preschool play for lifetime learning
I have always been a believer that the best learning happens when kids are doing something that matters. Like cooking, cleaning, or, in this case, sorting laundry.
This is a great activity for your preschooler, because they can learn a lot of things – first, they are practicing sorting (and this is beyond just sorting by ‘color’ because they have to use classifiers like ‘light’ and ‘dark’ and ‘bright’). Second, they are learning that their clothes don’t just magically go from the laundry basket to their drawers. 
I have let my kids load the washer and the dryer since they were big enough to sit up on top of the dryer (top loading washer + dirty clothes + baby = baby putting things in a container – and what baby doesn’t enjoy doing that!) but now V is old enough to learn how to sort laundry, so sometimes they help me sort the laundry. J likes to help, too, but we have to tell her where each piece of laundry goes. She’s learning, though, and can sometimes do a few on her own.
What “real life” activities do you do with your kids? How do they learn doing every day activities? Do you let them help with the dishes? Sort the laundry? Mop the floor? What concepts do you see them learning as they participate in daily life at home?
I think one of the best ways to teach your kids about the earth is to let them play in it!
We took a trip to the local nursery in the spring and the kids got to pick out their own flowers, then we came home and planted them! It was a lot of fun, and the kids had a great time watching them grow.
Children like to work – to them, it is play. If we can capitalize on that, then we can help them grow to love work even as adults. 
Most work for me is play because my mother let work be my play, and now my favorite thing to do is go out and work in the yard, or build something, or write something, or solve a problem.
The best way to keep children happy “at work” is to provide child-sized tools for them to use in their work. When we bought our home, we had to go out and buy yard tools (shovels, rakes, etc). In our car on the way home were child-sized versions of the adult-sized tools we had just purchased. It is imporant that their tools are as high quality and of the same material we would buy. The yard tools we bought for the kids are made out of metal, not plastic. But you can expect them to work with a plastic shovel. You would never think of it. Having “real” tools requires a lot more adult supervision than most people like to give their children – for us it just happens, because we are always supervising our children.
What life-like, child-sized tools do you provide your children? Do they have child-sized kitchen utensils? Shop tools? Cleaning tools? How are you capitalizing on your child’s play?
Ever since I saw the sensory tubs over at No Time For Flash Cards, I have been in love. I think they are a fabulous idea, and I knew that Little E would love them. So I decided to start with this one, since it went along well with our theme of plants and flowers and gardens this month.
You can look over at No Time for Flash Cards for the materials, and I basically got what she had in hers.
I had large white lima beans (I forgot to get some green ones – bummer), white beans (great northern beans), orange lentils (which were actually “red lentils” at WinCo), and some mini farfali (Bowtie pasta). I added some split peas and regular lentils from my own stash of beans, and I found the little pots at the craft store. The little tiny ones were super cute, and I thought they would be easy to use for little hands.
Turns out they were perfect for scooping the mix up into the bigger pots, and Baby even joined in the fun (she loved this activity!)
Little E loved scooping “all the stuff” into the big pot using the little pot. I tried to encourage sorting by saying, “I’m going to put just the small white beans into my pot.” and then proceeding to sort, but he didn’t really seem interested at first.
Persistence pays off, though, and eventually he started sorting, too! “The big pot is for the big white beans.”
To add a little math, I put five small white beans into a small pot, and five large white beans into another small pot and asked “Which pot has more beans?” to which he (developmentally appropriately) responded, the pot with the big beans. I then suggested, “Why don’t we line them up together to make sure.” So we practiced one-to-one correspondence and number conservation with our number of the month (5!)
Later after Baby went down for a nap, E kept playing with the tub and would bring me a pot full of one type of something (bean, pasta, etc) and would ask, “How many are in here?” to which I would respond by counting with him. The time he brought over the pasta, he had fifteen pieces, and he said, “Fifteen is this many.” and held up three fingers. Ha ha. So I held up both of my hands, fingers spread, and had him hold up one of his hands, and I told him “Fifteen is both of my hands and one of your hands!” “That’s a lot!” Little E replied.
Love this kid. Such a smarty smart.
On the left, he had finished sorting his lima beans so he put a bunch of other “stuff” on top – because that “finished” it off… on the right, he planted a “seed” and a “flower” grew. Little pot = “flower”.
This tub was a great idea!
Have you tried sensory tubs? Do you have posts on your blog of sensory posts that you could share? I would love to see more sensory tubs! These things are awesome!!
I wish I could remember where I first saw this idea. It was probably listed on a Link & Learn over at No Time for Flash Cards, but I can’t find the link, and don’t really feel like searching through a bazillion blog posts right now. The kids are cranky.
We haven’t really been doing much with letters. We talk about them all the time and talk about the sounds, and I write letters for E and show him how to write them, but there hasn’t really been a method to our letter madness. I have finally decided to make our letter learning a little more structured.
Today we made a “letter box” right now it is just an unused drawer from one of my storage drawers in the craft/preschool room, but it will eventually be replaced with something more permanent.
We taped the “letter of the week” on the box and found things that start with the letter “B” (since he doesn’t know how to write or read yet, we went mostly by sound, which will make C, S, and K tricky, but we will probably skip those and come back to them as sounds instead of individual letters).
To “prep” for finding things for the box, I first wrote the letter B on our whiteboard and then had him help me come up with things that start with B. I drew pictures of the things we named (bumblebee, bump, and ball). Then I sent my little Einstein to find things from his toy box that started with “B.” He walked off saying to himself “Buh, buh, buh, buh…” and then I heard, rather excitedly, “Bunkbed!” He ran back to me and said “Bunkbed starts with buh!!!” I congratulated him on his find, and then reminded him that his bunkbed would probably not fit in the “Buh box” so he would need to find some more things. He came back with some blocks, saying “I can make a bunk bed!” I redirected his thinking and mentioned that he had some blocks and I asked him what sound “block” starts with. He caught on pretty quick and said “Buh!! B!” and threw them in the box. He did pretty well after that and came back almost immediately with a baby bottle, which he actually referred to as a “bebida” which means “drink” in Portuguese but is the word we use for a sippy cup. Hey, good enough for me, so we put it in our box. He eventually came back with a book and a ball, and I helped him find a bowl and a bag. He found a boot on his own as we passed the shoe basket with our box on our way upstairs. And if you look closely in the box, you will find a colander, which does not start with B (neither do the other names for it – strainer or sieve) – but E didn’t pick it for that name. He put it in the box because, “It’s a bump!” Hey, who am I to tell him it’s not a bump?
We’ll keep the “Letter Box” upstairs where he can see it, and hopefully each day we can talk about the things that are in the box.
I know we’re making progress with letters and sounds, because he will constantly make a sound and ask me what letter makes that sound. I will take that as a sign that he understands what letters are for (they represent sounds). I never thought he would be asking me what letter stands for the sound he is making – I guess I always thought he would be asking me what sound a letter makes. It’s interesting how every child’s brain works a little differently. Either way, I’m super happy that he is learning sounds, and that he is associating them with letters. I think he may indeed be on the brink of learning to read. We’ll just keep working on getting all the sounds down, and then we’ll start putting together some combinations.
How did you learn letters and sounds? What letter/sound activities do you do with your kids?
The weather around here has been less than ideal for outside play, but my kids love playing with water, and I wanted to do this activity since it’s been raining and snowing a lot, to talk about different temperatures of water. Our water in the summer comes from the snow pack in the mountains, and so even in the summer, the water is very cold.
This activity was pretty fun. I didn’t get into too much depth with the temperature thing, but I did let them feel the water to at least introduce the concept. I had three bins of water – one with ice water, one with room temperature water, and one with warm water. I had them put their hands in the room temperature water, which they said was “cold” (anything that isn’t hot to them is cold) and then into the ice water which was really cold, and then back into the room temperature water, which was then “hot” – then into the hot water, and back into the room temperature water. We talked a little bit about how the water just feels cold after the hot water, or warm after the cold water – it didn’t actually change at all.
Then I just gave them a bunch of utensils and let them dump the water from bucket to bucket, mixing all the water, moving the ice around, etc. They actually did a lot of good discovery things.
It didn’t take long for the ice to be in all three buckets.
They discovered scooping the ice with the wire sieve would only pick up the ice, and not the water. Baby was enjoying using the ladle to scoop the water into the sieve for a while before I noticed… she didn’t really get it that the water wasn’t staying in the sieve. I swapped it out for a plastic container before she got too much water on the floor.
This was probably the best part – when Little E was dumping water into the bucket, he noticed that when he dumped it from higher up it made a bigger splash. He even made the observation and told me about it before I even said anything. I love watching these kids learn! They soak up so much information, all we have to do is provide a fun learning environment!
I just bought this IKEA toy at a thrift store for $2.50. Even at over 50% savings, that’s probably more than I should have paid for it – but every time we go to IKEA, it’s the one toy I have to pry my kids away from. I’ve been meaning to grab one, so I was thrilled when I found it at the thrift store.
I love non-plastic, whimsical looking toys for my kids. And I love toys that help their physical and mental development. These hammer toys are so simple, but they can (and do) actually get a lot out of them. Not to mention that they could hammer for hours on end, and it’s not nearly as annoying as them banging pots and pans (another favorite pastime).
I should write a post soon about toys, but for now, I’m just going to link up to a few of my favorite toy-related posts:
A Parent’s Tip Sheet for Owning Fewer Toys – by Josh Becker from becoming minimalist
Seeking Simplicity: Child’s Play is a Job Well Done – from Kitchen Stewardship
Classic Toys – by Tsh at SimpleMom
Why Fewer Toys Will Benefit Your Kids – by Josh Becker from becoming minimalist
Several years ago, I had a religious instructor who I dearly love. He was a Christ like example to me in just about everything. He is the one who taught me how to be a good parent.
When I got married, he gave me a book of essays that he had edited along with another author. For a little background, this instructor has a Ph.D. in marriage and family relations, was an associate professor at the Utah State University, and is now a Professor and Family Life Specialist with the University of Arkansas Coorperativer Extension Service. You can check out his website here at DrWally.org (we called him Uncle Wally).
In this book, one of the biggest things that spoke to me was when Dr Wally mentioned that often, as parents, we “erroneously assign motives to our children.” How often have you thought that your child wanted to make your life miserable, or wanted to spite you, and that was why they were throwing that tantrum in the middle of the grocery store?
Dr Wally says that “as adults we credit children with the manipulative and devious motives that we see in ourselves and most other[s]…” The problem with this is that we know that babies are born innocent into this world. Some religions may teach that infants are fallen and need to be baptized, but I think that most of the Christian and religious world (and even the secular world) believes that babies, by their very nature, are innocent.
Children are precious, innocent, little angels that have been placed in our care – and we have a very serious, very important responsibility to love, protect, and teach these children.
Dr Wally reminds us that “when we get past our judgments and assumptions about our children and when we approach them humbly, we are able to love and bless them.”
And my favorite quote from him: “Our automatic reactions in [this] world are almost always wrong.”
This brings me back to my post last week about not saying “no” to your children. How are you doing? This week, try to stop when you feel your “automatic reaction” to your children’s behavior. Because whatever that auto-response is, it is probably wrong. Let’s remember that our children are precious and it is our responsibility to teach them and “train them up.”
We say “No” to our children entirely too often for my taste. Especially the little ones. Is it any wonder that the first word of many babies is “no”? With my first, I was always very careful not to say “no” to him. If he was getting into something he shouldn’t be getting into, I would redirect him and show him something he could get into. (For example, if he was trying to pull out the glass bowls, I would show him the plastic ones, trying to make them look infinitely more appealing than the glass ones – then I would push the glass bowls farther back in the cupboard).
I don’t know if it’s because I am older and so I’ve forgotten a little more what it was like to be a child, or if it’s because I have two children, or if it’s because we moved five times last year and drove half way across the country for four of those moved, or what – but I say “No” a lot more. Especially with my baby. Which is ironic.
So, I am going on a “No” strike.
I am going to try my hardest NOT to tell my children “No.”
Now for those of you worrying that I am going to spoil my children, I didn’t say that I was going to allow my children to do anything they wanted to or get anything they want. But there are better ways to stop undesirable behavior than saying “No” all the time, and I want to experiment and see if it makes my children more obedient and me less stressed.
Think about it. If you’re doing something someone doesn’t want you to do and they say “Stop that right now!” you would probably get frustrated – not to mention embarrassed. But what if they said “Hey, could you come over here and help me with this thing? If you keep doing that, ____ is going to happen.” (fill in the blank with the reason why you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing). It is also helpful, I think, to talk about why that thing happening is undesirable. Face it, if you tell a two year old not to throw something on the floor because it will shatter into a million pieces, they will probably throw it on the ground. But if you say “Why don’t we put that glass bowl up here on the counter. If we drop it an it breaks, we won’t be able to mix our cakes (cookies, etc) in it.” And then, immediately act – that is, if said child isn’t obeying right away, gently guide their hands to put the bowl where you want it (use only as much force as is necessary to get them to do it – you may not even have to touch them, they might just need you near them to do it.
Here is a real life example from this morning. I bought some cheap plastic planters from the store to repot my poinsettias, and they were sitting out while we were cutting out letters (more about that later). Well, empty buckets are just begging to be stepped in, so in go the feet. At first I wanted to yell “No! Get your feet out of my planters!” in a really stern tone. And I got as far as “No” before I remembered that I’m trying not to do that. So I said, “These pots aren’t for stepping in. If we step in them, they might break, and then we wouldn’t be able to put our plants in them” (since I had promised earlier that the kids could help plant the poinsettias, this was very effective). And then rather than stopping there, I said, “Why don’t we sort our letters into the buckets?” which was met with enthusiasm and we sorted letters.
So, which was more instructive? Just saying “No! Don’t step in my pots!” or what I ended up doing? Not only did they learn that if they step in stuff, it might break, but we also ended up with a fun sorting game that ended up being really educational.
This can also extend to your children asking for something to eat/do/play to which the answer is “no.” Instead of your child asking “Can I watch T.V.?” and you responding with “No.” try responding with an alternative activity and then participate in the activity WITH your child. For example, “Why don’t we read a book together, instead?” “Why don’t we go ride bikes?” “Why don’t we go play in the rain/snow/sleet?” (okay, I’m kidding about the sleet… but you get the picture). Same with food. “Can I have some cake?” “Why don’t I cut up and apple and let’s dip it in peanut butter?”
Here is my challenge to you – for the next 31 days (I’ll remind you on the blog) try to use alternatives to “no” with your children.
Here are some suggestions to help:
1.) Redirect the behavior. If possible, show the child how to use the object in a desirable way, or how to act in a desirable way in the circumstance.
2.) Explain how the action is offensive/undesirable, and try to explain why and make it matter to them.
3.) Get up and move. Physically help the child to do the desirable action. Be gentle, but firm.
4.) PRAISE the child when they begin to do the desirable action.
Let me know how this works for you. Is this your parenting style already? How does it work for you? Are the other methods that you use to try not to say “No” to your children?
Also known as March to us English-speaking folks.
The calendar is paying off! Spring weather is always pretty unpredictable, no matter where you live, and our home is no exception. Just last week the weather was warming up – getting into the mid 50s. And then Tuesday we had a freak snowstorm, and now we’re back to mid 50s. Well, it has made for a frequently changing calendar, since we put a “weather word” on the day.
In the morning, we looked outside and chose the correct weather word to describe the day. The day it snowed (before it was snowing), it was partly cloudy outside, so we put the “neblado” sticker on that day. By the late afternoon, it was snowing. I think I was on the couch reading when Little E ran to me and said “I put the snow sticker on because it’s snowing!”
Today, the same thing happened – only opposite. This morning when we drove to a friend’s house to pick her up, it was quite windy, so when we got home, we put the “está ventando” sticker on today. Later, as I was in the living room chatting with said friend, the sun came out full force. Little E ran to me again, this time saying “I had to put sun on! Because, look! The sun!”
So I have to say the calendar has been a major success. He hasn’t been learning much Portuguese from it (although I have). But he has been learning about the weather. And most importantly, he has learned that the weather can change.
My mother and I have been going through a bunch of her old papers – trying to scan what’s useful into the computers, and recycling what’s not.
Mom was an elementary school teacher, and is well-read in early childhood education, as well as child development.
As we were going through her papers, we found an article distributed by Frederick J. Moffit, Chief Bureau of Instructional Supervision, New York Department of Education. It was taken from the Association for Childhood Education in February 1946.
Sounds a little outdated, sure – but I agree with the viewpoint. Since I looked all over the web to find a link to this article, or book that contained this article, or ANYTHING, but found nothing, I figure I’ll post the whole article it it’s entirety – with accurate, and hopefully sufficient credit to the publisher – and if someone has a problem, I’m sure they’ll email me and tell me to take it down. Otherwise, I find this piece of writing to be very valuable, and I think more people should read it!
IN DEFENSE OF FIVE-YEAR OLDS
Studies of children show us that three basic needs of each individual are to be competent, secure and active. Experience which meet these needs for a two-year-old would not be satisfactory in terms of specific situations for five-year-olds, not would the five-year-old experiences satisfy children of ten, although for all ages the general basic needs remain constant. This is not to say that children should be considered in terms of age levels, because in some respects a five-year-old may behave like a child of three, of five or of eight years of age. There are, however, certain general experiences that five-year-olds must have if their basic needs are to be met. These needs are fundamental considerations in planning their educational program
FIVE YEAR OLDS SHOULD HAVE PLENT OF OPPORTUNITY TO climb, to run and to carry on group construction projects outdoors with large boxes, kegs, boards and the like. These activities will contribute to the development of large muscle coordination. At the same time, these children like to experiment with small muscle activity in the use of paint, clay or crayons. But such activities as sewing, reading and writing demand too concentrated use of eyes and small muscles, which often results in tensions and impairments.
THESE CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE ALTERNATE PERIODS of quiet and active work and should not be expected to sit still for long periods of time. Nor should they all be expected to do the same thing at the same time, especially when the thing undertaken has no meaning to them, does not meet their fundamental needs and is entirely teacher initiated and directed. The fives are exposed to such harmful situations when they are placed in first grades as usually organized or when they are expected to do first grade work in so-called pre-primary classes. They are not ready for these experiences in their muscles, their minds or their feelings. Superimposing the academic pattern upon them gives them experience with failure and frustration early in their school career. There is no surer way of making hostile, aggressive, with-drawn or tense children. All of these behavior manifestations characterize the maladjusted, incompetent, insecure child and adult.
Five-year-olds have a wide-ranging curiousity about the world of things and of people in which and with whom they live. To discover the ways materials behave and feel and to learn the skills in controlling them is an exciting challenge to these children. To find ways of playing with one another, to try out each other’s abilities and qualities, to learn success and to make mistakes as individuals and as groups through dramatic play are all vital daily experiences for five-year-old children.
In the traditional first grade such interests are taboo, frowned upon and sternly eliminated. So the child’s curiosity soon vanishes to be utilized only out of school. The give and take with his peers without which social development cannot take place is impossible in a classroom where contacts with other children are prohibited by the furniture, the teacher, and the kind of work to be done. He is again rendered insecure and incompetent with no opportunity for or guidance in gaining skill in satisfying his curiosity or in getting along with others. In addition, where contacts are with the teacher only and not with other children, warped ways of getting on with adults develop. Individual children vie with one another for adult attention and approval, and tattling, fighting, slyness, shrinking timidity and similar harmful behavior appears. The “teacher’s pet” characterizes every classroom as is often snowballed or pounced upon as soon as the school grounds are left behind.
TODAY WE FACE A SERIOUS PROBLEM affecting the five-year-olds. The pressures of administrative convenience, the lure of newly appropriated funds, and the widespread public demand for educational opportunities for the five-year-olds are precipitating the environment appropriate for them. The time has come for the teachers and parents to band together to stop this disastrous practice if the five-year-olds are to have safe, happy and active lives at school.
Taken from ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDHOOD EDUCATION February 1946
I think that I have nearly been sucked into thinking that my three year old should have these kinds of “academic” experiences! No! He needs to run and play and construct, and learn to interact FREELY with other children, without having me interfere and initiate and run his education.
The thing about little children is that they learn what’s in front of them. You don’t need to do a lot of “teaching” – which is nice, because they probably won’t sit still long enough anyway! So we need to simply let them learn.
It’s great to surround them with things to learn – for example, I used to take V to the aquarium all the time – once a month, at least! He has learned all sorts of fascinating things about ocean and marine life. Without having to ever sit in a desk and listen to a teacher.
He has learned a lot about plants, animals, the outdoors – without ever having to do a worksheet, or even read a book.
We experience life. We learn through play.
And that’s what this blog is about – learning through play.
I hope you will join me on this adventure as I learn with my children – and especially as I learn how to play again!
