“Practice makes perfect.”

These words couldn’t ring truer for preparing a child to become a writer.  Writing isn’t an acquired skill; it is learned and practiced long before pencil is actually placed in hand.  Here are some great ideas to get your preschooler ready to write – and still have a great time doing it!

1. Take a ziplock baggie and place about 1/4 cup of hair gel inside.  Seal the bag, squeezing out all the excess air (depending on the size of bag, you might need more or less gel, and colored gel works better).  Place the sealed baggie on a flat surface and use as a writing “tablet”.  Children can draw and doodle in the gel, wiping their “slate” clean by simply smoothing out the gel.  Place the gel baggie over a piece of paper with squiggle lines or simple shapes and have the child “trace” the shape with his or her finger.  This can even be used with large letters written on paper as well.
2. Spread sand on a cookie sheet or other edged pan.  Have children use this surface as a writing surface.  It can be easily “erased” as well.  Use fingers as well as other items, such as straws, unsharpened pencils, pasta and even small cars to “write”.
3. Place a dollop of shaving cream on a table.  Have the child spread the shaving cream out and then use it as a writing surface.  Children can “erase” by simply covering their marks with more shaving cream.  (I use this method at the end of the day, and the shaving cream helps “clean” my tables!)  To make it more interesting, add a drop or two of watercolor.  Children can make shapes, squiggles, pictures or even write letters.
4. As children become more intentional in their strokes, give them several markers or crayons.  Have them trace the same shape over and over with different colors.  These shapes can be arcs, circles, lines, zig-zags, or even letters.  My class calls this “rainbow writing”.
5. As a culminating activity as we learn our letters, I give each child an unbaked breadstick (Pillsbury makes a good one, as does my generic store-brand).  Children then form their breadsticks into either their favorite letter or the first letter of their name.  Bake and eat!

As a Friday treat, I would like to point you to Nicole’s site.  Nicole is the mom to four beautiful girls, and I have enjoyed reading through her site since we added her to the Wonderbrains Blogroll (see our sidebar for more blog-worthy reads!).

Nicole shared a wonderful exercise in detail that she and her husband did with their daughters.  The basic idea is to teach children about detail in the form of nature.  It is a great activity for families and classes.  Give each participant a large cut-out shape (like a frame – I actually created construction paper “frames” for my pre-k class to do this).  Go outside in a grassy area and place the frame on the ground.  Then, lay on the ground with the frame and observe all the details you can find within the frame.  In Nicole’s “frame” she found a twig, some green grass, dead grass, an ant and three black seeds.  Next, meet with a partner and share what was in your frame.  Trade places with your partner and see if you can find all the details he or she found.

I love Nicole’s second activity as well – make sure you have a well-treed area for this.  Blindfold a person and lead them to a tree.  Have them touch it, feel it, discover it.  Then, lead them back to the starting point and take off the blindfold…can that person find their tree?  In Nicole’s family, the girls were each able to find “their” tree.  Talk about enhancing your senses when one is taken away!

Thank you, Nicole, for some wonderful activities for family time!

I spend three days a week with a class of twelve children, ages four and five years old.  As one of my boys was leaving the class to go home with his mom last week, I overheard her ask her son, “How was your day today?”  Her son replied, “Great!  All we did was play today!”

Playing is one of the most beneficial gifts we can give our children.  While we may look at play as simply the “surface value” of what we see, play is much more than that.  Playing carries with it an amazing number of benefits and learning development strategies which children need later on to help them on their journey of learning.

First of all, playing builds coordination.  Children are more apt to take greater risks when playing, simply because they are taking on the persona of someone or something else when they play (most of the time).  While a child might be too timid to run and leap on their own, they might become the most agile gorrilla when playing in their make-believe jungle.  Playing allows children to try new skills out without feeling pressured or threatened.  There are no expectations when playing, only the imagination and the child dictate what will happen. 

Speaking of the imagination, playing is a huge tool in building imaginations.  Children who can imagine and create will more easily be able to hone in on higher order thinking skills and problem solving skills as they grow.  Children can learn to solve problems in a non-threatening environment.  While playing, children can create their own situations and devise solutions to their problems.

Playing also fosters good social skills among children.  By playing in a positive way with peers, children learn how to appropriately treat others and how they like to be treated as well.  Children realize in a positive environment that good manners and nice words will carry them far in life, moreso than bossy, critical behavior.  Playtime is an excellent opportunity for children to learn social skills that will stay with them forever.

The mom of the child mentioned in the beginning winked at me as she walked out the door to her car.  She knows the power of play and the important skills playtime addresses for children.  Play isn’t just for fun; it is a powerful tool in learning life’s lessons.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does that make a puzzle worth?  Puzzles are wonderful learning tools without even appearing as such.  Children love to piece together puzzles at almost any age, from toddlers through the teen years and into adulthood.  The benefits of “puzzling” are innumerable, but here are a few areas that puzzles really shine.

Puzzles are excellent for visual discrimination.  Children must learn to match shape to shape (or cut out area to cut out area), looking for specific details on each piece.  In younger children, peg puzzles help develop matching skills and shape identification, whether those shapes be “standard” shapes or unconventional ones.  

Putting together puzzles also increases a child’s fine motor skills, which is necessary for pre-writing skill development.  Fitting puzzle pieces together “just so” works on finger dexterity and strength.  This, in turn, aids in writing skill development with control over pencil/crayon movement. 

Puzzles are excellent tools for developing problem solving strategies.  Children must figure out how to put the pieces together, where to start, and what method is easiest for them.  While many may choose to work the “edge” of the puzzle first, there are those children who will find starting with a specific design or picture within the overall puzzle is easier.  Both ways are correct ways to fit together a puzzle; both ways develop different strategies in problem solving.

Have a variety of puzzles on hand for children.  Puzzles are a great way to have fun and learn at the same time!

Here are the latest recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  Please visit their website for more details.

2. Regent Sports Recalls Soccer Goal Nets Following Strangulation Death of a Child