The essence of independence is to be able to do something for oneself. Such experience is not just play. It’s work children must do in order to grow up.

– Maria Montessori

My biggest nightmare as a parent is that my child will grow up to be an adult with no skills other than playing on his PS. I’ve always had my son help around the house, and now since he’s older, even run small errands outside.

Chores help a preschooler understand the different functions that are necessary to keep a home running smoothly. She understands that beds have to be made, and tables have to be set – they don’t just get that way! If you’re falling into the “she’ll have lots of time to do it when she’s older” trap, know that it might be twice as hard getting her to do things like keeping her room passably clean as a teenager than it is now. Doing chores adds to a preschooler’s self esteem and confidence. Praise her when she performs a task for you – it adds to her self belief.

The point here is not to turn your child into your slave – don’t overwork her, and never give her things to do that she absolutely hates doing. Move on to another chore. Better still, give her a list of chores and ask her to pick out five that she’d be happy doing.

Here’s a list to give you some ideas, some are ideal for a 3 year old, while for others, your child might have to be older.

1. Put away her toys
2. Fill the pet’s feeder
3. Set table with plastic dishes. (Draw outlines of the spoon, fork, plate etc, on the place mat so she knows where each items is supposed to go).
4. Clear table
5. Sweep crumbs off the table
6. Wash plastic glasses and cups
7. Water plants
8. Make her bed
9. Chose her own clothes
10. Dress herself
11. Keep dirty clothes in the basket
12. Help in the kitchen – handing you ingredients, tearing up lettuce and other preschool cooking activities.
13. Bring in the newspaper
14. Sort unwashed laundry into coloreds and whites
15. Help hang out the washing
16. Sort washed laundry according members of the family
17. Make herself a snack that doesn’t require cooking or using the stove – cheese on crackers
18. Mop spills
19. Dust lightly
20. Help you wash the car
21. Fold small clothes
22. Use a small dust vacuum
23. Help you put away groceries
24. Help with small DIY projects around the house or garden- with adult supervision, of course
25. Help unload the dishwasher

Dos and Don’ts for Chores with PreSchoolers

Do praise her efforts. Do it often and in company. I always let my sisters-in-law know what a great help my son’s been – within his ear shot, of course!

Do set realistic expectations. The bed she made won’t be crease free and perfect. That isn’t the point, anyway.

Don’t criticize her efforts.

Don’t be anal, and go rushing to set right what she’s done the moment she’s done with her task.

Do teach her what’s’ expected of her. When she sets the table, teach her where everything goes first, and then, give her the responsibility of doing it herself.

Do have a chore chart with stickers that she can stick herself every tine she finishes a chore for that day.

Do have a reward system in place. Not all mothers will agree with this, but rewards are fine, if you keep them within limits. An extra half hour of TV perhaps…?

Do allow her time to complete her chores.

Doing simple chores around the house helps your preschooler learn about team work, and the importance of doing her share to keep the house going – always good practice for when she has to fend for herself one day.

What chores do you allow your kids to do around the house?

The preschool years are the perfect time to introduce your child to the wonders of science though small and easy activities and games. Since everything at this age seems wondrous and breathtaking, you won’t have trouble getting your child to sit still, and take part in science activities that teach her about actions and reactions.

• Let her use a block of margarine to scribble on a sheet of paper. Splash some water on the paper. The part with the margarine on it won’t get wet – the water will slip right off. Explain to her why this happens, that oil and water never mix. Show her more examples of this – mix cooking oil and water together, and show her the result. Point out gasoline layers on puddles of water.
• Let her hold a candle like a crayon, and draw on a piece of paper. To reveal what she has drawn, let her paint the page. She can also use potato juice or lemon juice for the same effect. Explain the concept of invisible ink.
• Use gardening and plants to explain the concept of photosynthesis. Place two pots of plants in two separate locations – one in a dark closet, and one in the sunlight. Water both equally, and observe the difference in the two plants after a few days.
• Drop a few seeds in a cup full of soil, and cover with plastic. Keep in a sunny area. Monitor the progress of the seeds as they begin to sprout.
• Play with your shadows. Switch off the lights, light a candle and make animal shadows on the wall. Compare your own shadows on the walls. Point out your shadows in the daytime and at different times of the day.

Science is actually more interesting to many preschoolers than learning counting or the alphabet. The results are always so astounding, and magical to little eyes.

Have fun with these!

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!

Role playing boosts creativity, and strengthens imagination.  Because you are the primary care giver and because her family plays such an overwhelming role in her life right now, your preschooler will love playing you.  Who among us hasn’t loved playing “mommy,” tottering in her high heels and her pearls dangling (we think) stylishly?

This kind of role playing has more benefits than the mere cuteness of it all.  You might not realize it but if you observe carefully, you’ll see your child mirroring your actions and gestures, even your style of talking, and the phrases and facial expressions you use .

Role playing activities are not just fun for preschoolers, but can also be a learning experience.  Make it an educative process by giving her props, helping her come up with imaginary situations and enacting real life ones with her. Here are some ideas:

Let her act out the beginning of your day.  Give her props to do so.  If you work outside the home, she’ll need car keys, your cell phone and handbag.  Discuss the process with her. Where’s mommy going?  What time will she be back?

Discuss what happens at your workplace with her.  Let her act out your day as she gets back home too.  She might need more props again.

If you’re a SAHM, let her enact out your day as she sees it.

Play at reversing roles.  Let her be the one giving you milk and cookies at the table.  Ask for more milk, and let her pour out a glass from the jug.  Prepare for some splashing, or keep a tray under the glass to catch spills.  Learning to pour without splashing helps develop motor skills.

Ask her to read you a bed time story at night.  Keep a picture book ready, so she can make up stories.

Playing at being you helps her understand how things work, and why people do the things they do.  She is able to form a pattern to your behavior, and understand routine in your life.  Above all, acting out requires her to concentrate and use her memory to remember what exactly she has seen you doing – always an intelligence booster.

Enjoy!

To establish color recognition in your preschooler , always begin from the basics – primary colors – and work your up.  The trick is to move up one step at a time, rather than having her understand and recognize many different colors in a single session.

If your preschooler is familiar with the three primary colors, use this activity to establish these colors before moving on to the other colors.  Cut out pairs of colored paper in red, blue and yellow, and ask her to match these.  Ask her to name each color.

If she can do this easily, introduce her to secondary colors with these color recognition activities for preschoolers.  Next, cut up pairs of colored paper again, but this time include green, purple, orange, pink, black, white, brown and gray, besides the primary colors.  Ask her to match the pairs.  Tell her the names of each color.

Once all these colors have been firmly established, and she can name colors without much prompting, place all the colored papers in random order, and tell her to arrange from the lightest to the darkest shade.  An older preschooler might find this last activity easier to do than a three year old.

Tip: Introduce color recognition activities into every day life – while in the kitchen, during dinnertime, at the supermarket, at the traffic signal, while dressing up etc, during story time etc.

Have fun!

Practice makes permanent, so here are 40 ways to get your child to practice identifying and writing numbers.

1. Write numbers on a large sheet of paper, and let her use play dough to create and trace number shapes on each number on the paper.
2. Let her dip a Q tip in paint, and trace the numbers. Use a clear plastic to cover the sheet with numbers.
3. Make a number board by writing large numerals on a white sheet, sticking it to cardboard, and covering with a clear plastic sheet. Let her trace numbers regularly with a marker.
4. Practice writing using edible finger paints like pudding, on cookie sheets or plastic trays.
5. Give her a bowl of different shapes of pasta. Let her sort them, and count how many of each kind there are. Let her write down the numbers herself in a worksheet.
6. Do more such sorting and counting exercises with M & M’s. Let her count the different colored ones in a packet.
7. Have a bunch of index cards with a single numeral on each. Hold up each card and ask her to hop or jump as many times as the number on the card.
8. Enjoy preschool number activities together. Paste a rabbit or elephant’s picture on a lunch bag and give her smooth pebbles, peanuts, or pieces of construction paper. Write down numerals on a bunch of index card. Hold up each card. Let her “feed” the animal that many peanuts or carrots by counting them and putting them in the bag.
9. Clap a certain number of times. Let her listen, count and clap the same number of times.
10. Make your own number scrap book. Use pictures from magazines, or stickers to paste on each page. Let her write each number on a page. Allow her to decide the colors of the marker and pictures for herself.
11. Look for numbers every time you’re out of the house – on license plates, shop numbers, hoardings etc.
12. Look for numbers inside the house – on cans, books, newspapers, the phone book, shoe sizes, clothes tags.
13. Combine learning with shopping at the supermarket – ask her to fetch two tins of milk, or 4 packets of chips.
14. Use playing cards and buttons. Let her place the appropriate number of buttons on the hearts, or spades, clubs or diamonds on each card
15. Let her count the number of hearts or clubs on each playing card and count out pasta shapes or M & M’s.
16. Enjoy more number activities for preschoolers. Line up 10 food baskets with numerals on them, from 0 to 10. Give her 55 objects – spoons, plastic cups, small toys – and have her put the required number of objects into each bucket. By the time she finishes, there should be no objects left.
17. Write out numbers 1 – 0 on a sheet and have her erase a number as you say it our aloud at random. By the time, you’re done, there should be no more numbers on the sheet.
18. Hold up index cards with a numeral on each. Let her take a look at the number, and make chains of paper clips.
19. Attach a magnet to a string. Place cards with a numeral on each, and attach a paper clip to each card. When you call out a number, let her fish for that card.
20. Make numbers out of round and straight pretzels, pasta shapes, and cooked spaghetti.
21. Use thinking and counting games. Have her count out pasta according to questions you ask – How old are you? How many people live in this house? How many friends do you have? How many brothers do you have? How many sisters? When is your birthday?
22. Combine exercise with numbers. Let her look at the date on the calendar. If it’s the 15^th, let her touch her toes 15 times.
23. Place cardboard cutouts of numbers under a sheet of paper and let her rub over the sheet with crayons. As the number begins to take shape, let her guess the number.
24. Use counting rhymes, and often.
25. Write numbers on circular pieces of thick paper, and punch a hole in each. Let her string them in sequential order, and make a necklace to wear.
26. Use cues to help her write numerals – “Straight line down makes the number 1,” “Half a cookie and put it on a plate makes number 2,” “Around the tree and around again makes number 3,” “Down and over and down again makes number 4,” “Across and down and around the tree makes number 5.”
27. Let her count foods she eats as one– an apple – and foods she eats as many – peas.
28. Let her use the fingers of both hands to show the numbers that you call out. For 5, she could use three fingers of one hand and two of the other, or some other combination.
29. Cut a cake, and count the slices. Cut up fruit, and let her count the slices, or vegetables as you chop into smaller pieces. Cut cheese into multiple strips, if she can count beyond 10.
30. Play a game of Twister. Place large pieces of construction paper with numerals on them on the ground. Let her place her right foot on 5, her left hand on 3 and so on.
31. Count the number of body parts she has – how many eyes, ears, hands, legs, mouth? Can she count the hairs on her head?
32. Give her index cards with numerals on them, and let her punch as many holes as the number on the card with a punch machine.
33. Write down numerals in an ice cube tray, or place stickers in the empty sections of a candy box. Let her count, and place the required numbers of buttons, or beads in each section.
34. Give her a dollar, and ask her to pick out anything in the supermarket that costs a dollar.
35. Let her weigh out ingredients in the kitchen with you – 2 eggs, 3 bananas, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 2 cups of flour and so on. Such measuring activities in the kitchen can help make math enjoyable.
36. Give her a shoelace or wool, and let her trace numerals on a sheet of paper.
37. Give her a tray with sand, and let her trace numbers in it with her finger.
38. Stuff an old sock with sand, and make a small hole at the bottom. Let her use the dripping sand to make numbers in the yard.
39. Cut out numerals made of sandpaper by tracing them out with the help of a stencil. Let her trace her fingers over each numeral.
40. Make your own sensory numeral cards. Cut out numerals from thick paper with a stencil and drip wax from colored candles to trace each numeral in a series of dots. When dry, the dots giver her a wonderful sensory learning experience. If you’re okay with her using a burning candle, help her make the wax dots herself.

Tip: Introduce your child to few numbers at a time. Begin number learning lessons in the morning, so you can continue practicing these activities through the rest of the day.

Above all, have fun!

Rhymes can be used for any number of learning activities – for strengthening language skills, for boosting vocabulary, and for counting skills. Your preschooler will find counting and memorizing numbers becomes easier if counting rhymes are a part of his routine at home.

Younger kids are already familiar with 1-2-3, but find themselves getting stuck as they progress beyond these. Recite these rhymes together as you’re fixing dinner, in the car, during bath time. Practice makes permanent where numerals are concerned.

Here are some counting rhymes for the both of you to enjoy. Use plenty of actions, and encourage her to use her fingers and toes to count out the numbers, and hold them up.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

One, two, buckle my shoe,

Three, four, shut the door,

Five, six, pick up sticks,

Seven, eight, lay them straight,

Nine, ten, a big fat hen,

Eleven, twelve, dig and delve

Thirteen, fourteen, maids are courting

Fifteen, sixteen, maids are kissing

Seventeen, eighteen, maids are waiting

Nineteen, twenty, my plate’s empty.

Fish Alive

One, two, three, four, five,

Once I caught a fish alive,

Six seven eight nine ten,

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so,

Which finger did it bite?

The little finger on the right.

Use these rhymes to practice subtraction and counting backwords:

Ten green bottles

Ten green bottles standing on the wall,

Ten green bottles standing on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’ll be nine green bottles standing on the wall,

Nine green bottles standing on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’ll be eight green bottles hanging on the wall,

One little, 2 little, 3 little Indians,

4 little, 5 little, 6 little Indians,

7 little, 8 little, 9 little Indians,

Ten little Indian boys!

10 little, nine little, 8 little Indians

7 little, six little, five little Indians

4 little, 3 little, 2 little Indians

1 little Indian boy!

This is a popular rhyme that’s best when recited with lots of actions.

This old man

This old man he played one, (let her hold up her thumb)

He played knick knack on my thumb (let her tap two thumbs together)

With a knick knack paddy whack (put one fist on top of the other)

Give a dog a bone (make an action of handing over a bone to a dog)

This old man came rolling home (let her roll her arm one over the other).

Proceed to “two” till you’ve covered all numbers till 10. Use these rhyming words

Two – shoe

Three – on my knee

Four – on my door

Five – on my hive

Six – on my sticks

Seven – up in heaven

Eight – on my gate

Nine – on my spine

Ten – once again.

Change the words to other rhymes and songs to create new counting rhymes:

When the Numbers go Marching In (Sung to When the saints go marching in)

O, when the numbers go marching in

O, when the numbers go marching in,

We will count them one by one,

When the numbers go marching in,

O one two three and four five six,

Seven and eight nine and ten,

When we finish all our numbers,

We will count them once again.

Sing a Song of Numbers ( sung to Sing a song of Six Pence)

Sing a song of numbers,

Count them one by one,

Sing a song of numbers,

We’ve only just begun,

One, two, three, four, five, six,

Seven, eight, nine and ten,

When we finish counting them,

We’ll start over again.

Count our Numbers (sung to Oh my Darling Clementine)

Count our numbers, count our numbers,

Count our numbers everyday,

Oh it’s fun to count our numbers,

Count with Mommy every day.

One, two, three, four,

Five, six, seven, eight,

Nine and ten we’ll count today,

It’s so fun to count together,

One to ten and then again.

Show me One (sung to Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

One, one show me one,

Show me one right now,

One, one show me one

Show me one right now.

Proceed with other numbers.

The Number Song (sung to Mary had a little lamb)

Number one is o-n-e, o-n-e, o-n-e,

Number one is o-n-e,

That spells number one .

Use for numbers two, six, and ten.

The Number Song II (sung to Skip to my Lou)

T-h-r-e-e

T-h-r-e-e

T-h-r-e-e

That spells number three.

Use for numbers, four, five and nine.

The Number Song III (sung to The Farmer’s in the Dell)

S-e-v-e-n,

S-e-v-e-n,

Hi ho the derry o,

That spells number seven.

Use for number eight too.

Enjoy!

Continuing with my series on preschool sensory activities, we’re moving on to taste activities. Here’s the first one:

Take 8 dropper bottles. Smaller bottles with narrow mouths will also do.

Paint the lids of fours bottles green, and four others red.

Into each red lidded bottle, pour four different tasting liquids

• Sugary water for sweet
• Salt water for salty
• Lemon juice for sour
• Black coffee for bitter

Do the same for the green lidded bottles

Ask your child to wash her hand, open a red lidded bottle, put a couple of drops of liquid on the back of her hand.

Ask her to taste the liquid.

Let her then test each green lidded bottle till she finds the exact same taste.

When she finds a perfectly matched pair, let her keep those two bottles aside, and proceed with the others.

Keep a small jug of water and a plastic bowl for her to wash her hand after each testing session.

More Taste Sensory Activities

Add taste sensory activities to every day eating scenarios. Talk about the taste of different foods as you eat together.

• This apple is so sweet.
• This yoghurt is sour.
• These chips are salty.

Encourage her to find the taste of ingredients in each dish –

Can you taste the lemon in the lemon sponge cake?

Ask her what a certain food tastes like – a slice of lemon, a piece of horseradish etc.

Blindfold her and put a bite of a food that she’s familiar with in her mouth – a grape, a spoon of pasta. Let her guess what it is.

Place a large plastic tray in front of her, and give her three cups of pudding with food coloring mixed in each. Let her paint on the tray, and then lick the pudding off her fingers. Next time, vary the taste of the edible paint – make it thick yoghurt mixed with food coloring. This activity allows her to use all her senses – she can see the pudding, smell it, touch it and taste it.

Since kids haven’t been exposed to as many tastes as we have, they are not prepared for what they will taste, which heightens the entire sensory experience for them. Plus, the mouth is one of the earliest organs for exploration in a baby, which makes it feel natural for a preschooler when he takes part in a tasting activity. Introducing her to different tastes can also help her develop an interest in different foods.

Have fun!

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, I thought I’d point you to a few other terrific resources for your preschoolers (and you!)

First up, the wonderful Gayla at Supernanny Rules wants your man. Relax, she only needs you to send in a picture of your “big kid” if you think he deserves to be hottie of the year. Great prizes to be won! Get your cameras out.

Megan at Imaginif talks about getting your child to express his feeling – great tips, and easy to practise.

The very fit (I am so envious) Cindy at Go Workout Mom has easy ways to get your preschoolers to exercise while having fun.

Dread meal time fussiness? The super organized Planning Queen writes about things you can do make meal times enjoyable.

Last but not least, Tami at Speech Therapy Web has 101 Ways to Encourage Kids.

Enjoy!