Author: becky liesman

Lincoln Parents’ Center

March 2019

305 N Kickapoo
Lincoln, IL 62656
735-4192

March Play Time Theme: Rain

Talk Together
For your baby: Sing songs like Rain, Rain Go Away and Itsy Bitsy Spider with your baby. Try using hand gesture while you sing Itsy Bitsy Spider—your baby loves to watch you entertain her! Watch your baby—after she sees you do the gestures several times, she may try to copy you!
For your toddler: Sing songs like Rain, Rain Go Away and Itsy Bitsy Spider together. Teach your child the gestures that go with Itsy Bitsy Spider. Talk about different rain words: puddles, rain boots and raincoats, umbrellas, pouring, sprinkling, misting, fog, wind, and clouds. Look outside: How many of these words do you see outside your window?
Read Together
Read some rainy day books together. For babies: try Rain Feet by Angela Johnson or Gossie and Gertie by Olivia Dunrea, featuring Gossie the duck who loves her red galoshes. For older toddlers: good choices include The Little Cloud by Eric Carle, Rain or Shine: All About Weather by Danielle Denega and the ultimate rainy day fantasy, The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
Play Together
For your baby: Play with “rain” inside. In the bathtub, you can pour water out of a plastic pitcher to make rain. Does your baby prefer the water to come out slowly or quickly? Does she try to grab the stream of water? Try pouring water through a strainer and watch it sprinkle out. You can also pour water onto a plastic plate and let it splash every which way. Blow bubbles while your child is in the bathtub and sing Rain, Rain Go Away as the bubble “raindrops” float over her head.
For your toddler: Make a weather chart. Every morning look outside the window with your toddler: What do you see? Is it rainy, cloudy, or sunny? Draw a sun, clouds, or raindrops on a piece of paper with the appropriate word underneath. Let your toddler help by coloring and drawing with you. Post each day’s forecast and talk about the week’s weather on Friday. Can your child remember the words for each type of weather? A variation on this activity is to let your older toddler draw the weather him/herself. You could also trace symbols of each kind of weather—a sun, an umbrella, a cloud—onto paper and let your older toddler cut out the shape and then glue it to her weather chart. (Information gathered from Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families”)

March
Events:
Play & Learn
Location: 305 N Kickapoo St.
Dates: March Fridays
Time: 9:30 -11:00 am
Join us to learn about the weather! Each group includes free-play, snack-time, art-time, and circle-time.
Lincoln Public Library
Story Time Classes:
Little Listeners Lapsit
Beginning Book Buddies
Call the Youth Services Department at (217-) 732-5732 for more information or to register. Class sessions run for approximately 6 - 8 weeks in the Fall, Winter/Spring, and Summer.