Day 6: Preschool and School-Aged Kids

Ok, ok…I’m lumping these together because I REALLY want to move onto all the different types of play…is that bad?  I have so much planned for the rest of the month and I’m anxious to get to  it!  Tomorrow is Messy Play, and I’m SOOOO excited about it, I can hardly wait!

But until then…

Here’s the breakdown of the rest of the ages:

4-5 year olds:

• This is the age where drama and pretend play come out in full force!  They make elaborate make-believe scenarios and will collaborate with friends to make these scenarios even more elaborate.
• Physically, these kids are great at skipping, hopping, and chasing…so lots of outdoor play is wonderful for them…and really all children.
• They can cut, paste, trace, draw figures, and string beads.
• Age to start doing artwork with the purpose of making something….like space ships out of toilet paper tubes, or flowers out of tissue paper
• They are learning to read and write
• They are learning one to one correspondence – the ability to match each member of one set to the member of and equal set.  Hum…ok, ok, it sounds very technical, but basically it’s doing things like matching one sock to one shoe, two socks to two shoes…etc.  Get it?

1to1 Correspondence – Pre-K Pages   Snap Painting – Teach Preschool                 

6-8 year olds.

• Their fine motor skills are improving and are able to tie their shoes and snap their fingers
• Pay more attention to detail in their artwork
• They start using logic to solve problems and organize their thoughts.
• They start to appreciate riddles and jokes
• They are playing more with peers and will play games like hide and seek and tag.
• A good age to start sports
• They start to understand the rules in board games
• Make-believe play is still a hit!

Puppets – Mrs. Brown’s Art Class                Baking Soda and Vinegar  – Pigtails and Tutus

9-12 year olds

• They become more abstract in their thoughts and higher thinking skills.
• Open ended art projects are great for this age as they like to be creative and like more complex activities.
• Peers become increasingly important.

Geometric Scratch  – Mrs. Brown’s Art Class          Marshmallow and Toothpicks – The Idea Room

Activity #6: Make a Fort!

The weather here in Texas is a mess today!  It’s cold and rainy with a chance of freezing tonight…sigh.  One of my favorite rainy day (or really any day) activities is making a fort for J.  I swear I make him a fort at least twice a week…we actually already made one this morning.  He now goes and gets the blanket and asks me to make it for him…probably one of the cutest things ever. 

Here’s one of our forts:

Making a fort is easy…just grab a sheet or blanket and use your furniture or boxes to drape the blanket over. I usually place a few things on the corners to try to keep it in place.  Here’s some ideas for your fort.

• Put pillows inside and make a reading nook
• Add flashlights or a lightbox
• Practice crawling inside
• Pretend you’re a bear in it’s cave…maybe go on a bear hunt

Let me know how it goes!

Tomorrow:  Messy Play…oh so very excited!   I LOVE messy play and I’ll explain why.