Sorting activities can lay a strong foundation for addition, counting and more advanced math skills. It can be taught using the most basic things around the house –

• Sorting forks and spoons,
• Sorting buttons and beads by colors,
• Sorting shoes by size,
• Sorting socks by pattern or color,

And so on.

If your child is up for newer challenges, teach her that things can be sorted into more than one category.

Giver her four lunch bags, shoe boxes or cartons. This game is easiest when you use building blocks.

Ask her to sort the blocks based on color and size. For instance – one bag for big red blocks, one for smaller red blocks, one for big blue blocks, another for small blue blocks.

This teaches her that that things can be both one thing and another.

Here’s how you can use these complex sorting games to boost math abilities. Ask her to count the sides of each block, and then sort into blocks with four sides and blocks without four sides.

You can also use buttons – let her sort them into round, square, with 4 holes and without four holes. So, she’ll end up with 4 categories of buttons -

round with four holes

round without four holes

square with four holes

squares without four holes

This preschool activity combines sorting with counting, and helps lay a foundation for finer math skills.

I’ve been focusing so much on teaching your preschooler this and that, and I thought it was time to reverse roles a bit, and look at things that we learn from our kids. You’d be surprised at the number of things I came up with:

Here we go.

Self Praise

The next time you hear your child say he hit the ball over the trees, look at his obvious self pride. He’s bursting with it. When was the last you dared pat yourself on the back for a job well done? Go ahead. Write a list of all the things you love about yourself, and yes, put it up on the refrigerator.

Nothing is too small.

Can make a mean lasagna? On the list.

Involved in your child’s learning? Absolutely good enough.

Read it aloud everyday, and pat yourself on the back. You don’t have to do the helicopter dance, but a little strut in your walk won’t hurt.

Honesty

Kids say the darndest things. All the time. And at the most inappropriate times. How do you learn from that? Well, venting your feelings about someone to their face can be therapeutic. Your child is venting when he calls his friend a “stupid head.”

Does it make him feel good? You betcha!

Venting is therapeutic for you too. Unfortunately, we’ve been conditioned to be diplomatic all the time, even if that means biting your tongue and speaking “nice.”

Let that attitude go. It will be hard. Telling your MIL she’s an ass might be tough, but there’re no reason why you can’t tell her politely, but firmly, not to fill your kid’s ears with racist nonsense, if you find her doing so.

And there’s no harm in telling that condescending colleague of yours that you’ve just about had it with their attitude.

Go ahead. Chuck the diplomacy. Call them a stupid head.

Enthusiasm

Watch your child the next time he’s doing an art project on his own, or building a model. Observe how involved he is, how much enthusiasm he has for what he does. Then, take a look at your own “things have to be done because they have to be done” attitude. Kids have an enthusiasm for the smallest thing they do, while we as adults, begin to feel interest and enthusiasm waning for things we take for granted.

Affection

I wasn’t raised in a touchy-feely family myself, but I have absolutely no problem showering my boy with affection. Part of is good old maternal instinct, but part of it I am quite convinced, is how affectionate he is. There’s nothing better your child likes than a good warm hug.

You could take that same feel-good warm fuzziness that comes after you’ve exchanged a hug and kiss with your child to other relationships in your life.

Don’t remember the last time you hugged your Mom? Now’s the time. If a hug seems hard to muster, a simple hand hold will do. Any form of physical contact. With the people who matter in your life. Just because.

Unlimited Energy

Keep up with your kids. They come with naturally high levels of energy, while yours are probably slowly depleting at this point. Invest in your health. Getting fit has too many advantages to ignore. Only one of these is how much energy it allows you to enjoy your kids, participate in their games, and engage in their lives.

Go on. Race him up the stairs.

Be Messy

You read that right.

Kids are messy and disorganized, and leave stains and spills all over the place. Let it go.

It’s not the end of the world if you have a few grape juice stains on your carpet, or walls that have seen better days. If you find yourself tidying, dusting, wiping, mopping and cleaning, for the most part of the day, you’re letting precious time slip by without your kids. I am not saying you should let your house become a pig sty, but there are two sayings by I-don’t-know-who that I love:

A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.

Dull women have immaculate houses.

Do some basic tidying and cleaning – enough that your household doesn’t fall apart. Get your kids involved. Let them help with smaller cleaning up chores.

And then, stop.

Use the extra hours to take a walk with your child instead, or play a game.

Do some self esteem building exercises.

Or just watch a movie as a family.

I know women who clean, and dust and wipe, and put things back where they belong right up till bedtime, when they realize another day has gone by, and they haven’t even had a chance to look at what has happened in their child’s life that day.

Time flies too fast. Your kids won’t wait around for when you’re free from your housework.

The house will be fine, trust me.

So, has your child opened your eyes to new things and possibilities?

I had a sorting game post planned for today, but I came across this article in the New York Times about children and play. It’s about 11 pages long, and a lot of it is related to studies in animals and lab rats, but the gist of the article was the relevance of play in a child’s life in today’s world.

There’s no denying that our kids spend less time playing (I am not talking Nintendo or PS here, but “regular” play with dolls, and trucks and tree climbing – in short ,the kind of playing we used to do in our own childhoods). Today, with 200 million television channels, video games and the chance to ”interact” with friends online, kids spend lesser time in that joyful abandon that we remember. Plus, kids are under a lot more pressure these days than we were to excel in whatever they do. Piano lessons, ballet classes, private tuition – there are huge, and sometimes unreasonable demands made on their time, so they can turn out to be highly productive members of society.

Anyway, the article is about studies being conducted by the National Institute of Play (yes, there apparently is such a thing) into the relevance of play in humans, and whether it is really as important as we like to believe it is. Some experts are of the opinion that play in all its forms – whether dramatic role play, through imaginary friends, model making, skipping etc. – don’t really teach a child anything that he couldn’t otherwise pick up in a class room setting.

I so beg to differ.

Trust a bunch of scientists to take something as basic as play, and turn it into a lab rat experiment-worth activity. Play might not be the only way to teach a child something, but the fact of the matter is that it is the only way all kids will find learning fun.

Playtime is intrinsic to a child’s development. If you were struggling to teach your child the alphabet, or numbers, or colors, which would he find a more enjoyable activity? Using a passing game to learn numbers, discovering secondary colors through painting, or being made to sit in front of a large chart with numbers, or alphabets or whatever on it, and taught what they stand for?

Kids these days don’t play as much they should, and that’s a fact. They have too may other things competing for their attention. And for some expert to proclaim that we shouldn’t attach overdue importance to it, is just plain irresponsible.

In all fairness, the NY Times article concludes that play is as important to a child’s neurological development as lessons, although analysts, it says, are of the opinion that we shouldn’t overestimate the importance of play or place it on a pedestal. I don’t think we should place it on a pedestal either, but to say very cavalierly, that it doesn’t teach anything that kids wouldn’t learn otherwise in a classroom setting, is to have a very narrow minded understanding of what “teaching” a child really involves.

What about self esteem and confidence?

What about social interaction?

What about learning to thrust and parry with your fellow playmates, physically and mentally?

And also, what about life lessons? The playground can sometimes seem like a cruel place where only the most popular kids get first shot at the swing set. Being left out of play time, losing at a game – these are all part of the childhood experience. How does a child learn how to deal with adult situations that may involve conflict or disagreement, if he has only learned to wage imaginary wars on his PS, or chatted with nameless or faceless strangers on the Net?

Kids thrive on play. Period.

Gross motor skills development, building friendships, socializing, learning new things about objects and people in their surroundings as they play….the benefits of play are endless.

Experts might think that we give play a halo that it doesn’t deserve, but with all due respect, these experts are not raising my child.

This weekend, record your child’s voice as she recites her rhymes, or sings.   Record a storytelling session.  Or just a conversation that you have with her.  You could include quiz questions.  Anything at all that shows off her skills.

Play it back, and listen to it together.  Praise her language skills.

Play the CD to through long drives in the car to keep away boredom.

And enjoy!

Kids love stories, and we love them because they encourage the use of imagination, and boost language and vocabulary skills.

Take a few minutes to create your child’s own story, by including his name, names of family members and pets, things in his house, his friends, his favorite games etc.

It could go like this.

Once upon a time, long long ago, there lived a wonderful little girl (her name). She lived with her mother (your name here), her father (her father’s name here), her brother and sister (insert her sibling’s names here. If you have pets include their names too). (Name) lived in a house with (number of rooms) rooms. There was a hall, a kitchen, a dining room, (insert all other rooms in the house here). In the hall there was a coat stand and a… (insert other objects here). In the kitchen, there was an oven,… (insert kitchen appliances, utensils, crockery and other objects here).

Every morning, (name) would wake up, brush her teeth… (insert her daily morning activities).

You can continue in this vein including other things your child loves to do, her favorite TV shows and games, the names of her friends and playmates, her aunts and uncles, grandparents etc.

This activity has multiple benefits. Your child learns to practice the names of people, objects and other things that are familiar to her, and she learns to form complete sentences. It has one more benefit that I absolutely love – it boosts self esteem and makes her feel important because the story revolves around her. That in itself, is enough reason to take part in this activity.

Have fun!

There are very few things that make people go Aww… like the sound of a little child at the other end of the phone speaking politely and calmly. Learning how to speak on the phone sets a pattern for kids as they get older. In these days of 6 year olds with their own cell phones, good old fashioned telephone manners are getting harder to come by. A mumbled ”Lo?” or “Yeah?” is getting to be the norm, even with adults.

Learning how to speak properly on the telephone is one of the most useful skills that you can teach your child. Telephone manners aren’t just about “Hello” and “May I ask who’s calling?”, but have a lot to do with proper message taking, and the correct way to pass on the telephone to the person who is needed at the phone.

In all probability, your child won’t be taking messages when you’re out of the house, since she’ll likely be with a sitter or other family member, but during bathroom breaks or when you’re busy elsewhere, it helps if your preschooler has some basic telephone manners in place.

Plus, telephone manners help her to learn voice control, since part of the process is learning to speak calmly and slowly over the phone. To help your child differentiate between the tones to be used in different situations, please read the basics of speech and manners for preschoolers.

Your preschooler is already quite familiar with telephones, and what they are used for, and has likely spent some time gurgling into her toy telephone as a baby. This makes your job easier because she is already familiar with the use of the instrument.

Use a toy telephone to begin teaching your child what to say on the phone. Begin by teaching her the proper way to answer the phone.

Hello, So and So’s residence.

Older kids can be taught to use their name (Lindsay speaking), but I wouldn’t recommend it for preschoolers. It’s just too easy for a stranger to find out her name, and use it as a chance to befriend her. A child is more likely to trust a person who uses her name. When she’s older and wiser, you can teach her to use her name, after the “Hello,” but for now a basic “Hello” or a “Hello” followed by the name of the family and residence will do just fine.

The second step to teach her is

May I know who’s calling?

This is harder to get. To make it easier for her, allow her to receive the telephone when it rings, stand in front of her and mouth the words when she begins to falter. You could ask your spouse or a friend to call for practice. This is one area where practice absolutely makes perfect.

Once she has the person’s name, teach her to go and call the person who’s needed at the phone. Many kids tend to hang up while they go call. Teach her to place the phone down on the table, and then go and call Mommy or Daddy– not to place it back on the set. Tell her to say “Just a moment, please” before she places the phone, so the caller knows she’s gone to fetch you.

Message taking is tricky among preschoolers – they’re too young to write anything down, or remember the names of whoever has called. You can use pretend telephone play to help her practice. Call the main phone from your cell phone, and pretend you’re some one calling for her mom or Daddy who isn’t at home. Teach her to ask

“I am sorry she’s not available at the moment. May I take a message?”

Again, this will take tons of practice.

Things to Watch Out For

I said this before and I’ll repeat it here – she must never give out her name to the caller at the other end.

She must never say no one’s at home. If you’re leaving her with a sitter, make sure to put the phone on the answering machine. Remember, when a telemarketer calls, he has your address on his computer screen. Having a child say there’s no one at home can be fool hardy.

She must not carry on a conversation with a stranger at the other end. Besides the fact that the other person might not be in the mood to chit chat with a little person, it can also be dangerous if the caller intends to get personal information out of her.

Tell her it’s always better to say “Mommy is not available to speak at the moment.” Not “Mommy is in the toilet!”

Teach her to speak calmly and slowly.

It won’t happen overnight, but with a little practice your child can master the art of perfect telephone conversation!

So, does your preschooler answer the phone at home?

Color recognition activities can start as early as age two, although it ultimately depends on your child.

Many kids tend to find primary colors more difficult to grasp, because the concept of things having different colors is not an easy one to understand. Don’t mix up all the colors in your enthusiasm – start with the three primary colors. Kids find it easier to understand when you can show them each color in the form of an object, rather than trying to point out colors on a chart.

Take a number of objects of the same color in a basket – toy cars, caps, building blocks. These should all be in solid red, blue or yellow. Let’s start with the color red.

Ask your child to hand you things one at a time:

Can you hand me the red car, please?

Next, ask him for the red cap.

Stress the word red always.

Do this for each object in the basket.

Once he’s been able to establish red, move on to yellow and blue.

When he becomes fairly comfortable with these three colors individually, begin mixing them up in a basket.

Can you hand me the red car and the yellow bowl please?

The yellow block and the blue truck?

This won’t happen overnight, but once the primary colors are firmly established, it’s easy and fun to begin experimenting with secondary colors.

Keep smiling!

Here’s a twist on an age old game to teach your child to recognize the starting sounds of a word.

1. Take a cloth bag, and attach a letter tag to it. Stick to letters that have consistent sounds like “b” or “f” to keep things simple.
2. Ask your child to find 5 things around the house that begin with that letter. You can progress to tougher letters as you go along.
3. Later, you can introduce her to combinations of letters like “sh.”

Enjoy!

Just in case it wasn’t obvious by now, I am a huge fan of using simple day to day activities and situations as opportunities to teach. There are countless activities in your day like cooking activities for preschoolers that you can use to create an enriching learning environment for your child.

I am one of those people who finds doing laundry very therapeutic. There’s something about dirty clothes going into the washer, and fresh clean clothes coming out that gives my mind a well deserved rest, and makes me fresh enough for new challenges. Some people meditate, others do yoga. I do laundry.

Whether you like doing laundry or not, here’s a sorting activity for your preschooler that you can use next laundry day. If she enjoys it, you could also add it to your list of chores for her to do. (You are giving her at least some chores, aren’t you?)

• Ask your child to help by sorting the dirty laundry into whites and coloreds, and then coloreds into wools, cottons and other fabrics.
• Once you’ve brought back the clean wash into the house, let her help you separate it into clothes and other things.
• Next up, ask her to separate clothes that belong to each family member.

What does she learn?

• Sorting according to fabric, and types of clothing
• Participating in a family activity (sense of accomplishment)
• A sense of neatness. (Hopefully, by the time she’s a teenager, she’ll have learned to actually fold her clothes and put them away, instead of cramming them all into the closet, and pushing against the door to lock it!)

Have fun!

Continuing with our series on sensory activities, here is an activity for sensory awareness of smell.  Sniffing and recognizing smells may be difficult for younger kids, but not if you introduce stronger and easily distinguishable fragrances.

Just like in the hearing activities, make two sets of jars, using a total of six jars, one set with red bottles and the other set in green bottles.  Plastic spice jars are fine, and so are baby food jars. 

Place a piece of cotton wool with a few drops of a particular liquid flavoring in each pair.  Use strong easily identifiable scents like lemon, vanilla, or herbs from your kitchen – lavender, rosemary.  If you want a stronger fragrance, use lemon rinds instead, or cinnamon, cloves or other strong spices.  If you’re not using cotton balls, you’ll have to make sure the bottles are opaque.

Ask your child to open and sniff a red jar, and then, open and sniff a green jar to find the matching green jar  with the exact same scent. 

This activity can be a lot of fun, especially when it comes to the strong scents!

 
Have fun, and keep smiling.