Preschoolers Activities (continued)

Home chores can help children learn new words, how to listen and follow directions, how to count and how to sort. Chores can also help children improve their physical coordination and learn responsibility.

What You Need

• Jobs around the home that need to get done, such as:
  • Doing the laundry
  • Washing and drying dishes
  • Carrying out the garbage
  • Setting the dinner table
  • Dusting

What to Do

• Tell your child about the job you will do together. Explain why the family needs the job done. Describe how you will do it and how your child can help.

• Teach your child new words that are associated with each job: "Let's put the placemats on the table first, then the napkins."

• Doing laundry together provides many opportunities for your child to learn. Ask him to help you remember all the clothes that need to be washed. See how many things he can name: socks, T-shirts, pajamas, sweater, shirt. Have him help you gather all the dirty clothes, then help you make piles of light and dark colors.

• Show your child how to measure the soap and have him pour the soap into the machine. Let him put the items into the machine, naming each one. Keep out one sock. When the washer is filled with water, take out the mate to the sock. Let your child hold the wet sock and the one that you kept out. Ask him which one feels heavier and which one feels lighter. After the wash is done, have your child sort his own things into piles that are the same (for example, T-shirts, socks).

Scribble, Draw, Paint and Paste

Young children are natural artists and art projects can spark young imaginations and help children to express themselves.

Art projects also help children to develop the eye and hand coordination they will later need as they begin to write.

What You Need

• Crayons, water-soluble felt-tipped markers
• Different kinds of paper (including construction paper and butcher paper)
• Tape
• Finger paints
• Paste
• Safety scissors
• Fabric scraps or objects that can be glued to paper (string, cotton balls, sticks, yarn)

What to Do

• Give your child different kinds of paper and different writing materials to scribble with. Coloring books are not needed. Crayons are good to begin with. Water-soluble felt-tipped marking pens are fun for your child to use because she doesn't have to use much pressure to get a bright color. Tape a large piece of butcher paper onto a tabletop and let your child scribble to her heart's content!

• Spread out newspapers or a large piece of plastic over a table or on the floor and tape a big piece of construction paper or butcher paper on top. Cover your child with a large smock or apron and let him finger paint.

• Have your child paste fabric scraps or other objects such as yarn, string or cotton balls to the paper (in any pattern). Let her feel the different textures and tell you about them.

Here are a few tips about introducing your child to art:

• Don't tell the child what to draw or paint.

• Don't "fix up" your child's drawings. It will take lots of practice before you can recognize what he has drawn-but let him be creative! Invite your child to talk to you about what he is drawing and to identify by name each object in the picture.

• Give your child lots of different materials to work with. Show her how to use new types of materials.

• Find an art activity that's at the right level for your child and let him do as much of the project as possible.

• Display your child's art prominently in your home. Point it out to visitors when your child is near to hear the praise.

Letters, Letters, Everywhere

Sharing the alphabet with children helps them begin to learn the letter names, recognize their shapes and link the letters with the sounds of spoken language.

Children who know the names and the shapes of the letters of the alphabet when they enter school usually have an easier time learning to read.

What You Need

• Alphabet book
• Alphabet blocks
• ABC magnets
• Paper, pencils, crayons, markers
• Glue
• Safety scissors

What to Do

• With your child sitting with you, print the letters of her name on paper and say each letter as you write it. Make a name sign for her room or other special place. Have her decorate the sign.

• Teach your child "The Alphabet Song" and play games with him using the alphabet. Some alphabet books have songs and games that you can learn together.

• Look for educational videos, DVDs, CDs and TV shows such as "Between the Lions," "Blue's Clues," and "Sesame Street" that feature letter-learning activities for young children. Watch such programs with your child and join in with him on the rhymes and songs.

• Place alphabet magnets on your refrigerator or on another smooth, safe metal surface. Ask your child to name the letters she plays with and the words she may be trying to spell.

• Wherever you are with your child, point out individual letters in signs, billboards, posters, food containers, books and magazines.

• Encourage your child to spell and write her name. At first, she may use just a few letters for her name; for example, Jenny might use the letters JNY.

• Line up several alphabet blocks and have your child say the name of each letter. Have her use alphabet blocks to spell her name.

• Give your child a page from an old magazine. Circle a letter on the page and have him circle matching letters.

Rhyme It!

Rhyming helps children start to pay attention to the sounds in words, which is an important first step in learning to read. Rhymes are an extension of children's language skills.