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| spring, 2014 |
I love the preschool age. It is perhaps my favorite. Though I'm really enjoying the kindergarten age and watching my boy learn to read and write and think creatively.
Regardless of whether you choose to send your kiddos to a traditional preschool (please lets not debate that here!) there can be so much fun to be had at home learning!
Here are some of my favorite "manipulatives" for learning in the young years! It has been a pleasure to watch my kids learn alongside each other. The great thing about preschool is all the PLAYING! And most things can totally be differentiated to different ages and levels. Sometimes we work on a certain task and sometimes it is just exploring! It always surprises me with the different ways my kids use these materials!
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| MONEY!!! Most parents don't use cash very often any more so it's nice to have access to some real money to play with. Obviously you want to make sure your kiddos are past the putting everything in their mouth stage. For younger preschoolers, sorting the coins can be fun. Kids can learn coin names, study the fronts and backs of the coins, learn about the presidents on them, etc. Providing a variety of fun containers inspires creativity. As they get older they can start counting amounts of change- like my kinder kiddo was doing here. Good practice for counting by 1s and 10s. |
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Circle disks. I collected these over time when I was teaching. They are great for fine motor skills and putting in piggie banks. Sorting options are many as well as pattern opportunities. The transparent ones are also nice for covering up answers (allowing papers to be reused). See below: |
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| Beads!! These were actually the beads from my childhood lol. Put them to good use! Great for sorting by color, size, shape, texture (I even found some flexible beads in the hair section to add a new attribute), etc. You can count them, string them (see pic below), scoop them, make patterns with them, etc. Formula canisters and ice cube trays make fun additions to this station along with scoops and spoons. Don't discount the fine motor skills required to manipulate beads! Number lines are fun for learning to recognize numbers. |
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| Beans are fun and very inexpensive! I have 6 different kinds of beans in here that were bought in the bulk bins at WinCo. They have lasted a long time! Fun for sensory and fine motor skill play, sorting, counting, patterns, etc. I found starting this station on the ground is better than a table (lay out a big towel or something) so beans are not falling off and flying everywhere. Set some boundaries. |
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| Pom Poms are just fun! Soft, squishy, great for many things. Add child chop sticks and tweezers for added fine motor skill practice. |
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| My button collection needs beefing up but they are fun to sort by attribute, count, string, scoop, put in containers, etc. |
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| Noodles! Got in the bulk bins at the grocery store. Different sizes and colors make for fun sorting. I bought the tube pastas so they could be strung on pipe cleaners. I prefer pipe cleaners to regular string for younger kids because they hold their shape and it is not as frustrating. |
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| Pattern Blocks are so versatile. This is one thing that I did buy. I found them at the Math Learning Center and they have been a good investment. These are great for free play and explorations to build both 3D and 2D creations. Prekinders.com has some cool templates for free. Make designs, make patterns, have fun! Encourage kiddos to think outside the box. How many different ways can you build a hexagon? (for example) For older kids these can be used for fractions. |
Base 10 pieces are a great way to explore bigger numbers with slightly older kiddos. If you don't have any regular ones (see below for the ones my mom got at a garage sale), you can
make your own with popsicle sticks and beans.
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| Good old flash cards! Dollar Tree specials. #Cheaper than printing things! |
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| Books! We love picking out books at the library and also own a lot of books as well. Library helps save money and space! I usually rotate which books we keep out. |
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| Matching games! |
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| Dominos! Great fun to touch and play with for your littlest preschoolers. Fun way to practice addition (and other operations) with older kids. |
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| Dice are fantastic for recognizing patters. My 3 year old likes flipping all the dice to show the same number..."4" for example. Plus they can be fun to sort and can be used for adding, subtracting, etc. | | | | |
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Really, anything can be used as a preschool manipulative! I have a ridiculous pen cap collection from my teaching years that the kids enjoy dumping out and playing with. Bread clips, blocks, legos, duplos, lids, etc. Anything. Whether it be formal preschool or just a rainy day activity....
Have fun!! Play, learn!!
If you need some sites on lesson ideas check out...
prekinders.com
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