Homemade Bowling

Physical games and sports are great ways for children and adults to socialize, exercise, and have fun. This activity is designed to help children and adults have fun playing a homemade version of bowling together while simultaneously building children's large muscle control and social skills. 

Age Group: This activity is very moldable and can easily be used with children ranging from 2-5 years

Learning Objectives: 

• Children will practice sharing and turn-taking.
• Children will practice rolling and kicking a ball.

Type of Activity: This activity can be completed one-on-one with a child or with a group of children.

What Children Will Learn: 

As children play bowling they...

Practice gross motor skills-  Gross motor refers to the large muscles that help us do activities such as sit, move our arms, jump, bend, and walk (The Early Childhood Advisory Council, 2012). As children roll, throw, and kick a ball, they engage these muscles and gain better control of them. 

Practice social skills- As children play bowling with other adults and/or children, they practice important social skills such as following directions, sharing, and taking turns. 

Materials

• 6-10 empty plastic bottles or plastic cups
• Small ball or socks to make a ball

Activity Prep

To play this game, you will need a few homemade pins and a ball. You can use several household items to make pins, such as empty plastic bottles, styrofoam cups, or plastic cups. For my pins, I used some tall plastic cups I had lying around the house. I ended up using six cups. However, the number of pins you use will depend on the level of challenge you want to create. If you want to make the game more challenging, add more pins, and if you want to make it easier, use fewer.

 For the ball, I tried a couple of random balls I had around the house. I found that balls that are a little shorter than the pins work best, but almost any size ball will work. If you don't have a ball handy, you can make one by rolling socks together.

Completing the Activity: 

Set up the pins on a hard surface. You can set them up in rows or in the typical pyramid shape. Invite children over to play and explain to them that the goal is to try to knock down as many pins as they can. Encourage children to roll or kick the ball towards the pins. For children who struggle with rolling or kicking, you made need to model how to use the ball or offer some physical assistance. Once children knock down the pins, have them help stack the pins back up for the next person. Again, some children may need physical assistance, especially if the pins fall over easily. Support children in taking turns and sharing by reminding them to let each participant have a turn and to hand the ball to the next person when they are done. If children really struggle with turn-taking, you can try setting a timer to indicate when a child's turn is over. Also, if children struggle with sharing, you can start by giving each child a ball and gradually work down to only having one ball. Continue the activity until children become tired or start to lose interest. 

Ways to Expand and Adapt the Activity:

• For children with mobility restrictions, you can create tabletop bowling with paper cups and a soft foam ball.
• Incorporate art by having children help decorate the pins with stickers, paint, markers, etc.
• Use cups for pins and have children practice fine motor skills by stacking them on top of each other. 

References

The Early Childhood Advisory Council. (, 2012). New York State Early Learning Guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.ccf.ny.gov/files/7813/8177/1285/ELG.pdf

Exploring the Five Senses Through Sensory Play

 

The five senses are an integral part of the human experience. They allow us to explore and understand our world and communicate our ideas. This activity is designed to help children, families, and teachers explore the exciting world of our senses through creating and playing with sensory toys. 

Age Group: This activity is very moldable and can easily be used with children ranging from 2-5 years

Type of Activity:  This activity is designed to be done either one on one with a child or with a small group of children as some adult supervision is required.

Learning Goal: Children will practice using their five senses to help them investigate and understand their world.

Areas of Development Addressed

Language Development: As children learn words for different sensations and describe how different items sound, feel, smell, etc. they build new vocabulary and expressive language skills.

Social Development: As children manipulate the sensory bags, they learn that their actions can affect objects. This is an important skill that is a stepping stone to understanding the concept that our actions can affect other people.

Cognitive Development: As children explore the sensory bags, they build several cognitive skills. For example, they learn about cause and effect by seeing how pushing or moving the bag makes the contents move. They also start to practice categorization by exploring what items feel cold, smooth, hard, or what objects make a louder or softer sound.

Materials

Container:

• Plastic resealable sandwich or freezer bags
• Glue 
• (Optional) recycled water bottle or plastic jar

Filling for Container. You can use many different items to fill your sensory bags. Some possible ideas include:

• Water
• Glitter
• Plastic confetti or sequins
• Cotton balls
• Dried rice or beans
• Hair gel
• Googly eyes
• Small stones

Activity Prep

To complete this activity, you will first need to assemble the sensory bags. For my sensory bags, I used some resealable sandwich bags and random items I found around my house. You can use similar items or something entirely different. The goal is simply to provide children with the opportunity to explore different textures, sounds, smells, etc. so the sky is the limit for what you can use. To give you some ideas, here is what I used. 

1. For bag number one, I poured some dried rice and beans and some sparkly pom-poms into a sandwich bag. 

2. For the second bag, I mixed together some blue hair gel and a handful of googly eyes.

3. For the third bag, I mixed together some colored water, plastic confetti, and sequins. (Note) If you decide to use water, I would recommend creating the bag the same day you plan to use it as I found that the water tends to start leaking after a few hours. 

When I created my bags, I started by only using one layer of sandwich bags. However, I found that they quickly started leaking. I would recommend using a double layer of sandwich bags because this seemed to slow the leaking. I would also recommend folding the zip lock end of the bag over and gluing it to the bag to help prevent it from accidentally coming open. 

If you don't have plastic bags or if you want to create more variety, you can also make sensory bottles. To do this, you will need an empty plastic bottle with a lid. I used a recycled juice bottle, but you can use any type of plastic bottle as long as it is clear and has a cap. I then filled the bottle with some colored water, glitter, and plastic confetti. If you don't have glitter or confetti, you could use dried rice or beans, small stones, or even beads. To finish it off, I glued the lid to the bottle to keep it from accidentally coming open during play. 

Completing the Activity: 

Once your sensory bags and/or bottles are finished, you are ready to complete the activity. Try setting the sensory toys out on the table and invite children over to play with them. If you have children who tend to mouth items, you may want to consider taping the bags to the table to avoid having children accidentally ingest any of the bags' contents. Encourage children to manipulate the bags by squishing them, looking at the contents, shaking them, or even smelling them if you have scented items. As children play, try to engage them in conversations and ask questions that expand their thinking. For example, help them label and understand the different sensory input they are experiencing by asking them questions about what they hear, feel, see, etc. Build their vocabulary and understanding of sensory concepts by commenting on texture, color, size, sound, etc. 

Ways to Expand the Activity:

• Turn the sensory bags into a game by having children close their eyes or wear a blindfold and then guess what is in the bags using only touch. 
• Involve children in creating the sensory bags by allowing them to choose which items they would like to go in their bag and helping pour in the water, gel, rice, etc.
• Turn the sensory bags into a game of eye-spy by providing children with magnifying glasses and a list with pictures of items to look for in the bag.