3 Ways to Make Your Home a Child’s Play Paradise
Are you looking for new ideas to support your preschooler’s development and have fun at home? Here are three simple activities that you can try. Great for a rainy day!
- Number Playground
Materials needed: number floor mats or sheets of paper with numbers written on them.
Have fun running, crawling or hopping to different number mats while following a specific number sequence. Spread out the number mats randomly so your child has to scan the entire space and locate the numbers. You can also add more obstacles to make it more challenging. For the obstacle course above, you could get your child to hop from number 1 to number 4, then crawl on the blue mat, step onto the white stool and down again and lastly stack the blocks on the table. This way, you incorporate a range of gross-motor and fine motor tasks into the play. Some children have a strong interest in numbers so this activity may be intrinsically motivating.
Skills developed: numeracy skills, fine-motor and gross-motor skills, visual perceptual skills.
- Ice excavation
Materials needed: ice cube trays, dinosaur figurines, pipettes, squeeze bottles, tools (spades, spoons, scoops, hammer), food colouring (optional).
The idea behind this activity is to freeze interesting items inside blocks of ice for your child to release and explore. Put dinosaur figurines into the ice cube trays, add water and place in the freezer. Once the ice cubes are ready, pop them into a basin and use pipettes and squeeze bottles filled with warm water to help rescue the dinosaurs inside the ice. Your child can also practice manipulating different tools for chipping away and hammering the ice.
Throughout playtime, remember to describe what they are doing and communicate with your child. For example, “you saved the blue dinosaur!” or “the ice is so cold”. Speak to your child in a clear and simple manner and encourage your child to use language to express ideas, observations, and feelings.
Skill developed: fine-motor skills, problem-solving skills, language
- Unwrap and match
Materials needed: Puzzle, aluminum foil
You can make puzzles even more engaging by wrapping the puzzle pieces with aluminum foil beforehand. It adds an element of surprise when your child unwraps them, just like unwrapping a gift! By feeling the wrapped puzzle pieces, your child can try to guess which shape it could be. This simple activity provides an opportunity for your child to gain sensory input and practice their fine-motor skills when they feel and unwrap the foil. Make this activity extra special by giving your child lots of praise and encouragement along the way!
Skills developed: visual-perceptual skills, fine-motor skills, problem-solving skills
Play gives children a chance to learn and bond with others. It is okay to just work with what you have at home. By adapting in this way, you will add extra fun and engage with your child!