Go! Go! Go! Stop! 

Cherise Mericle Harper 

Video of Ms. Ellie reading the book.

• Vehicle painting: this book is a perfect fit with one of my favorite activities. Put some red, yellow, and green paint on plates, let your child drive cars and trucks through the paint and then on paper to make some cool art. 

• Play Red Light, Green Light: this game could get pretty cut-throat in elementary schools, but with younger children it is a great

The Napping House 

Audrey Wood, Don Wood 

Video of Ms. Ellie reading The Napping House

• Pile in the bed: let your child collect a bunch of their favorite stuffed animals and/or dolls and see how many you can pile on top of them before they all fall over. 

• Retell the story: print out this page, let your child color it, and cut out the characters. http://www.kizclub.com/storypatterns/napping.pdf Your child can retell and act out the story with the cutouts. You can tape

What’s This? A Seed’s Story 

by Caroline Mockford 

Video of Ms. Ellie reading the story.

• Sensory play: fill a bin with soil, some bigger seeds like sunflower, pumpkin/squash or beans, and small buckets and shovels, or you can fill a tub with grass or bird seed. If you have a magnifying glass, these are great to add to a seed sensory bin. If there are different types of seeds in your bin, your child can sort them in a muffin

Owl Babies

Martin Waddell, Patrick Benson 

• Fun facts about owls: Owls are nocturnal, meaning they are awake and active at night and sleep during the day. They eat bugs, snakes, and small animals like mice. Owls cannot move their eyes, so to see things on their sides they have to turn their heads—almost all the way around in a full circle. Owls have very good hearing. A group of owls is called a parliament.  

• Short video of owls and their calls (they

Race and racism are tough for adults to talk about in this country, and many adults think that by not talking to children about race, they will grow up "color-blind" and not racist. But the truth is that children begin to notice racial differences as early as 6 months, and because racism and biases DO exist in our society, children see it and learn it. By the time they are preschool age, children can internalize racial biases

We have a blog post with sites for you to find activities for your children, but what about the grown ups? We know this is a very stressful time, and you may be experiencing more anxiety than usual. You may also be wondering about the safest way to feed your baby, especially if you become sick. So we have put together some resources for parents: information about feeding your baby, talking to your children about

I know there are a lot of posts on social media about websites, apps, videos, etc. to keep kids busy and learning during the coronavirus quarantine, but I wanted to put together a list of some of the best ones I found that were really good for young children. It is of course not comprehensive, but hopefully it gives you a place to start. And I would be remiss if I didn't say that nothing can

What should I (the caregiver) do during playgroup?

First, be present and engaged. Please do your best not to be on your phone.

Play with your child and talk to other adults in the group. Connect with other adults in the room, those you know and those you don’t yet—remember you are all caring for young children and may have ways to support one another.

Follow your child’s lead and let them show you what

Transitions

You have probably heard about transitions being hard for young children. Or, if you haven’t heard this, you have probably noticed that some of the hardest times with your child are times when you are moving from one activity to another—getting out of the house, going to bed—or when any big changes happen in their lives. Transitions are hard for all children, and they can be especially difficult for some children, depending on their

A teacher I know and respect very much says, "We don't stop happy, why do we stop sad?" I love this saying, as it highlights how we as adults often try to stop children from expressing "negative" emotions like sadness, fear, or anger. Our culture in general discourages us all from expressing those feelings. But we all have a range of emotions, and we can't be happy all the time!

To help children grow up to