Curves Practice Sheet (Level 1) – Fire Truck

These worksheets are used at our CEFA Early Learning schools for our 2 year old children (Junior Kindergarten One), to prepare them for writing alphabet letters and numbers, amongst other things. They are the exact fine motor skills required for your child to learn to form letters.

This line specifically also teaches your child to follow the left to right direction as they will do when reading (in English), so it has an added benefit.

If your child is not attending our schools and you would like to try these at home, make sure you follow the directions indicated on the large letters (green means start, red means stop, and the arrows will point you in the right direction.

We teach this to our students one child at a time, as the teacher needs to observe to make sure the child is following the right directions (otherwise they are learning it and practicing it wrong, which will impact their writing skills in the future). Make sure you do the same so your child can learn to write the right way (no pun intended!)

You can download this practice sheet here.

Best Ages for This Activity

Two to three

How to Make It

What You Will Need

  • Paper
  • A printer

Let’s Get Started!

  • Print the practice sheet
  • Invite your child to practice writing
  • Show them the practice sheet and invite them to trace it with their index finger first (without using a writing utensil first). Say “green says go” at the green dot, and “red says stop” at the red one. Also say “the arrow tells us to go this way” and try “gooooooo (as you trace with your finger) and stop! (as you arrive at the red dot)".
  • Now repeat the process with a writing utensil. Give them a fine felt marker if they are beginners, because a pencil is harder for them.
  • Only do a maximum of two of these worksheets. If your child wants to keep working, invite them to draw at the back of their worksheet. Drawing is an excellent fine motor activity to prepare your child to write.
  • If your child can perfectly follow the line without going (too) slowly, they are ready for a higher level of curves practice sheets next time (make sure you complete all the different curves for that level before moving on to the next level).

Learning Opportunities

This activity will give your child literacy skills: they will learn writing skills as they trace the letters and reading skills as they learn to follow from left to right.

Your child will also learn vocabulary by telling you about what they see on the page.

Extended Learning Opportunities

  • Draw on the back of this practice sheet. This is great for their imagination and creativity, as well as for their fine motor skills. If you talk about the colours your child is using, it will also teach them math (colour recognition).
  • Help your child make “snakes” or lines with play dough and “trace” the line on the practice sheet (where they drew) with the play dough lines. This will further reinforce your child’s understanding of this particular curve, as well as enhance their fine motor skills, which are essential for writing. you can find my homemade playdough recipe here.
  • Use cereal, lentils or pony beads to follow the curve instead of tracing it. This will enhance their fine motor skills, which are essential for writing.

  • Invite your child to cut the practice sheet (one finished) into a few pieces and then put the pieces back together (a home-made puzzle). This will help them acquire scissor skills.
  • help your child write their name at the bottom of the practice sheet

by Par Atwal

Curves Practice Sheet (Level 1) – Cars

These worksheets are used at our CEFA Early Learning schools for our 2 year old children (Junior Kindergarten One), to prepare them for writing alphabet letters and numbers, amongst other things. They are the exact fine motor skills required for your child to learn to form letters.

This line specifically also teaches your child to follow the left to right direction as they will do when reading (in English), so it has an added benefit.

If your child is not attending our schools and you would like to try these at home, make sure you follow the directions indicated on the large letters (green means start, red means stop, and the arrows will point you in the right direction.

We teach this to our students one child at a time, as the teacher needs to observe to make sure the child is following the right directions (otherwise they are learning it and practicing it wrong, which will impact their writing skills in the future). Make sure you do the same so your child can learn to write the right way (no pun intended!)

You can download this practice sheet here.

Best Ages for This Activity

Two to three

How to Make It

What You Will Need

  • Paper
  • A printer

Let’s Get Started!

  • Print the practice sheet
  • Invite your child to practice writing
  • Show them the practice sheet and invite them to trace it with their index finger first (without using a writing utensil first). Say “green says go” at the green dot, and “red says stop” at the red one. Also say “the arrow tells us to go this way” and try “gooooooo (as you trace with your finger) and stop! (as you arrive at the red dot)".
  • Now repeat the process with a writing utensil. Give them a fine felt marker if they are beginners, because a pencil is harder for them.
  • Only do a maximum of two of these worksheets. If your child wants to keep working, invite them to draw at the back of their worksheet. Drawing is an excellent fine motor activity to prepare your child to write.
  • If your child can perfectly follow the line without going (too) slowly, they are ready for a higher level of curves practice sheets next time (make sure you complete all the different curves for that level before moving on to the next level).

Learning Opportunities

This activity will give your child literacy skills: they will learn writing skills as they trace the letters and reading skills as they learn to follow from left to right.

Your child will also learn vocabulary by telling you about what they see on the page.

Extended Learning Opportunities

  • Draw on the back of this practice sheet. This is great for their imagination and creativity, as well as for their fine motor skills. If you talk about the colours your child is using, it will also teach them math (colour recognition).
  • Help your child make “snakes” or lines with play dough and “trace” the line on the practice sheet (where they drew) with the play dough lines. This will further reinforce your child’s understanding of this particular curve, as well as enhance their fine motor skills, which are essential for writing. you can find my homemade playdough recipe here.
  • Use cereal, lentils or pony beads to follow the curve instead of tracing it. This will enhance their fine motor skills, which are essential for writing.

  • Invite your child to cut the practice sheet (one finished) into a few pieces and then put the pieces back together (a home-made puzzle). This will help them acquire scissor skills.
  • help your child write their name at the bottom of the practice sheet

by Par Atwal

Pre-Writing with a Rainbow Salt Tray

Make this super easy rainbow salt tray for your child to spend hours tracing letters, drawing and practicing their fine motor skills, all the while learning to write with their senses – something we emphasize greatly at our CEFA Early Learning schools, to prepare children for writing. All you need is the cover of a shoebox, some coloured paper and salt!

Best Ages for This Activity

Zero to five (the little ones can draw while your two and three year olds can practice writing letters or words).

How to Make It

Ingredients

Optional Ingredients

Let’s Get Started!

  • Cut the construction paper in strips and place the pieces on the tray, like this:

  • With the clear tape, cover the coloured paper completely and press hard o there are no bumps or spots where the salt could accumulate (you want a smooth surface)
  • Pour the salt over the tray. It should be enough salt so it hides the colours, but not too much so your child can see the colours as soon as they begin tracing on the tray.
  • Not enough:

  • Too much:

  • Just right:

  • Invite your child to write on the tray.
  • You can provide words for them to trace
  • Or letters:

  • Lines (it is better if they use their fingers instead of a paintbrush, so they get the sensory component):

  • Or just see how much they enjoy free-styling:

Learning Opportunities

Children will learn writing, literacy and reading if they practice writing letters or words. They will benefit from sensory learning and if you “discover” the colours, they will also learn math. This tray is also a great opportunity for your child to focus and develop their attention span, as well as practice independent play. These are all important life skills.

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by Par Atwal

Bear Patterning

An important part of our S.T.E.M. curriculum at CEFA Early Learning schools is working with patterns. Understanding patterns is a foundational math skill.

Best Ages for This Activity

Three to five

How to Make It

You Will Need

Optional

Let’s Get Started

  • Print one copy of the here on cardstock paper
  • Cut the last row of animals (the ones with the dotted line around them) from your printed game, like this:

  • Invite your child to complete the patterns on the sheet, using the four little animals you cut. If your child has difficulty, you can help by asking them to tell you what they see, then what comes next, and what comes next, etc. until they understand the pattern.

Learning Opportunities

Children will learn S.T.E.M., especially in the area of mathematics. In this game, the greatest learning opportunities are in reasoning, comparison and prediction. As always, the use of mathematical vocabulary greatly enriches these activities.

This activity also encourages your child to focus and stay on one task (increases attention span) which contributes to your child’s social and emotional development.

CEFA Tip: Although patterning can be a great activity for your child to do alone (once the concept is clear), remember that at this age, children must always be supervised.

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by Par Atwal

How to Make Glow in the Dark Sensory Bags

Sensory bags are a favourite in our CEFA Early Learning school classrooms, and if you try making them at home, you will understand why. They provide hours of mess-free entertainment for babies and are great fun for older children as well. If you and your child made our glow in the dark sidewalk chalk, you will be able to use the same paint for this activity. These glow in the dark sensory bags are so mesmerizing to watch, they look like tiny flat lava lamps. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Best Ages for This Activity

Zero to three

How to Make It

Ingredients
This is per sensory bag. If you want to make more than one bag so you have different colours, just adjust the quantities.

  • 1 sandwich size ziploc bag (I like the freezer bags as they are a little thicker and can withstand more loving touches) – check to make sure it does not leak first
  • ¾ cup baby oil (you can use any oil, even cooking oil. I like this one because it is transparent)
  • Clear packaging tape
  • 2 tbsp fluorescent paint or glow in the dark paint (this one does not need a black light to activate, just light)
  • 2 tbsp very hot water

Optional Ingredients

Let’s Get Started!

  • If you wish, you can prepare the bags beforehand and give them to baby once they are done, to play with. If you have an older child, they can help you prepare the bags with you for their little sibling, or for them to play with.
  • Check that you Ziploc bag has no leaks by first filling it with water, closing it, and making sure no water leaks out. Then empty the bag and dry it on the inside.
  • Fill 1/3 of the bag with baby oil.
  • In a cup, mix 2 tbsp of paint with 2 tbsp very hot water. When it is well mixed, add to the Ziploc bag. You can adjust the amount of paint or oil to your liking.
  • Take all the air out of the Ziploc bag and seal the bag hermetically.
  • once sealed, tape the opening with clear plastic tape for extra protection.
  • Voilà!
  • If you use glow in the dark paint, you would have to expose the bag to light before it can glow in the dark (daylight is perfect). The more light it absorbs, the more it will glow. If you use fluorescent paint, you will need a black light. You can also use the black light on glow in the dark bags, to make them pop even more.
  • If you have a black light, you won’t need to expose the bag to light, you can just shine the black light on it and watch how beautifully it glows.

Learning Opportunities

Learning to make play materials is a great life skill. Your child will feel great pride, and it boosts their self-esteem. Children will learn S.T.E.M. while measuring, combining, mixing, counting, dissolving, etc. This recipe also has a great amount of hand-eye coordination skills, and of fine motor skills, a precursor to writing. following directions also teaches reading and S.T.EM.. If your bag is for your young baby, the learning benefits are in the sensory experience, which is importance for science and for writing.

Extended Learning Opportunities
Tape your sensory bag to a window or to a wall for your child to play with it in a different way!

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by Par Atwal

How to Make Glow In the Dark Sidewalk Chalk

Drawing with sidewalk chalk in the summer was always something my sons really enjoyed. I once bought glow in the dark and soon we had the all the children in the neighborhood working on a glowing masterpiece on our driveway! Little did I know back then that you could actually make it at home! Making it is a great activity in itself as it will teach your child to make their own toys, as well as science, math and reading. I encourage you to try it at home! It is easy to make and it is something we don’t get to do with our students at CEFA Early Learning schools, since they don’t get to use it afterwards (they go home before it is dark enough outside to watch it glow).

Best Ages for This Activity

Two to five

How to Make It

Ingredients
This is per color of chalk you want to make

Optional Ingredients

Let’s Get Started!

  • Invite your child to make sidewalk chalk that can glow in the dark
  • Make sure that your child does as much as the process below as they can
  • In a container (1 container for each paint color), mix the water and paint until the paint is fully dissolved into the water.
  • Add 1 cup of plaster of paris to each container and mix thoroughly
  • Pour the paint into ice cube trays or silicone molds and wait for it to dry (about 10 hours).
  • Once dry, pop the cubes of chalk paint from the ice cube trays
  • Voilà! It is ready for your child to start working on their masterpiece outside and wait until nighttime to see it glow beautifully!
  • You would have to expose the chalk to light before it can glow in the dark (daylight is perfect!). The more light it absorbs, the more it will glow. You can also use the chalk on paper or cardboard and go inside a dark room or closet to see it glow!
  • If you have a black light, you won’t need to expose your child’s masterpiece to light, you can just shine the black light on it and watch how beautifully it glows!

Learning Opportunities

Learning to make play materials is a great life skill. Your child will feel great pride, and it boosts their self-esteem. Children will learn S.T.E.M. while measuring, combining, mixing, counting, dissolving, etc. This recipe also has a great amount of hand-eye coordination skills, and of fine motor skills, a precursor to writing. following directions also teaches reading and S.T.E.M..

Extended Learning Opportunities
Use your sidewalk chalk to paint your driveway, the sidewalk, a fence in the backyard, the trampoline, or make 3D art by using boxes of all sizes to draw on! Try making the workspace wet before your child draws and watch the chalk smoothly cover the surface and produce an even more vibrant art piece!

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by Par Atwal

Exploding Bag Science Experiment

This is a fun science experiment to try outside now that the weather is nice. Warning: it is loud and messy! Don’t feel like going outside? You can always try it in the bathtub or in the shower. It is part of our science summer camp at CEFA Early Learning schools and one of the children’s favourite. They learn about chemical reactions, as well as pressure and gas.

Best Ages for This Activity

Two to five

How to Make It

Ingredients

  • A sealable sandwich bag
  • A square of paper towel
  • 1½ tablespoons of baking soda
  • ½ cup of white vinegar
  • ¼ cup of warm water
  • A measuring cup
  • A measuring spoon

Let’s Get Started!

  • Invite your child to try a science experiment
  • Explain that for the science experiment, you will need a Ziploc bag that does not leak once it is sealed. For that, you may have to test a few sealable sandwich bags to make sure they are completely leak-proof (this is important for the experiment). Your child can test the bags by pouring water into the bag until it is about half full, sealing it, turning it upside down and shaking it to make sure it does not leak. One you have your bag, empty the water from it and set it aside while you find the other ingredients.
  • Find a square of paper towel of about 12cm. Once you have it, lay it flat and place the baking soda in the centre of it. Encourage your child to use a measuring spoon to ensure it is the right amount of baking soda. This will also teach your child math, especially fractions, so don’t skip this step.
  • Once the baking soda is on the paper towel, invite your child to fold the paper towel so it makes a tiny “package” and contains the baking soda in it. This will be your time-released explosive, so cover it well with the paper towel:

  • Invite your child to use a measuring cup to measure the vinegar, then pour it inside the Ziploc bag (you can hold the bag so it is easier).
  • With the same measuring cup, your child can measure the warm water, then pour it inside the same Ziploc bag while you keep holding it. If you wish, you can add a few drops of food colouring (then make sure you do the experiment outside so you don’t stain clothes or furniture).
  • Take your paper towel and Ziploc bag outside on a grassy area, or where you decided to try the experiment (keep in mind it will explode, so it can get messy), Once you found the perfect spot, move on to the last step:
  • This step will need to be executed swiftly by your child, and may require your help, depending on your child’s age: your child will need to drop the paper towel packet containing the baking soda inside the bag, and seal it hermetically. This is where you may need to help to ensure that the bag is completely sealed (otherwise, the experiment will not work). Once the bag is sealed, your child can shale it a little, put it on the ground and take a few steps bag.
  • All you need to do now is observe. You will see the paper towel start to dissolve inside the bag, and the bag start to inflate until it explodes with a loud bang!

  • You can try the experiment again using a new bag and the same steps and ingredients. This time, try using the scientific method:

  • Questions you can ask:
    • How long does it take for the bag to blow up from the time you put it down on the ground? (measure the time using a timer)
    • Would the bag explode faster or slower if we do not shake it before we put it down? How much faster/slower?
    • Would it explode faster or slower if we add more vinegar?
    • Would it explode faster or slower if we add more warm water?
    • Would it explode faster or slower if we add more baking soda?
    • Would it explode faster or slower if we use a bigger bag?
    • Would it explode faster or slower if we use toilet paper instead of paper towel?
    • What happens if we do not seal the bag?
    • How far did the explosion go? (this is easy to measure if you add food colouring to your bag and then use a measuring tape to measure how far the liquid went on the pavement)
    • Why did the bag explode?
    • Why did it not explode right away?
  • Once you have posed, answered and tested all of your questions, you can explain what actually happened inside that bag to your child.

Here is what happens in this experiment: Once the paper towel gets soaked with the liquid mixture, the baking soda (a base) starts to react with the vinegar (an acid). This sets a chemical reaction called an acid-base reaction. The acid-base reaction makes carbon dioxide gas, which needs more space than the sandwich bag can accommodate. The gas keeps filling the bag until there is no more room, at which point… POP! It explodes – loudly and visibly.

Learning Opportunities

This is a thrilling S.T.E.M. activity where your child can see a chemical reaction as it happens. For better science learning, follow the steps of your scientific method with your child. Make sure you use as much math vocabulary as you can (for example, measure time, measure distance, use words like faster/slower, etc.) and use as many opportunities as you can to measure, count and compare.

CEFA tip: Remember to let your child do as much of the process as they are capable of.

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by Par Atwal

Sorting with Straws

At our CEFA Early Learning schools, we teach children attributes as part of our S.T.E.M. program, and one of the ways we do it is using all types of sorting games. Each type will teach our students to sort using different attributes.

Sorting is a foundational math skill and is very important to learn, as it helps children describe things and then compare, using attributes (like color, size, shape, etc.). We use sorting games all year long, and in every grade. They get more and more complex as children gain sorting skills, and are more descriptive in their attributes.

These games help our students sort, classify and order objects by size, shape, color and other attributes. Sorting games are great as activities that your child can play on their own, and can be made with practically anything around the house.

This activity was made as a follow-up to practicing scissor skills with straws since you would be left with a lot of straws that can be sorted according to many attributes – read on!

Best Ages for This Activity

Two to five (just adjust the level of complexity).

How to Make It

Ingredients

  • Colorful straws, cut into pieces. Or use the leftover straws from this activity.
  • Transparent containers (can be cups) to sort the straws into

Let’s Get Started!

  • Put all objects to be sorted in a container or tray.
  • Provide a muffin tin, glasses or plastic cups, etc. for your child to begin sorting.
  • Invite your child to sort the straws. If your child is very little and just beginning to sort, you can ask “what goes together?”
  • Begin with two or three colors if your child is very young and add complexity as your child gains skills. Below are some examples of how you can sort the straws:

  • Try sorting by color:
  • Try sorting by length

You can do this either:

  • By estimating the length of the straw, if your child is just starting (for example, affix (with tape) a few straws of various lengths, starting from shortest to longest, to the table, then encourage your child to find out where the loose straws belong. They can do this by comparing the loose straw to each straw on the table until they find one of the same length.

  • By measuring the straw with a ruler and sorting it onto cups that show those measurements. For example, a cup for 1 centimetre straws, one for 2 centimetre straws, another for 3 centimetre straws, etc. This is more complex but will teach your child to measure.

If you child is finding it difficult, try the next activity:

  • By comparing the straws they need to sort to lines on a long piece of paper reading the measurements. For this, you will need to (with your child) take a ruler and measure 1 cm. you then draw a line on the paper that is 1cm long (so, using the ruler, draw a line from 0 to 1cm). Leave some distance (so your child can place the straws where the line is) and draw a second line measuring 2cm, then a third measuring 3cm and so on and so forth until you have a line as long as your longest straw. Your child can compare the loose straws to each line and find the right line. To make it more complex, you can indicate at the bottom of each line how long it is (for example, the 1cm line will say 1cm below it. The 2cm line will say 2cm, etc.)

  • Try sorting by texture (for example, paper straws and plastic straws):
  • Try sorting by functionality (for example, straws that bend and straws that don’t bend; straws that are recyclable versus straws that aren’t; straws that are washable versus straws that aren’t)

  • Try sorting according to the pattern on the straw:

  • Try sorting by width of the straw (if you use straws of different widths):

Learning Opportunities

Children will learn S.T.E.M., especially in the area of mathematics. While you play with your child, encourage your child to describe why they are sorting the objects in that specific manner (example, by color, by type, etc.). You can also invite your child to sort using different attributes during play.

In this game, the greatest learning opportunities are in reasoning (which objects go where and why) and use of mathematical vocabulary.

This activity also encourages your child to focus and stay on one task (increases attention span) which contributes to your child’s social and emotional development.

CEFA tip: Although sorting is a great activity for your child to do alone, make sure you always supervise.

Books Your Child Might Like

 In order to truly understand these concepts, it is always best for your children to have as many hands-on activities and manipulatives as possible. For sorting, an activity that they can touch, feel and play with is so much better than a worksheet or book. If your child really has a passion for sorting, however, or if you need an activity that is educational but does not require as much supervision, then books and workbooks can be fun! Plus, it really depends on your child. Some children love working on workbooks (I was one of them) and can find them entertaining for hours on end, while others prefer real objects. Whatever your child’s preference may be, make sure you always provide manipulatives (rather than only workbooks or activities on paper). Trust me on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

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by Par Atwal

Straws and Play Dough Sculptures and Play

This activity can provide hours of fun and independent play. If you’ve tried practicing scissor skills with straw, this is the perfect follow-up activity! It is a great way for your child to create sculptures, art pieces and use them during dramatic play too!

Best Ages for This Activity

Eight months to five years

How to Make It

Ingredients

  • Colourful straws, cut into pieces
  • Colourful play dough – you can make your own using my fail-proof, simple recipe.

Let’s Get Started!

  • Set up the materials neatly
  • Invite your child to make sculptures using straws and play dough
  • Try making people, animals, robots or imaginary creatures – there is no limit to what your child can imagine making:

  • Try making shapes:

  • Try making letters (lowercase only please)

  • Try a colourful 3D sculpture similar to these ones:

  • Try building structures:

  • Try stamping:

  • Try making balls with the play dough then making lollipops:

  • Try adding other materials:

Learning Opportunities

Children will practice their fine motor skills and creativity with this play opportunity, and create art with elements other than paper and color. If they make shapes or structures, they are learning S.T.E.M. and if they make letters they are learning literacy. This open-ended activity is good for creative play, reasoning and independent play. If they create creatures to later play with, it is a wonderful opportunity for dramatic play.
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by Par Atwal

Practicing Scissor Skills with Straws

This activity is a favourite at our CEFA Early Learning schools! I will soon post a follow-up activity to this one, which involves play dough. So don’t throw out the little pieces of straw from this activity so you can use them again. This is an inexpensive and fun way for your child to practice scissor skills, fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. It seems so simple (and it is) but it is perfect for practicing these essential and sensory skills for your little one.

Best Ages for This Activity

One to five (as soon as your child can hold scissors).

How to Make It

Ingredients

  • Colourful straws
  • A pair of child-safe scissors
  • Any bowl or container (where the cut straws can fall in) – we use a sensory bin (see below)

Optional Ingredients

  • A sensory bin (to put the straws and scissors in). Use anything you might already have at home. I like the ones with lids because they are easy to store and put away when you need (under the bed is the perfect place!). We use these bins for so many different sensory activities in the classrooms, and when my children were little, I always had one in their room that I changed every week or two. Now that they are 18 and 20 years old, that poor bin retired and found its way to one of our CEFA Early Learning schools. If you don’t have something to use around the house, you can purchase one here.

Let’s Get Started!

  • Set up the materials neatly (straws, scissors and container)
  • Invite your child to cut straws
  • If your child is very young, demonstrate how to use scissors safely.

Learning Opportunities

Children will learn math while cutting the straws. Enrich the learning experience by using math vocabulary during play, such as:

  • Colours
  • Width
  • Length
  • Thicker / thinner (if you have different straws)
  • Divide
  • How many
  • How much
  • Counting
  • Sorting (during play, if applicable)

They will also learn scissor skills, hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, all important to learn writing. They will also be an opportunity for sensory learning (you can fill the sensory bin with cut straws for a great sensory bin which we can enrich over several days (more activities to come).

Extended Learning Opportunities

In the next few weeks, I will add activities you can work on with your new mini straws. Stay tuned!

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by Par Atwal