Rainbow Themed Playgroup Activity

Start your playgroup off by quizzing them on their colors. Gather some colored plastic cups, baskets or bags and have each child pick one. Go outside and have the kids find items that are the same color as their cup, basket or bag. Have them find as many same colored items as they can in 5 minutes. Set a timer and let them know when the time is up. Then let them come together as a group and compare the items they found. If you see a yellow item in a green cup, this is a teaching opportunity. Sort through the items and make sure they are put in their appropriate place. 

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For a craft you can use colored construction paper and glue stick to make rainbows. If the kids are old enough to use scissors, let them cut the paper themselves. If they are younger you may want to have some pre-cut pieces. Mimic them like the picture below.

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As a snack you could make rainbow pudding Popsicle. 

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Here's what you will need:

1-2 boxes of instant vanilla pudding

Milk

Food coloring

A couple of mixing bowls

A whisk

Plastic Cups

Popsicle Sticks

Click here for full directions

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Playgroup Activity: Dancing!

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I like to think that the word child and energy are synonyms. I'm positive my nieces and nephews could out run, out jump and out play me any day of the week. To channel this energy why not have a dancing themed playgroup! Turn on some Disney tunes, the macarena or any other oldies dancing songs and teach the children in your playgroup some moves. Get them dancing and interacting together. 

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Although dancing is fun for children, there are other great benefits of too. These benefits are applied to dancing just for fun but also can be applied when you enroll a child in dance classes. There are social, educational, physical health and self-esteem benefits. Self esteem is increased as a child learns to move their body. They get more comfortable in their own skin and build confidence in accomplishing new moves. Social skills are increased with dancing because dance classes are full of children of all ages. They get to interact with others and learn to dance as a group. The physical benefits are pretty obvious but dancing is a fun way to get your kids moving. The educational benefits are learned skills like memorization, technique, focus, determination, and self discipline. Students who regularly participate in dance lessons typically tend to perform better academically than their nonparticipating peers as well.

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Playgroup Activity!

Welcome Baby helps to start new playgroups in our community. Currently we have playgroups in Orem, Pleasant Grove, and Provo. Our Provo playgroup leader is Cindy Primrose and she has done an awesome job! This past month she did an ocean themed playgroup and here's how it turned out. Feel free to recreate her ideas in one of your own playgroups. 

"Today we had an ocean theme playgroup. When the children arrived they could choose the playdough table or the water table. At the playdough table I placed shells and mermaid tears (glass beads, you can find these at the dollar store) and blue playdough ( the ocean) The children pressed the shells and mermaid tears in the dough, making interesting imprints. They also enjoyed covering the shells and mermaid tears with the "ocean" and digging them out. (This idea came from the blog Raise Up A Child)

 

At the water table, I placed two bins filled with water. I added a few drops of food coloring to make the water blue. I put in some sea animals and some plastic coral. The children had fun splashing and letting the animals swim around. This was also a great way to introduce vocabulary.

For story time we read the book Ten Little Fish. By Audrey Wood. It is a counting book with wonderful illustrations of ocean life.

Our craft for the day was making fish. I cut fish out of white construction paper. We used  sequins, colored macaroni (put macaroni in baggies. Put several drops of food coloring on macaroni. Close bag and squish the macaroni around to distribute color. Spread macaroni on cookie sheet to let dry.) small pieces of tin foil, wiggly eyes, crayons, markers and glue, to decorate the fish. Each fish was colorful and unique. This was an easy project that worked with different age levels.

For snack we served goldfish crackers and blue punch.  Finger play idea:All the fish are swimming in the water, swimming in the water, swimming in the water.All the fish are swimming in the water. Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble, POP!(hands swim like a fish. Make your fingers in the shape circles for the bubbles and float upward. Clap on the pop!)" -Cindy

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4th of JULY Craft, Snack and Decoration!

Happy 4th of July! Here's some fun things to do in a playgroup or just with your own kids to make the 4th a special fun day. Start the morning off by painting 

Decorating

 white stars on the grass in your front yard. Use a poster board or a large piece of cardboard as a stencil. Use white spray paint to fill in the star shape. The paint will eventually wash off or be cut off next time you mow the lawn. 

Snack

Then go inside to cool off and make some fruit kabobs with blueberries, strawberries or raspberries and bananas as a snack. 

Craft

Finish off the morning or afternoon with some some patriotic wands. Tie ribbons to the top of a chop stick or skewer stick. These will be fun toys to use while watching fireworks. 

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Playgroup Activity: Musical Bell Shakers

Kids love creating noise. It's built into their DNA! They love new things, new sounds and they love when they are the ones to discover it! Encourage their creativity by making these musical bell shakers. 

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Here's what you'll need:

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wooden chop sticks
colored pipe cleaners
bells

Have your child thread as many bells as they choose onto the pipe cleaners. Then wrap the pipe cleaner around the top of the chop stick leaving enough room for a handle. That's it! Now you'll have your own musical band to preform for you. This is a good playgroup activity that will encourage the kids to create music together. 

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Playgroup Activity: Masking Tape and Cars

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Next time you have some kids over for a playgroup try this easy and non-messy activity. This may be best for little boys but girls will have fun too. Have every child bring some of their favorite cars and search your home for the toy cars you have. Line your floor and couch with masking tape lines to mimic roads and you're ready to go! This will keep your kids entertained for hours!

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Playgroup Activity: Painted Rock Tic Tac Toe

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Here's a fun summer time playgroup activity. Have your kids search your yard, neighborhood or park for some fist sized rocks. Bring them home and paint them using craft paint. You could make the traditional X and O shapes on the rocks, paint them a solid color or get creative with any other two designs. Use chalk to draw out the tic tac toe lines on your own driveway or sidewalk and then teach your kids how to play. The first to have three of their rocks in a row wins! Store your rocks in your flowerbed or garden and use them next time the playgroup is outside. 

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Playgroup Activity: Butterfly Snack Packs

Buy some of your child's favorite snacks and make these cute butterfly snack packs. This is a fun and easy activity to do with a play group and everyone gets to take one home with them! You could also make these with fruits and vegetables for a healthier option. Just store them in your fridge and they'll be ready to go when you are. 

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What you'll need:

Snack size Ziploc bags

Clothes pins

Craft paint

Pipe cleaners and/or Googly eyes 

Snacks/Fruits/Veggies

Sharpie pen

Place some snacks inside the zip lock bag and close it up. Filling it about half way full will allow room for the clothes pin. Paint the clothes pins or you can buy some that are already colored. Attach the googly eyes to the clothes pin and use the sharpie to write your child's name or a cute little note. You could even name each butterfly. Pinch the bag in the middle and attach the clothes pin. Bend a pipe cleaner into the shape of some antennas and pinch it between the very tip of the clothes pin. Now you have a snack you're kids can't wait to eat! Be sure to save the clothes pins so you can re-use them later!

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Playgroup Activity: Tracing with Yarn

Here's a fun activity to help your child get excited about writing. It's also a great practicing tool.

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What you'll need:

                 Sandpaper                                   Crayons                                                  Yarn

Cut the yarn into several pieces of different lengths. Then draw some shapes and letters on a piece of sand paper with crayon. You can usually find sandpaper sheets at your local hardware store but try the dollar store first. They'll probably have it for cheap. The yarn pieces will actually stick to the sand paper as your child traces the letters and shapes. Who knew? This is a great activity to do in a playgroup and is really easy.

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Playground Scavenger Hunt

Discovery Park

Last weekend I took my nieces and nephews to the discovery park in Pleasant Grove or as they call it "the park with the big red slide" (1550 North 100 East if you want to try this fun wooden park out). This is a park that they only visit a couple of times a year so they were all pretty excited. They were telling me all about the new and different things this park had that their other local parks didn't. I then came across this fun idea that you could do with your kids in a playgroup.

Playground Scavenger Hunt!

Use the list below to discover all of the different playground equipment at different parks close to you. This is an activity that could be ongoing for you and your kids. Visit at least 1 new park a month and check mark all of the different types of playground equipment your children tries out. This will get them active and excited to search for new parks to complete their lists. Feel free to add to it too!

Click here for a full printable version

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Plastic Bottle Bowling

One of my "nerdy" hobbies in life is bowling. I joined a bowling league in January of this year and had the time of my life. My team and I ended up winning the tournament a few weeks ago which led me to this fun playgroup activity I found on another blog. This could be a great activity that you make with your kids which leads to a fun game you can share with other kids in a playgroup.

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Here's what you'll need:

10 clear plastic bottles-preferably all the same size with the caps too
Craft acrylic paint
A ball-a little bit of weight to the ball is helpful. 

Instructions:

• Clean the inside of the bottles well.
• Add some paint to each bottle. See the picture below for a good amount. If your paint is  thick you'll want to add some water to it so the paint can move around and coat the inside. About a teaspoon of water should work. 



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• Put the caps back on the bottles and let your kids shake them allowing the entire inside of the bottle to be covered in paint. You could also use 2 colors in a bottle and make the inside look swirly. Get creative!
• Take the caps off, dump the extra paint out and let them dry for about 12 hours. 
• Put the caps back on and arrange them on your sidewalk like the pattern to the right. 
• Let the game begin! You'll kids will love a little challenge. Hopefully they can knock them all down!

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Playgroup: Playing with Balls - Activity Ideas

Child Development and Ball Play:

Balls bounce, roll, soar, and move. The dynamics of moving balls will help your child learn principles of physics and cause and effect.

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Activities and Ideas:

One-Handed, Blind-Folded Cotton Ball Transfer: Players blindfold themselves by using a spoon held with one hand. The objective is to transfer the most cotton balls in 30 seconds from the bowl to the plate. 

Playing Catch: Use a variety of balls and try these activities:
-Drop a ball, let it bounce and then catch it.
-Throw a ball up high and catch it.
-Throw a ball high in the air and try to clap as many times before you catch it.
-Throw a ball against a wall and catch it.
-With a friend, throw a ball back and forth.

Home Bowling: There can be 2, 4 or 6 players. Divide the kids into two teams and set up each group at a distance on either side of at least five empty two-liter soda bottles. Each team should have at least 3 balls. Each team takes a turn trying to knock down the bottles by rolling the balls into them as quickly as possible. The team first to knock all the bottles down wins. Milk cartons, empty oatmeal containers, empty cans also work for this activity. 

PIG: 3-6 players. Have the kids stand in a circle and throw the ball back and forth in no specific order between players. All players need to be a alert while playing because they will gain on letter of the word PIG every time they fail to catch the ball. When a child collects all three letters he is out. The last player remaining in the game wins. 

Monkey in the Middle: Someone is chosen to be the "monkey" be in the middle of the circle that is formed by all the players. A ball will be passed around in the circle, the person in the middle will attempt to intercept the ball. When this happens, the person in the circle who last touched the ball becomes the "monkey".

Foursquare: On a concrete slab, divide a 6 feet wide section into a square then into four small  equal-sized squares inside. Number each square with one child on each number (1-4). The child in square 1 begins by bouncing the ball to a different square without hitting the lines. The child in that square must hit the ball into another child's square without bouncing it twice and so on. A child who doesn't hit the ball into the appropriate square or hit the ball before it bounces the second time is out. All children rotate up a number. The objective is to reach square one and hold that position.

The Rhyming Ball Game: Have all players sit in a circle. Hold a ball, say a word then roll it to the next person. The player receiving the ball chooses a word that rhymes with the previous word. Everyone takes turns choosing the first word and the rhyming word. 

Ball Bounce: Have each player hold and stretch the edges of a parachute or large sheet. Place a ball in the center. Demonstrate how to flap the parachute while bouncing the ball. Count out loud to keep track of how long the children can keep the ball going without it bouncing off the parachute. To make the game more challenging add more balls!

Name Ball: Have players stand making a large circle. A player will start by saying his name then gently passes a small ball that is easy to grip to the child on the left or right of them. The child receiving the ball must same their name as they're catching the ball. The process continues until every player has said their name. Next round have each player say the name of the child right or left of them when they catch the ball. You can change up the game by speeding up or using more players. 

Source: Help Me Grow of United Way

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"Play is a Child's Work"

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Types of Play

Unoccupied Play: The infant is usually stationary, making random movements and no apparent purpose.

Solitary Play: The child (usually 2 - 3 years) is focused on their play, not noticing others. 

Onlooker Play: The child will show interest in other children's play through observation, but may not become involved in the play. They'll learn and apply what they've seen later in their own play. It is most often a younger child observing an older child.

Parallel Play: Children (infants to preschool age) playing side-by-side with the same types of toys or activity, but not together. 

Independent Play: This is playing with just yourself. This type of play teaches children to be independent and emotionally satisfied. It's important for all children of all ages to learn independent play. 

Associative Play: This involves more social interaction rather then the use of a toy, for example, pipe cleaners become swords. It's common that one child directs the play of the group.

Cooperative Play: This play involves team work and organizational skills to accomplish a goal or task.

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Benefits of Play

• Encourages the use of imagination
• Develop dexterity
• Develop physical, cognitive, and emotional strength
• Create and explore
• Learn to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts and to learn self-advocacy skills.
• Practice decision-making skills
• Learn leadership skills
• Encourages physical activity
• Social interaction: build enduring relationships
• Learn communication skills
• Adjust easier to school
• Learn readiness
• Learn problem-solving skills

Sources: 

Parten, M. (1993). Social play among preschool children. 

Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 28, 136-147.

American Academy of Pediatrics link

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Playgroup: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities

"Eric Carle's modern classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is complete in every detail, following the ravenous caterpillar's path as he eats his way through one apple (and the pages of the book itself) on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, and so on, through cherry pie and sausage--until he is really fat and has a stomachache. And no doubt you know what happens next! Kids love butterfly metamorphosis stories, and this popular favorite teaches counting and the days of the week, too." -Karin Snelson

This story is a great representation of metamorphosis that occurs in springtime. There are several activities you can do with your kids relating to The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Vocabulary learned from this story: 

• Food items
• Numbers
• Days of the week
• Colors

Math-Sequencing Activities

Color Activity

Food Activity

Hand Painting

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Welcome Baby Playgroups!

Playgroups are important for children because they learn important social skills, learn to understand emotions, develop motor skills, problem solving and creative skills. Play is an important outlet for children because they can express themselves and build confidence. It is also a great social outlet for parents to connect with each other and become friends!

GET INVOLVED!

Welcome Baby has 4 playgroup locations. Email: baby1@unitedwayuc.org if you are interested in our Orem, PG, or Springville playgroups to find out specific locations each week. 

Orem  NEW Location! 
Wednesdays @ 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location varies each week. 

Pleasant Grove
Tuesdays @ 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Location varies each week.

Springville
Thursdays @ 11 a.m. -12 p.m. (Children's free play starts at 10 a.m.)
Location varies each week.

Provo  
Fridays @ 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
South Franklin Community Center
750 South 650 West in Provo

To sign up to join a playgroup please click on the link below and fill it out!
Playgroup form

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Playgroup: Easter Egg Learning Activities!

What a great, fun way to learn letters, words, numbers, and addition! This would be the perfect playgroup activity for this Easter season!

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Playgroup Craft: ST. PATRICK'S DAY Rainbow

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner! Hand-paint Rainbow is a great holiday craft for playgroup this time of year! 

                                                            Materials:

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-Child safe water-based paint (ex: tempera, poster paints and paint pans).

-Paper plates

-Art brushes

-Poster paper

-1 sheet of black and yellow cardstock paper (pot of gold)

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              Instructions: 

-On individual paper plates place a good amount of paint and include an paintbrush.

-Next, apply paint to your child's hand. As you apply and stamp their hand onto the paper, help them create the arc shape.

    

      Your finished hand-painted rainbow will look something similar to these examples! 

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If you are interested in joining a playgroup in your community, please e-mail us at baby1@unitedwayuc.org and we can get you connected to the group leader. Playgroups are in the following communities: Orem, Provo, Springville, and Eagle Mountain. If we do not have a playgroup in your community and you would be interested in starting a playgroup, please e-mail us at baby1@unitedwayuc.org and we can help you get started!

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Playgroup: Trip to the BYU Dinosaur Museum!

After months and months of this long, frigid, wet winter, we're all dying to play outside! Spring couldn't come sooner. During this season the BYU Dinosaur Museum is a great way to keep you and your kids sane.The museum is also a great opportunity to get together with your local mom friends to do playgroup!

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About the Museum

This museum on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah is the home of one of the largest and most valuable Jurassic collections in the world.The BYU Museum of Paleontology was built in 1976 to prepare, display, and house the rock and dinosaur fossils collected by Dr. James A. Jensen and his crews. Over decades of field work, Dr. Jensen and crews gathered fossils from locations in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. For years, the vast collections of the unprepared field jackets were stored under the BYU football stadium. Now, with the new 5,000 square-foot addition, and years of laboratory preparation, nearly all of the fossils are kept at the museum in the collections room.

As part of the BYU educational system, the Museum of Paleontology provides labs and hands-on learning to students. The museum is also a popular attraction for school groups throughout Utah. Each month school groups visit the ESM to take tours and learn more about ancient plants and dinosaurs. Approximately 25,000 visitors a year come here to see dinosaur fossils prepared, to touch real fossils, and to learn about paleontology.



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Hours:
Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm
*Closed on University holidays*

Admission: FREE
Tours through the museum are by appointment only. Call to schedule a tour (801)-422-3680

Address:
1683 N. Canyon Rd. in Provo

 

 

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Valentine's Craft and Card Ideas for Playgroup!

              Here are a few fun Valentines crafts ideas! Below are links to connect you to instructions and free tutorials.

1. Fairy Valentine Tree from Cindy Littlefield
2. Be Mine Hands on Flickr
3. Edible Arrow Valentines from The Coterie Blog
4. I Love You This Much Hands from Tiff Keetch
5. Homemade Gummi Hearts from Mama Miss

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How to Start a Playgroup!

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Have you been wanting to start a playgroup, but you're just not quite sure how? Here are a few pro tips that'll get your playgroup up and running that everyone will want to be a part of! 

Set a Date

Set an exact day and time you will have playgroup regularly. It's important to consider nap time and meal time. 

Advertise

Ask other moms in your area if they want to join in! Invite mom's you meet at the park, local grocery store etc. It's smart to be inclusive and invite everyone to increase your social group! Everyone wants to be included and mostly not everyone will show up every week. 

Organize

As soon as you get a steady playgroup going and get an idea of whose a permanent participant, make a schedule that'll organize the rotation of who will host playgroup each week of the month(s).

Activity

When it's your week to host, have some type of activity planned. This provides structured learning and interaction. It can be simple or more elaborate. Either way, the kids will love it! 

Snacks

The easiest way to approach snacks is to have everyone bring a snack they have in their pantry and share it at playgroup. That way it's not stressful for the host to have to worry about feeding 10 kids. When everyone pitches in, there's enough and a variety! 

When It's Your Week-Be Prepared

A great way to reduce craziness and mess is to designate one room in the house to playgroup. This way the mess is manageable, clean-up is easier, and kids aren't running everywhere! 

Have Fun

Last but not least, have fun, relax, and enjoy the company!

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