DIY Kinetic Sand

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

I've recently found a really easy way to make a form of kinetic sand and I thought I would share it with you here. It is a lot of fun to play with and a great sensory experience! Plus, it smells pretty great, too!

This two ingredient sand is so easy to make. Get some clean play sand and add some shaving cream until you find the consistency that works best for you. It keeps for days and when it does start to dry out, just add a little more shaving cream!

The best part is that the kids can experiment to make their own. My kids have really loved having this in the classroom.  Enjoy!

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

DIY Feel Box

It's Scott from Brick by Brick. I love to repurpose materials—use materials in ways different from their intended purpose.

I like easy ideas...and ideas that are little cost. That's why I love this feel box.

You need an oatmeal box and a large NEW men's athletic sock. Slide the sock over the oatmeal box = and the feel box is ready.

Put in anything that you want kids to feel--small toys, nature items, magnet shapes, anything.

Kids reach in through the sock and feel the items. They can easily pull them out.

This is a great activity for all ages of kids. I've used it with one-year-old toddlers and kindergartners. With younger kids, I just put in 1 or 2 items. With kindergartners, put in several items and lay similar items beside the box. 

They can feel one of the items they can see and then find items that feel the same inside the box. 

Another advantage - no cheating! Kids cannot see inside the box, even when they reach inside it.

I like this activity. The box is recycled and the sock can be purchased at the dollar store. The items that go in the box are things you already have. Easy. Little cost. 

And fun!  

Farm Fun in Pre-K

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

We recently learned about farms and farm life in Pre-K. We had a lot of hands on fun and even had some special visitors from the farm!

One of the kids in my class has pet chickens, so his family brought a couple for us to meet. We learned about how they eat, and all about their eggs. 

We talked about cows and made some fresh butter. It is so easy and incredibly delicious! Usually most of the kids hesitate to try it at first, but after they do, they can't get enough!

I added this little sensory bin filled with timothy hay, toy farm animals and a barn made from a tissue box and silo from a paper towel roll. 

I found this rhyme a couple of years ago online and made an anchor chart to practice rhyming and onsets of farm vocabulary.

We also made lists of animals, plants, people, vehicles/equipment and other things found on the farm. As we read about farm life the children offered suggestions of items to add to the lists. I don't have a picture of the final chart, but after we finished most of the lists, we made a cute chart to hang in writing with all of the suggestions. 

In our art center, I made a couple of paper plate farm animals and left some plates and paper bags, feathers and paper shapes as an invitation to create some animals.

We used puppets to retell some of our favorite farm books and songs. Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley and Old McDonald were definite favorites!

Here is a few pictures of some changes to our dramatic play area I have done in the past, featured in my post here called "Setting The Scene For Dramatic Play".

I also added these pool noodle horses to our centers for play. I posted them here in the post "Pool Noodle Ponies: DIY Hobby Horses".

My friend Laura Balma Eldredge has a great post called "Down On The Farm In Preschool" with more great ideas for farm fun! Be sure to check it out!

We usually go to the farm when studying this unit but due to some other things going on, we had to postpone our visit until the spring. If you'd like to read more about some of our farm visits, check out these posts:

                "Summer Days At Valley Hill Farm"
               "10 (More) Summer Stay-cations on a Budget"

and more of our classroom farm activities:

                 "Mrs. Ayn's Pre-K Had A Farm! E-I-E-I-O!"



 Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

HOW TO ENGAGE A CHILD'S BRAIN and More!

CREATIVE BRAIN DEVELOPMENT OF OUR CHILDREN
Introducing iBG
Intellectual Brainwave Games

Hello again!  I'm so grateful you chose to spend some of your time visiting my blog. Back in 2001, when I founded the F.A.M.E. Foundation, now known as the Global Learning Foundation, one of

the first sets of strategies I created were unique physical brain games that went along with the rhythm of very specific music. As I began to play these games with young children, I noticed they loved the physical activity and teachers noticed they were more focused after playing them. We did some research and we found improved performance in many areas. Enjoy the image below of some brain games and this short video from me to each and every one of you!

A Storytime Session, led by Enrique at Make Way for Books in Tucson, AZ, which quite often begins with iBG, Intellectual Brainwave Games to help everyone enter their optimal zone for learning... and get some exercise!

Here's a quick glimpse of the research we first documented which helped our Foundation create a name for itself. Today we continue to research the impact of these proven brainwave games.

People kept asking me to make videos and I thought, I don't want my face on a video playing these brain games.... and I thought about it for years while I kept creating these brain games.  

That's me! And I stuck to my guns... I am not the face of
these videos...whew!  Just not play-based enough.

Today there are 324 of them!  We've been crossing our mid-line in time with specific classical music with specific frequencies and there has been a lot of learning, laughter and the creating of a natural desire to learn!

Since 2001, over 85,000 children and families have experienced our many strategies, including iBG, but only with the live format.  Together with many of my colleagues and their children we used these brain games to:

• Create a more alert learner at any age
• Improve cognition with young children ages 3 - 6
• Improve patterning skills with young children ages 3 - 12
• Create short and enjoyable brain breaks for any learner
• Remind adult learners how to elevate their energy and create new messages for their brain
• Help all learners of all ages reduce their stress level.

The challenge for many of us who present around the country is there is only one of us, yet I knew these brainwave games needed to be accessed by any family, school or organization.  My 92-year old mentor who just recently passed away, was also insistent with his question "How do we get IT out there?" About a year ago while in a meeting with one of my creative teams, we were creating the first of a new series of children's books titled Sam the Ant. 

Daughter/Father Co-authors of Sam the Ant Series,
Sam Sierra-Feldman and Enrique Feldman

Illustrator Abe Mendoza and his wife.

I mentioned the brainwave games and an idea for the videos, so simple yet profound, came to me. I said, "Why don't we animate Sam the Ant and have the Ant be the face of these Brain Games. It felt playful, honoring and like the beginning of a new journey. And so we have done exactly that. Here's the first time I have ever shared this image with anyone! 

Sam the Ant comes to life in 3D real time with iBG.  The Sam the Ant team are big fans of perspective building and
as you can see, that grass looks more like a forest of grass!

How do you play these brain games?
Simply open the videos and follow Sam the Ant's lead as you:

• Cross your midline
• Do that in time with the classical music
• Start from easy brain games and move up the challenge levels
• Change the speed of the video to slow it down or speed it up

Sam the Ant in the middle of a brain game.  Each video is short and designed to help your child get off the technology and use their own body.

Today these games are known as iBG, Intellectual Brainwave Games, and guess what?!   It is an online platform that allows you to access brainwave videos that are designed to take the young learner or old learner OFF the technology.... as a friend of mine said, from Online to Offline.

The Co-Author of the Sam the Ant books, Sam Sierra-Feldman
 back when we started this journey in 1998!

I find some key elements of this journey truly amazing. When my daughter and I began creating the Sam the Ant stories, I didn't realize it would lead to these brainwave games. If we had not followed our curiosity, and if I had not paid attention to my daughter's interest in creating original stories, who knows what might not have happened. 

Sam the Ant demonstrates a simple brain game.

Children mimic a simple brain game, or is it so simple?  It's food for
your brain!

I'm so pleased that children love both the videos and playing the brain games off the video.  The images to the left are a great example of how the movements shown by Sam the Ant, become physicalized by the learner, in this case, young children.  Some of these look simple, but not all are...lol!

Which videos do I use for children and which for adults?

Numbers 1 - 4 are for young children, and number 5 is for adults.  When you experience number 5, you will experience what a young child feels like when they are playing games 1 - 4.

The first 5 games are the original 5 and more will be coming out.  Watch each short video (15 - 20 seconds), ideally with a young child, and copy what the Ant is doing.  As was pointed out earlier,you can even choose your speed.  Soon, there will be brainwave game videos for all ages and you'll be able to create your own iBG playlist.

iBG being used with adult leaners! Creating new messages for our brains wakes us up from our routine adult lives
and creates a different energy that improves how we do whatever it is we do.... such joy!

Today is the first day you can actually purchase these brain games for a school, a center and even for your own use, and it's extremely affordable for individual users. A big thank you to our first school user, Outer Limits Preschool!

"I'm so excited to be the face of iBG!"

But what if you're not a school?  The school license would not be affordable for an individual. For a limited time, we am offering the first set of brain games for $11.99 a year, which comes out to less than a $1 per month. You can begin engaging your young children in your home and begin to build their brain in a very playful and relevant way!

Sam the Ant is all about following your curiosity
and helping others.

With recess being lessened (and it needs to be put back in!), and the general level of attention span diminishing, these videos are based on the live playing of the brain games.  Actually, the point of these brainwave videos is to help you and your child learn how to play them and then play them whenever you want.  We'll keep adding brainwave videos and you can keep expanding the capacity of your child's brain... and your own!

All you have to do is click on our Sam the Ant website and you'll be on your way. Over time you'll continue to receive more brainwave games.

For schools who purchase the school license, my Foundation is offering heavily discounted professional development workshops, and in some cases, waive the cost completely! If you are wanting more information on this, please click on my public speaking website and fill out the contact info and I'll be in touch.

We also want to thank Barnes & Noble and Mildred and Dildred's Toy Store for there support of all things Sam the Ant!  For the many upcoming events, click here!

Thank so much and now it's time to feed your brain!
Enrique C. Feldman
Creator, iBG
Co-Author, Sam the Ant Children's Book Series
Founder, Global Learning Foundation
Performing Artist and Composer
Producer, Kaleidoscope
(Music for Children)


Free Bonus Resources
Sam the Ant videos for improved critical thinking and creative problem solving.  Just click here! There are currently 13 videos and 17 more to come.  Each one is 15 - 20 seconds long and offer you an authentic opportunity to engage young 
learners with great questions.

Illustrator Abe Mendoza creates the images of Sam the Ant for our videos and books!