This is Literacy

This IS Literacy is an initiative of the Literacy Implementation Team of the Child and Youth Network.  This team’s goals are to improve literacy by 2011 and to be a provincial leader in child, youth and family literacy by 2015.

What are we talking about when we say we want to “make literacy a way of life”?   We all may use the word “literacy”, but not have the same understanding of what it means.   In terms of the work of London’s Child and Youth Network and this website, literacy is defined as:

• The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute using printed and written materials and
• The ability to express thoughts, feelings and ideas
• Literacy is a key piece of helping people achieve their goals, develop their knowledge and potential and participate fully in their community.

Why the Focus on Literacy?

The Child and Youth Network identified literacy as one of its top 4 priorities. Literacy is an issue for London’s children, youth and families.

• Over 27% of our children are not ready to learn when they enter Grade 1
• In 19 of 26 London neighbourhoods at least 20% of children are not ready to learn when they enter Grade 1
• At least 1 in 3 children in London ages 8 to 14 is not meeting the literacy and numeracy standards established by the province
• 19% to 23% of youth in London are failing to graduate from high school (within 5 years)
• 1 in 5 adults in London is functioning at the lowest level of literacy, often unable to read basic signs and medicine instructions

The emphasis on literacy needs to start at the beginning of a child’s life. Children who struggle with literacy will become youth and adults who struggle with literacy.

Although London is average in terms of literacy – no better and no worse than other communities – being average comes at a cost. Compared to those with low literacy skills, people with strong, well developed literacy skills are:

• Better able to earn a living and contribute positively to the workforce
• More likely to seek medical help when they need it
• More likely to maintain healthy diets and to be physically active
• Less likely to suffer from diseases such as diabetes and poor cardiovascular health
• Less likely to suffer from work related injuries
• Less likely to be involved in crime
• More likely to advocate for their children

What is Family Literacy?

One of the goals of the Child and Youth Network is to improve family literacy. How is family literacy different from literacy, in general? The term family literacy has 2 components. It refers to literacy activities that take place in the everyday lives of families and it refers to programs that aim to increase the amount and frequency of family literacy in homes and communities. It’s what families do together in their homes and out in their local community or neighbourhood. Family literacy is:

• About the ways families use literature and language in their daily lives
• About how families learn
• About how families use literacy to do everyday tasks
• Some examples of family literacy include:
• Shared reading activities
• Parents/caregivers modeling appropriate language skills, labeling objects and actions and describing what they or their child are doing

This website provides you with lots of ideas on how you can make literacy a part of your everyday life.

A Playdough for Everyone

There are various ways to make play dough with your children based on the age level and possible allergies of your child.  Here are some fun recipes to try at home with your children.  Some are tried and true while others are rather unique.  Remember to have fun; and for the child it is the process more than the finished product.  Feel free to drop us a line and let us know which recipes you would recommend!

Childreach Favourite:  Kool-Aid Play Dough
½ cup salt
2 ½ cups flour
2 packages kool-aid
3 tablespoons oil
2 cups boiling water

Directions:  Mix dry ingredients.  Add oil to water.   Add liquid to dry ingredients.  Stir and let cool then knead.  Store in plastic bags in the refrigerator to keep fresh longer. 

Hint:  if the playdough is too sticky, add a little flour; if the playdough is dry add a little oil in your hands and knead. 

Home Made Playdough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups of water
1 tablespoons mineral oil
food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring until stiff.
Allow to cool, and then knead.

Peanut Butter Playdough
3 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
4 cups powdered sugar
4 cups powdered milk
3 1/2 cups corn syrup

Mix ingredients by hand.
Can decorate with sprinkles, M&Ms etc.
It is edible.

Salt Playdough
1 cup water
1 cup salt
1/2 cup flour
Food coloring

Mix ingredients in pan.
Add food coloring. Stir on low heat.
When it thickens remove from heat.
Put some on waxed paper or floured surface and roll out.
Cut out objects.
Air dry objects few days.
Store un-used portion in air-tight container.
It is non-edible.

 Oatmeal Playdough
2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups powdered milk
2/3 cups honey
Optional -Rice Krispies, Coconut Sprinkles, chocolate chips, Red Hots, etc.

Mix ingredients until combined.
Wash hands.
Lay down wax paper.
Store in air-tight container.

Numnum Playdough
2 cups of honey
3 cups of peanut butter
3 packets powdered milk

Stir all ingredients together until smooth.
Add more powdered milk if desired.
Is sticky and edible.

Cloud Playdough
1 cup water,
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil,
6 cup flour

Add a few drops of food coloring to water.
Combine water, oil and flour in a large bowl. Knead well.
Add more water if necessary in small amounts until the dough is soft and stretchy.
Cloud playdough should be used on a washable surface as it is very greasy.

Coffee Playdough
4 cups unsifted all purpose flour,
1 cup salt,
1/4 cup instant coffee
1 1/2 c warm water

Dissolve the coffee in the warm water.
In another bowl, mix the flour and the salt.
Make a well and add 1 cup of the coffee water into it.
Mix with a fork or with your hands until smoother.
Add more coffee water as needed: dough should be smooth not sticky or crumbling.
Store in air tight container.
When you’re done making figures, bake in oven for 1 hour at 300 degrees or until hard.
A coat or two of shellac keeps it well preserved for longer lasting gifts.

Fruit Playdough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 tablespoons cream of tarter
2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
3 oz package sugar-free fruit flavored gelatin

Mix dry ingredients in pan.
Add the water and oil.
Stir over medium heat until mixture forms a ball.
Pour onto a sheet of wax paper

Koolaid Playdough
2 cups rice flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 cup salt
3 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 packages unsweetened Koolaid (pick the color you like)
2 cups boiling water

Mix all together. Once cool take out of pan and knead well. Then place in Ziploc bag in the refrigerator.

Cornmeal Playdough – Gluten Free
1 ½ cups corn flour
1 cup corn meal
1 cup salt
½ cup corn starch
1 cup hot water plus 2 Tablespoons
1  tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients until smooth.  Add water as necessary to make more soft and smooth.  Store in Ziploc bag for up to a month.  This is textured dough and will be yellow.

Written by Dawn Baetens, Early Years Program Leader

Fun-tastic Fall: Magic Drawings

You will need:

• white paper
• cotton swabs
• baking soda
• water
• purple grape juice

Here’s what you’re going to do:

1. Have your child combine one tablespoon of baking soda and one tablespoon of water in a cup.
2. Let your child dip cotton swabs into the mixture and make designs on sheets of white paper.
3. Let their designs dry completely so that their papers look blank.
4. Have them paint over their designs with purple grape juice.
5. Watch what happens!

For more fun-tastic fall crafts, recipes, stories, activity ideas, and poems, download and print our Fall Funtastic Book!

Beach Theme Activity Booklet

A couple of weeks ago, we posted a series of activity ideas relating to a beach party in preparation of the summer.   Today, we have the entire booklet for you to download and print for free.  

Beach Theme Activities

What are you waiting for?  Gather up your children and have fun!  :)

Ice Cream Shoppe

Our ECE Resource Centre staff are always pulling together seasonal and themed activity booklets that are full of songs, fingerplays, games, crafts, recipes and activities.   We sell these booklets to childcare providers, early years teachers, and parents – anyone who is looking after children.     The price of a booklet is super low as we simply need to cover the printing costs.  It got me thinking that we could skip the printing and make the file a pdf, and then we could share it with everyone online for free.    Free and fun stuff makes me super happy.  

So without further ado, I would like to present the first of our free, fun, easy to download activity booklets titled Ice Cream Shoppe!    Skip the trip to Dairy Queen, and make your own blizzards while singing ice cream cone songs.  :)

Ice Cream Theme Activity Book

Please let us know in the comments if you found this useful!   We’d love to hear how you incorporated into your children’s play and learning.

Delicious Fishy Float

Dive into this wiggly snack!

You will need:
1 package of blue gelatin
1 package of clear gelatin
gummy fish
mixing bowl
glass bowl

1. Mix both packages together with water.  Follow the directions on the package for the correct amount.
2. Pour 1/3 of the gelatin mixture into the glass bowl.  Put the bowl in the fridge until the gelatin starts to set – about 45 minutes.
3. Add some gummy fish to the glass bowl.  Pour 1/2 of the remaining liquid on top.  Return the bowl to the fridge until the gelatin sets again.
4. Add more gummy fish to the glass bowl.  Pour the remaining liquid on top.  Return the bowl to the fridge until the gelatin sets.
5. Enjoy!

Indoor Beach Party

Whisk your children away to the beach without leaving your classroom or home!  Put on your sunscreen, grab your sun hat, and stay where you are!

What you’ll need:
Water table or outdoor kiddy pool or shallow pans filled with water
Sand table or sand box or shallow pans filled with sand
Dish soap (mild formula such as Ivory)
Small plastic fish, shells, and other underwater objects
Sand toys such as shovels and pails
Beach towels
Bathing suits

Make water scopes to look and see what is under the water in the wading pool or water table.   To make a water scope, remove the top and bottom of a large coffee can using a can opener.  Use a hammer to pound down the edges around the can so that they are smooth.  Cut clear plastic wrap or bags into pieces that are large enough to cover the top of the can.  Secure the plastic with a rubber band.  Have your children submerge the can under the bubbles (from the liquid soap), and they can pretend to be underwater explorers and report on the the neat things they see under the sea!

Activity:  Fish in the Sea
This game can be played indoors or outdoors during your beach party.  This game is similar to Duck, Duck, Goose, but instead we are going to call each of the participants “Guppy”.  Remember to make that each child gets a turn when playing this game.

Have your children sit in a circle, facing inward, while one child, the ‘picker’ , walks around tapping each child sitting in the circle on the head, calling each a ‘Guppy’ until finally picking one to be a ‘Shark”.   The ‘Shark” then rises and chases and tries to tag the ‘picker’, while the ‘picker’ tries to return to and sit where the ‘Shark’ had been sitting.   If the picker succeeds, the ‘Shark’ is now the new picker and the process begins again.   If the ‘Shark’ succeeds in tagging the picker, the ‘Shark’ may return to sit in the previous spot and the ‘picker’ resumes the process.  The game continues until the children tire of it.

Activity: Sand Sculpting

What you’ll need:
1 cup of play sand
1/2 cup of cornstarch
3/4 cup of hot water
nautical-themed sand molds and cookie cutters

Mix all of the ingredients into a pan.  Cook slowly stirring constantly until very thick.  Cool mixture.  Form objects unding cookie cutters with nautical shapes or sand molds.  Let dry in the sun and overnight (approximately 12 hours).  The children could even paint them when the shapes are dry!

Stay tuned for a wiggly fishy snack recipe in tomorrow’s post!

Find more ideas here – http://www.ehow.com/how_4543277_throw-indoor-beach-party.html

Bubble Blowing Materials

Household Bubble Blowers
funnels, cookie cutters, juice cans with both ends removed, hangers, sieves, colanders, rubber bands, paper clips bent into various shapes, tin cans (these work best when moved through the air), wire, toilet paper rolls (the children will soon realize that these disintegrate in water), pipe cleaners bent into different shapes

Coat Hanger Bubble Wand
Wrap a hanger around a coffee can.  Using wire cutters, snip to desired length leaving four inches of straight wire to twist into a handle.  Wrap sharp ends with masking tape.  Wrap the wire circle with yarn to ensure the bubble solution sticks.

Jumbo Straws
Purchase jumbo straws. 
Make a long bubble wand by taping them end to end.
Split the end of the straw for larger bubbles.   Flatten the end of a straw, cut it in half and in half again, bend the four flaps, and dip flap end into the solution.
Tape  a bundle of four to six straws together to blow multiple bubbles simultaneously.
Try bendy straws too!

Bubbles Theme: Recipes

Here’s a few bubble recipes to get your bubble play started!

NOTE: Glycerin is added because it helps to hold the water molecules in the soap film which stops the film from drying out too quickly and popping.  Glycerin can be purchased at most drug stores.

Standard Bubble Recipe
2/3 cup of liquid dishwashing detergent
4 cups of warm water
1 tbsp of glycerin (optional, but will make stronger bubbles)

Sure-Thing Bubbles
2 cups of liquid dishwashing detergent
4 cups of water
1/2 cup of light corn syrup

Pour all ingredients in to a jar, bowl or any container with a lid.
Mix gently.
Let sit for a few hours before using.

Giant Bubbles
1 part liquid soap or dishwashing detergent
1 part glycerin
6 parts distilled water

Use this solution with a 12-inch wire circle, an embroidery hoop or a foil pie plate with the centre cut out (don’t use a coat hanger because the coating on the hanger will not allow the solution to stick to the hanger).  Be sure that a film covers the circle, and sweep through the air.  To disengage the bubble, twist the hoop.

Here’s another site with lots of recipes for bubbles – http://bubbleblowers.com/homemade.html

Rainbow Science: Bursting Colours

Materials

9 x 13 inch baking pan
powdered milk
an assortment of liquid food colouring
dishwashing liquid

This experiment can also be done on an individual basis using small bowls for each child.

Directions:

1. Cover the bottom of the baking pan with powdered milk.
2. Pour water into the pan until it is half full.  Do not mix the water and the powdered milk.
3. Place drops of liquid food colouring on the water.
4. Add a drop of dishwashing liquid. 
5. Watch the colours spread and mix!