While helping some sea creatures find their home in the ocean the preschoolers strengthened their fine motor muscles. Fine motor development is imperative to build a foundation for handwriting skills.
While helping some sea creatures find their home in the ocean the preschoolers strengthened their fine motor muscles. Fine motor development is imperative to build a foundation for handwriting skills.
There are many benefits to writing on a vertical surface. Vertical surfaces can make an average writing activity into a great activity for developing fine and gross motor skills. Using vertical surfaces strengthens shoulder and arm muscles, as your child’s arm must move against the pull of gravity in this position as she/he lifts their arms to reach. Vertical surfaces also places your child’s hand in the best position to develop wrist strength and stability. You can buy window markers in any craft store and they wash off easily with a little windex….get writing and have fun!
Toddlers need lots of opportunities for physical activity, for both good health and skill building. Gross motor skills are very important for major body movements such as walking, running, coordination, and maintaining balance. Today the boys and girls were rocking on the teeter totter, climbing up the ladder, and pushing cars in the mulch. Check out how much fun we had outside on the playground!
Today during small groups we practiced and reviewed our letters of the month F, E, and D. We played Alphabet Cover- Up, watched and sang along to videos on the Smartboard, and built our letters with blocks on our magnet boards. Practicing skills in multiple ways helps to reach all types of learning styles.
Click on the picture to watch The Letter F Song with your preschooler!
Click on the picture to watch The Letter D Song with your preschooler!
We learned today that letters build words. When we change the letters we change the whole word! Word building activities are an important part of learning to read and are easily modified for any reader. We built the sight word and searched for the word in a grouping of familiar words. We also took a word from this week’s reading group book, I JUMP, and used our knowledge of letter sounds to build it phonetically.
So what’s the deal with using your fingers to read with? Because our eyes naturally follow movement, placing a finger, on a page and strategically moving it down the text, a reader will naturally keep their place and be more focused. This helps readers concentrate and understand what they read making reading a more satisfying experience.
Despite the dreary rainy day yesterday, the Toddler room was still buzzing with fun and excitement! The children had a blast exploring at the sand/water table. They used their fine motor skills to dig deep to find treasures underneath the styrofoam peanuts. The also socialized and practiced sharing, as they took turns using the table. The boys and girls also had a blast practicing their gross motor skills to jump and skip on bubble wrap. The popping sounds caused lots of giggles in our room!
To play Alphabet Cover-Up write letters on the spaces of the board. Show your preschooler a flashcard of a letter on the board. Use anything around the house to cover up the spaces. Then play by calling out the letter. You can also play by saying the sound the letter makes. Use the board for many different games from the suggested activities list. Remember not to overwhelm your child with more letters or numbers than they are ready for! Add some more fun and practice by asking your child to cover up a letter with a certain color or with a number of marbles, etc.
The rain kept us inside all morning giving us the chance to open up our indoor slide and explore all our classroom centers.
Creative Tots has specialized in the private education of both toddlers and preschool age children for over 15 years. We began in the heart of Madeira and now also have a new Mason location. We are specifically designed to focus on early childhood development for children ages 18 months to 5 years.
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