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Creative pursuits
From Learning, the Arts and Me Nursery at the Third Street Music School Settlement, New York City
Wonder colors
Cover a table with an old tablecloth and tape down a piece of waxed paper. Then:
Pour diluted blue, red, and yellow food coloring into bowls.
Drip a red dot onto the waxed paper with an eyedropper (for a toddler, try a plastic spoon). Have him use another dropper to squeeze a yellow dot right next to the red.
Watch the colors swirl together: orange!
Ask: What might happen to red and blue? Yellow and blue?
The hidden lessons: He's learning to associate colors with their names. The eyedropper or spoon will also fine-tune his fingers for writing.
Dance fever
Turn on some music.
Have your child make up a simple movement.
Repeat her move and add another one.
Tell her to repeat the first and second movements and add a third.
Keep going until you both break into giggles.
The hidden lessons: Improvising with you shows her how much fun cooperation can be and sharpens her ability to remember a sequence (a math basic). This is also a great way to introduce her to new kinds of music.
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