What looks to many adults like simple fun and games is actually focused, purposeful, and thoughtful learning. Below you will find a number of things your child learns while “playing” at different activities.
When I Scribble and Draw I am learning:
- to hold and control a pencil or other writing instrument
- hand-eye coordination
- to exercise my creativity and imagination
- that my ideas have value
- concepts of color, shape, size and location
- to express myself with words to describe my drawing
When I play with Scissors I am learning:
- to control the small muscles of my hand
- concepts of shape, size, color, and location
- to exercise my imagination and creativity
When I play with Pegboards I am learning:
- one-to-one correspondence, an essential math concept
- to make patterns and repeat patterns
- creativity and self expression
- concepts of addition as I add one peg at a time
- colors
- symmetry, shapes, order and design
- hand-eye coordination, a writing skill
When I Sort Things I am learning:
- to notice details, likenesses, and differences in objects
- to form categories, and essential concept for reading and math
- concepts of color, size, and shape
- numerical concepts of more or less
- logical reasoning
When I Paint I am learning:
- to develop my imagination and creativity
- hand-eye coordination, a pre-writing skill
- the names of colors and how to make new colors
- to distinguish and purposely create shapes
- to notice patterns, a pre-reading skill
- to express my feelings and ideas
- that my ideas have value
- relationships of space and size, necessary for mathematics
- concepts of symmetry, balance, and design
When I play with Playdoh I am learning:
- to see the shape against the background of the table, a reading skill
- concepts of shape, length, height, and size
- to see negative space when cookie cutter shapes are taken away
- to express feelings when squeezing and pounding
- to exercise imagination and creativity
- that the amount of a substance remains the same, even when the shape changes
With Glue and Collage Materials I am learning:
- to exercise my imagination and creativity
- concepts of shape, size, location and design–relevant to learning to read
- about things that have different textures
- how to create patterns and designs, a math skill
- to distinguish positive and negative space, a reading skill
When I am Stringing Beads I am learning:
- hand-eye coordination
- concepts of color, shape, and location
- math concepts such as “more,” “less,” “longer,” and “shorter”
- to create and reproduce patterns
- pride in accomplishment
