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Learning Resources Games that Grow with your Preschooler
- Gabrielle Fischer Posted On Nov 2, 2020 | Reading
It can sometimes feel a little overwhelming when trying to decide which game is best for your preschooler. If we are honest, playing games with kids under the age of five is often kind of hard work! Getting them to understand the rules, the concept of taking turns, and even worse, dealing with losing, can make the whole experience less than pleasant for the parent and child. That’s why I have found it really helpful to choose games for my preschooler which we are able to start simple with, and then grow more complex with as the child gets older. In this blog I’m sharing four of our favorite Learning Resources games for preschoolers, along with ways that we like to simplify them to help build confidence before progressing to the full game.
Wriggleworms! A Fine Motor Activity
This one is so much fun! When it comes to choosing games for youngsters the novelty factor is huge when gaining their initial interest. With this game, the players have to use the tri-grip tool to pull worms from the soil. My 3 year old fell in love with the little ‘wormies’ and played for so long carefully rescuing them from the dirt and adding them to their correctly colored homes.
Once she had gained more confidence with using the fine motor tool and color sorting, we started to explore the game in more complex forms. This included using the spinner and game cards. She really enjoyed spinning and then adding that number and color of worms to her ‘home’. This was great because it was requiring her to now also work on early numeracy skills. I must admit it did take her a few times of playing before she got on board with the concept of the spinner. She kept wanting to get to choose the color and number and would stop the spinner when she wanted to. This is all part of learning the skills needed to play games fairly and is an important learning curve (and test of the parent’s patience!).
If you are looking for simplicity then this is a great option. The set comes with small bugs, two pairs of jumbo tweezers and two little foam dice. One has colors on it and the other numbers. The first few times we played we would just use the color dice and take turns to roll it and add one bug of that color to our collections. Once she was confident with this version of the game, we added the second number dice to factor in some numeracy work.
You can also vary the game further by putting restrictions on it such as you can’t have two of the same type of bug or color of bug but have to get to five bugs in total. Adding these extra components challenges your preschooler that little bit more.
Lil’ Lemonade Stand-Off™ A Memory Matching Game
This is one of the cutest little games I’ve ever seen and my preschooler totally agreed. The very first time we played it all she wanted to do was role play with the cups, coins and lemonade stands and you know what, that’s totally ok. She was developing so many skills just through her self-directed play. We then gave the actual game a try but really simplified it. I picked out the easier cards and discarded the ‘special’ cards such as spilt lemonade, as well as the more challenging build cards. In the full version of the game the player is meant to flip the card, memorize the cup pattern and then recreate it on the tray. This would have been too challenging for my 3 yr old so instead we kept the card visible and just copied the pattern of cups from it. This led to pattern recognition, color work and lots of counting. She loved rewarding herself with the coins after each challenge card was complete.
We still haven’t moved onto the memorizing version of the game because she enjoys our version so much. When she is ready we will start with the easier patterns and add in the other cards with time. This really is such a great game for engaging little minds.
I was a little worried that my preschooler would find this game frustrating if the fruit kept tumbling. She really didn’t though and there were a few tricks to make it easier for her before we played the full game. The first few games we literally just took it in turns to remove one piece of fruit each from the stand with our hands. The aim was to not knock any pieces of fruit off the stand but we were working as a team. The next step was to introduce the jumbo tweezers to extend the fine motor challenge. She found this hard for the larger round fruits like the oranges but it was great to see her problem solving.
More recently we have added the spinner to our play sessions. Again, it took her a few turns to realize that she had to spin and then couldn’t just change it to what she wanted it to land on, but we got there in the end. This was fun because sometimes it meant we had to try and take fruit off the bottom of the stand which was pretty challenging.
All four of these games really appealed to my preschooler because they had the novelty factor and they could be made age appropriate. Whether it be the wriggly worms in the dirt, or the teeny tiny lemonade cups, the game pieces were fun and engaging. As a parent I really liked these games because I felt that I could use them in different ways to best suit our play and learning goals. Some games tend to be very one-dimensional and after a few plays the fun factor wears thin, not these ones!
Valentine's Day Mathlink Cube Activities
Mathlink Cubes are perfect for creating fun and engaging Valentine's Day themed math activities. Additionally, Mathlink Cubes can be used to create patterns and sequences, such as making a pattern of hearts and counting the number of cubes used. These activities will help students practice their math skills in a fun and festive way.
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Mathlink Cubes are great for kids for several reasons:
- Hands-on learning: Mathlink Cubes are a hands-on learning tool that children can physically manipulate and explore mathematical concepts. This can help to make math more engaging and interactive for students.
- Multi-use: Mathlink Cubes can be used for various mathematical concepts, including counting, addition, subtraction, measurement, geometry, and more. This makes them a versatile and valuable tool for teachers and parents to have in their toolkits.
- Develops fine motor skills: Using the Mathlink Cubes requires children to use their fine motor skills, which can help to improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
- Concrete to abstract: Mathlink Cubes provide a concrete representation of mathematical concepts, which can help children to understand and internalize these concepts. Then the children can apply what they learned in the tangible form to more abstract problems.
- Fun and engaging: Mathlink Cubes come in different colors, making math activities fun and engaging for children. The fun and colorful aspect of the cubes makes children more excited to learn and practice math.
- Differentiation: Mathlink Cubes can be used to provide different levels of challenge for students, making it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and provide support for students who need it.
Overall, Mathlink Cubes are an excellent tool for kids to learn and practice math in a fun and interactive way.
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The Language Acquisition Milestones Every Parent Should Know
Plenty of exciting changes will occur to your child in their first few years, but one of the changes you should pay attention to is their communication skills. Adena Dacy of the National Association for the Education of Young Children explains that children are expected to achieve average communication milestones by a certain age. Dacy states that these milestones help parents and teachers assess if a child's development is on track because each stage contributes to the further growth of their communication skills.
So if you want to monitor their progress, you should pay attention to these milestones of language acquisition:
Image credit: Pexels
Source: https://images.pexels.com/photos/6667303/pexels-photo-6667303.jpeg
Emission of sounds
Are you hearing a wide variety of sounds from your newborn? Though they may sound odd, this indicates that they're on track with learning languages.
A study by the University of Würzburg researchers shows that healthy infants up to six months of age vocalize to interact with people or communicate any discomfort. These sounds may sound random to most parents, but the researchers pointed out that this allows infants to expand their sounds by their fourth or fifth month. By this time, they'd add consonant- and vowel-like elements into their babbling in preparation for the next milestone.
Introduction of words
Your baby will continue to make non-verbal replies, or fun animal sounds around their first two years. These sounds are important because they set the stage for the next milestone: words!
The language acquisition milestones listed by Maryville University indicate that babies between six and eleven months will attempt to say their first words. This is also usually when they first say "mama" or "dada," making it an exciting milestone for parents to look forward to. They should be able to name objects or people using two to three words once they turn one and speak brief phrases before they turn two.
Start of expressive language
Kids need to learn phrases before they turn two because typical kids speak in two- to four-word sentences by age two to three. Their progress will get even more exciting by the time they reach five, when they should be able to use different types of sentences.
Our article entitled 'What Should My Six and Seven-Year-Old Be Learning?' shares that their ability to express themselves will expand by the time they reach six and seven. Typical kids at this age could speak in complete sentences and even crack a joke during conversations due to their advanced language skills.
Construction of complex sentences
You still need to pay attention to several language milestones, even when your child can speak in complete sentences. After all, their vocabularies are still expanding as they grow older.
The Verywell Family's article on how kids learn languages shares that kids do not resemble adult language until they reach the age of eleven. So, during the pre-teen years, parents should assess if their kids can create although-type sentences and form more complex sentence constructions. For instance, they may say, "Although I had no money, I looked for ways to help my friend." instead of "I had no money, but still helped my friend."
These language acquisition milestones aren't only fun to look forward to and important for parents and teachers to take note of. You can assess your child's language abilities through these milestones and help them get the proper support they may need.
This article was written by Rosetta Joseph
Exclusively for Learning Resources
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Mid-Summer Minicamp for Five-Year-Olds
Your soon-to-be-Kindergartener was built for summer! There’s so much to do, see, and explore, both inside and outdoors. If you’re looking for some fresh, fun ideas to help keep your rising Kindergartner engaged and learning for the rest of the summer, have we got the activities for you! Read on for three days’ worth of developmental, educational, and social-emotional activities – plus some bonus activities, just for fun. And don’t miss our summer minicamp activity ideas for three- and four-year-olds
Minicamp Day One:
Developmental Activity – Fine Motor Freezer Fun
Kick off your first day of camp with some fine motor fun! Threading is an age-appropriate challenge for four-year-olds, resulting in a colorful creation they can wear or display. Set out some pipe cleaners and pony beads and thread a bracelet, create a beaded pattern for your preschooler to follow, or stick some spaghetti sticks into a ball of molding dough and thread penne noodles to make Stegosaurus. Find more threading ideas here.
Educational Activity – Learning You Can Count On
Download this free, printable worksheet, grab some counters, and practice numbers and counting with your kiddo! Count the letters in their name (writing it out on a sheet of paper might help), their age, the number of siblings they have, and more!
Social Emotional Learning Activity – Paint a Rock
You may have seen the pretty, painted rocks people are leaving around neighborhoods across the country as a symbol of kindness. You can do the same! Take a walk and find some medium-sized rocks with nice flat or rounded surfaces. Clean them off and pop them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes – you can use the time to talk about things that make your kids happy as inspiration for what they might draw. Let the rocks cool just a bit, then use crayons to draw their ideas! When the rocks are dry, use a Sharpie to write caring messages like “Kindness”, “Love”, or “Joy”. Then place them in your neighbors’ gardens to brighten up their days! Find other kindness activities here.
✨ Bonus Activity – Cool Down with a DIY Snowstorm ✨
End your first day of minicamp with another cool-down activity – making a snowstorm in a bottle! Gather a glass or see-through plastic jar, vegetable oil, white paint, glitter, and an Alka-Seltzer tab, and follow these instructions to make it snow inside!
Minicamp Day Two:
Developmental Activity – Get a Grip
Using the proper pencil grip is the key to legible writing. Help your kiddo practice this summer by providing a sheet of properly formed capital letters to trace using a variety of differently sized crayons, markers, and pencils. Around age five, kids should be able to manipulate a writing utensil with three fingers rather than move their wrists or arms. Learn more about proper pencil grasps here.
Educational Activity – Go on a Math Scavenger Hunt
Brush up on those math skills with a scavenger hunt around the house! Print this list of things to look for and set off to find everyday math items, including number words, items of certain sizes and shapes, pairs of things, and more!
Social Emotional Learning Activity – Create a Gratitude Wall
Playing school is a wonderful way to build your child’s creativity and imagination. It also allows your soon-to-be-scholar to mentally prepare for going to school and build the confidence they’ll need to thrive there. Set up some school-ish materials, like a chalkboard or easel, books, paper and crayons, and stickers, and follow your little one’s lead. Will they read to their stuffed animals? Teach you letters and numbers? Draw a picture?
✨ Bonus Activity – Build a Fort ✨
Nothing is nicer after a day of summer minicamp than a delicious popsicle! Follow our favorite recipe for fruit and veggie pops, working together to squeeze the lime, drop the ingredients into the blender, stir the elements, and insert the popsicle handles. Talk about the foods as you work with them – what color are they? What is their texture like? What letter does that food start with? How might it taste?
Minicamp Day Three:
Developmental Activity – Brew a Batch of Slime
Stretchy, sticky, and squishy, you probably know that slime is awesome. But did you know that slime also helps builds fine motor skills? Measuring, pouring, mixing, stirring, squeezing, smashing, rolling, and twisting are all great ways to strengthen hand muscles and build fine motor skills! Start your last day of minicamp off with some slime, using our favorite recipe.
Educational Activity – Print Letters in Playdough
Practice letter identification, letter sounds, and word building with this simple stamp-and-learn activity! Set out some molding dough (or make your own – another fun minicamp activity!), tools like plastic rolling pins, cutters, kid-safe scissors, and letter blocks or magnets. Then show your child how to flatten the dough and stamp a letter into it. Say the letter name as they stamp, make its sound, and say a word that starts with that letter. See if your child can find the letters in their name and stamp them all in a row.
Social Emotional Learning Activity – Have Fun with Physics
The forces of physics are all around us, and summer is a great time to see them in action. Floating in the pool, rolling a ball, and dropping an ice cream cone (oh NO!) are perfect examples of buoyancy, motion, and gravity. These simple activities will demonstrate some of the most fundamental properties of physics in a fun way – and you can follow up your lesson by making a simple machine (instructions included).
✨ Bonus Activity – Job Talk ✨
Print this free career worksheet, cut out the word cards and images, and match them up! Talk about each job, the responsibilities of each job, the qualities each requires, and which one interests your child the most (and the least).
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