MOSD Student Activities April 13 - 17

Each week that MOSD is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic our professionals are providing activities for students and their families to do at home in addition to their scheduled classroom times and teletherapy! 

Feel free to follow along and do these activities with your family! 

Check out these great language lessons with Ms. Abby and her kids! 

Monday, April 13

Making Mud Pies

Materials

• 4 cups dirt or sand, 2 cups water
• Bucket, bowl, large spoon, old sifter (if you have one), measuring cup, old plates or pie pans
• Assortment of sticks, leaves, flowers, sprinkles, etc. for decorating  

Steps

• Let your child help gather the things that will be needed to make the pie.
  • Identify each item and discuss what it will be used for.
• Go outside and dig in the dirt! Find a nice spot where the ground is soft.
  • Discuss how the dirt feels, how it smells, and if it would be good to eat! YUCK!  
  • If you have a sifter put the dirt in it and shake, shake, shake it! What’s in there? Are there any rocks, worms, bugs, etc.?  
  • Use the measuring cup to measure the dirt. Count how many cups you are pouring into the bucket or bowl. With the older children, talk about the concept of measurement. Pour the water and stir, stir, stir!
  • Help your child pour the mixture into the pan and pat, pat, pat it down. Now it’s time to decorate. Count how many of each decoration you are using.  Discuss the colors of the flowers/sprinkles you use. Are the sticks/leaves large or small?    
  • Set the pie in the sun to bake (dry).  
• Ask higher level questions such as: Why are we going to put the pie in the sun to bake and not into the oven? How long do you think it will take the pie to bake in the sun? Can we really eat the pie when it is “done?” 

Language Targets

• 1-2 Word Targets
  • Shake (the) dirt
  • Pour (the) water
  • Pat! Pat!  
  • Push
  • All done
• 3-5 Word Targets
  • I want the spoon.
  • I want to pour. 
  • Look at the dirt!
  • The pie is pretty.
• 6+ Word Targets
  • May I pour the water in the dirt?
  • I will stir it up with the spoon.
  • Do you want a piece of my pie?
  • My mud pie is very pretty! 

Book: Stuck in the Mud by Jane Clarke

Book: The Mud Pie Queen by Meg Greve

*Books can be found on the Epic App* 
 

Tuesday, April 14

Popcorn and Movie Night (or Day) 

This is an opportunity for the whole family to come together to enjoy and onscreen adventure.

Materials

• Popcorn
• Other snacks for a concession stand. They don’t need to be typical theater snacks.
• Drinks (juice boxes and other drinks are fine)
• Tickets—You can make them with your child or print out the attached tickets.
• Paper, scissors, crayons or markers
• Table for ticket booth and concession stand. (can use a kitchen table, or coffee table or child’s table)

Steps

• Tell children that you are going to pretend to go to the movie theater.
• Have them assist you in making signs for the theater –ticket sign, concession stand sign, possibly even a bathroom sign. Younger children will just enjoy scribbling on the paper and older children can copy the words on their signs. Older siblings can even write the words on the signs for the little ones.
• Of course you will need to have tickets to get into the theater. The children can create their own tickets for each member of the family or you can print off the attached tickets. Older children can cut them out.
• Set up your room like a movie theater. You could all sit on the couch with a blanket for everyone to cuddle under, you could lay blankets and pillows on the floor, you could line up chairs in a row like a theater-- it’s up to you.  
• Create a ticket booth complete with real or play money and a toy cash register or calculator if you have one. A simple box would work fine for a cash register. You will also need your tickets.
• Set up a concession stand. The cash register can be moved to this table when everyone is finished buying their tickets (parents included of course). Have children help you select snacks for a fully stocked concession stand. You or your child can label each with a price. When it is purchased, those who are able can count out the correct number of pennies. Be sure to include bags for the popcorn and shower totes or small plastic boxes (from toy storage, etc.) for them to carry their concessions to their seats.  
• Decide on a movie. You may want to pick a movie that was one of your favorites as a child-possibly something they may not have seen like, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or the original Mary Poppins. If your movie has a book that goes with it, you can set the mood by reading it. If it is long, you can read parts of it or just talk about the pictures.
• Pop the popcorn right before the movie begins. Now you will have the aroma of the theater! If you usually make microwave popcorn, it might be fun to pop it in a popcorn popper if you have one. Fill individual bags with popcorn and have your child help you place the bags in the concession stand.
• Now it is time for each family member to purchase a ticket and their snack. Once everyone is seated turn off the lights and let the movie begin!
• When the movie is finished, have your child tell you about the movie. Ask questions about the movie.
• Have fun! 

Book: Movie Munchies by Dr. Holly Karapetkova 

*Book can be found on the Epic App* 

Wednesday, April 15

Puddle Jumping

Materials

• Puddles
• Rain boots or bare feet!
• Umbrella if it is raining 

Steps

• Either put on your rain boots or take off your socks
• Go outside and jump in puddles! 

Language Targets

• 1-2 Word Targets
  • Boots on
  • Jump, jump!
  • Splash!
  • All wet!
• 3-5 Word Targets
  • Put my boots on
  • I want to jump!
  • I’m getting all wet
  • I’m jumping in the puddles
  • The water is splashing
• 6+ Word Targets
  • Encourage higher level thinking by asking questions such as ‘Why do we need rain boots?’ ‘What will happen when we jump in the puddle?’  
  • Take what your child says to model correct language structures and to add higher level vocabulary. 

Book: The Rainy Day by Anna Milbourne and Sarah Gil 

Thursday, April 16

Act Out Your Favorite Story/Nursery Rhyme 

This is an example nursery rhyme:

Humpty Dumpty:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the Kings horses and all the Kings men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

• While singing the nursery rhyme, pause between each verse and act out what was sung. Build a wall out of Legos, boxes, blocks, or other toys. Put an egg sitting on the wall your child built. Then, of course, have the egg fall down (if plastic, take it apart). If you have toy horses or dolls, have them come help Humpty. After pausing to try to help Humpty, you can sing, “Couldn’t put Humpty together again!”

Here are some other examples of games to play after acting out the nursery rhyme:

• Have an egg and spoon race with your child. You could use real hard boiled eggs if you dare! Otherwise use plastic ones. o You could make this more fun by making an obstacle course for them to try. See if they can complete it without dropping the egg!
• If you have some large blocks, challenge your child to make a wall with them. Then see if they can balance an egg on the top.
• Make a wall for them to jump off. You could put a mat underneath and let them practice the jump and roll procedure! 

Book: Illustrated Nursery Rhymes by Usborne 

Friday, April 17

Spring Scavenger Hunt

 
Materials  

• None

Steps  

• Introduce the activity by talking about how the weather is getting warmer.  Help your child identify other changes (flowers blooming, trees getting new leaves, grass growing and needing to be cut, etc.). 
• Go through the Spring Scavenger Hunt list attached.  Let your child know that you’ll be going for a walk to look for the things on the list. The two of you might notice other signs of spring that are not included on the list—talk about those, too. See how many of the things you can check off the list that you have found. 

Language Targets

• 1-2 word targets  
  • Flower  
  • Walk  
  • Leaves  
  • Color + flower 
•  3-5 word targets  
  • I see yellow flowers.  
  • Mud is gooey/messy/dirty.  
  • The nest is in the tree.  
  • Let’s find bugs! 
• 6-8 word targets
  • At this stage of language development, you should be adding to your child’s sentences, correcting grammar and speech errors. 

Book: I Am A Rainbow by Dolly Parton