Whether it’s getting a good night’s sleep or a good nap in, what parent doesn’t wish for their child to sleep well? We’ve all been on the other end of an over-tired kidlet–it’s no fun for anyone! And sure, that wish may not be all altruistic, but getting to that place where everyone can sleep well isn’t always easy!
Hey What’s Happening?
I have one grandbub who suffers from FOMO–fear of missing out. When he’s at daycare, he’s much more interested in what’s going on with any and everyone else than trying to take some time to rest let alone sleep!
But instead of FOMO maybe your kiddo’s like I was and it’s more FEAR. When I was younger (a lot) I wasn’t visually challenged. The one sense that’s always been exceptional for me though has been my hearing. Couple my near dog-like hearing with an overactive imagination and you can understand how there was many a sleepless night!
Give Cues..
To ease into slumber it’s often helpful to start using consistent cues. Signal it’s time for sleep, with this classic nursery rhyme: Wee Willie Winkie.
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown;
Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,
“Are the children all in bed, for now it’s eight o’clock?”
In this is old Scottish nursery rhyme it’s Wee Willie Winkie, rather than the Sandman, helping children fall asleep.
Note: The paired,colored words rhyme.
If the snoozing hasn’t started after Wee Willie Winkie, try adding this story so all in your house will sleep well!
READ: The Napping House by Audrey Wood.
This has all the aspects for a fantastic children’s story–repetition and silly scenarios! Repetition to help your kiddo start reading along and silly scenarios that’ll have them forgetting about any fears or anxieties they might have. It’s time to get cozy, cuddle up, READ and remember to send them off with a kiss to sleep well!
Add Motivation…
Give your kidlet added incentive to their best to sleep well. Offer to do one or both of following activities after their nap or maybe the next day after a good night’s sleep!
Enrich the PLAY: Creative Arts, Watercolor Resist
ASK: What did the dreaming child bring along when climbing on top of the snoring granny? (blanket) Think about what your favorite blanket would look like.
Materials Needed:
White Construction Paper
Crayons
Watercolors–dark colors, like blue and purple, to indicate the night sky or a dark room
Paint Brush(es)
Cup of Water
Paper Towels
Instructions:
• Have your kidlet use crayons to draw their favorite blanket–it can be on a bed or not; with them in the bed, under the blanket or not!
• After the crayon drawing is complete, bring out the watercolors for the resist
NOTE: Resist means that the crayon will repel water color away from it
• Let your child use the watercolors to paint over the entire paper
• Highlight, if they don’t notice, that the watercolor doesn’t cover/stay on the crayon sections
• Let dry
Extend the PLAY: Manipulating Numbers
As the bed in The Napping House takes on more and more sleepers the total number of feet increases….I’m talking actual feet not the 12 inches that make up a foot feet! In this activity your kiddo will count and use ‘groups of’ terminology, laying down the foundation for multiplication.
Materials Needed:
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
White Construction Paper–divided into 5 sections, horizontally
Footprints–see below; copy & cut out as many sets as needed
Glue Stick
Instructions:
• Re-read The Napping House
• During the reading, when someone/something sleeps on the bed have your kiddo add those footprints to the chart–starting from the bottom and working up! Feel free label the level of who feel asleep, reinforcing written word to spoken word.
• Just before the flea comes into the story, your child’s chart should look something like this:
Instructions: continued
• Point to the place on your chart when granny was sleeping on the bed and ASK: How many were on the bed? (1)
Can you tell me how many feet you think were on the bed? (2)
Comment: There was 1 group of 2 feet Have your kiddo count the 2 feet
• Again, point to the place on your chart when the child was sleeping on the bed and ASK: How many are on the bed now? (2)
Let’s find out many feet are on the bed.
• If your kiddo is having trouble visualizing this with their chart–use the pictures in the book to count how many people are on the bed. (2)
• Comment the dreaming child is on top of the snoring granny so there would be this pair of feet for granny and this pair of feet for the child pointing to their chart and note:
There are 2 groups of 2 feet
• Ask your kiddo to count with you to find out how many feet there are altogether
→ so 2 groups of 2 equals 4
Separating the Characters…
• Now we’ll take a break from people and review the animals sleeping in The Napping House
ASK: Point to the place on your chart when the dog was sleeping on the bed–how many animals were on the bed? (1) Let’s find out many feet are on the bed
Comment: There was 1 group of 4 feet Have your kiddo count the 4 feet
• Similarly, point to the place on your chart when the cat was sleeping on the bed. How many animals are on the bed now? (2) Let’s find out many feet are on the bed.
• Again, if your kiddo is having trouble visualizing this with their chart–use the pictures in the book to find and count how many animal are on the bed. (2)
• Comment the snoozing cat is on top of the dozing dog, so there would be this set of feet for the dog and this set of feet for the cat pointing to their chart and note:
There are 2 groups of 4 feet
• Ask your kiddo to count with you to find out how many feet there are altogether
→ so 2 groups of 4 equals 8
• Follow the same procedure to add the mouse for 3 groups of 4!
EXTEND the LEARNING: Adding ALL Sleepers’ feet
• Have your kiddo name all the sleepers on the cozy bed ( granny, child, dog, cat, mouse–if they add the adjectives describing them that’s fantastic, but not necessary)
• Parrot their answer back to them* as you count them out on your fingers:
Yes, there was granny, the child, the dog, cat and mouse. That makes how many sleeping?
(Show them your hand holding up all 5 fingers)
*Of course, if they don’t remember all the characters refer to the book AND if they need help counting, count aloud together!
• With 5 sleeping on the bed… How many are people? (2) How many are animals? (3)
That means: 2 + 3 = 5
• ASK: I wonder how many feet there are altogether–with all the people AND all the animals? Do you have any ideas how we could find out?
• ACCEPT ALL ANSWERS! Give some a try!!
• Remind your kiddo how many feet the dog had (4)–ask if they remember how many the cat and mouse had.
→ That makes 3 groups of 4 feet
• Ask your kidlet if they remember how many people were on the bed and how many feet each one of them had.
→ That makes 2 groups of 2 feet
• When both the animals and people are combined it would be
3 groups of 4 feet AND 2 groups of 2 feet or,
pictorially:
• Count all the feet together! (16)
Make the math activity even more meaningful by applying it to your own family!
ASK: How many people sleep in our Napping House? You might want to start off by only counting actual people OR you may let your kiddo add your pets in straightaway and figure out how many groups of each type’s feet there are! In either case they’ll gain a greater appreciation for the process when it’s connected to something they can relate to and, hopefully, by the end will have tired enough to sleep well. The next day try one of these other free learning activities!
Yours in Play!
Teacher Karen