This weekend, sing the song “Skip to my Lou” with your preschooler, and substitute the words, with the the names of animals and the sounds they make.

For instance,

Dogs in the kennel go bow wow wow…

Cows in the farm go moo moo moo…

Pigs in the sty go oink oink oink…

Use only animals and sounds she’s familiar with.

Enjoy!

This weekend, choose a theme that you want your preschooler to pick up (colors, shapes etc.)  Make a telescope out of an old wrapping paper tube, or other card board tube.  Paint and decorate the tube.

Decide on particular shapes that you want your preschooler to spy (something that’s round)

particular colors (something that’s green or yellow)

particular textures (something that feels rough)

particular objects (something made of fabric - any type)

Any combinations of the above for an older child who finds these too simple

Enjoy!

Your preschooler will love making up his own songs by changing the words of his favorite songs or rhymes - Old McDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABC Song, Mary had a Little Lamb etc.

This weekend (or whenever you’re in the need to bust those boredom blues), sing songs while substituting words forher own experiences. For instance, “Old McDonald had a farm” could become”Old McDonald went to the mall” if you’re on your way to the mall. Follow up with all the things she’s likely to see at the mall. This is great for singing in the car on the way there.

Or when she’s having her snack, sing “Mary had a little lamb” to the words “(Child’s name) had a little (snack or fruit). Great activity for boosting preschool vocabulary and strengthening language skills! Also, terrific as a music activity to build appreciation for song!

Enjoy!

This weekend, help your child make an About Me book. Take an empty book, and begin filling with his favorite things. Start with his name.

My name is _________________ .

Use similar sentences to note down his age, birth date. Other entries can include

The name of my school is (if he goes to preschool)

I live with my __________________ .

My best friends are _____________ , _________________, and _____________.

I like (his favorite foods), but not (the foods he doesn’t like).

I have two hands, two legs, two eyes,….and so on.

I like to play (his favorite sport or game)

I can (enter some activity that he can do, like sing the alphabet, or name fruits, anything at all), but I can’t (name something he can’t do yet, like drive a car etc.)

Add as many entries as you like - the only condition is they should all center on him.

Stick his picture, and have a separate page for vital statistics - measure his height, weight, color of eyes etc., and note these down.

Include an imprint or outline of his hand, and foot.

Include his favorite memories of events - I like my birthday because ….

Maybe you can you come up with more ideas!

It’s been a crazy couple of days, and I am late with my weekly tip.  Here you go.

Recite the following rhyme together with your child:
Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?

I think Mommy took the cookie from the cookie jar?

Who me ? Yes, you!

Couldn’t be. Then who?

With each round, substitute “Mommy” for other members of the family- her grandparents, relatives, friends and teacher, even the pet.

This helps promote memory for all the people in her life.

Enjoy!

This weekend activity works best if you dress your child up in a colorful outfit.

Say -If you’re wearing blue, clap your hands.

If you’re wearing red, hop twice.

If you’re wearing green, turn around and touch the ground.

And so on.

What this teaches her:

She learns to build on her color recognition skills , and practises listening carefully to instructions.

Have fun!

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!

This weekend let your child create his own scrapbooks - one for the alphabet and one for numbers. All you need are two largish books, old newspapers, magazines, and old mail order catalogs. In short, anything in paper with pictures that he can cut out to create his scrapbook.

Kids enjoy making things with their own hands, and your preschooler is more likely to learn from something that he’s made himself.

Hand him a pair of blunt scissors (his old baby nail clipping scissors will do fine), and let him write the alphabet on each page, and cut and stick the appropriate pictures himself. It can be tiring, so lend a helping hand.

For the number scrapbook, you’ll need lots of pictures as the numbers increase. Use the catalogs here.

An added benefit: The cutting and pasting improves eye hand co ordination and gives him a firmer grasp to hold the most important tool of all - a pencil.

Enjoy!

Learning to button up her own coat teaches independence, and gives her a feeling of accomplishment. Start by giving her your own coat to button - bigger buttons are easier to handle. Also, give her your dresses and skirts to practice zipping up. When she’s got the hang of it, she can move on to buttoning and zipping up her own clothes.

This weekend, try a fun game to establish strong color differentiation skills in your preschooler.

Tie a piece of single colored string (green, blue, yellow are preferred colors) around your child’s wrist, and take her for a walk. As you walk along, get her to point out things she sees that are the same color as the string on her wrist. For instance - grass and leaves for the color green, flowers and houses for the color yellow etc.