Together We Grow

This activity will help your child… 

• Build listening comprehension by following multi‑step directions and engaging in conversation throughout the experience 

• Practice confidence and pride as they take ownership of planting and caring for a living thing 

• Adjust to changes as they observe and respond to what their seed needs over time 

Materials: 

A recycled paper cup, soil, seeds of your choice, gardening tools and supplies, paper and drawing tools, a designated place in your home for growing 

How to try it at home:  

Gather all of your materials and talk with your child about what a seed needs to grow. Let them look at and hold the seed, then invite them to draw what they see on paper before planting.  

Walk through each step together, identifying what we need to care for seeds so they grow, where we want to put them while they grow, and how we can help the growing process by taking care of the seed.  

Here are some prompts to guide your initial investigation:  

• “Why do you think the seed needs soil, water, and sunshine to grow?” 

• “What do you think will happen first? How will we know when it starts to grow?” 

• “What do you need to help you grow?” 

When you are ready, begin the planting process following the different steps you talked about. Let your child take the lead as much as possible!  

You can guide them with these simple steps:  

Step 1: Fill your cup halfway with soil using your spoon or shovel.  

Step 2: Use your finger or a pencil to poke a small hole in the middle of the soil.  

Step 3: Drop your seed into the hole.  

Step 4: Gently cover the seed with soil, like tucking it into a cozy blanket.  

Step 5: Add a small amount of water to help the seed wake up.  

Step 6: Place your cup in a sunny spot and check on it every day! 

As time goes on, encourage your child to observe and care for the plant. They can use paper and art tools to draw or write about what they see. You can prompt their thinking with some of these questions:  

• “What changes do you see happening?”  

• “How big do you think the plant will get? How can we measure it?” 

Transferring your plants to an outdoor environment when ready is an important part of the growing process. Have your child help by picking a good spot outdoors and replanting it when it is time.  

Depending on what you grew (vegetables, fruits, flowers) you can have your child harvest the items when ready. You can taste the veggies you grow or create fresh flower bouquets for loved ones!!  

Materials: Animal figures, blocks, paper, chalk, markers, or crayons, and a sunny day. 

Trace the Shadow helps children connect with important natural elements and the science of light and shadow, and gives them practice in following lines, drawing, and pre-writing skills. 

Bring paper, writing implements, and a variety of items (blocks, animal figures) outdoors into a sunny spot. A safe area at a table or on the sidewalk is a great area to do this. Stand the blocks or animal on the edge of the paper so it casts a shadow on the paper.  

Invite your child to come and look at the shadow and draw along the outline of the shape the object(s) create.  

Prompting Questions: 

• Is anything missing from the shadow of the object? 

• Are shadows bigger or smaller than the object? 

• What other shadows can we find? 

Tips for Success! 

• Bring out some objects that your child really enjoys to get them excited about this project. 

• Be ready with water, sunscreen, and any other needs for going outdoors on a sunny day.  

• Arrange materials for this activity before inviting your child over. 

Materials: You and your child, and a large space, inside or outside, to jump in. 

Jumping Jack Patterns support large-muscle strength, coordination, listening skills, memory, and patterning. 

Jumping Jacks gives children the opportunity to connect what their bodies are doing with counting skills, supporting memory and number sense. It also helps children to practice coordination, listening skills, and persistence. 

Invite your child to join you in some jumping jacks. Be sure you have space for both you and your child to move. Show your child how to do a jumping jack by moving slowly at first. Then challenge your child to go faster. Now that you are warmed up, introduce patterns. 

Tell your child, “Now we will do a Jumping Jack, then clap our hands, and do another Jumping Jack.” 

Have your child copy your movements. Here are a few variations to try: 

• Just using your feet, clap, feet. 

• Just using your hands, clap, hands. 

• Adding in a jump between Jumping Jacks 

• Adding in a spin between Jumping Jacks 

Prompting Questions: 

• How can we move in slow motion? 

• What other movements can we add? 

• What pattern do you want to show me? I will try to follow you! 

Tips for Success! 

• Cheer on your child as they are trying to tell their body what to do. 

• If coordination is complex, try only moving arms or feet separately to find success. 

• Have fun with your child and take their suggestions! 

Materials: clean empty tub or sink, water, items that will sink, or float, towels, a piece of paper and writing implement. 

Sink and Float supports print awareness, inquiry skills, planning, questioning, early science and math concept such as weight, quantities, and sorting are experimented with through this activity. 

Arrange towels, items (natural, waterproof toys, safe kitchen tools, etc.) that are heavy or light around an area that will hold water. A kitchen sink works, a bathtub (fun at bathtime!), or a fairly deep plastic container. 

SAFETY TIP: Maintain active supervision while your child has access to open water. 

Invite your child to notice what items sink to the bottom, and what floats. Experiment with items one by one. When the first sinking item reaches the bottom, define what happened. 

“This item was heavy, and the water could not hold it up, so it sank to the bottom.” 

Do the same when the first floating item stays on top of the water. Talk about what the word float means. 

“This item is still on top of the water. It is wet, but it is staying at the top. It floats! The water can support the weight of this item.” 

Collect more items with your child from around your home. 

Test which of these objects will sink (fall to the bottom of the bin) or float (lay above the water) when dropped in, asking before dropping it in, “Will it sink, or float? What is your guess?” 

Record on paper you have the result of each item. 

Prompting Questions: 

• Why did some items sink to the bottom? 

• What items surprised you when they floated on top? 

• What items started out floating, but eventually sank to the bottom? 

Tips for Success! 

• Have most of the materials you need for this activity ready before inviting your child to experiment. 

• While adding water, be sure it is at a warm temperature and not really cold. Cold water could be a reason to avoid this activity for your child.  

• While the water is filling up, sing a song, talk about the items you will start with, but try to avoid any stagnant waiting time. 

Materials: Food from the grocery store, your kitchen, or play food, bins, or baskets. 

Food Sort supports young children’s language development as you name and identify the different types of food you have at home. It also introduces and strengthens key math skills like sorting and quantity. 

This is a fun activity to do with food after returning from the grocery store. If you have play food at home, you can use it as well. Set out containers for fruit and vegetables where your child can reach them.  

Model for your child what to do: 

“Bananas are fruit; they can go in this container.” 

“Carrots are vegetables; they can go in this different container.” 

Sort a few more fruits and vegetables together. 

Prompting Questions: 

• Apples are a fruit that grows on trees. Where do bananas grow? 

• Where do carrots grow? Potatoes? 

• Apples are round, and potatoes are round. Why is one a fruit and one a vegetable? 

• Are there more fruits or vegetables? (Count them!) 

Keep the fun going and try to make a rainbow with your fruits and vegetables!  

Tips for Success!

• Invite your child to sort fruits and vegetables after you have put away any frozen food, refrigerated goods, etc. Sorting fruits and vegetables will make putting groceries away a little longer, but your child will start with a positive feeling about food and food preparation, and you will have a helper for years to come! 

• Use the food that you have. Canned pears and corn work just as well as bananas and apples. 

• Remind your child that food needs to be handled with care, gently. Model what this may look like, even if you are using play food. 

Materials: A container (small or large), a variety of items from recycled items, toys, books, or blocks. 

Why this activity helps:  

How Many Fit in One Basket connects words describing quantities and size with objects that children can see and touch, and gives children an active role in counting alongside an adult. This activity allows for sensory play, taking turns, choice, and decision-making, while bonding. 

How to Play: 

Using the container of your choice, add items you have collected to see how many it will hold. If you are using large items, it will only hold a few at a time, and you can count them together with your child. If you are using smaller items, there will be many; count them with your child. 

Prompting Questions: 

• What will happen if I try to fit (name something large) in this container? 

• What should we put in the small basket? 

• Where can we get a big basket? A very small basket? (Think about exaggerated sizes like a laundry basket or a small basket used to hold strawberries.) 

Tips for Success! 

• Have all materials ready for your child before inviting them to play. 

• Are there other materials your child wants to use that are not set out? Again, as long as this is safe, follow their idea and accommodate their ideas and plans. 

• As you count the items in the basket, take them out one at a time and line them up, or put them in a separate pile. This will model one-to-one correspondence in math, a goal in early learning. 

Materials Needed: Tray or cookie sheet, sand, flour, dirt, ground coffee, spices, or any other type of dry or easy material to manipulate, writing tools (paint brush, popsicle sticks, twigs, rocks, and/or Q-Tip), you and your child.

Invite your child to explore and practice pre-writing skills by making scribbles and marks in the material.  

As they make marks in the sensory material, ask them “Can you tell me what you’re making?” and hear them tell you about their work.

Children might ask you to show them how to make certain marks or letters. Talk through each mark you make as you show them.

Encourage them to explore different types of tools to make marks. This will strengthen their hand and finger muscles.

If your child starts to make letters, you can extend their learning by asking questions like:  

• What sound does that letter make? 

• Do you know any words that start with that letter? 

• Can you see that letter anywhere around us here? 

Tips for Success! 

• Have all materials ready and set at a table or on the ground before inviting your child to explore. 

• Add other materials as your child asks for them. Follow their lead. If they ask to add play animals, cars, a spoon, or cups, try to provide these.  

• Bring yourself to your child’s level and be with them, in the moment.  

Materials Needed: Paper, markers, a clipboard (a hard surface to write on), a safe area to walk through nature, and a paper or reusable bag.

Nature Color Wheel supports matching, identifying elements of the natural world, fostering parent-child relationships, promoting wellness, enhancing gross motor muscle development, and cultivating discernment.

Begin to look for colors in nature that match the colors of the markers you have. If safe, collect a small piece of the natural color you match.

Together with your child, create a color wheel using markers, paper, and the natural items you collect.

Explore the nature items you’ve collected together, trying to match them up with your color wheel. Decide whether you want to tape or glue the natural items to the color wheel or return them outdoors. 

As you identify and match each color with your child, talk about them! This is a great time to introduce shades and hues.

Prompting Questions: 

• What do you notice about the shades of [COLOR] we see here? 

• What would we call this shade of [COLOR] we see? It’s difficult for children to understand that one word could mean different things. If you say something looks lavender, and your child describes it as purple, that’s ok! It will go on the purple area of the color wheel. Talking about how it is the same and different will help identify and sort colors. 

• How is this color the same and different from our marker (purple marker, but lavender flowers)? 

Tips for Success! 

• Remember, when outdoors, be sure to stay hydrated and have adequate clothing for the temperatures and conditions. Decide who will help carry the markers and paper, and how they will do it (in a bag, pocket). 

• Talk about what to do if a color cannot be found, as it can be more challenging to locate specific colors during the winter months. 

Together with your child, create a color wheel using markers, paper, and the natural items you collect.  

Explore the nature items you’ve collected together, trying to match them up with your color wheel. Decide whether you want to tape or glue the natural items to the color wheel or return them outdoors. 

As you identify and match each color with your child, talk about them! This is a great time to introduce shades and hues  

Prompting Questions: 

• What do you notice about the shades of [COLOR] we see here? 

• What would we call this shade of [COLOR] we see? It’s difficult for children to understand that one word could mean different things. If you say something looks lavender, and your child describes it as purple, that’s ok! It will go on the purple area of the color wheel. Talking about how it is the same and different will help identify and sort colors. 

• How is this color the same and different from our marker (purple marker, but lavender flowers)? 

Tips for Success! 

• Remember, when outdoors, be sure to stay hydrated and have adequate clothing for the temperatures and conditions. Decide who will help carry the markers and paper, and how they will do it (in a bag, pocket). 

• Talk about what to do if a color cannot be found, as it can be more challenging to locate specific colors during the winter months. 

Materials: Piece(s) of paper (large paper works great), tape, marker, safe kitchen tools (wooden spoon, ladle, tongs, small measuring cups).  

Kitchen Tools Match supports object recognition related to kitchen, food prep, eating, problem-solving, relationships, and sorting. It also enhances vocabulary as children hunt for and identify the mysterious shapes in the kitchen.  

Using the piece(s) of paper, prepare the outline of the kitchen tools ahead of time by tracing around them.  

Set out the piece(s) of paper taped either on the table or on the floor with the various kitchen tools scattered around. Invite your child over to explore the markings and see if they can match the tool to its correct outline.  

As they find matches, talk about the tools they are finding.  

Prompting Questions: 

• “Wow! You found a [name object], can you match it on the paper?”  

• “What do we use (show the object) for?” 

Tips for Success! 

• Be sure to have items, the paper with outlines taped, before inviting your child to play.  

• Give descriptive (round, long, small, etc.) words while matching the items with your child. 

• Consider how your child may also utilize these tools to explore sound. 

• Talk about these tools the next time about what they are used for in and around the kitchen and feeding experiences. 

Bridge the learning by inviting your child to cook along side you. As you are mixing, measuring, and cooking your meal talk about the tools you are using and how. This will strengthen vocabulary, reinforce their knowledge, and encourage the use of early math skills like counting as they help you measure out the ingredients!

Looking for a simple way to turn outdoor time into a learning adventure? Try Nature Sorting with your child! This playful activity builds memory, recognition, sequencing, and sorting skills—plus it grows your child’s vocabulary and appreciation for the natural world. 

What you’ll need: An outdoor space (backyard, park, or even a walk around the block), Natural treasures like leaves, sticks, or acorns 

How to Play: 

Go on a short nature walk with your child. Collect a variety of items that catch your child’s attention—sticks, leaves, flowers, rocks, or acorns. 

Bring the collection back to a spot where you can spread everything out. 

Talk about each item together—its size, color, texture, or shape. Use lots of descriptive words! 

Sort the items into categories. For example: 

• By size: small, medium, large 

• By type: sticks, leaves, rocks 

• By color: green, brown, yellow 

• By shape: round, pointy, long 

Encourage your child to choose how they’d like to sort and see if they want to try more than one way. 

Questions to Spark Thinking: 

• “How many different colors did we find?” 

• “Which pile has the most items?” 

• “Can we sort these a different way?” 

Tips for Success: 

• Get down to your child’s level as you explore. 

• Use descriptive words like rough, smooth, tiny, crunchy to expand vocabulary. 

• Dress for the weather and bring water so everyone stays comfortable. 

Materials: You and your child, writing instrument (s), and paper (starting a notebook with the question of the day is a great keepsake!), question of the day printable (optional).  

This activity supports memory, language, inquiry, reflective thought among children. It also helps foster strong connections and relationships between you and your child.  

Pick a time of day you and your child are together and can talk. Will this time be at breakfast or will that time of day feel too rushed? Could it be during a walk after work?  

Let them pick a question from the “question jar” and read it aloud together. If you’re keeping a “keepsake” notebook, now is the time to write this question at the top of your page.  

Pause and listen to the response they give. Respond and engage accordingly.  

Be sure to write down what answer they give, word for word, or dictate what they tell you. This gives your child more confidence and pride when you feel what they say is important enough for you to write it down and keep it. 

Tips for Success! 

• Listen with interest and write down your child’s answer. 

• If they tell you an imaginary tale about what clouds are made of, listen and write down their answer. Imagination and creativity are needed, and these attributes will help your child become a problem-solver in the future. 

• Picking the same time of day each day is helpful so your child can predict the time spent together. 

• Keep asking questions, and if you miss a day, that is ok. 

Materials: Pieces of an alphabet puzzle, or cut-out letters from a cereal box or other thin cardboard box with large print. 

This activity helps your child connect letters to their sounds by pairing each letter with a fun movement. Using their body to act out the sound makes it easier to remember! 

Lay out any letters that can be picked up, out on the floor.  

Invite your child to choose one letter. Have your child show you which letter they have. 

Now they can run to another space in your home. (Be sure to tell your child what spaces ARE ok to run to.) 

Then say: “Oh no, (child’s name) ran away with the letter T. Can we ask (child’s name) to come back over with the letter T? Come twist back over letter T /t/ /t/ /t/.” 

Pair an action word that starts with the runaway letter and emphasize the letter sound.  

Prompting Questions: 

• What action did you like doing the most? 

• What action do you want me to do? (If the answer is “jump,” for example, say the “j” and the sound of that letter.)