It is absolutely bonkers how quick our children grow! Like little weeds, they are! The saying is true: blink and they’re in school already! Preschool that is! It is time for them to spread their proverbial wings and fly. School is in session, and it’s time to get ready! Here are ten simple activities to help prepare your child for preschool.
1Play Simon Says
Simon Says is a fun way to get your child up and moving around. But it is also an excellent way to test your child’s listening skills and how well they can follow directions. Some great commands include:
- Jump up and down
- Touch your toes
- Open and close your eyes
- Make a funny face
- Stand on one foot
- Wiggle around
- Clap three times
- Act like a puppy
There are plenty of activities you can have them do; the sky is the limit here!
2Play Pretend
Playing pretend is a great way to help your child grow intellectually. Pretend play could include anything and everything! From playing with dolls to cooking to camping and gardening, there are plenty of ideas for pretend play. A really good idea is to play pretend “school” with them. This may give them a bit of a sense of what to expect.
3Coloring
This is a classic activity that little children enjoy. Grab a coloring book or tw, from your local dollar store, or download coloring pages from the plethora of websites that have them. You can simply search for “Preschool coloring pages,” and you will find a bunch. Encourage them to stay inside the lines when they can. When your children are coloring, this helps them develop fine motor skills. When they choose a crayon to color with, ask them what color it is, and if they don’t know, you can teach them.
4Read, Read, Read!
Reading is an important skill; we all know that already. But maybe picking up some books about preschool in particular and reading them together will help quell any fears your child might have. You may even want them to come with you to the bookstore and pick out the books together! This will make them feel special and encourage good reading habits early on.
5Practice Being Independent
As much as we want them to stay our babies forever, we’ve got to teach our little ones how to be independent. Start by letting them pick out their outfits for school, and then go on to how to perform skills that will help them while they are in school, such as how to put their jacket on, zipping and unzipping their backpacks, etc. You can even have them help make their lunch, and show them what container it’s in and how to open it so that they won’t have trouble on the first day.
6A Is For Alphabet
The alphabet is essential, especially going into preschool! There are a lot of fun activities that your child can do to help them learn the alphabet. A good example is taking a piece of chalk and writing out the alphabet on the sidewalk, and then giving your child a squirt gun. You call out a letter, and then your child can squirt that letter. There are also other ways, such as classic alphabet blocks, foam alphabet boards, etc.
7Let The Inner Artist Out
Keep artistic supplies around your house to foster the artist in your child. Activities like finger painting, playing with Play-Doh, using crayons, and cutting (with preschool scissors) construction paper will have your child having a ball. It will also help them develop their fine motor skills. Another great activity is having them do dot-to-dot and maze activity pages, which can easily be found online and printed from the comfort of home.
8Plan Playdates
Children are expected to be social when they enter the schoolroom setting. So getting them used to other children socially, before preschool starts is a great idea. If you have other mom friends with children about your child’s age, then plan some playdates! Or perhaps you know another mom enrolling her child in the same preschool – set up a playdate with your respective children. If not, there are always other ideas like mommy and me classes, which are an excellent way for kids to socialize with one another.
9Take A Walk
Take your child out for a walk. Have them look around at their surroundings. See if they can spot shapes in things like road signs, parks, and flora and fauna around you. Then ask them if they can tell what colors they see around them. Of course, a stop at the local playground wouldn’t hurt at the end, either!
10Numbers, Numbers, Everywhere
A great place to start with numbers is toy blocks. Have them count out how many they have. Then have them build a tower, counting each time a block is placed on top of the tower. See how high they can get the tower! A cool game to play in the car is to ask your child how many red (or any color) cars that they see go by. They’ll enjoy scouting out the window for the cars!
Also read:
