Play Activities

Kindergarten Readiness: Spring Cleaning Can Be Fun For Kids

Kids have fun getting things and themselves messy and dirty and they also have fun cleaning up. Cleaning can be both fun and learning, too. The list below is only a few of the ways that kids can ‘spring clean’.developing kindergarten readiness

  • Small plastic toys spend a lot of time on the floor. With a small cloth and some warm, soapy water in the sink let your child wash a few cars, trucks, trains, blocks, toy dishes or whatever else may need a rinse.
  • It’s easier for kids to wriggle under beds than adults. Turn your child into a vacuum that will reach any lost items that are hiding there in the dark.
  • developing kindergarten readinessTransformed to be a giant machine and armed with a laundry hamper send your child around a room to pick up anything off the floor or that needs to go somewhere else.
  • Tongs are fun to use to pick up duplo and lego or other small toys off the floor and pop them back into toy bins.
  • Vacuums come with built-in sounds. Mops can also be dirt vacuums and kids can supply the sounds. What sounds can a mop make? Vroosh?

Figuring out where something belongs uses lots of deep thinking. First kids have to match an item to its category and then remember where things go. Good for brains. The activity and exercise are good for bodies. Social skills include learning how to be part of a team and cooperate with others. Emotionally children gain a sense of accomplishment and pride in their efforts.

Teacher Tom has a very popular blog and over 10,000 FB likes. On a recent post, he wrote:
“I tell our parent-teachers that I consider clean-up time to be the core of our curriculum. This is the most concrete way that the children begin to make the school their own in the only way that anyone ever truly takes ownership of anything: by assuming responsibility for it.”
While he is talking about school, the same dynamics happen at home. What are some activities that your child can do for spring-cleaning fun and learning?

Kindergarten Readiness: Before Spring Cleaning Play in Mud

Getting clean and getting dirty are both great activities for kindergarten readiness and fun, but it’s better to get dirty first. A favorite spring activity–for the kids–is playing in mud. When kids play with mud they are having fun and practicing many learning skills like creating, measuring, planning, problem-solving, discovering and more. The small muscles in their arms, hands, and fingers get lots of exercising as they stir, pour, mix, and pat. As they kids talk, they are using and exploring language, too. This video below shows the concentration and engagement of a little girl as she makes a mud pie.

developing kindergarten readinessToday, the weather here was another of those all season days: warm when the sun was out and darn cold in the wind. Instead of playing outside with mud, we used some playdough inside. While the sensory experience isn’t quite the same, the learning skills are. A distinct advantage is kids don’t get so dirty! But there’s no wonderful mud art on the sidewalk and driveway waiting to be enjoyed until it rains.mudworks-book-Mary-Ann-Kohl

Recently, the Mudworks Lady was a guest on Learn and Play with Mrs. A. Mary Ann F. Kohl is the author of the book Mudworks that includes 31 recipes for clay and dough. Some are even edible! For people and dogs. These would be fun recipes to try with little ones. Can your child have some mud fun and learning, inside or outside, today?

Kindergarten Readiness – Conversations with Guest Experts #3

For each radio show on Learn and Play with Mrs A, I take notes because I’m learning so much about kids and kindergarten readiness from fascinating guests who are experts in a variety of areas. Each of them is passionate about kids and loves the work, or maybe that’s play? Here’s a play-of-the-day suggested from our play-of-the-week conversations and a little information about these awesome guests.

developing kindergarten readiness and creativity in kidsThe importance of creativity has been recognized in industry and business. But where does creativity start? With young children, of course. Heather Boyd, educator whose Master’s thesis explored the issue of kids and creativity, was a guest on Learn and Play with Mrs A. In the conversation, she mentioned a wonderful little book about a bunny determined to be creative called It’s Not A Box, by Antoinette Portis. A video of this wonderful story is just over a minute long.

For a creative play-of-the-day can you give your child a box? Any size or shape. Let your child create something with the box. Can you blast off with some creativity?

Kindergarten Readiness ABC’s – W is for Work and Play

Today’s blog post on kindergarten readiness fun and early learning is brought to you by the letter W. Work starts with the letter w, and for children, play is their work. Play is how children learn and the activity can vary from splashing in the tub, zooming a toy car across the floor, lining up … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness ABC’s – W is for Work and Play

ABC`s – M is for Making Crafts

While making crafts is a favorite activity for children and supports kindergarten readiness, and early learning and fun, it’s not just for kids. Just a quick glance at Pinterest will prove that there is phenomenal interest in crafts among adults! For many people, the enjoyment of crafts first starts when they are young children. The … Continue reading ABC`s – M is for Making Crafts

Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – L=Look/Listen Fun & Learning

Whether we are crossing the road, or supporting our children’s early learning and kindergarten readiness, looking and listening are important strategies. They will be the plays-of-the-day. Some looking activities might be: Share a picture book together. Talk about the pictures. Check out the details such as color, shapes, textures, etc. Have some paper, paints, colors, … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – L=Look/Listen Fun & Learning

Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – I = Instructions & Imagination

We all have 2 eyes, so for some letter “I” kindergarten readiness and early learning and fun, here are 2 plays-of-the-day: Instructions and Imagination. When kids go to preschool and kindergarten, and even around home too, instructions can be a challenge. My friend, Blythe Lipman, has 2 and almost 3 books about kids and instructions: … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – I = Instructions & Imagination

Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – H = Hands-On Learning & Fun

Look, Parents, see what hands can do for all kinds of early development and kindergarten readiness learning and fun. In this case, it isn’t “no-hands” it’s “hands-on.” One of the handiest tools that kids have for interacting with the world around them is hands. Once babies discover their hands, it seems children’s hands never stop … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness ABC`s – H = Hands-On Learning & Fun