Everyone has their work to do, and for young children that work is the business of play. Play is how children learn about the world, how they develop social skills, and also gross and fine motor skills. When ever children are playing, you can be assured they are learning at the same time.
Your preschool can help boost a child’s early learning by offering activities that encourage kids to practice these early skills. Here are just a few of them.
Story Time!
Studies show that children start developing literacy skills early—much earlier than their first year of school. In fact, there’s some evidence that children may even start developing those skills prenatally.
Children benefit greatly from being read to, and there’s nothing they love more than sitting at circle time while a fun new book is read to them.
I Spy
Do you remember riding in the car on a long road trip, playing “I Spy” to pass the time? It’s also a great game for children to develop critical thinking skills. I Spy helps children learn through listening to hints and trying to categorize the world around them through the hints given.
Sensory Exploration Play
There’s nothing young children love more than burying their hands in different textures. When they are babies, this might be their food, but as they grow older, sensory bins become a popular replacement.
Sensory bins include things like kinetic sand, rice, or even shredded paper. Sometimes they have toys buried in them. Children love playing in the different mediums, and it’s good for both fine and gross motor skills.
Sensory bins can also be used to teach a variety of other lessons as well, from math to colors to shapes and sizes.
Block Play
What better medium for the budding architect than a set of blocks? Blocks are an amazing tool for learning, that can help develop a number of skills. The youngest learners may start with sharpening the motor skills needed to put one block on top of another.
As children grow and develop, they learn how to create tall towers, how supports may be helpful, and so much more. Blocks foster imaginative play, critical thinking, and even teamwork skills.
Art and Painting
Before children learn to form letters and numbers, they get practice on pencil grip and fine motor skills through drawing and painting. Art is a wonderful way to help children unlock their creativity, while also practicing those all-important skills they will need later.
Art can help children learn in so many different ways. Some of these skills are quite advanced—what happens when you mix two primary colors together? Every time they open a new box or bottle of paint, learn what new color is called, or ask to pass that pink crayon, they’re learning a needed skill.
A great preschool has activities throughout the day aimed at helping children develop their skills. When you see a classroom filled with happy children playing, you’re seeing a classroom filled with early learning.
