The Creative Campus The Place For Learning Activities for all ages!

Hello Friends, Have you ever felt like you don't have the resources, Like you are not creative enough to eliminate the struggles you and your child are experiencing as you try to learn and build new skills as you play and explore together? I want to show you that it's just not so! I want to share with you a way that you can Play, Learn and Grow with your child IN SPITE of these feelings of Limitations or Struggles . I believe that when you engage with your child in activities that are centered around them, they naturally are engaged and develop an interest in the activity and learning what lessons the activity provides. Building New Skills and Engagement doesn't have to be work! it can be fun for both you and your child. When I work with clients I help them create "Invitations to Play, Learn and Grow". I describe an invitation as any activity that is set out for a child to explore and engage in at their own pace. These activities are always open ended...

Winter Play!  I don't know about you, but I just Love the snow! I'm guessing some of your little friends do to! Snow offers wonderful Opportunities for Learning Science. Gross Motor and Make Believe play ( who doesn't love to build a snow fort). you can even use snow to create art! have you ever "painted" snow? mix jello or Kool aid in a small amount of water and fill a squirt bottle!  the kids will have a blast. Trying to write your name or make lines for pictures in the snow is great eye hand coordination. I hope you enjoyed these activities, and If there something you might be struggling with? or feeling frustration around while you're creating and engaging at home?  leave me a message and I would love to help in any way I can.

We all use communication in different ways. Some of us rely on verbal communication such as speech, Others of us speech that is non verbal. This means that we may use gestures to get the things we want and need from others. Sometimes we can even use pictures for communication. We often do this in Early Childhood Education Programs. We label items with word titles so that we can learn the name and use of the object as we begin speaking and reading. A great tool for enforcing communication with children of all skill levels is “Process Charts” these are pictures demonstrating how the task should be done. They can be either be displayed as already finished in order OR you can number the pictures and give them to the child, as they finish a step the add the picture to the chart to remind themselves of what parts they have already completed. There are tasks that children must master in order to begin creating effective communication. First they need to understand and use “Eye Contact” ...

Happy New Year and Happy Monday! I wanted to talk to you today about, Loose Parts Play! This is something I recently discovered... and I LOVE IT! Instead of offering Teacher directed activities, I love the idea of offering pieces for play, as an invitation to explore and learn on their own. the creativity is endless and totally personalized. You can offer this kind of play for Any Topic or Subject. this play lends its self well to Art, Science and Even Make Believe Play. The Math ideas are endless as well. Leaves, Trees, Pumpkin,  Snowmen! are some of my favorite "Themes" to use with this concept. You can offer so many different materials depending on what your learning goal is. What are your favorite ways to use Small Parts Play? I am so excited about using this Learning Method with my friends. I am a big believer in hands on learning. I believe this is how children learn best. when children can engage with learning materials instead of my listening to a l...

Topic: obstacle Courses and Gross Motor Games Advice One Use Games To Increased Gross Motor Skills I believe that using play is the best way to increase your child or students gross motor skills. This allows children to play and have fun with friends and yet they are building strength and coordination. I have a few favorite games that I like to use with my friends, and I encourage you to use them either at home or in your classrooms with your students.               Advice Two Obstacle Course (Going On a Bear Hunt) This is a great activity that enforces gross motor skills and coordination. This game is one that can be created in the form of a physical course, or you can simply sit on the floor and go through the motions. Either way it’s a fun experience and uses listening and coordination skills. Advice Three Keep it In The Air Game This last game is one that can be uses in many different ways for many dif...

Games:  are a great way to use eye hand coordination. Playing games like Baseball, Hot Potato, Play dough is a great tool for creating games that use eye hand coordination as well. You can play a game that I use a lot called alphabet soup that creates letters while learning sounds a much much more. (if you want more information leave me a comment below).  Busy Boxes  : are a fun activity that I created. These are small activities that children can engage in to practice a skill. one of my favorites is a "Robot" box. They have to choose parts and stick them together to create a robot. ( I have many others on my website). http://thecreativecampus.weebly.com/programs-products-and-free-content.html Projects : I enjoy providing activities in my classroom that use eye hand coordination. I also love art and I have found a great activity that engages all of it. I like to provide art materials in a bin along with parts of a house. (the roof, side walls, doors ect.) Encourag...

Hi Everyone!  I just wanted to share with you a part of a new blog series I started, called 5 Activities. Each post will give 5 activities to use for a specific topic. I hope you enjoy these posts and I look forward to your comments! Science: Dino Bone Dig   I have use this one over the years. I have enjoyed doing this activity myself. you can find different types of bones or fossils and burry them in your sand table. give each child brushes or scoops to dig out each bone and build a creature. You can use the fossils (objects work too) and press them into playdough to make your own fossils. this is a fun hands on science activity that allows the children to learn about why some things fossilize and some don't. Grow Flowers or Plants. Provide seeds or already started plants. encourage the children to care for their plants daily. As the plants grow and produce food the children will enjoy the rewards of their work. Cook Simple Meals Or Make Playdough: this is fun ...

Cooking   Math and Science   Advice One Critical Thinking and Cause/Effect   (Math and Science Skills) Cooking is a wonderful activity that creates fun interactive learning experiences with your children and students. What children don’t realize as they are cooking, is that they are also learning. They are using Math Skills (measuring) Science Skills (mixing wet and dry ingredients) They are even using their motor skills (Mixing, Rolling and even sometimes cutting with cutters). One of the things I love to use with children is Play dough. Not only can the children engage in the “Making” process, they also get to enjoy the finished product over and over again. I like to make a very easy Cinnamon Applesauce Play dough.   Mix Equal Parts Applesauce, Cinnamon, and add flour little by little to help the thickening process.               Advice Tw...

     "Learning With Our Hands Class"            Hello! I am the creator of The Creative Campus , and I just wanted to write to you and let you know what I have been working on.  I started my own business working with Stay At Home Moms and Nannies. Things have been changing rapidly here at The Creative Campus And I am so excited about our progress I wanted to write you and tell you all about it right away! I have expanded my company YET AGAIN! The inspiration came out of the clear blue sky and I ran with it! I have decided that what I enjoy most about what I do, is getting to know you as Moms and Nannies along with your children and creating new learning experiences that help you grow. Because of this, I was inspired to get into coaching. You can now work with me one on one. I work with you to define your child’s current skills and learning needs. Using a Current Skills survey and I will now work with you on a monthly ba...

Happy Spring Everyone!  I hope you are learning lots of fun things and enjoying the wonderful sunshine!  I wanted to share something with you that my friends enjoy and yours will too. I call it "Mix and Match Math". I  take things like popsicles and their sticks (paper versions only) and I put Shapes, Numbers and or Letters on both the sticks and the popsicle its self. then I separate them and mix them all up. I invite my friends to re connect the matches. this can be done with may different items that have two pieces. I also do a version of this with carrots. you could even do this ice cream cones and scoops that match. The fun with this activity is endless depending on your goals. you could even do this will pictures. Cutting them into sections and instructing the children to re connect the edges (which I suggest you cut in designs). I hope you have a lot of fun with this, its one of the favorites in my class. Don't forget....  if you like this and want more ...

Hello Everyone!    Valentines Day is right around the corner. I hope your having a lot of fun getting ready for the special day. I wanted to share with you a fun theme I have been working on with my little friends!  I recently held a class on the theme of Aliens and Robots.   This is a fun activity for both boys and girls. All children can use their creativity and create their own creatures. I love these themes because you can incorporate Colors, Shapes and Number learning into the activities. These themes are also great for practicing Eye/ Hand Coordination and Small Motor Skills.   You can also create aliens using the same materials. you can introduce Paint, Glitter, Different Stickers you can make it as simple or detailed as your friends are interested in. If you are interested in learning more about the activities that I have used for this theme I would love for you to join me at my up coming event : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-a_cb6...