Learn At Home
Indoor scavenger hunts are a great boredom buster and indoor activity for children. They keep children engaged while hunting around the house for items on the list. It also helps boot their thinking skills! Click here for a printable indoor scavenger hunt for young children!
During uncertain and stressful times, it is more important than ever to keep your child in a fun, relaxed environment filled with positive interaction, play, and learning! The PreK school year is a time to build Kindergarten readiness skills that serve as a foundation for lifelong learning.
Here are some simple activities you can do at home with your child to keep that learning going:
Literacy Activities
- Read with your child every day! This is the single most important thing you can do for your child!
- Ask questions while you read
- Who are the characters?
- Where does the story take place?
- What do you think will happen next?
- Where is the front cover of the book? The spine? The back cover?
- Ask questions while you read
- Have your child tell you a story
- Sing songs
- Recite nursery rhymes
- Start a journaling practice; give a prompt such as “What’s your favorite thing to do outside?” and have your child illustrate the answer and then write down what they say
- Practice rhyming – Dr Seuss books can help with this!
- Play letter BINGO
Motor Skills
- Throw and catch a ball
- Jump over the cracks of the sidewalk
- Walk, run, skip, and gallop
- Toss a ball or beanbag into a laundry basket
- Practice printing his/her name
- Use child size scissors to cut out magazine pictures or straight, curved, zigzag lines
- Make and explore playdough with this No Cook Playdough recipe!
No Cook Playdough Recipe
- Mix 2 cups of flour with 1 cup of salt
- Add 1 cup of water, a few drops of food coloring, and 1 teaspoon of oil; mix well
- If your mixture is too sticky, add a bit more flour
- PLAY!
Math Activities
- Find shapes around your house – play I Spy!
- Count all the cars on the street, cans in the cupboard, or books on the shelf
- Learn your phone number
- Sort objects by color, size, or shape; talk about which group has more, less, or is equal to
- Match a quantity of objects to a numeral card (place one penny on the #1)
- Draw numbers in sand or shaving cream; create numbers with playdough
- Make patterns using Legos! Try ABAB (red, blue, red, blue), AABB (red, red, blue, blue), ABBABB (red, blue, blue, red, blue, blue)
Science Activities
- Take care of your plants and plant seeds in egg cartons to get a jump start on spring
- Collect rocks or stones while you walk outside; come home and paint them!
- Play with water, measuring cups, and spoons
- Blow bubbles!
- Sink or float experiment with objects from around your home
- Use magnets
- Talk about the weather each day
Internet Resources
- Scholastic Learn at Home PreK
- Virtual Field Trips
- ABC Mouse *First month free as a trial subscription
- ENGAGE NY Animals Theme Downloadable Resources
- Lakeshore Learning
- PBS Kids
- Sesame Street
- Have Fun Teaching PreK Packet
- National Geographic Kids
- Really Good Stuff Student Activity Printables
- Colorations Educational Craft Ideas
- Steve Spangler Science Experiments you can do at Home
Kickstart Kindergarten
- Download the Kick-Start Kindergarten Readiness book here for help with preparing children for the transition into Kindergarten. This book is full of activities that will support learning in the following areas:
- Oral language and vocabulary
- Emerging Literacy
- Social-Emotional Skills
- Math Exploration
- Science Investigation
- Fine and Gross Motor Skills
We hope these resources will help continue the learning at home – whether you are staying at home with your children during this time or continuing to send them to EduKids.
Please continue to watch your News & Notes for additional “Learn at Home” opportunities from your children’s teachers!