In our effort to give intellectual stimulation to young minds, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that preschoolers are incapable of understanding intangible concepts. But while you may find it much too hard to teach a child the theory of relativity you can teach them about science by taking them outside and showing them examples of how nature manifests in the world they can touch, see, smell, taste, and hear. Kids love the out of doors and you can exploit this natural predilection for nature as a means to teach them about their five senses.

Seasonal Items

Start by bringing preschoolers outside. Ask them to look for items that are found in nature and not man-made. You can make the task a bit easier by narrowing this down to things that represent the season such as things that are green or perhaps the fallen acorns and leaves of autumn. Then you might introduce another concept by asking children to find one heavy object and one lightweight object plus some leaves. Now you might start a discussion about the sense of touch by describing the way these items feel.

At this point, you will want to bring the children back into the classroom with their items to discuss the concepts they have learned. You can give them washbasins filled halfway with water (make sure you watch them at all times or have a trusted helper to do this for you), and have the children place their gathered objects into the water to see if they will sink or float. Do all heavy items sink?

Busting Expectations

Some items may surprise them by falling outside of their expectations: Why does an apple float? You might explain that items containing a great deal of air will float even when they are heavy.

Now you can pass around the leaves. Have the children look at the leaves and hold them up to the light. Point out the veins of the leaves and explain that these are small pipelines for carrying water to the tree or plant. You can point out that people have veins, too, and discuss the fact that human veins also serve as a conduit, that they carry blood and oxygen to all parts of our body. If there are leaves from deciduous trees among those that were gathered, use the opportunity to discuss the different types of trees and their life cycles.

Last but not least, incorporate the gathered leaves into an art project that can be brought home or displayed within the classroom.

Outdoor play builds self-confidence in children who learn to peddle that tricycle, climb that slide, or swing that swing all by one’s self. There is nothing quite like the experience, pride and pleasure of mastering a physical skill. By challenging themselves, children learn they can do things the’ve never done before.

The outdoor play area also provides a great large muscle building arena. As children develop these muscles and in turn their coordination skills, they also develop their inner self, the confidence to climb one more rung than the day before, to run just a bit faster to grab the tricycle before Micheal does, or to skip with that rope today even though they had a terrible time doing it yesterday.

For an outdoor play centre to challenge a child, it must be generously equipped and spacious for kids outdoor activities. If you don’t have a large backyard, it would be a good idea to scout out your neighbourhood to see how many local parks are available for your children to use. These facilities, combined with what space you can provide, should prove sufficient.

Your choice of equipment might include:

a picnic table
pull and push toys
jump ropes
wagons
balls or all sorts, plastic bats, a T-ball set, play gloves, etc.
a jungle gym or swing set with a slide, or other climbing aparatus
covered sand box, non-toxic sand and sand toys
tricycles or other peddle vehicles
nature toos like a magnifying glass, bug catchers, shovels
a low-to-the-ground balance beam
a small swimming pool (only used under close supervision and emptied when not in use)
sunny and shady areas
grass (soft surface) and cement or asphalt (hard surface)
a good fence with child-proof latches

Things To Do

Kids love to be busy. It’s how they learn. You can provide that learning experience inexpensively and simply. Here’s how:

Keeping Your Kids Busy

Encourage your children to explore the great outdoors. Research shows that children who are connected to and courious about mother nature grow up with more confidence and quick thinking ability. Go for a walk and marvel at how the grass peeps through the side walk cracks, or count the number of bird feeders along your way. While your at it, count the number of different birds you see, the colours of them, their size etc.

If you’re more adventuresome, fill the tub or a basin full of suds and let the children (while closely supervised of course) play to their hearts content finding shapes in the bubbles, watching how suds turn to water, trying to fill a container with suds, you can even make a simple bubble mix of dish detergent and water to blow bubbles with. When the suds are gone, the children will spend hours playing with different aparatus in the water.

Dancing is another freeby that provides a workout at the same time. Play some children’s music and let the children sing, dance their silliest dance, be goofy and jive to the rhythm. There is so much to be learned from listening to music, remembering words and singing them at the appropriate time. Heck you can even start a congo line that goes out the front door, around the yard, and back in again.

Let your imagination provide you and your children with inexpensive fun. Look back to your childhood years and rekindle the magic and the awe of being a kid again.

Craft supplies, books, and staff all cost you and your child care facility a great portion of your income. Luckily there are ways to obtain these and other resources free or next-to-free. Here’s how:

Resources Available To You

* Conduct a scavenger hunt with your parents. Send home a list of items needed for your art and craft works and see how many each family can scavange together from their home.
* Ask home decorating stores if they would donate outdated wallpaper sample books.
* Print shops may be more than happy to donate left over paper scraps.
* Check with local businesses to see if you might be able to receive their empty shoe boxes, ice cream buckets (great for storage), or empty cardboard boxes.
* Fabric stores may have fabric ends or cardboard bolts they would be happy to donate.
* Thrift stores are a great way to build or revamp your “dress up” items for mere pennies.
* Local libraries often sell used books for as little as fifty cents. Most hold free story times or will offer to have a librarian bring the wonderful world of books to your kids.
* Some utility companies, airlines, children’s societies have free learn and colour books for children. Call and order as many as you need. Video stores offer free rentals on community based videos like streetproofing, etc. Ask the staff to show you their free rental section.
* Contact your local early childhood teaching facility for volunteers for your centre.
* Often parents know of a retired person who would be more than happy to read to the children, teach a craft, music lesson, dance, etc. Put the recruitment word out to your parents.
* Post notices for volunteers with your local volunteer advisory/contact board.
* Place a free ad in the local bargain newspaper for used computers for your kids. Companies are forever upgrading their computer systems and are looking for great ways to disgard old models.
* Contact as many child care organizations as possible to see what free information they have on issues of concern to you. Become a member if finances allow as networking is one of the most powerful tool we have for finding those almost free resources.

All children love books. Flipping through the pages, looking at the colourful pictures, picking out different objects, colours, shapes, animals, and words is just half the fun. The reading or book centre is also a place where a child can escape the hustle and bustle of the daycare centre or home and enjoy a few minutes of quiet and self-absorption.

A good book centre contains an assortment of:

picture books
nursery rhyme books
number and counting books, and so on.
The more you have to offer, the more you can pique a child’s interest in reading.

If you are not sure what books to buy, take the children on a trip to your local library and talk to the librarian. He/she can tell you what types of books children prefer at which age group. Your local or national library association can give you information on purchasing children’s books as well. And don’t forget to learn from the children themselves. Watch which books they choose from the shelves, which ones they linger over and which ones get tossed aside quickly. Pay attention to the expressions on their faces.

You want books that will generate a lot of different feelings as well as those that offer pure fun and entertainment. Many books come with an audiocassette of the story. Still others come to life on a computer screen and allow children to participate in the story or create their own story. If you have the finances, you might consider setting up a tape recorder or computer (used is fine) in your book centre to allow the children to listen to or interact with their favorite story over and over again. This area should not be used as a substitute for a caregiver’s reading of a story, or for the cuddling on the caregiver’s lap so many children enjoy during story time. There is no substitution for human interaction.

Children learn a great many things in the book centre.

Turning pages of a book from beginning to end prepares for reading and writing readiness (reading from left to right.)
Having a supply of blank paper, pencils, crayons or felts encourages communication (reading and writing).
Listening to a story and talking about the story enhances listening skills and language development. It also instills in children a love of books, helps them remember details and express ideas.

A good book centre contains the following items:

board books for the younger children
nursery rhymes
poetry books
alphabet and counting books
picture books
fairy tales
animal books, and
books with no text.
Hardcover books will outlast softcover books, particularly in a daycare centre.

Children explore the world around them and learn through pretend play. With so many passive activities like watching TV and playing video games, we sometimes need to encourage our children to pretend play. Here are a few suggestions on how to get those creative juices flowing for both you and your child.

Dress Up Box

Put a dress up box together with some of your old dresses, jackets, blouses, old Halloween costumes, etc. Don’t forget to throw in some fun accessories as well, such as purses, hats, wigs, scarves, gloves. etc.

If you can’t find much around the house, look around at some yard sales and the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores. You’ll be able to find some great dress up clothes for your kids for next to nothing

You may also get requests for some unusual accessories like space helmets, crowns, etc. Be creative and look around the house. A colander makes a cool helmet and you can form a sparkling crown out of aluminum foil.

Veterinarian

All you’ll need is any of the stuffed animals your kids already have plus some bandages. You can substitute an empty pen to serve as a thermometer or syringe. A pair of headphones can quickly be turned into a stethoscope by taping a plastic bottle cap to the jack..

Grocery Store

You can quickly put a grocery store together on a low shelf or side table. All you’ll need is a basket and several empty cereal and rice boxes. Add a few canned goods and some dry beans, and you’re all set. You can also draw up your own money on pieces of paper and cut some coins out of cardboard. Ask your child to help you color them. Take turns with your child being the shopper or the storekeeper.

Library

When your child gets bored of playing store, turn the grocery store into a library. Make up a library card for every family member and add a small piece of paper into each of your child’s books. If your child cannot read or write yet, draw a symbol for each family member, or use a different color. When someone checks out a book from the family library, ask the child to record who took it and when it is due back in. You can also ask your child to sort the books either by topic or alphabetically..

Firefighter

Have your kids turn an empty cardboard box into a fire truck. They can color it and draw tires on with markers or cut out shapes from construction paper. Paint an empty clean can (like a coffee can) blue to use as an emergency light. You can have them make a police car, ambulance or garbage truck. You’ll soon have your children pretend play to be a fire fighter, police officer, etc.

Let’s Cook

All you’ll need are a few pots and pans, some wooden spoons, and if you’d like, some dry rice or beans. Your kids can also draw shapes of favorite foods on construction paper and color them with crayons or markers. After that, let the pretending begin. Encourage your child to pretend cook in the kitchen with you while you are fixing dinner. It will keep him or her occupied, while you can still keep an eye on him or her.

Puppets

One of the most versatile pretend play toys are puppets. You can easily make them yourself. Take a look at these finger puppets (http://www.kinderinfo.com/crafts/fingerpuppets.htm) and handkerchief puppets (http://www.kinderinfo.com/crafts/handkerchief-puppet.htm). There is also a huge array of puppets from people to animals commercially available. Puppets will allow your child to recreate situations of everyday life and to explore different points of view. Watching them when they play with their puppets will give also give you a glimpse at how they see the world. Do you really say, “Please don’t do that” that often?

Give your child the means and a little bit of encouragement to pretend play and they’ll run with it. Our children are so observatory of their surroundings and also have tons of imagination. You’ll enjoy watching them and interacting with them as they explore their world through pretend play.
Susanne Myers is the founder of http://www.kinderinfo.com, the one-stop online children’s resource center. Here you will find all kinds of answers to help you with your family, including information on child care options and locations, educational resources, sports and recreation, home-based activities, party and event planning, even quick and easy recipes. We seek to answer all kid-related questions!.

If we think back to our own childhood, most of us can remember the songs our mothers used to sing to us, the melodies we used to chant with our friends, the joy of learning fun, new songs in school. Music had a way of lifting our spirits, of soothing our souls.

From the moment a child is born it finds comfort in the melodious sound of its mother’s and father’s voice. Even at so young an age a child delights in the sound of lullaby or the rhyming of a nursery rhyme. Music does much more than just soothe and please, though those are very important attributes. It helps your child develop learning skills like:

listening;
coordination;
imagination; and
memory.
Music & Daycare

Like art, reading and free play, music should be a part of every child care program, be it center-based or home care. A quality child care program enhances a child’s interest in music in a variety of ways.

These should include:

using a cassette or CD player to introduce children to different kinds of music like jazz, classical, international.
getting children to move with the beat, clapping, dancing, doing a variety of movements that also help to build the large muscles and coordination.
the use of nursery rhymes like “Baa Baa Black Sheep” or “Little Bo Peep” that, through repetition, help children develop their listening and memory skills.
the use of musical instruments (even homemade ones) like clapping sticks, wooden spoons, empty bowls, pots or pans to keep the beat or learn repetitive beats like “long, long, short … long, long short”, or clapping out their name.
Other instruments might include:

stretching different size rubber bands around an open shoe box.
empty containers filled with popcorn kernels or dried beans.
cardboard trumpets made from paper towel rolls which the children can hum through to make kazoo-type sounds.
under close supervision, glasses filled with different levels of water that can be tapped with a spoon to make different sounds.
singing songs while the children are on a walk around the block, to the park, or while dressing to go outside or washing up for lunch.
Music, rhythm and dance should be a regular part of every child care program and for many good reasons. In addition to building memory, listening and vocabulary skills, music teaches children about a variety of concepts as they sing songs about feelings, animals, nature, and other cultures. It also enhances a child’s social skills as he or she sings in a group.

Why not take a minute to talk with your provider about her music program? Perhaps your child has a favorite cassette tape or musical instrument he or she would be proud to share with the other children? Or maybe there is someone you know who would be willing to play an instrument or sing a song or two for a young, captive audience. We all, young and old, need a little music to brighten up our lives.

Fast Friends Puppet

Materials:

Construction paper or cardboard
Crayons, markers
Goodly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners or other face decorating materials
Scissors
Rubber band
Glue
Directions:
Cut a strip of construction paper about 12″ long. Strip should be the width of the child’s hand. Fold the strip in half. Next, fold the strip in quarters (fold the half in half). Open out the ends so that the fold goes into the child’s had and the flaps go up and down so that they flap together when the child squeezes the fold. Have the children caret a face using the end flaps. The face could be a replica of their face, or an animal face. Place the rubber band along the fold so the child can slip his fingers in and make the face talk by moving it up and down.

Batic Butterflies

Materials:

Heavy paper towel
Food colouring
Eye dropper or cotton swab
Scissors

Directions:
Cut out butterfly shapes from heavy paper towel. Let the children use eye droppers or a cotton swab to apply a mixture of food colouring and water to the towel to decorate their butterfly. Provide at least three colours so that the children can experiment with making different colours.

Mini Terrarium

Materials:

2 clear plastic cups
Potting soil
Large bucket or bowl
Small garden trawl or scoop
Transparent tape
Radish or grass seed

Directions:
Place the soil in a large bucket and have the children pour a little bit of water on the soil to make it moist. Next, have the children scoop enough soil from the bucket to fill one half of one of the cups. Sprinkle the seeds lightly on top of the soil. Invert the remaining cup over the top of the seeded cup and tape the seams. Place in a warm, sunny spot and wait for the seeds to sprout. This makes a great little science project where the children can keep a journal of how their seeds grew each day. And, it’s a great way to teach children about how a terrarium is like a world of it’s own. The moisture from the soil is trapped inside the container and recycles itself constantly as it evaporates then dribbles back down the sides of the terrarium.

Milk Carton Bird Feeder

Materials:

Wax milk carton
Bird feed
String
Hole punch

Directions:
Stand carton upright and cut a window low enough on the carton
for the birds to reach the food (i.e.: leaving a one inch lip at the bottom). Punch a hole on each side of the
top of the container where it folds closed. Attach a string to both holes. Hang the bird feeder in a quiet place where the children can watch the bird enjoy their treat. Have the children help you replenish the bird feed as need be. This is a great opportunity to teach the children about the different kinds of birds who visit the feeder or fly about their backyard.

Paper Bag Kite

Materials

Large paper grocery bag
String and kite rope
Paper ring reinforcements
Stickers or other decorating materials such as markers
Glue
Crepe paper streamers
One-hole punch

Directions:
Punch a hole in each of the four corners of the bag (at least 3 cm from the top). Put a paper reinforcement on both sides of each hole. Cut two pieces of string abut 80 cm and tie each end to a hole to form two loops to put the long pull string through. Have the children decorate their bags with the stickers or by colouring on them. Help the children glue pieces of the crepe streamers to the bottom end of the bag to form the tail. Tie a kite rope to the pieces of looped string. Take the children to the park and let them run with their kites catching the wind in the bag.

Painted Stones

Materials:

Stones of various sizes and shapes (flatter ones work best)
Paint
Paint brushes
Decorations such as beads, etc.
Crayons or marker

Directions:
Walk around your neighbourhood and have the children collect a variety of stones from the park or gravel pathways. Wash the stones to remove any dirt and let them dry. Let the children paint their stones different colours. You could use a market or crayon to write each child’s name on the stone, or use an assortment of beads, etc., to decorate. These make great paperweights or small ornaments.

Play Dough Letters

Materials:

Play dough (can be boughten or made)

Directions:
After the children have played with the dough a bit, have them roll the dough between their hands or along the table to make long strands. Help them use the strands to make the letters of their name. Allow the dough to dry (this may take a couple of days). The children can either take their letters home or they can glue them on a sheet to hang on the wall.

Aquariums

Materials:

Construction paper
Magazines (National Geographic, fishing, outdoor type work best)
Scissors
Crayons or markers
Glue
Water
Pain

Directions:
Have the children cut out pictures
or small fish or draw fish on the construction paper and cut them out. Give each child a piece of construction paper and help them fill in their aquarium with things like seaweed, stones, etc. For a more realistic touch you could actually collect some small stones, sand, pieces of plants, etc. and help the children glue the objects to their paper. When they are done with the design, allow the children to pain over their work with blue, aqua, green, or water coloured pain to give the look of actual water over the entire art. Allow to dry.

Butterfly Wand

Materials:

Popsicle sticks
Pipe cleaners
Cone-shaped coffee filters
Markers or crayons
Glue (hot glue gun works best

Directions:
Glue a pipe cleaner to the popsicle stick (towards the top of the stick and the middle of the pipe cleaner to act as antenna and hold the wings together) while the children decorate their coffee filter with markers or crayons. Scrunch the filter in half to fit inside the pipe cleaner and on top of the popsicle stick to make the wings. Bend the ends to form antennae.

Sunny Sunflower

Materials:

White construction paper
Card stock
Markers or crayons
Glue or glue stick
Clear contact paper
Craft stick

Directions:
Draw large sunflowers on the construction paper, complete with a stem and leaves, or help the children draw their own. Have the children colour their flower petals yellow, the stem and leaves green, and the center of flower dark brown. Cut the sunflower out or help the children cut their own flowers. Cover the flower with the contact paper and glue to the stick. The children can put all their sun flowers together in a large vase or place them in an outside container to enjoy.

Family Mobile

Materials:

Cardboard
Family picutures from each child’s family (pets included)
Yarn
Glue
Plastic hanger

Directions:
Have each child cut out pictures of their family members and pets or draw them on construction paper. Glue each picture on pieces of construction paper cut out like flowers, hearts, etc.. Hang the pictures on a hanger with yarn or string to make a mobile. Hang the mobile in the daycare.

Family Neighbourhood

Materials:

Shoe box or cracker box
Construction paper
Markers or crayons
Tongue depressors or popsicle sticks
Glue & scissors

Directions:
Use a shoe box or cracker box and cover with construction paper. Have children add windows, doors, trees, etc.cut from construction paper or drawn on to resemble the child’s house. Have the children draw the members of their families and pets on construction paper then glue them to the tongue depressors and place them into the house. Have the children form a town using their houses and take their family members around to each friend’s house for a visit.

Potato Porcupine

Materials:

Potato
Grass Seed
Dirt
Toothpicks
Raisins

Directions:
Hollow out a portion of each potato. Have the children sprinkle the hollowed out portion of the potato with dirt. Pat down slightly, then sprinkle with grass seed. Add water if necessary. The toothpicks and raisins can be used to make legs, eyes and a nose. The children have a lot of fun watching the porcipine quills grow from the grass seed.

Pinwheels

Materials:

Coloured paper
Straws
Cardboard
Crayons or markers
Pins
Tape

Directions:
Give each child a square sheet of paper and have them colour it brightly with swirls or any other design. While the children are colouring, cut out small round disks from the cardboard. Next, take each child’s sheet and fold it diagonally twice. Cut the fold almost to the center. Help the child fold the paper inwards to make the pinwheel. Take the pin and place it through the cardboard disk. Finally, place the pin through center of the pinwheel and the straw, bending the pin after it is through the straw and taping so the child won’t pick him/herself.

Q-tip Painting

Materials:

Q-tips
Styrofoam trays or pie pans
Paint
Paper

Directions:
Pour paint into the trays or pans. Have the children dip the Q-tip into the paint then paint with it on the paper using the Q-tip as a paint brush. The children can use a number of Q-tips together to make a colourful rainbow or a different type of design.

Paper Caterpillar Chain

Materials:

Green construction paper
Markers or crayons
Googly eyes
Scissors
Glue stick

Directions:
Cut out 13 strips of paper for each child approximately 1 inch by 6 inches. Cut out one 4 inch square. Finally cut two small triangles to make the triangular jaws. Form one of the strips into a circle and secure it with glue. Take the next paper strip, connect it to the first loop and glue. Continue making the chain until all 13 circles are connected. Cut a head for the caterpillar from the square paper. Add eyes with crayons or glue on googly eyes and triangular jaws (mandibles).