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Your three-year-old will always be your baby, but they’re learning and growing by leaps and bounds, and there’s so much you can do to help nurture their natural development! While children develop at their rate and mastering things a bit earlier or later than others is common, below is a list of social-emotional, language, cognitive, and physical milestones many kids achieve by the time they turn four (and, hence, the things they’re working on when they’re three).

Social-Emotional Skills

Your little love bug is starting to become less self-centered and more aware of the people around them, showing affection, concern, empathy, and a range of other emotions. As their sense of self and self-confidence grows, they may be becoming more independent. By the time they turn four, they may also be able to:

• Mimic you, other family members, and friends
• Take turns when playing games or using toys
• Make eye contact when communicating
• Play on their own for 10+ minutes
• Begin to separate more easily from parents or caregivers
• Recognize and name different feelings, such as happiness, silliness, sadness, and fear

Language Skills

Being able to communicate verbally with your child is an exciting milestone! With a vocabulary hovering between 250-500 words and blossoming grammatical skills, you (and those around you) should be able to understand about 75% of what your three-year-old is telling you. By the time they turn four, your child may also be able to:

• Follow instructions with two or three steps, such as “Please get your shoes and meet me at the front door.”
• Name several colors and basic shapes, including circles, squares, and rectangles.
• Recognize several letters
• Use pronouns (such as it, me, my, you, your, she, he, and we), the past tense, and plural words
• Speak in full sentences of 4-6 words and carry on a conversation using 2-3 sentences at a time
• Tell stories (they may be silly!)

Cognitive Skills

It’s tough to say who feels prouder when a child masters a new skill – the child or the parent! Three-year-old minds are working overtime, observing, practicing, and conquering all kinds of amazing feats. By the time they turn four, many three-year-olds can:

• Engage in imaginative pretend play
• Complete a 3-to-4 piece puzzle
• Build a tower of 6 blocks or more
• Draw a line and circle and begin to draw people (they will probably look more like tadpoles)
• Count to three and begin to recognize quantities, such as one cookie, two cookies, or three cookies
• Sort and match items that are the same or different and compare items by size or color

Physical Skills

If only we could bottle the energy of a three-year-old – it seems they’re always ready to hit the park or playground, race to the corner, or jump off a step. By the time they turn four, many three-year-olds are also able to:

• Pedal a tricycle
• Kick, throw, and catch a ball
• Hop on one foot
• Balance on one foot for 5+ seconds
• Hold a pencil using a tripod (3 fingers) or quadrupod (4 fingers) grip

As we said above, children develop at their own pace, mastering some skills quickly and requiring more practice with others. The more practice they get – and the more support they feel from you – the more confident they will feel as they learn and grow. If you’d like to track your child’s milestones by age, consider downloading the CDC’s mobile milestone app!

According to a recent study from Colombia University, babies born early in the pandemic have slight delays in motor and social skills compared to those born right before the pandemic. The researchers surveyed parents of 255 babies born at two New York City hospitals between March and December 2020.

The survey, completed when the babies were six months old, asked about:

• Communication skills ("does your baby make high pitched squeals?")
• Gross motor skills ("does your baby roll from his back to tummy?")
• Fine motor skills ("does your baby reach for a toy with both hands?")
• Problem-solving skills ("does your baby look for a toy that he drops?")
• Social skills ("does your baby smile and coo in the mirror?")

The researchers found lower scores in gross motor, fine motor, and social skills compared to 6-month olds born at the same hospitals before the pandemic. Surprisingly, the pandemic babies' communication skills were slightly higher! 

So, what’s the parent of a pandemic baby to do? This study may have filled you with worry about your own child’s developmental milestones. As your little one approaches toddlerhood, what can you do to help them close the gaps in these critical skills? Try these engaging learning activities and playful learning toys that will help your budding toddler stay on track so they are ready to rock preschool and kindergarten! 

Gross motor skills -  Gross motor skills are abilities that let us do tasks that involve large muscles in our torso, legs, and arms. 

Free Activities:

• Bear Crawl Gross Motor Activity 
• 12 Quick and Easy Indoor Gym Activities

Products: 

• Stack Em Up Donuts 
• Spike Puzzle Mate 

Fine motor skills - Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using the small muscles in our hands and wrists. 

Free Activities: 

• DIY Sensory Bin 
• Pom-pom Color Sort 
• Tracing Fun 

Products: 

• Spike Fidget Friend 
• Trace Ace 
• Fine Motor Tool Set 

Problem-solving skills - Skills that help manage their emotions, think creatively and persist until they find a solution. 

Free Activities:

• Pom-pom Match and Balance 
• Frozen Rainbow STEM Challenge
• Toddler Bundle of free printables 

Products: 

• 1-2-3 Build It!™ Rocket-Train-Helicopter
• Puzzle Globe
• All Ready for Toddler Time Readiness Kit

Social skills - the skills we use to communicate and interact with each other, both verbally and non-verbally, through gestures, body language and our personal appearance.

Free Activities: 

• All About Me Houses Printables 
• Cozy Calm Down Corner
• Little Faces, Big Feelings!
• Opposites with Big Feelings Pineapple 

Products:

• Learn-A-Lot Avocados
• Big Feelings Pineapple
• All About Me Neighborhood Counters 
• Pretend & Play School Set

Babies are not the only ones affected by this pandemic; children of all ages face development blocks. While challenges still lie ahead, Learning Resources wants all parents to know they have a trusted partner with great tools readily available to them. Whether children respond best to physical toys to learn social skills, letters, numbers, and more, or if moms are seeking free online resources such as printouts, educational videos, or skill-building activities, Learning Resources is prepared to keep the love of learning in children’s hearts long after the pandemic is over.

Four-year-olds are so much fun! Becoming more independent by the minute, fours are generally super social and extra energetic. They’ll probably begin to push the boundaries a bit this year, though, and will likely give up on napping (sorry, Mom). They’ll also benefit from time away from parents and caregivers as they prepare to enter Kindergarten next year. Below is a list of other social-emotional, language, cognitive, and physical skills you may see emerge this year (but remember, kids progress at their speeds and may pick up these skills earlier or later!):

Social-Emotional Skills

Your baby is officially a preschooler now, learning to identify and express their emotions appropriately, with words rather than emotions. Other exciting social, emotional skills your four-year-old will likely learn this year include:

• Approaching new experiences with excitement
• Preferring playing with friends than alone (and can take turns and cooperate most of the time)
• Sharing information about things they’re interested in
• Role-playing mom or dad during pretend playtime
• Clearly expressing a thought or idea

Language Skills

Look out! With an average vocabulary of up to 1,600 words, your four-year-old has plenty to say! Fours are becoming much more communicative, using longer, clearer sentences, singing songs, playing word games, even reciting short poems! Here are some other language skills your four-year-old may acquire this year:

• Speaking fluently and enough to be understood by strangers
• Telling a story about something that happened to them
• Singing a simple song from memory… Oh, the wheels on the bus go…
• Answering questions beginning with who, what, where, when, why, how many…
• Playing simply rhyming games (cluck says the duck!)

Cognitive Skills

Fours are building the foundation for future learning, practicing shapes, letters, numbers, counting, and attempting to write and draw. By the time most kids start Kindergarten (usually around age five), they’ll:

• Know their full name and maybe their phone number
• Recognize letters, numbers, and signs
• Count 10 or more objects
• Draw a person with 4-6 body parts (head with mouth and eyes, body with arms and legs)
• Understand comparative terms like big/small, short/tall, same/different, empty/full, etc.

Physical Skills

It may feel like your four-year-old is in constant motion, running, jumping, climbing, hopping, and hiding all day long. In addition to honing their gross motor skills, this year, they’ll also be refining key fine motor movements that allow them to dress and feed themselves (hooray). Other physical skills your little one will be working on this year include:

• Buttoning and unbuttoning their clothing
• Using childsafe scissors
• Running faster and climbing higher than they did at three
• Balancing on one foot for 3 seconds
• Walking a “tightrope”
• Climbing stairs with no support

Remember that kids develop at different speeds, so don’t worry if it’s taking your little one a little longer to master any of the skills above. You can support their development by practicing these things at home, in a fun way – and you can track your child’s milestones by age with the CDC’s mobile milestone app!

Play your way to school-ready toddler skills with these fun, quick activities! This set's hands-on activities help kids learn and retain lessons in counting, color recognition, and early letter skills through fun, active play. Plus, the built-in carrying case lets you take the learning on the go! Learn more about Skill Builders! Toddler Skills. 

Skill Builders! Hands-on Learning for Kindergarteners

Watching my son go through Kindergarten several years ago, I learned about teaching fundamental reading, writing, and math concepts. I remember being surprised at the sheer amount of repetition, but on reflection, that makes sense as a means of helping children to build lasting and robust learning foundations. As learning topics are taught for long periods at the Kindergarten age, it can be helpful for parents and teachers to have a variety of resources to support reading, writing, and Math learning. We were able to have a closer look at the Learning Resources® Kindergarten Skill Builders! Reading, Writing, and Math Sets.

Building Readers

The Skill Builders! Kindergarten Reading Set encourages children to learn through quick and fun hands-on activities. The accompanying activity guide explains a range of ideas, but the materials included can be used in any way you wish. The set includes lowercase letter tiles, letter dice and word ending dice, letter frame, sight word flip cards, sight word picture, sentence cards, and a selection of paper worksheets.

The letter frame was the focal point of all three activities we did with this set. My son chose which combination of materials to use, and for the first activity, he wanted to use the sight word sentence and picture cards, the letter tiles, and the letter frame. He liked the idea of choosing a sight word card, reading the word, and then recreating it on the letter frame. As he added each letter, he told me the name and the sound it made, followed by how to blend the sounds. He liked getting to build the letter with the tiles physically, which was good for his fine motor skills. After making the sight word, he flipped over the card and read out the sentence.

My son's second activity was to use the sight word flip cards. He thought it was pretty neat that he could flip through so many words; we even used them for a fun 60-second flip and shout-out sight word challenge which he thought was fun. We then used them along with the letter tiles and letter frame to build the words as he flipped through the cards. I added an extra challenge for him by telling him a complete sentence with the sight word in it.

The final way we enjoyed this set was to use the foam letter and word ending dice to create words. My son would roll the two dice and then say the word before building it on the letter frame with the letter tiles. He liked the spontaneity of this activity.

Building Writers

The Skill Builders! Kindergarten Writing Set lends itself well to actually 'building' letters, which was incredibly engaging for my son. The set includes mini letter construction pieces and corresponding cards, a write-and-wipe board, a writing prompt spinner, a Learn to Write! dry erase book and a set of Learning Resources Tri-Grip Tongs. The tongs may not seem like the most obvious item to include, but this fine motor tool is specifically designed to help small hand muscles to strengthen ready for writing. Both my kids love using them in sensory bins and for sorting activities. A detailed activity guide is also included.

My son couldn't wait to use the small construction pieces to build letters from the cards. It is really helpful how each card shows the pieces needed and how to build the upper and lowercase letters. The pieces snap together easily and are good quality. 

As he built the letters, I asked him to tell me the letter's name and what sound it makes. My daughter, who is in preschool, also enjoyed using these pieces. She liked using the write-and-wipe board, so I extended the activity by letting her also write the upper and lowercase letters that she had built on the board.

My preschooler then discovered that there was an entire dry-erase workbook. She loved going through the pages and forming the letters with a dry-erase pen. She would carefully trace each letter and then did a great job writing them by herself. I was impressed with how many different aspects of writing the book covered. She enjoyed tracing and drawing shapes, as well as numbers. Great for building fine motor skills, numeracy, literacy knowledge, and vocabulary development.

Building Mathematicians

The Skill Builders! Kindergarten Math Set comes with a solid selection of manipulatives and learning materials. The set includes two colors of MathLink® Cubes, two-sided counters, ten frames, a cardboard 100 board, paper worksheets, two foam dice, a spinner, and a selection of challenge cards using the materials included in the set.

We decided to use the 100 board for a fun board game. We took turns to roll the two foam dice, adding up the numbers and moving our counter that many spaces forward. It was a race to get to the end of the board, and both my kids loved the simplicity and excitement of this game. It was good for addition and counting skills and helping younger children navigate the tricky concepts of taking turns and winning/losing.

When my son was in Kindergarten and First Grade, ten frames were a big part of his learning. He enjoyed using the two-sided counters and challenge cards to complete addition problems on the ten frames provided. A good way to extend this activity would be to provide a pencil and paper so that your Kindergartener can write out the sum and answer, which will help with number formation.

Our final activity was to use the link cubes. As I mentioned, both my kids love to build, so they were excited to explore numeracy concepts using the MathLink Cubes. They enjoyed using the challenge cards to build and complete patterns and then making up their patterns for each other to complete. The cubes are perfect for helping to develop those all-important fine motor skills.

I'm looking forward to continuing to explore these sets with both my children. I like how varied the materials and activities are, as well as the fact that you can easily adjust the activity ideas to suit your child's needs.

Writer's Bio

Lucy Baker is a Mom of two (4 & 8 years old) passionate about creative play and hands-on learning. She firmly believes in providing children with the opportunity to learn through play and being part of their play journey as a parent. See more of her creative play ideas and process art projects on Instagram @findthelittlemind, and over on her blog, Find the Little Mind.

I am currently in the fun position of being a Preschool teacher and being Mom to a preschooler. It is honestly such a magical stage of childhood, and I love how much playful learning happens daily. I am always on the lookout for engaging new materials with my daughter and preschool class, so I was excited to test out Learning Resources® Preschool Letters and Numbers Skill Builders! Sets. In this first blog, we will focus on the Letters Set.

I like to keep learning hands-on for preschoolers, especially when first helping them discover letters and sounds. The Skill Builders! Preschool Letters Set comes with a good selection of materials to learn about uppercase and lowercase letters. You get a detailed activity guide to help inspire learning ideas, as well as laces and threading letter beads, a color spinner, picture and letter cards, and some interactive paper sheets with activity ideas on them. We laminated many of these sheets as they work great with dry-erase markers, which means they can be used multiple times.

1. Letter Threading - My four-year-old went straight for the letter threading materials. She was super excited to make a ‘name necklace.’ She carefully identified the letters in her name and threaded them onto the lace. This is great for her fine motor skills, which helps build the muscle strength in her hand, ready for writing. She spoke about the shapes of the letters as she threaded them onto the lace as well.

2. Letter Matching - Next up, she liked flipping over the letter cards and matching both the uppercase and lowercase letter beads onto the cards. As she did this, I encouraged her to trace the letter on the card with her finger, and we said the name of the letter and the sound that it made. She loved it when she was able to tell me a word she knew, starting with the sound! On the back of the letter cards, there are vibrant illustrations of something starting with the letter, which was a great way to expand her knowledge.

3. Color Matching - The last activity we chose was a color matching game using the spinner. Preschoolers always love flicking the spinner and watching excitedly to see where it lands. My daughter would spin, identify the color and then choose a letter bead. I challenged her to tell me the name of the letter; we would then make the sound together and try to think of at least three words starting with the letter. If we came up with three words, we got to thread it onto the lace. You could add an extra element of challenge to this by each having your lace and seeing who could thread the most letters on in a given time (remember to come up with the three words each time, though). You can also repeat this activity with lowercase letters to keep the learning developing.

The activity guide left us with so many more great ideas to try. Our favorite material was the letter beads, and we can’t wait to use them in some sensory bins as well seen as they can be easily washed. I love that this set is versatile and comes with a range of hands-on activities, all of which can be adjusted for the stage of learning your preschooler is at.

Writer’s Bio

Lucy Baker is a Mom of two (4 & 8 years old) passionate about creative play and hands-on learning. She firmly believes in providing children with the opportunity to learn through play and being part of their play journey as a parent. See more of her creative play ideas and process art projects on Instagram @findthelittlemind, and over on her blog, Find the Little Mind.

Is your child a daydreamer? A constant question asker? An outside-of-the-lines colorer? Don’t despair! While learning to follow directions and mastering basic foundational skills is an important part of early learning, so is learning to think outside the box, aka creative thinking. Creative thinking, or the ability to find multiple, creative solutions to a problem, is just as important (maybe even more important!) as critical thinking or the ability to solve problems using a single solution.

Why? As our world continues to grow and change, we create new problems that require new solutions. Solving these new problems requires a fresh perspective and the ability to see beyond the obvious, existing answers. That’s where creative thinking comes in. And that’s why creativity was the most desired soft skill in the workplace in 2020* and not just in creative fields, either! Industries from software design and biomedicine to telecom and robotics require creative thinking to identify new problems and discover innovative solutions.

Bonus: besides making your kids ultra-desirable employees of the future, creative thinkers are generally more resilient, confident, and optimistic, better communicators; and even physically healthier than their less creative counterparts. That all sounds good, right? So how do you encourage your kids to think creatively?

Luckily, most kids are born creative thinkers. They ask questions, make up their own rules, use tools in new ways, and generally play their way. But there are several ways you can cultivate and encourage your kids’ natural creative thinking, things you can do at home to help your kids to come up with and try new ideas, see situations in new ways, find alternative explanations, and make new connections including:

1. Providing Time for Open-Ended Play - Building time into your child’s schedule for unstructured play or playtime with no rules and direction is a great way to foster creative thinking. Supply the props, like toy vehicles, action figures, dolls, dress-up clothes, and building blocks, then let your child loose to imagine their own scenarios, dialogues, problems, and solutions. Your child can play solo, with a sibling or friend, or with you, but don’t correct them, intervene in their process, or offer your own ideas; just observe, encourage, and support.

2. Offering New Experiences - New experiences build kids’ brains! It’s true – each new experience creates a new connection, or synapse, in the brain. These connections are used for high-order thinking like problem-solving, logic, reasoning, and organization. So set out some new art materials and musical instruments, take a nature walk in a new part of town, or try new food at a new restaurant.

3. Indulging Curiosity - The endless questions can drive you crazy, but they’re a sure sign of a creative thinker at work. Before you answer, ask your child what THEY think and applaud their effort to use what they do know to sort out a solution. Then answer the best you can, but if you don’t know the answer, brainstorm a bit together before looking it up.

4. Shaking Things Up - Shaking up the status quo will get the whole family thinking creatively! Try running your day backwards, with jammies at school and breakfast for dinner. Instead of reading a favorite story, ask each family member to develop an alternate ending. Paint with an old toothbrush, pom pom, pipe cleaner, or make a potato stamp. Make up a crazy recipe and try it for lunch. Fill the bathtub without using the spout (or just talk about how you might get that done if you can’t stand the splash). You get the idea!

Creative thinking is an important skill that will help your little one become a better problem solver and build the confidence they need to try new things and share new ideas. So let them dream the day away, count the clouds, or build a 10-foot tower. Marvel at their unique ideas and innovative solutions. They’re going places!

* https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/top-skills-and-courses/the-skills-companies-need-most-in-2020and-how-to-learn-them

Get a head start on building someone amazing this holiday season with our fun, learning educational toys! Let us help you pick out the perfect toys for your little learner. These gifts will grow with your children and help you discover new learning fun every time you give a gift! 

Shop all now!

Image 1 - Featured image, Source: pexels.com

Many kids spend their years in school on “autopilot,” looking at their schooling as something they have to do, something that’s expected of them, and something they need to advance in life. This mindset might be good for getting good grades or having perfect attendance, but it doesn’t create lifelong learners. It doesn’t build thriving minds and young adults, and it certainly doesn’t set your children up for lifelong success in everything they do.

To get your kids off autopilot and inspire and empower them to become effective learners, you need to change the paradigm. Not only is it important to stay on top of the latest trends for learning and development, but it’s also important to implement mindfulness into the process and even use technology to spark creativity and a love for lifelong learning. Today, we will put all of this into perspective and define some of the best ways to teach your children to become mindful and effective learners for life.

Define the “why” behind every learning activity
From school to the great outdoors, from TV and the internet to the playground and beyond – children are constantly learning and soaking up new information. Every activity and experience is an opportunity to learn new and exciting things, but that doesn’t mean that your kids will want to learn. Don’t expect your children to have an innate desire for knowledge or that they’ll love school just because they are talented individuals.

For your children to be effective learners and truly love learning, they need to understand the “why” behind every subject and learning activity. Why is math important? Why is chemistry so helpful, and how does STEM change the world? Why should they take an art class, and why in the world should they learn to play an instrument?

If you don’t give your child a broader picture or a deeper understanding of the subject, they won’t feel motivated to learn. On the other hand, if they understand that math is the language of the universe, they will feel incentivized to learn that language to unravel its mysteries.

Create a healthy learning environment
For your child to become a mindful learner and develop a passion for lifelong learning, they need to be in a healthy environment. Don’t think that your child can focus or feel motivated to study if the place is a mess if they are surrounded by distractions or any form of negativity lingering in the air.

Remember, your child needs a safe, welcoming space where they can study, a space imbued with peace and positivity. Consider your work-from-home lifestyle that requires a home office where you can concentrate. Your child needs the same thing – they own space designed for studying and nothing else. The lockdown is changing the face of education, and while they are stuck at home, try to make the learning process as enjoyable and effective as possible.

Learning through practical examples
Children need to learn by experiencing the world with all their senses. They learn by touching, listening, reading, and sometimes even by tasting something they clearly shouldn’t have put in their mouth. It’s a natural process that doesn’t go away simply because they reached their school years. 

If you want your child to become a mindful and effective learner, they need more than to stare at a textbook. They need examples, visual stimulation, and a more creative approach to studying. This is for the teachers to figure out while they’re in the classroom, but when you’re helping your child study at home, you should enrich their learning experience with various examples that will spark their interest, imagination, and the oh-so-important creative process.

Over to you
Children go to school, they do what they’re told, they get good grades, and they never truly realize why lifelong learning is so important, valuable, and transformative. If you want to set your child on a better path through life, then make sure to use these tips to help them become mindful learners, and inspire them to achieve many great things in the years to come.