5 Easy At-Home Activities Inspired by Our Classrooms

Looking for simple, fun ways to keep your little one engaged at home? At Creative Corner School, we’re all about playful learning—and the good news is, many of the things we do in our classrooms are easy to recreate at home with just a few supplies and a little imagination. Here are five of our favorite kid-approved activities that blend creativity, learning, and fun!

1. Nature Collage Walk

Take a walk around your neighborhood or even your backyard and collect leaves, sticks, flowers, or small stones. Once you're home, glue them to a piece of cardboard or paper to create a beautiful nature collage. It's a fun way to talk about seasons, colors, and textures—plus, it gets kids outside and moving!

2. DIY Story Time Theater

After reading a favorite book, grab a few puppets (or stuffed animals!) and help your child act out the story. Kids love retelling what they’ve heard, and it’s a great way to build early literacy and language skills.

3. Sensory Bin Treasure Hunt

Fill a bin with rice, dried beans, or even water beads, and hide small toys or objects inside. Give your child a spoon or scoop and let them “dig” for treasure. We use sensory bins often at Creative Corner—they're calming, hands-on, and always a big hit.

4. Bubble Art Magic

Mix a little paint with bubble solution and blow bubbles onto paper (ideally outside—this one can get messy!). As the bubbles pop, they leave behind colorful prints. It’s science and art in one fun activity.

5. Frozen Toy Rescue

Freeze small toys in a container of water and challenge your child to “rescue” them using warm water, droppers, or even spray bottles. It’s a great activity for hot days, and it keeps little hands busy and minds curious.

P.S. Creative Corner School is currently enrolling! Schedule a tour today and see our beautiful school in Winchester, MA.

June 2021

HAPPY SUMMER!!

Happy Summer, CCS Families. It’s been awhile since we’ve blogged due to the pandemic. What a year and a half it has been. We are thrilled to be through the hardest part of Covid and so excited to be able to welcome you back into the school. Remember, for now, it’s one adult per child and adults must still be masked. We ask that you knock first and do not enter the classrooms. Finally, please exit the school from the back door. We are so very proud of our children, their families and our staff for their perseverance and adaptibilty during a difficult year and a half. We were fortunate to only have 5 covid cases and we believe this was due to the safety measures our staff consistently took. We look forward to brighter days ahead for everyone in our CCS family. We are excited to welcome new families to our school. Tremendous thanks for your cooperation and understanding of new policies throughout the pandemic. Here’s to a great summer and school year ahead.

February 2020 →

Making friends and interacting with peers is a constant goal at CCS.  We love helping children navigate the waters of friendship.  Each interaction (negative or positive) is helpful in teaching children how to be a good friend. Sometimes, the negative ones as are teachable moments.  According to Patrick Coleman, “Preschoolers are wired to play, but play is hard if they don’t have friends. Parents can help by asking pointed questions and trying not to worry too much.” Click here to read more…..   

In learning, 
Sam and Jeanne

How to help Preschoolers Make Friends

Preschoolers are wired to play, but play is hard if they don’t have friends. Parents can help by asking pointed questions and trying not to worry too much.

By Patrick A. Coleman

To read full article click here.

January 2020 →

Happy New Year, CCS Families.  A new year brings much excitement and possibility, but it can also bring some anxiety and apprehension especially in our children.  We recognize that transitioning into a new year and new schedule can be stressful at CCS and we work to make your children’s environment and schedule at CCS as seemless and worry free as possible.  The May Institute offers some helpful advice to help focus and ease your child into the new year.

Please let us know if there is anything specific we can do at CCS to help your child transition back.  

In learning,
Sam Russo

Routines and Schedules Can Ease the Transition into the New Year

By Jenna Garvey, M.Ed., BCBA, LABA
 
As another holiday season draws to a close, many of us are looking forward to getting back to our regular routines. This is not surprising! While end-of-the-year celebrations are often joyful and fun, they can also create stress. From Thanksgiving through New Year’s, we attend parties and mingle with family, friends, and strangers. Routines are disrupted as we fulfill family obligations, partake in celebrations, and engage in merriment.
 
This time of year can be especially stressful for children with autism and other special needs. For many, the holiday break is almost two weeks long. If there are a number of parties and family gatherings held during that time, these children will experience a major change in their typical routines.

Click here to read more.

December →

The Importance of Stories for Child Health

Stories Matter.  Telling them.  Listening to them.  Discussing them.  Dr. Steven Schlozman, MGH Clay Center Contributor and Staff Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at MGH, recommends parents:

• Encourage your children to create and to receive stories.

• Tell stories to your children often.

• Tell stories about family, about your traditions, and about each other.

• Listen to stories that others tell you.

• Protect the value of stories in your communities. 

  To read more or this article click here.

How lucky we are to have such an amazing resource in the MGH Clay Center.  For more educational articles and tools, be sure to follow them on Facebook too.  

In learning, 

Jeanne Sweazey

November →

As a mom and educator, I see anxiety in children play out in so many different behaviors. Sometimes I see children avoiding eye contact or being extremely clingy and other times it manifests itself in much more aggressive, more alarming behavior. Both behaviors can be really frustrating to deal with and require a lot of patience. This is where we as parents, grandparents and teachers play an important role. Recognizing both reactions to anxiety (avoidance/aggression) as anxiety and not reacting in a negative way to what is often deemed ’naughty’ behavior.

“An anxious brain is a strong, healthy brain that is a little overprotective.”

Overreacting to anxious behaviors with punitive discipline only exacerbates the situation and increases the anxiety inside each child. Taking a breath and encouraging the child to take a deep breath will go far in calming the anxiety. The calmer we are as caregivers in these moments of anxiety, the smoother the outcome. These extra steps take a lot of patience and a bit more time which can be hard when we’re racing off to work or to a meeting or appointment.

What are some of your tricks when helping to calm a child experiencing anxiety? Next month we’ll share some of our anxiety calming techniques used by our teachers at Creative Corner School.

In learning,
Christine Cronin

Anxiety or Aggression? When Anxiety in Children

Looks Like Anger, Tantrums, or Meltdowns

October →

Fred Rogers once said “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play IS serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” We couldn’t agree more with Mr. Rogers here at Creative Corner School. Our curriculum is a play-based curriculum and we focus on play in everything we do and teach. You’ll hear us talk about the importance of play often and you will also see it in so much of what we do. We are so glad our families value play as much as we do. If you haven’t experienced our play-based curriculum and would like to learn more, please give us a call and schedule a tour. In the meantime, here is an article supporting our philosophy of play-based learning.

In learning,
Christine Cronin

The Importance of Play in Preschool

SEPTEMBER →

How To Pick A Preschool
At Creative Corner School we understand how important it is to pick the right preschool for your child. As a parent myself, my husband and I spent a lot of time talking to other parents, asking questions, researching and touring schools and thinking about the best fit for our three children. Trust your gut and make sure it feels right after you’ve done all your homework. Don’t hesitate to ask a lot of questions and visit often. Bring your child to visit as well and make sure they feel comfortable too. Harvard offers advice for parents in the following article on how to pick a preschool.

In learning, Sam Russo

How to Pick a Preschool