Free Preschool Activities

What you need:

- construction paper in colors you want to teach. If you’ll be teaching the basic shapes instead,  cut them into circles, squares and triangles.

- a preschool music CD such as 30 Preschool Songs

What you do:

Tape the construction paper to the floor, close enough that preschoolers can jump from piece to piece.

Start the music and have the preschoolers jump from paper to paper. Stop the music and have everyone tell you what color/shape they’re standing on.

Alternatives:

Try hopping or jumping backwards instead of jumping.

When the music stops, call out a particular color or shape for then to run to, like “Red!” or “Triangle!”

For older preschoolers, try a variation of musical chairs. Have one less paper than you have children. The one not standing on a color/shape when the music stops can sit down, or become a helper.

This is an activity I tried with some preschoolers over the weekend, and it went over really well. We had a story about a boat in a storm. Then to bring the story to life, we made our own foil boats and turned our water table into a roaring ocean. I’ve also added some extensions to the end of this activity that you could try with your preschoolers.

What you need:

Basin of water
Foil
Objects/plastic people to put in boats
Towels!

What you do:

Give each preschooler a piece of foil. Show them how they can turn it into a boat. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, so let them be creative! We folded our foil in half then turned the edges up for sides.

Put the boats in the water and watch how they float. Invite your preschoolers to make a windy day by blowing on the water and making waves.

Extension activities:

Turn this into a counting activity! How many objects can you put into a boat before it sinks?

Put an island (a small saucer or other object) in your water table and read The Little Island to your preschoolers. Have them recreate the storm and other events of the story.

by Rachel Paxton

Preschool-aged children love to play with worms (at least my boys do!). You can turn their curiosity with worms into a science project with just a few items from your house and garden. Here is what you’ll need:

Empty two-liter pop bottle
Exacto knife
Dirt
Small shovel
Sand
Grass clippings
Kitchen compost (apple peelings, etc.)
Worms

Before you let your child loose in the garden, you will need to use the exacto knife to cut off the entire top of the pop bottle.

Help your child create a label for the container that has the child’s name and “worm farm” printed on it. You can make it by hand or on the computer. Tape the label to the front of the container.

Go out to the garden with your child and let he or she shovel a couple of inches of dirt into the plastic container. Pat the dirt down so the next layer of sand won’t filter through. Explain to your child that they need to be careful not to shake or jar the bottle or the sand and dirt will become mixed up.

Add a thin layer of sand, and then continue with a couple of inches of dirt and another thin layer of sand. The top layer should be dirt. Leave an inch or two of space at the top of the bottle.

Next add a few grass clippings on top of the last layer of dirt. The worms will need food, so add a few pieces of fruits or vegetables in with the grass, such as apple or orange peelings.

If you are lucky enough to have worms in your yard, help your child dig for a few worms for his or her worm farm. If you can’t find any, go to your nearest bait shop and buy a small package of night crawlers.

Let your child play with the worms before putting them in the worm farm. Help them make observations about their worms. Check out a book about worms at your local library or search for information online about worms. Talk to your child about how a worm’s job is to eat waste and mix it into our soil to fertilize
it.

After your child places a couple of worms into the worm farm, they will be able to see for themselves how worms mix up soil. When the worms dig through the container, they will leave a trail of sand behind them that your child will be able to see mixing into the dirt.

For the most worm activity, place the worm farm in a dark place or tape a piece of paper around the worm farm to keep the light out. Worms do most of their work at night.

Your preschooler will have a lot of fun creating his or her worm farm. From digging in the dirt, to playing with worms…what’s not to like!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit http://www.Christian-Parent.com

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

by Rachel Paxton

Cutting with scissors is a learned activity. By three years old your child should have no problem holding a pair of child-sized scissors. It takes them awhile to master this new skill, however, so be patient with them while they begin to show an interest in learning how to do it.

Purchase your child a pair of his own scissors. If your child is left-handed, make sure the scissors can be used by left- or right-handed children. Many scissors can be used by both.

Let your child try to cut with the scissors, and encourage him to cut the best he can. It may take awhile for him to get the hang of it. My boys were four years old before they could hold a pair of scissors correctly and cut with them.

After your child has learned to cut with his scissors, it’s time to practice cutting shapes and lines. This activity helps your preschooler master his cutting skills so he can move on to cutting out shapes for his own craft projects.

Have your child start cutting lines. Simply use a ruler to draw several lines on a piece of paper, and then have your child try to cut on the line. It will probably take awhile for your child to get the hang of it, but after he catches on he will be so proud of his new accomplishment. After lines, he is ready to move on to wavy lines, then ovals, and, finally, circles.

Preschoolers love this cutting activity. One of my sons spent at least an hour two days in a row cutting out shapes I had drawn for him. He was so excited he could cut on the lines that he wanted to cut them out over and over again.

Another skill that can be practiced with this activity is tracing. Before your child cuts out the shapes, have him first trace them with a pencil. This is also a skill that takes time to learn and that your child will enjoy trying to master.

Children enjoying learning things. Open up a whole new world for your child by teaching him something as simple as using a pair of scissors.

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit http://www.Christian-Parent.com

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Here is an easy preschool Bible craft that can help your child remember and apply the Bible verse, “Sing unto the Lord.” Psalm 95:1

What you need for each child:

• 1 8 1/2″ x11″ sheet of construction paper - in your preschooler’s favorite color, of course.
• Printed lyrics to favorite Sunday School songs. You can find the tunes and words to many favorite Sunday School songs here. http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/songs.htm
• Crayons or coloring pencils
• A stapler

What to do:

Fold the construction paper in half to make a cover for your songbook. Help your child print “Sing unto the Lord” on the cover, or encourage them to create a cover design of their own.

Give your child the printed lyrics to their favorite songs. These should be pre-cut so they fit inside your songbook cover. You can invite your child to add illustrations for each song.

Staple together.

Hold a sing-along and have fun singing unto the Lord together! Add lots of actions to your songs… if you can’t think of any ask your preschoolers for ideas.

Ready to Learn Some New Favorites?

When you’re ready to add some new favorites to your repertoire, you might also want to check out Gospel Fun Songs for Kids.

Why should you be spending time helping your preschoolers discover music? Here are a few important reasons:

• dancing to music and making music releases stress and energy. I think anyone who spends time with preschoolers can appreciate that!
• it gives children a way to express their emotions. They’re full of emotions they can’t express, and dancing to music is more fun for everyone than dealing with a temper tantrum.
• music makes learning fun! Add music to ANY preschool lesson, and it’s instantly an exciting activity
• learning music teaches listening skills . Remember all the things you asked your preschoolers to listen for when you made music for them?
• music provides a pleasant background for regular activities like playing, eating, and sleeping.

Music can do so much more as well - these are just a few things.

You can start making music a part of your regular day with your preschoolers by

• playing soft music while they’re doing regular activities
• make up new movements to some songs they already know
• sing with your children as often as you can. Even if you don’t think you can sing well, your preschoolers will love to hear you sing with them! In the car, with the windows tightly shut, has always been my favorite place to sing with my kids.
• dance with your kids as often as you can. Again, you may want to keep the blinds closed, but your children will love to dance with you. Seeing you move to music will help inspire their own creativity too.

Next week, I’ll have instructions for making some easy (and fun) musical instruments with your preschoolers. Get ready to make even MORE music!

But that’s OK, because a musical home (or classroom) is a happy one.

I hope you’ve had fun over the past few days, making music with your preschoolers.

Of course, the FUNNEST way to discover music with preschoolers is to move around to it! Here are some ways to help children discover music using movement.

1. Have a dance party! Make a tape of music that has different speeds of music, and music that is loud and soft. Have the children dance to the sounds they hear.  Ask your preschoolers, is this music loud or soft? Is it fast or slow? You can even have them make loud sounds during the loud music and soft sounds during the soft music.

2. Make musical hugs. Are your children familiar with musical chairs? If not, this is a good time to introduce them to that popular game.  Here is a fun variation of musical chairs: Have the children move around to some music. When the music stops, find someone and hug them! This version is a little nicer than musical chairs because no one is “out.”

3. Come on, ring those bells! Attach bells to the ceiling. Give your preschoolers newspapers scrunched into balls (or have them do that part too.) Then throw the newspaper balls and try to hit the bells to make music. They’ll be developing their motor skills AND an appreciation of music!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season with your preschoolers! One of my family’s favorite things about Christmas is enjoying the Christmas music.

Now that Christmas is over, you can carry that love of music into the new year by doing some musical activities with your preschoolers.

Here are some fun music lessons you can do with your preschool class or your own preschoolers at home. These are very simple, and will introduce your preschooler to listening and thinking about music.

These activities will help your children learn:

• To listen for the difference between loud sounds and soft sounds
• To identifying how sounds are the same or different
• Different ways they can create music with their own voices.

Now, onto the fun!

1. What’s making that sound? Look around your home and collect items like marbles, bells, pencils, paperclips, and other small items. Put one item in a small box and shake it around. Ask your preschooler what they think is in the box. Does it make a soft or a loud sound?

2. Make your own rock band! Go outside and collect rocks of different sizes. Your preschoolers might even enjoy helping you with this. Then pick up various rocks and bang them together, one pair at a time. Ask your preschoolers if they can tell you if the sounds the different rocks make are the same or different. If they are different, how are they different?

3. No talking allowed! Play a game with your preschoolers where they have to talk to each other by singing their words instead of speaking. This game reminds me of a funny scene in the movie Finding Nemo, where Dory was “talking” to the whale. If your preschoolers are familiar with the movie, you might use that as an example of how to sing words instead of speak them.

Spiders aren’t insects (they’re arachnids) but they can be a lot of fun to learn about. I think most kids are fascinated by spiders, which explains some of our favorite nursery rhymes!

Here’s an activity to help your children learn the rhyme, Little Miss Muffet, and have a healthy snack too.

You’ll need:

• A nursery rhyme book. I’ve also posted the Little Miss Muffet nursery rhyme for you here.
•  Small pillow for each child
• Cottage cheese
• Cut-up fruit
• Small paper plate
• Spoon
• Soft toy
• String

Before you begin this activity, tie a soft toy to the piece of string and put it out of the way until you’re ready to use it.

Show your preschooler a picture of Little Miss Muffet in your nursery rhyme book, and read each line out loud.

Then, encourage your children to act out the rhyme. You can give them a snack of cottage cheese and cut-up fruit (curds and whey) and they can sit on smell pillows (tuffets).

After the children eat their snack,  and put away their plates (so no one makes a mess) help them repeat the rhyme, and dangle the soft toy in front of each child to pretend to “frighten them away,” as a game.

Can your preschoolers tell you what happened to Little Miss Muffet in their own words? Being able to describe something in their own words in an important part of listening and understanding.

Today the kids and I watched two ants carry a dead spider across our driveway. Those tiny creatures are amazing!

One way to watch insects up close is to buy a bug cage, or make one yourself.  Then you can watch those critters for hours. Remember to let your guests return home when you’re done watching them!

To make your own bug cage, you need:

copper wire screen

2 aluminum cake pans

Roll the screen so it fits around the cake pans. One cake pan will be the top of your cage, one will be the bottom.

Join the edges of the screens by sewing them together with a single strand of copper wire removed from the cut edge.