Play with learning tools can give kids a huge advantage in confidence. Using a play-on-words for the month, it helps them “steal a march.” Here are some ideas ideas for fun and play with learning tools from an earlier post:
Letting your child play and experiment with these tools is not just fun, it’s also helpful before starting kindergarten or preschool. Being familiar with them increases a child comfort and confidence and fine motor skills.
To minimize the chance of walls or carpets being given a new color, it’s a good idea to crayon or glue proof an area. Big markers, crayons, and paint brushes are easier to hold than thinner ones. Paint dabbers are super handy as the color comes premixed with the sponge attached, but anything from q-tips to branches can be used. There are hundreds of recipes for homemade paint that vary from food colors diluted with water to instant pudding. (The pudding option is great for encouraging kids who are not particularly interested in drawing.)
Glue ranges from ordinary to sparkles to glow-in-the-dark. Paper can be recycled from cereal boxes, newsprint, and wrapping paper. Besides chalk boards, driveways, sidewalks and patios expand the space to giant-size. Scissors are the most challenging tool to use.
Playdough is easy to cut, doesn’t have any lines to follow, and can be cut over and over. As hands roll, pat, squish, and smoosh, they get lots of exercise.
The small muscles in the hand and wrist are still developing at this age. Strength and coordination will depend a great deal on how much kids have been able to play with learning tools and other toys, as well as their own unique strengths and challenges. Some kids are eager to use them and others are hesitant or not interested. Learning tools also give children a chance to be creative. Besides the physical opportunities, kids also practice problem-solving, planning, making choices, using language and other skills.
Children’s success in school depends on how they feel about interacting with materials and other people, both kids and adults. When kids are confident with the “tools of the trade” they have one less thing to be anxious about. If they have used learning tools before, they can go beyond the figuring-out stage to creating and collaborating. Introducing scissors, glue, and other items to kids thru play means they are comfortable with them. How can your child play with learning tools today?
Looking up in the sky, trees may be wearing hints of green or bright, tiny leaves. Pink and white blossoms decorate some branches with the promise of spring. Birds could be returning and starting to build nests. Sometimes, noses can pick up a smell of spring too.
Nature shares her different colors, moods, and seasons with us when we take time to connect. The most recent statistics reveal that currently young children spend only 7 minutes a day outdoors in nature. It’s like the latest generation is divorced from what used to be the most common activity of kids, playing outside. How much of your day were you in the house? For many of us, we spent little time inside and most of our lives out. Not only have kids lost the connection to nature, they have also lost much of their play time. 
For a simple play-of-the-day today, can you and your child enjoy some fresh air and celebrate the day with a kids’ nature march into spring?
