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Daily At-Home Project: Pipe Cleaner Matching Exercise

by | Apr 30, 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.

April 30, 2020

SolBe Families,

The Thursday Good News: Click this link to hear Wes Tank rap “FOX IN SOX” over a Dr. Dre beat. It is the best thing I have heard in some time.

This easy project will only take a few minutes to set up and has the potential to keep your child engaged for some time (always depending on their interest…completely ok if they want nothing to do with it or if they want to move on to something else and return to the activity later).

In addition to the benefits manipulating the pipe cleaners has for fine motor skills, any matching or memory activity is developmentally beneficial for kids. This is a wonderful activity that will engage kiddos from one to six years old!

Project of the Day: Matching Exercise with Pipe Cleaners

Staying with our theme for the next few weeks; any matching or sorting activity is deeply rooted in the Montessori Method. You will surely be seeing Maria Montessori’s infamous number matching project here in the next few weeks!

Materials

  • Paper
  • Markers/Crayons…even a pen would work!
  • Pipecleaners

Step One

On a piece of paper or cut out cardboard, draw different lines spread out to mimic the potential shapes the pipe cleaners will be taking. A straight line, a flower outline, zig-zags, whatever inspires you!

Step Two, Part A

For younger children (9 months-24 months or so) you can manipulate the pipe cleaners and then set everything up so they can focus on the matching principle. They will also enjoy the sensory exploration of the fuzzy/wiry pipe cleaners (a fan-fave!).

Step Two, Part B

For kiddos (two years to six years), creating the shapes of the pipe cleaners is an exciting part of this activity. Finely tweaking the pipe cleaners to match the shapes they see on the paper helps with abstract thinking development.

Step Three

Encourage some free-play within the constraints of the activity you have curated. Give them space to explore the materials and see how they instinctively use them! Maybe they will match everything up perfectly, or perhaps they will find another way to use the materials. All ways are good ways!

Conclusion

As I mentioned above, object-to-picture matching (as we are working on here) has many developmental benefits. Nurturing the child’s ability to think abstractly, develop focus (there is some eye-tracking development happening during these activities), and being creative!

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.

Be Inspired

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.