Developmental Appropriate Planning Activity

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Science/Sensory 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood -5 

Goal	Dancing spaghetti  The aim of the activity is to help the child witness the reaction of a spaghetti to a mixture of water and baking soda.
Materials	Pieces of spaghetti  Water  Baking soda  Glass
Teaching Strategy/Process	Practical  The teacher or a parent should engage the learner in this activity that will trigger sensory reaction from the learner. The activity involves mixing water and baking soda in a glass. Then dip a spaghetti in the mixture. Some bubbles form around the spaghetti making it to dance and which elicits happy emotions from the child.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate 

The spaghetti activity is not only sensory for the learners but also makes them develop some useful skills that will help them in life. Firstly, scientific activities like the one above creates awareness to the children that it is possible to have certain reactions emancipating from specific practices that enhances development of essential skills in life. Secondly, science activities such as the spaghetti experiment is essential because it enables the child to create individual interpretation about specific occurrences in life ( Guo, Piasta, & Bowles, 2015). The child will be required to observe and identify the activity that takes place when the spaghetti is dipped in the mixture. Consequently, the learner will have to ensure that he or she gains the capability to engage in the activity without divulging the attention to something different. Such is an essential skills in real life because the child will grow understanding the importance of paying attention to details to achieve the best results. Moreover, it is likely that the learner develops an exploratory behavior that will enable the child develop an attitude of engaging in scientific activities. Therefore, the activity can be a background for an individual’s career based on the interest developed during such an activity. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Language and Literacy 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood – 6 years 

Goal	Give a child a wordless book and require them to read or interpret the pictures.  The goal of the activity is to facilitate the child in developing communication skills that will help them in expressing feelings and ideas as they engage in social interactions.
Materials	Wordless picture books
Teaching Strategy/Process	Oral story telling- The teacher will identify a specific page that has a wordless picture and require the preschoolers to observe it and conceptualize on the message communicated through the pictures. The teacher will then require the learner to narrate the message orally.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Language development requires that a student should acquire listening, comprehension, and speaking skills since they play an essential role for the child to be an effective communicator. Using wordless pictures is essential in developing these skills because the teacher manages to identify activities that are culturally right, for instance, by using pictures of practices they can associate with while at home. Moreover, the teacher has an option of identifying an activity that will be relevant to an individual learner by learning what the child does or exercises during play time. Consequently, it will be easier for the child to comprehend about the activity shown in picture and accurately interpret it. The child will be able to express what he or she visualizes from the images through talking, which will develop speaking skills for the child. The teacher can decide to ask some questions about the visual image as a way of enhancing engagement between the two parties and the learner will also develop his speaking skills. Consequently, the child will enhance language development by learning activities that enhances the capability of the learner to be more eloquent while communicating with peers. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Creativity 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood – 5 

Goal	Sequencing events and patterns in form of drawing  The activity targets to facilitate a child’s cognitive development by promoting simple reasoning and the capability of the learner to understand the cause of particular effects, which can be useful in sharpening problem solving skills.
Materials	A paper with drawn patterns and some dashes left for the student to fill  A pencil that the learner will use in completing a pattern sequence
Teaching Strategy/Process	Drawing prompt: The teacher will draw some sequence pictures demonstrating a specific pattern that the learner should complete. The teacher will expect that the student will identify the sequence and complete it. The capability of a child to complete such sequences indicates creativity.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Using pattern sequences is essential because it helps the learners to develop their creativity as they figure out the events taking place from the drawing pictorials. The child will demonstrate creativity by being able to draw an accurate preceding pattern following the information and also manage to progress with the pattern. Pattern sequences have multiple benefits linked to creativity because the child not only gets the ability to understand the origin of a certain sequence, but also gain ability to make logical connections and reasoning. It is essential to note that even though pattern sequencing is common while teaching learners Mathematics, such scenarios are also common in real life. Teachers, parents, and guardians must ensure that they identify such sequences and engage their children into learning about them. Learning about patterns will enable children to familiarize with changes within the society and implement them to identify suitable solutions and implement them. Consequently, the creativity gained by the learner at this age will be useful in problem solving later in life. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Fine motor (please choose an indoor activity) 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood – 4 years 

Goal	Painting  The aim of the activity is to enable a child to develop coordination between eyes and using hands because it gives them an opportunity to get messy and be use hands to engage in activity that does not require a lot of strength.
Materials	Colors  A plain paper  A desk
Teaching Strategy/Process	Practical  The teacher will require a child to paint a plain people with some colors. Alternatively, the teacher might consider giving the learner an image drawn on a plain paper and ask them to paint it. The teacher must demonstrate what the child is required to do to ensure that the activity flows on smoothly.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Engaging in activities to gain fine motor skills is essential because it targets the fine muscles that enables an individual to move fingers, thumbs, and control the movement of the hand. Moreover, the painting activity will also require the child to keenly observe the item being drawn to ensure that he does not mess with the image and achieves the best results from the particular activity. Consequently, the acquired skills from engaging in the activity enables the learner to be independent especially in activities that require such skills. For instance, the child will be able to feed by themselves, play with toys, write, draw, and zip one’s clothes. Activities such as painting that helps in developing fine motor skills are essential because they enable children acquire strength and dexterity required in engaging in some other activities in the future. Therefore, parents and teachers should encourage their children to undertake such practices. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Gross motor (please choose an outdoor activity) 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood – 4 years 

Goal	Playing hopscotch  The aim of the activity is to enable the child to develop body balance and coordination as he or she jumps up and down.
Materials	Masking tape or chalk  Items to use as markers for parties playing. It can include pebbles, buttons, and bottle caps
Teaching Strategy/Process	Practical  Teaching a child how to play hopscotch involves a practical lesson since the teacher must demonstrate how to play the game. Moreover, the teacher will also have to be present as the child plays to provide guidance until the kid masters how to play the entire game.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Playing the hopscotch game is essential for a 4-year old kid because it enables the individual develop his or her gross motor skills which are effective in strengthening the body. Gross motor skills influence what the children will prefer to engage in on a daily basis depending with the effectiveness of the previous lessons. A child develops muscle strength by engaging in such an outdoor activity that will require them to jump up and down. Moreover, the activity is essential in ensuring that the child leads a more healthy life due to the regular exercise of the body ( Hestbaek et al., 2017). Consequently, it is unlikely that such a child will develop some illnesses such as obesity that are influenced by lifestyle choices. Furthermore, the child will learn how to balance and coordinate various parts of the body when engaging in the activity, which will be effective in ensuring that the child learns to be the best version of themselves. Such activities have a great connection with other physical activities that an individual might choose to indulge with. Developing gross motor skills is essential when a child is still young because it prepares and strengthens the body to engage in more complex activities in future. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Self Concept 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood – 4 years 

Goal	Learn how to dress and zip coats  Learning how to dress and zip coats is an essential activity for preschoolers because the children learn something that they will need on their daily lives.
Materials	Pieces of clothes; dress or a pair of trousers, shirt, sweater, jacket, socks, and shoes.
Teaching Strategy/Process	Practical  The teacher will require the learner to do the activities by themselves with minimum assistance by given. However, the teacher should consider to refresh the mind of the learners by dressing a doll or one of the learners as the others observe. Later, the teacher will require each of the learner to put on the clothes by themselves.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Self-concept refers to the thoughts and beliefs that an individual child develops about his own abilities, beliefs, and behavior. Consequently, it is essential to develop a self-concept to a child at an early age so that he or she develops confidence and self-esteem. Parents, guardians, and teachers have the responsibility of building self-concept among children at an early age. It can be achieved by teaching the child to carry out some activities by themselves, demonstrate the act first before asking the child to repeat, avoid criticism, and praise the child when he or she does well. Teaching a child on how to dress themselves brings a positive attitude about one’s capabilities and enhances the self-esteem of the learner. Developing self-concept gives the parent an opportunity to showcase to the learner about individual abilities by using positive words to commend the kid for performing exemplary well. Developing self-concept enables the child to gain a sense of entitlement where the learner feels in control of some activities. Moreover, developing self-concept is vital because the learner will have an opportunity to become independent in some activities. Therefore, teaching a child to dress-up by themselves at the age of 4 is significant in developing the learner’s self-concept. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Emotional Skills/ Regulation 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood - 5 

Goal	Practice on how to identify emotions and feelings  The goal of the activity will be to expose the child to different emotions and how an individual is likely to react to specific emotions.
Materials	Facial images and pictures of individuals showing varying emotions.
Teaching Strategy/Process	Discussion forum  The teacher will require the learners to attach an emotion to a certain image shown to them. For instance, the picture might show a happy, angry, hungry, laughing, crying, and scared faces. Moreover, the teacher will also require the learners to demonstrate these emotions using their own facial reactions.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Teaching preschoolers on emotional skills is critical because it creates an opportunity to ensure that children engage in the most appropriate activities and become the best version of themselves. Furthermore, developing emotional skills is essential because it determines the nature of relationships that the child will develop with other people. By being able to associate a certain facial expression with an emotion or a feeling, a child will be able to identify when the peers exhibit the same emotions. Moreover, it is essential to encourage the preschoolers to be empathetic to others since they will grow up demonstrating the same signs upon growth. Furthermore, developing emotional skills creates an opportunity for the teacher to expose to the children the likely activities that are likely to result into specific emotions. Consequently, the child is likely to be careful not to engage in practices that will make another child cry or harm them. Similarly, the teacher should take the opportunity to teach the learners about emotional regulation for an individual to become sober during one’s daily activities. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Social Skills 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood - 6 

Goal	Play soccer  The aim of the activity is to enable children to converse amongst themselves and be able to derive solutions to a certain activity to satisfaction.
Materials	A ball  Playing gears
Teaching Strategy/Process	Practical  The activity will require the learner to converse with the teammates while playing to achieve the intended goal. The engagement involved while playing the games will increase the likelihood for the child to achieve communication skills which are essential in social interactions.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Developing social skills among preschoolers is an essential practice that enhances the capability of the learner to interact with other people and create friendship. For instance, the children will learn that engaging in effective communication requires them to take turns in speaking because they cannot understand each other if they all talk at the same time. Furthermore, the children will learn to listen to others before they can give their responses about various issues. Based on this concept, children will grow to become better communicators in the future. Moreover, it is likely that during the interactions such conflicts will arise among the kids, which creates an opportunity to teach them about mannerism. For instance, the children will learn that when they do wrong to other people, they are required to apologize using the words “I am sorry.” Similarly, the children will learn to show gratitude to their friends by utilizing the words “Thank you,” especially after receiving a favor from their peers. Creating such a foundation for the child’s social life when they are still young will enhance the capability of the learners to be better individuals after they are fully grown. 

Content Area or Developmental Focus: Math 

Age/Grade of Children: For the Early Childhood -5 

Goal	Play color sorting mat  The aim of the game is to enable the learner get conversant with numbers by identifying the number of items that have a specific similar color. The activity will enable the child practice counting numbers.
Materials	A playing mat  Colored mumbles
Teaching Strategy/Process	Individually tailored activities  The teacher will require each learner to have all the materials required for this activity and require them to sort the mumbles depending with their colors and place them to their respective area.

Explain specifically how the above activity is developmentally appropriate: 

Playing color sorting mat is an effective game that will enable preschoolers to develop their Math’s skills. The activity will require the child to utilize reasoning skills to identify mumbles that share the same color and put them in their respective area. Furthermore, the learner will have to count the mumbles and indicate the total number there are for every color. Such an activity is interesting for the learner because children will enjoy sorting the colors. On the other hand, counting the mumbles enables the learner to exercise with number work and derive the preferred results. It is essential that the learner should carry out the activity alone but after being equipped with some knowledge about numbers. Such a measure is effective because it ensures that the learners are not frustrated as they count numbers and engage in practices that enable them to progress with the activity flawlessly ( Raghubar & Barnes, 2017). Math is an essential subject in both academics and real life and teaching children such skills during their preschool age creates a good foundation to introduce the subject later in life. Furthermore, acquiring Math skills equips the learner with other essential life skills such as the ability to solve problems and assess individual awareness on a particular subject. 

References 

Guo, Y., Piasta, S. B., & Bowles, R. P. (2015). Exploring preschool children's science content knowledge.  Early education and development ,  26 (1), 125-146. 

Hestbaek, L., Andersen, S. T., Skovgaard, T., Olesen, L. G., Elmose, M., Bleses, D., ... & Lauridsen, H. H. (2017). Influence of motor skills training on children’s development evaluated in the Motor skills in PreSchool (MiPS) study-DK: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial, nested in a cohort study.  Trials ,  18 (1), 1-11. 

Raghubar, K. P., & Barnes, M. A. (2017). Early numeracy skills in preschool-aged children: a review of neurocognitive findings and implications for assessment and intervention.  The Clinical Neuropsychologist ,  31 (2), 329-351.