would You Feel? Build your Own emoji!

Written by:
Pantea Goshtasb & Shanna Khan-Compagnoni

This special “Sanity Saver” blog entry is based on the Living Lab project originally planned to be implemented with our visitors in Spring of 2020.  

The Living Lab is a collaborative project between UB’s Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC) and Explore & More – The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Children’s Museum. The Living Lab is designed to bring child development research and knowledge directly to you through play-like experiments with your child! In each of the Living Lab sessions, UB graduate student researchers would engage your child in a brief and play-like experiment based on cutting-edge research. They would then explain to you the purpose of the experiment and why it is important. In addition, they would provide some fun activities and ideas for you to try at home to facilitate your child’s learning and development.  

Since all in-person activities are on hold the ECRC and E&M partnered together to still be able to reach you in your living room! The UB student researchers have created fun and engaging activities based on their research experiments.  We hope you will try them out.  

As Explore & More’s community partner, ECRC also welcomes you to check out its online resources and activities for young children (ages 2-6) and their parents and caregivers:
 https://www.facebook.com/EarlyChildhoodResearchCenter.

Academic subjects:

Social and emotional development, Fine motor, Literacy

Materials:

●    “This makes me feel __________, because” sheet (handwritten or printed) with sheet protector
●    Dry erase marker
●    Play dough
●    Loose parts such as googly eyes, pipe cleaners, rainbow beads, buttons, etc
●    Possible scenarios:
○    Another child not sharing their favorite toy with you
○    Mom or dad forgetting to pick you up from school
○    Getting to meet a character from your favorite TV show
○    A classmate pushing you on the playground
○    Tripping and falling on toys you didn’t put away

Directions:

Step 1: Take some time to review different emotions (happy, sad, surprised, angry, scared, etc) and ask the child to tell you and/or show you what each emotion looks like.
Step 2: Explain that you will give them different scenarios and they have to imagine how they would feel if this happened to them? Encourage them to be creative and use as many materials as are available to them. This is also an opportunity to practice their fine motor skills!
Step 3: After allowing the child to build an emoji, have them identify the feeling and also communicate why they would feel this way? Older children can practice literacy by using a dry erase marker to fill in the blank.

Extension:The child can come up with their own real and/or hypothetical scenarios if they wish.

Check out our other Sanity Savers posts here! 

Field trips are back! Please be aware that it will be busier than usual.