Getting Preschool Ready
Can you believe summer is over? School has already started and preschoolers will be heading back in the next few weeks. My little ones aren’t quite preschool age, but I know the importance of working on cognitive and fine motor skills early.
Cognitive skills are the basis on which we build critical thinking and the ability to analyze. Chickadee is currently 22 months and we are always trying fun activities to help her conquer such skills. Below are a few activities you can do with your little one to boost their cognitive development!
1. Personal Picture Book This is a simple photo album of your child. Talk about what they are doing in the pictures? Who’s with them? They will love answering your questions and looking at themselves!
2. Colors Most children around 2 years of age will start learning their colors. We loved learning about colors in our Color Box! Eye Spy, color style, is also one of our favorites.
3. Exploring Senses Is their food still cold? Is the blanket soft? Talk to your little one about what soft feels like, show them examples. Then see if they can find something else that is also soft, cold, etc.
4. Concentration Our favorite activity that works on concentration are puzzles. Chickadee loves puzzles and twisting and turning pieces until they fit.
5. Sorting A cupcake pan and a collection of colorful objects are all you need. Have your child sort the objects by color, shape, size, etc.
Fine motor skills are also important to develop early. These are skills we make with the small muscles in our hands. Here are a few of my favorite activities.
1. Turn the Pages While reading a book let your child turn the pages. Let your little one to be a part of the experience in a bigger way than just listening. Let them hold the book, open it up, and turn the pages.
2. Building Let your little one have fun with foam blocks by seeing how high they can stack them. The higher the tower the more fun it is to knock down!
3. Coloring and Painting Sometimes we do it the traditional way, in coloring books and on paper. Other times we branch out a little bit. Last week we used watercolors to decorate coffee filters and make garland. Coloring outside on the ground or fence with chalk is always fun.
4. Cutting It takes a lot of concentration and several of your hand muscles working together to tackle this task. Start simple. I’m thinking Chickadee and I will start with cutting straws into noddle like pieces.
5. Hand Eye Coordination You can use the straw noodles you just cut and have your little one string them onto a piece of yarn to make a necklace. Another fun activity involves filling the holes in the colander with pipe cleaners.
As I mentioned, it is important to start the development of your child’s cognitive and fine motor skills early. While Chickadee is still a few years away from preschool, when she does begin I know I will look for a school that develops these skills. Childtime Learning Center focuses on meeting these same goals. It is a warm and inviting place where children get the nurturing they need to develop and grow.
Childtime. Opening Minds. Unleashing imaginations.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Learning Care Group. The opinions and text are all mine.
