Little learners require special activities designed for little hands and developing minds. One of my previous life experiences was teaching preschool (my first class was a group of 10 little boys and that was a bit of a culture shock for me). Our club doesn't have little ones (membership starts at 6) but I know there are a lot out there who do take PreK so I wanted to share some ideas of activities that can be done with the club or as family projects.
Clipping Tubes - Cut cardboard tubes into 2-inch lengths. Have your child use spring-type clothespins to clip the tubes together to make simple designs. You can also ask your child to clip specific numbers of tubes together.
Torn-Paper Pumpkin - Give your child a small paper plate and a piece of orange construction paper. Let you child tear the orange paper into small pieces and glue the pieces all over the paper plate. Then let your child glue on a green construction paper stem to complete the pumpkin.
Ghostly Family - On a sheet of white paper, help your child trace around your family's hands. Cut out the shapes. Have your child turn the hand shapes into ghosts by turning the hand shapes upside down and using black crayons to draw eyes on the palms of the hands. Glue the ghosts onto a large sheet of black construction paper so that they appear to be floating in the night sky. Which ghost is the smallest? Which is the largest?
Trick or Treat Container - Cut the top off a plastic gallon milk jug, leaving the handle attached to the bottom. Cut out shapes from construction paper and help your child glue them onto the jug to create a funny or scary face. Glue pieces of yarn around the top edge of the jug for hair.
News for Everyone - Share the newspaper with your child. Read the comics and captions under interesting pictures. Point to letters that are in your child's name. Look for numerals in the advertisement pages.
Measuring a Pumpkin - Set out a pumpkin. Let your child cut off a length of yarn that he or she thinks will fit around the pumpkin. Have your child try wrapping the yarn around the pumpkin to see how well it fits. Measure and cut off a piece of yarn that fits around the pumpkin exactly. Let your child compare his or her yarn to the piece that fits the pumpkin exactly. Ask "Is your yarn piece longer or shorter?"
Journals - Spend some quality time with your child by setting aside some time each day or week to write in a journal together. Just staple several sheets of paper together to make a journal and have your child dictate something for you to write. Try offering a topic each time such as "What did you do last night? What makes you happy? What is your favorite game?"
What is Litter? - Set out various pieces of litter (soda can, gum wrapper, plastic bag, paper, etc.) and nature objects (leaf, branch, rock, etc.). Ask your child to point to the objects that are litter. How does your child know that the objects are litter? What should be done with them? Hide some litter around the room, and let your child search for it and put it in a garbage bag.
Marble Fun - Tie several marbles in the toe of a large sock. Have your child fell the sock and try to guess how many marbles are inside. Take out the marbles and count them. Take turns placing marbles in the sock and guessing.
Jack-O'-Lantern Flashlight - From orange construction paper, cut a circle to cover the end of a flashlight. Cut jack-o'-lantern features out of the circle. Tape the circle to the end of the flashlight. Darken the room, play music, and let your child use the flashlight to shine jack-o'-lanterns on everything while dancing around the room.
Tennis Ball Carry - Place a large spoon and a basket filled with tennis balls at one end of the room and an empty basket at the other end. Let your child balance a tennis ball on the spoon, walking carefully across the room, and put the ball in the other basket.
Sniffy Name - Place a sheet of construction paper inside a box lid. Help your child print his or her name by squeezing glue onto the paper. Then let your child sprinkle fruit flavored gelatin powder on the glue and tap the excess into the box lid. After the glue dries, let your child let everyone sniff his or her name.
