Educational Favorites for Preschoolers

As an early childhood educator, providing my little one with stimulating activities is an important part of our day. Yes, he does get screen time here and there, but sometimes he needs to sit down and work on something that requires him to think. Here are some of our favorite quiet time, educational activities:

Melisssa & Doug See & Spell Puzzles

What is better than a child sitting quietly working on puzzles? A child working on sight word puzzles of course! My son is only 3.5 years old, but he is very smart and interested in learning. He recognizes most of his letters, and is currently learning their sounds as well. Rather than getting him useless toys for Easter, my husband and I (ahem, the Easter Bunny) got him the Melisssa & Doug See & Spell Puzzle set.

I wish I had had these in my classroom, because I can see them being beneficial to students who need a little boost in confidence with reading sight words. The set comes with 8 puzzle boards, with words/pictures on the front and back so a total of 16 sight words. The child has to find the letters to fill in the word puzzles which matches the picture. My son will put the letters in and ask me what it says-I don’t tell him, I ask “well, what is the picture?” and once he tells me I let him know that that is what the word says. Once he finally caught on, he was filling in the words and “reading” them because he was able to use picture clues.

This set can also be used to teach the letter sounds if you are working with your child and placing one letter at a time. As with all Melissa & Doug products, they list extension activities on the back that can be done such as having the child lay out all of the letters in alphabetical order.

I purchased this set from Amazon, but Zulily will also run sales on them from time to time.

Melissa & Doug Water Wow

After seeing a Guidance Guide review for these Water Wow books, I immediately jumped on Amazon and purchased a pack for my guy.

They are made of a special material that changes colors with the use of water in the water “pens” that come with the books, bringing out hidden pictures, and quickly drying so you can use them over and over again. This pack came with 3 different water wow books, here are some of the awesome educational features that these books offer:

• An alphabet book which teacher tracing, letter recognition, letter sounds, free handed letter writing.
• A number book which teaches counting and number recognition.
• An animal book which is more on the fun side bringing pictures to life, but also teaches counting because the flip side of the page ask questions such as “how many star fish are there?”, etc.
  
  

I see the benefits of using these at home, but also in the classroom. There's nothing better than a child who looks forward to learning because they have fun doing it!

Schoolzone Alphabet Flash Cards

Flashlight? ✔
Schoolzone Alphabet Flash Cards? ✔

These flash cards are perfect for a gloomy day, or any day where inside play is a must. My 3.5 year old loves going through them with me, and sometimes even by himself, because really--what kid doesn't jump at a chance to use a flashlight? Plus, he's learning letters and sounds while doing it. Each card has a letter and 2-3 words that begin with that letter (some have only pictures and sight words such as girl, boy, etc.), and when he's a little older, he'll be able to use these cards as stencils for drawing! It does come with a small flashlight.

When I am playing with him, I ask him what letter is on the card, and then what each picture is. We go through the sounds that the letters make and emphasize them in the words. Since he knows most of his letters, he will go through and say each picture and letter by himself as well. I can see these being used in the card on long trips, even without a flashlight.

The only issue I see with these cards is that they are thin and easy to tear so a few of ours are taped, but other than that we totally love them!

Schoolzone-Preschool Practice Scissors Skills

Because I am in early childhood, I know how important certain skills are early in the game. Being able to use scissors correctly at a young age will help out immensely when entering the primary years, and this book is wonderful for that.

When we first got this book, my son had NO idea how to use scissors and there would be tiny little pieces of paper all over the place, with nothing actually cut out. No big deal, he was learning the basics and how to hold a pair of scissors. By the end of the book though, he was cutting really well for a 3.5 year old, and could cut out the pictures by himself with a little encouragement. 

Not only does this book teach cutting, it also goes into deeper subjects such as math and rhyming. He may not have had a clue that he doing math, but he was counting pennies and recognizing numbers. There are more simpler activities like finishing pictures and knowing that a sailboat goes in the water and not on the sand, etc., so it is great for preschool ages. The book does not come with scissors so that is a separate purchase, but not a big deal.

You can find these books in most stores where educational material is sold, I found this one in a local store that sells teacher supplies.

There are so many things we can do to keep our young kids engaged and learning but having fun at the same time. I hope you are able to check out some of these products, they really are great tools for our little ones!