Daily At-Home Project: Homemade Binoculars for Little Explorers!

by | May 20, 2020 | At-Home Enrichment | 0 comments

Please find below our daily SolBe Family update letter containing helpful resources and exciting projects to explore while we all do our part to stay home during this pandemic. Subscribe here to receive daily updates.

May 20, 2020

SolBe Families,

Happy Humpday, people! 

We spent the past weeks exploring activities rooted in the Montessori Method. We are shifting gears and for the upcoming weeks will be sending out activities to inspire and ENJOY pretend and imaginative play. If you find yourself with a few extra minutes (unlikely, I know, but still!) I highly recommend giving Beau Kenyon’s piece, “The Value of Imaginative Play” a read—it is both fantastic and helpful. 

As a kick off project…let’s make our own binoculars and imagine life as an explorer! Explore in the house, in the backyard, or at the park. Is there a mission for you and your little one? Incorporate the senses! Where are we? What does it smell like? What does it look like? What do you hear? Sloaney Bologney and I love going on a “lizard hunt” to spot geckos when we are in Florida or a good ole fashion “Bear Hunt” in the backyard. 

Book to Pair with Project

By now you may know, I love love love to pair books and activities. Allow the little ones to escape into the story, inspire their art, and dream big dreams! Try Cale Atkinsons “Explorers of the Wild” before, after, or during this activity. 

Project of the Day: Homemade Binoculars for Little Explorers!

Materials

  • Two cashed toilet paper rolls
  • Paint or Markers
  • Glue or a Stapler
  • String or Ribbon

Step One

Glue the two toilet paper rolls together! I used a hot glue gun (again for speed) but regular glue will work too. If you have no glue, you can also staple them together at the top and bottom where the rolls meet. Options, options!

   

Step Two

Poke a hole on each side of the rolls at the top. This is where the ribbon or string will be woven through to create our neck strap. If you have munchkins under two, you can forgo the neck strap!

Step Three

Free Art! Decorating the binoculars is completely up to the kiddos. I would recommend laying out one medium for them (paint, markers, stickers, wrapping in construction paper). I used paint so that I could glitter-fy this pair.

Step Four

If you wish to not have glitter EVERYWHERE…I would stick with the paint. Our dining room table is extra sparkly after this project! Let binoculars the dry and then take them out for a spin! These are a wonderful tool for encouraging exploration!

Most important direction, as always: HAVE FUN!  

More resources to follow in the coming days. Feedback and more ideas welcome! 

Above all, be well and stay healthy!

The SolBe Team


Be Supported

We’ve felt the uncertainty that occurs when our children are in the care of someone else. At SolBe, we know you will always be your child’s first teacher; we’re here as a knowledgeable partner in your child’s education.

From our experience, children rise to the intellectual life of those around them, so we are committed to growing as individuals and as a team. You can count on us to provide a warm and engaging learning experience for your little one.

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We’ve spent thousands of hours in classrooms that either overstimulate, underwhelm, or actively prevent educators from delivering the highest-quality education and care. At SolBe, you’ll go beyond the traditional four-walled classroom.

Our award-winning, inventive and uplifting learning spaces stimulate the senses and instill feelings of home-like safety and comfort. They allow for your child’s, and our educators’, changing needs and emotions. They create room for wonder—for learning, and living, outside the lines.

Be Immersed

We’ve seen what’s lost when things are done the way they’ve always been done before. SolBe is an adaptive Spanish exposure program that refuses to accept the status quo.

Our inventive practices grow from the shoulders of giants, with roots in the Reggio Emilia approach, the Montessori method, and well-researched cognitive disciplines that attend to the whole child. We create opportunities to develop character attributes that your child will benefit from for a lifetime. Collaboration. Communication. Independence. Healthy risk-taking. Critical thinking. Emotional awareness. Resilience. Intellectual curiosity. Creative innovation. An authentic love of life and learning.

Be Well

We know what it’s like to forget to feed ourselves—physically, mentally, and emotionally. At SolBe, we understand it’s impossible for you to pour from an empty cup. And we do what we can to keep your cup full.

Our learning ecosystem is designed with children and educators—and you—in mind. Seed-to-table nutrition program. Yoga and mindfulness. An all-inclusive experience so you don’t need to worry about finding time to provide meals, diapers, or wipes (unless you want to). Evening and weekend family programs.