Discovery at Home – Page 2 – Kansas Children's Discovery Center

New Year Celebration Week: Confetti Launcher and Coin Balance Family Challenge!

This year, Noon Year’s Eve is virtual—and free! Join us for a week-long celebration with daily family challenges and fun NYE DIY projects posted online daily at 11:45 a.m. Today, join Caitlin for a coin balancing challenge and Sarina for a DIY confetti launcher. Remember to join us on Thursday at 11:45 for a live dance party and countdown to Noon Year’s Eve!

Thank you to our friends at Mize CPAs Inc. and Peoples Insurance Group for the sponsorship that makes this week of fun and learning possible.

Free Download: Printable Grandparent Interview

One of the most difficult parts of the pandemic has been limited in-person visits with family members and friends. Virtual visits are the safest option, but that doesn’t make them easy, especially for kids.

“Our grandchildren are literally growing up without us being able to see them,” said Topekan Jane Owen, whose grandchildren live in Georgia. “Part of the pleasure of watching your grandchildren grow is observing them develop and reaching their milestones. Yes, we can see it through Facetime, which is truly a gift, but it doesn’t substitute for being with them.”

“It feels like it’s very hard to get everyone’s needs met in virtual visits,” explained Discovery Center staff member Laura Burton, a mom of two. “The kids are running around and bouncing off the walls, they don’t want to sit in front of a screen, and when they do, they just want to make faces and play with filters. Their grandparents want them to talk about what’s going on. So everyone gets antsy.”

Although virtual visits are often difficult, it’s important for kids to maintain relationships with important people in their lives. Here are 12 tips from the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center education team to make your virtual visits more meaningful and fun.

Play together. Get the same toy, book or activity and work through it together. Build the same block creation, assemble the same puzzle, or read a treasured story.
Turn virtual visits into a part of the child’s daily routine. Make one bedtime story virtual each night, or share an afternoon snack. Grownups can lend a hand by entertaining children while their sibling gets a bath, or while their grownup prepares dinner.
Play games. Many common board and card games have virtual versions or apps you can play together on phones. Some games, like 20 Questions, Simon Says or Charades can be played over virtual visits.
Sing and dance. Put on music and have a virtual dance party or sing along.
Scavenger hunt. Have the child find an object around the house that is a certain color, starts with a specific letter, or has a certain characteristic (soft, hard, rough, smooth, etc.) Have a helper in the child’s house hide something fun in the house and go on a virtual hunt to find it!
Create a virtual photo album of things your child did during the day or week. Send it to family, or have the child show it during a virtual visit.
Teach each other. A grownup can teach a child like how to create a craft or cook a favorite dish. Children can teach adults the newest dance (can grandma floss?!).
Write a story together. A grownup can begin the story and send it to the child to continue. Keep passing the story back and forth and see what you end up with. When you’re finished, read it together on a virtual visit.
Have a high-tech tea party. Set up some stuffed animal guests, add a fun tea set, and talk about what you like having with your tea!
Do a tour. Go on virtual walks around the neighborhood. Let the child show you around their backyard or bedroom.
Mail something. Send cards, postcards or stickers to them through the mail. Include an envelope for them to mail something back.
Conduct an interview! Check out our free Interview a Grandparent printable for great question ideas.

Discovery at Home: 12 Tips for More Meaningful (and fun!) Virtual Visits with Children

Play together. Get the same toy, book or activity and work through it together. Build the same block creation, assemble the same puzzle, or read a treasured story.
Turn virtual visits into a part of the child’s daily routine. Make one bedtime story virtual each night, or share an afternoon snack. Grownups can lend a hand by entertaining children while their sibling gets a bath, or while their grownup prepares dinner.
Play games. Many common board and card games have virtual versions or apps you can play together on phones. Some games, like 20 Questions, Simon Says or Charades can be played over virtual visits.
Sing and dance. Put on music and have a virtual dance party or sing along.
Scavenger hunt. Have the child find an object around the house that is a certain color, starts with a specific letter, or has a certain characteristic (soft, hard, rough, smooth, etc.) Have a helper in the child’s house hide something fun in the house and go on a virtual hunt to find it!
Create a virtual photo album of things your child did during the day or week. Send it to family, or have the child show it during a virtual visit.
Teach each other. A grownup can teach a child like how to create a craft or cook a favorite dish. Children can teach adults the newest dance (can grandma floss?!).
Write a story together. A grownup can begin the story and send it to the child to continue. Keep passing the story back and forth and see what you end up with. When you’re finished, read it together on a virtual visit.
Have a high-tech tea party. Set up some stuffed animal guests, add a fun tea set, and talk about what you like having with your tea!
Do a tour. Go on virtual walks around the neighborhood. Let the child show you around their backyard or bedroom.
Mail something. Send cards, postcards or stickers to them through the mail. Include an envelope for them to mail something back.
Conduct an interview! Check out our free Interview a Grandparent printable for great question ideas.

Watch Now: Creating Joyful Play for All Families

At the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, we believe in the power of play. Because of the museum's special programs, play is available to everyone, no matter their need or ability. Children with autism, kids with mothers in prison, low-income families. Everyone is included. As a nonprofit, more than one in ten admissions is free or donor subsidized based on need.

When the museum closed on March 13, 2020, the play stopped, but staff got to work bringing the museum experience into homes. Here’s the story of how, with support from donors like you, we brought joyful learning experiences to thousands of families.

Help is still needed. Please donate today.

Chilly Weather Yoga: Discovery at Home Family Fitness Saturdays

Today from Discovery at Home: It's great to play outside even when it is chilly! Bundle up and take a break outside with local yoga instructor and friend of the Kansas Children's Discovery Center Kathy Damron. Benefits of yoga for kids include flexibility, large muscle development, mindfulness, and stress reduction. Kathy is joined by her monkey and teddy bear, so be sure to bring your friends to join! This activity is generously supported by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Foundation.

Squish Box: Discovery at Home Toddler Time

What you need:

A large box
Pillows
A heavy blanket or comforter
A calm corner or quiet place to put the box
Optional: materials for decoration

Directions:

Find a box large enough for your toddler to fit comfortably inside with blankets and pillows.
Turn the box upside down and cut a cubby hole to go in or out, or leave the box rightside up, with an open top.
Let your toddler choose and arrange the necessary treasures that will “live” inside the squish box.
Write the name of your toddler on the outside of the squishbox where it is large and visible.
Let your toddler hang out in the box!

Ways to expand the activity:

The box can stay open at the top or it can be enlarged and covered to become a castle, fort, space rocket or a ship. The project can become a family affair as everyone teams up to help plan, create, build, and test the space.
Name your peace palace or hangout space. Everyone will want to visit!
Decorate the outside (or the inside!) of the squish box with Rip and Tear Toddler Art or markers

What do they learn?

Self regulation. This quiet space was personally designed and outfitted by and for your toddler. Let it become their go-to place for calming or quiet.
A squish box is a mini sensory room that can calm or stimulate depending on the need and body position.

Vocabulary

Proprioceptive input or sensory processing. This is our body’s ability to sense where we are in space. Our muscles and joints do the work and connect that awareness to our brain. This affects our self awareness, emotional safety and security.

Toddler Terrain Challenge: Discovery at Home Toddler Time

What you need:

Lots of walks on a variety of uneven surfaces: dirt, sand, grass, gravel, mulch, and pavement. Walk in a hilly park or a trail in the woods.
Cushions, pillows, or other household items to create a path with uneven surfaces in your living room.

Directions:

Get out and walk! Take lots of walks on a variety of uneven surfaces: dirt, sand, grass, gravel, mulch, and pavement. Walk in a hilly park, a rocky area, or a trail in the woods
Stay in and create your own uneven paths! Stack soft pillows next to hard couch cushions. Use heavy blankets, rolled towels and small toys under and over a throw rug. Create a bumpy, lumpy, potholed path. Encourage your child to walk (without hand support) across the obstacles and follow the path to reach you without falling.
Give hugs when they cross the finish line!

Ways to expand the activity:

Have your child stand up on a small stool or chair and count to 5! (or rise unassisted from a seated position on the floor).
Challenge them to get on all 4’s to crawl. Or walk sideways, climb, tiptoe, and hop over the obstacles.
Can they carry a priceless treasure (a silly object) with both hands and not to drop it before they cross the finish line?
Try reaching or twisting to gather small stuffed animals hidden along the path. How many toys can they carry?
Get your engineer in on the job! Have your child rebuild the path or construct 2 uneven paths so you both can play! Make clean-up part of the play!

What do they learn?

Depth perception, spatial awareness, balance and agility. Toddlers develop a variety of large muscles as they look ahead to negotiate the rise and fall of irregular surfaces. Play makes them strong!
Confidence and problem solving. With experience, your toddler will learn to walk or run and step over any small stumbling block in their way.

Tinfoil for Toddlers: Discovery at Home Toddler Time

What you need:

Box of aluminum foil
Glue
Cardboard or paper

Directions:

First, ask your toddler to tear the foil into little pieces and place them in a bowl. It will be a multi-sensory experience as your toddler explores sight, sound, and texture.
Next, what happens when they blow into the bowl? Watch the light, shimmery foil fly. Ask your toddler to pick up the pieces and put them back into the bowl. This can become a game in itself!
Finally, ask your toddler to squeeze (or rub) the glue onto the page wherever they choose and press on the tinfoil pieces. What simple, fine motor fun! The focus is pure process. The final product is secondary. As an adult, we may be tempted to tell our child where to add or subtract a piece. Don’t do it! Pure process means to let go and let them experiment, learning as they go.

Ways to expand the activity:

Your child may be tempted to touch the wet glue. What a great way to learn about cause and effect: fingers get sticky!
As they learned that foil is light weight, they may be tempted to grab a handful of foil, rather than a single piece, and drop it from high above the page. Some will land on the glue, others will not. What happens when they squeeze the foil? Some bits will flatten, scrunch and stick together in a clump. Do clumps stick well to the page and to the glue?
Is the glue drying quickly or can the pieces slide on the page as they are repositioned?
Tightly wrap small, familiar items to emphasize their shape (like a block or a ball) Cover completely with foil. Play the guess the object game! Unwrap to see if they are right!

What do they learn?

Fine motor control. They are developing finger and wrist strength whether they use pincer grasp to pick up a single piece of foil or scrunch, bend, pinch and pull a larger sheet using both hands.
They explore the properties and characteristics of foil: it is silver, shiny, lightweight, it tears, floats, sticks to itself and can be molded. Analyzing materials builds a great foundation for learning science!
They learn how to tear. Put thumbs touching and fingers pressing the foil. One hand pulls toward the belly button, and one pulls away from the bellybutton.
Object permanence. An item may be out of sight or covered, but it still exists! What 3-D object is hiding beneath the foil? Guess, unwrap and discover!

Rip and Tear: Discovery at Home Toddler Time

What you need:

Colored paper, old magazines, newspaper or whatever paper you have handy.
2 containers- a tub or bucket for the strips, and one for the smaller pieces. A box will work perfectly well.
Optional: glue stick and recycled cardboard to decorate

Directions:

Rip 2” strips of paper and place them in a container. Show your child how to put the strips into the bucket.
Show your child how to make child sized confetti: Take a strip and tear it into 1” pieces.
Put them into the bucket and you are ready to collage!

Ways to expand the activity:

Destruction can be very satisfying at any age, but toddlers particularly like using their whole bodies in their play! Tape a piece of paper to the wall and randomly stick pieces to the page with painter’s tape, a glue stick or contact paper.
Instead of tearing the paper into uniform strips, celebrate free play! Rip, tear, crumple, wad, toss, throw and stomp on the paper. Put the paper into a large box and hide small toys inside, under the shredded newspaper, for a quick game of hide and seek.

What do they learn?

Children gain social and emotional skills through sensory play. This game requires no words but runs on smiles, laughter and fun!
Fine motor skills. Kids practice using the small muscles in their hands later used for writing. Activities like ripping and tearing, holding and squeezing help improve communication between their brains and bodies.
Rip and Tear Art is an open ended, free exploration of creativity and experimentation. When kids experiment, they're learning how to learn!

Toddler Finger Paint: Discovery at Home Toddler Time

What you need:

Cornstarch
Measuring cup
Boiling water
Cold water
Food coloring

Directions:

Mix and stir together 2 C cornstarch and 1 C cold water.
Add 4 ½ C boiling water.
The mixture should look like hot oobleck. Stir until it melts into a custard like consistency.
Separate into individual containers before adding the food coloring. Be sure mixture is cool before giving to your toddler!
To thicken: add an additional cup of cornstarch or stir over low to mid heat rather than in a bowl.
This non-toxic toddler paint can be used as finger paint or with a brush. The thick and gel-like consistency will take longer to dry than store bought paint, but the satisfying texture is pleasing for all ages, inspires creativity, and provides sensory input through free exploration. Paint inside seated at a table or on a highchair tray.

Ways to expand the activity:

For a pleasant scent, add a few drops of vanilla!
Make it an outside play day! Get a large plastic tub or cardboard box and place your toddler and the paints inside. It cleans easily with a hose, or toss the box at the end of play.

What do they learn?

Fine and gross motor development: from the trunk and shoulders to the wrists and fingertips.
Life skills: mixing, stirring, combining wet and dry ingredients, cause and effect, before and after, and helping with an easy clean up!
Play: Flexible, free, open-ended discovery encourages creativity.

New Year Celebration Week: Confetti Launcher and Coin Balance Family Challenge!

More Discovery at Home Projects

12 Tips for More Meaningful (and fun!) Virtual Visits with Children

More Discovery at Home Projects