In honour of Dr. Seuss’s birthday (March 2nd) the Educators in the toddler room at RisingOaks Early Learning | John Sweeney read several Dr. Seuss books and planned activities related to the stories (ex “The Cat in the Hat” S.T.E.M Challenge and “Green Eggs and Ham” sensory bucket). The children enjoyed the repetitive phrases and rhyming words and “The Foot Book” became one of their favourites.
The educators began by creating a game with animal feet. Although some of the children were unable to recognize the feet, when they saw the pictures of the animals it was then that the children were able to pair them together. An opposite chart was made using pictures from the book (ex. slow feet, quick feet) and posted on the wall for the children to revisit and explore. A light table was used to examine an x-ray of a foot and we traced Debbie and Callum’s feet to use for sizes comparisons, counting toes and to further introduce measurements.
Often, sensory experiences are designed for children to explore with their hands and fingers, but children can also learn so much about sensory awareness by using their feet. The Educators planned one more day of special activities. Vanessa and Tirhas’ group went on a sensory walk using sensory pads and river stones. First, the children explored the new textures with their socks on but within minutes they were ready to explore in their bare feet. After they ran and jumped across the path, they began to slow down and take the time to move their feet over the pads and experience the sensation. Liliana tried to walk across on her tip toes. Oscar didn’t like the different textures and flipped the pieces over exposing the flat sides. The children really liked the spiky pad and Delilah described it as “tickly.” Ophelia even tried to stand on one foot.
Debbie gathered materials and prepared feet sensory buckets for her group. The children sat on chairs and were encouraged to put their feet in buckets containing ice cubes, small plastic balls, small rocks, a piece of artificial grass, and a warm wet towel. The children had an opportunity to explore each bucket. Quinn said “It tickles.”She quickly took her feet off the grass and didn’t want to experience that texture again. Carina described the ice as “cold, cold” and lifted her feet off the ice cubes to warm them up before she braved the cold sensation again. Callum wanted to feel the artificial grass and the fuzzy duster with his hands. When Callum said “the towel’s warm,” Amaira went straight over to the warm towel to wrap up her feet to warm them up. Everyone’s favourite sensory bucket was the bucket of rocks that were “bumpy” and “loud” when the children rolled their feet on them.
As educators we learned that the children seemed to be more engaged in the activities when they could relate them back to the book. They wanted us to read the book again and again which prompted us to create more experiences. Vanessa and Tirhas noticed that their activity had a calming effect on the children and the Educators. Our natural playground will be the perfect environment to explore in our bare feet once the warmer weather arrives!
