Table of Contents
Preschool Basics
What is Preschool Stage
Understanding Preschoolers’ Development
How to Create Age-appropriate Activities
8 Easy and Fun Preschool Activities
Takeaways
Preschool Basics
Preschool is a formative year in which children combine learning and play. During a child’s preschool-age stage, they will undergo developmental milestones wherein they will discover a lot about themselves and interact with people around them, especially kids at the same age. During this stage, children should ride a tricycle, color play, use safety scissors, play with other children, make out the difference between girls and boys, help dress and undress themselves, and count and sing a song. At this stage, children can start to go to school not just to learn but also to have some fun.
What is Preschool Stage
The Preschool stage is where kids start being independent. It’s a sign that their sense of identity is now being formed. The characteristics, abilities, outlook, and values that they believe define them as a person apart from their primary caregivers start to develop. This is called “self-concept,” a stage wherein children have grasped the concept of the categorical self. It is a sure way of viewing themselves in “this or that” identity.
Understanding Preschoolers’ Development
As children grow into this early childhood stage, their world begins to open. Children learn to share and interact with other children and people around them. This shapes their personality and their own way of thinking and acting. Instead of just playing side by side, they’ll actually play with other kids, and they will want to discover their world more. Preschoolers are curious and they also become more aware of and sensitive to the feelings and actions of others. This, in turn, reduces the competition among other kids.
Preschoolers play with their friends now with cooperation wherein they can take turns and share toys in small groups or create teams in their games. And instead of throwing tantrums for something they want, they’ll learn the concept of asking and waiting at this stage. There could be a calmer play session and less aggressive behavior. Another milestone is that preschoolers can recognize that not everyone thinks exactly as they do. They can acknowledge that each of their playmates has their own unique identities and preferences that can be different from theirs. With that, your child will build friendships with certain kids according to his own attributes that they believe in sharing with them. As they establish these friendships, children learn that they each have unique qualities that make them likable.
How to Create Age-appropriate Activities
Preschoolers need activities that will help them develop critical motor and cognitive skills. Therefore, these kids will need an activity that they will enjoy while learning.
- It’s essential to choose appropriate activities specific for a child’s age wherein the child will not be bored or frustrated.
- Consider giving kids plenty of opportunities to be active. This can be a form of different activities to develop a particular skill. Preschoolers are super active. They run, leap, spin and climb. These physical activities help improve their health and make sure that their bodies can keep up. Regular physical activities help kids grow, build strong muscles and bones, develop essential motor and cognitive skills that make them feel good about themselves.
- Keep the focus on fun because preschoolers won’t do something they don’t enjoy. To keep activity fun, know what play is best for your child’s age group and make having an enjoyable time the top priority. When children have fun in an activity, they want to do it more. This allows mastering a skill to improve their capabilities and helps them feel accomplished. It boosts their self-esteem when their cooperation is noticed and praised. This often makes these preschoolers want to continue the activity and even try out others.
8 Easy and Fun Preschool Activities
When it comes to preschoolers, remember that the key to instilling a love of learning is disguising it with plenty of fun! There are many ways to get your child ready for preschool and here are some activity ideas to engage your kids!
- Name tracing practice- Making name writing practice can be a meaningful hands-on learning experience. Highlighters for tracing the letters! Writing their name over and over again in different colors makes it more fun!
- Sticky notes letter matching- Playing with the ABCs is more fun than stiff flashcards. Put it down and play with the different colors of the sticky notes matching the ABCs.
- Tactile shape cards- The distinctive bold, raised outlines permit tracing the shapes by touch. There are many ways to add texture to the cards to create a hands-on sensory learning activity. It’s a creative adaptation in learning for preschoolers to experience. Kids can trace the textured shapes with their fingers or use them for tracing practice. They learn best when they can feel, touch, or experience something
- Fingerprint math activities- Hands-on activities are best for preschoolers regarding math concepts. Kids instinctively use their fingers when counting, so these creative fingerprint math activities make learning math fun by incorporating their fingers using paint. With different paint colors, kids can leave their fingerprints to count objects.
- Alphabet rocks- If you or your kids have the time to collect 52 rocks, this uppercase and lowercase literacy activity could begin in the great outdoors. Wash the stones, and write an uppercase letter on one side, with the corresponding lowercase letter on the opposite side. Then show words or pictures on index cards, and challenge kids to recreate the word.
- Water gun activities- Kids can spray water at pieces of paper hanging on a fence. You can draw letters or shapes on paper as an exciting way to incorporate literacy learning. It is also an excellent activity to improve motor-skill, particularly hand and finger strength.
- Tearing paper activities- Provide some paper and show kids how to tear the paper into tiny pieces to create collages or art projects from the torn sheets. Kids can have a good opportunity to practice fine motor skills while having some fun.
- Playdough activities- This fun activity is a motivating tool to build hand strength. Using clays provides an opportunity for them to practice smooshing, squeezing, pinching and rolling motions. There are also endless ways to create playdough activities for your kids, such as shape and character making.
Takeaways
In preschool, it’s important to blend in learning activities with the usual fun and games. Preschoolers love an activity where they can explore and discover new things. That’s how these kids learn. Kids who are not only able to read and write but also love doing so are made and it starts early in childhood by building their experience as they grow.
