Ready. Set. Luau.

Our Hawaiian themed Learn and Play was a fun filled morning! Families arrived early and were able to play until others showed up, this allowed children to begin building friendships! When we were ready to get started, we opened with everyone saying their name when they caught the beach ball and tell us something they enjoy doing, then throw the beach ball to another person. This provided time for listening and time for sharing.

During the Luau we facilitated many fine motor activities including making leis, grass skirts, and a palm tree. We made leis with string, noodles, and construction paper flowers. Participants measured their own necklaces out of yarn, colored noodles with crayons, and then cut out paper flowers.  Finally, they were able to string them all together and tie a knot for a necklace!  Did you know that by strengthening fine motor skills during Learn & Plays we are helping strengthen muscles needed for writing in the future? We are always turning belief into achievement here at GiGi’s! Making a grass skirt consisted of cutting their waist width out of plastic tablecloth and then cutting it into strips before tying it to form a skirt!  Everyone that made their own grass skirts and leis were excited to wear them and dance around in them. Children love to have fun with new crafts, it allows them to gain new skills and learn new tasks.Lastly, we made palm trees by tracing participant’s hands onto construction paper, cutting them out and stapling them to toilet paper rolls as trunks.

We worked in gross motor activities during our Luau with coconut bowling and pin the coconut on the palm tree. The kids really enjoyed pinning the coconut on the palm tree, which is a perfect example of learning disguised as play. During play the kids were not only having fun but also working on their listening skills as they followed directions blindfolded. It was also inspiring to see siblings encouraging each other during the activity.

We hope to see you here next time for our Musical themed Learn & Play in July!