Activities for preschoolers - I'm new at this?

Question

I'm starting a new volunteer job, watching preschool-aged kids at an abused women's shelter once a week when the moms are in a class.

I have a *lot* of experience with older kids (ages 9-16) but very little (well, none) with kids under 6.

Basically, I need to set up the care night and play with the kids for three hours. I want to have some fun games and activities to play with them but since I have no experience with toddlers, I'm not too sure what to do!

Any ideas (even websites) for things I can do with them would be great! They have a toy room but I'd love some ideas for new games and things I can play. The kids are all 3-5 years old.

Thank you!

Answer 1

there is alot of thinge that you can use with paint such as cutting apples in half and pressign them on paper useing matchbox cars rolling them through paint then on paper there is really so many but there is a couple that i have done before i took 2 years of child care classes if you want to know more that i have done with other preschoolers you can email me at [e-mail]

Answer 2

google is your best friend -just type in preschool games - or preschool crafts.

Crafts are great -have play doh out and a painting activity and then do a cooperative game with them all together.  Good luck - this is a wonderful ministry you are doing!

Answer 3

www.childcareland.com may have something you can use.  How long are you going to be doing this for.  It's a great site to make "games" out of.

I definately suggest a routine and doing a "theme night"  it won't only be fun for the kids but also narrows down a "search" for activities. Suggestion for 3 hours

Songs/Fingerplays: to go with a theme.  You can do multiple and then ask this group what they think the theme is going to be tonight.  This will transition into story time.  If they can't figure it out then you can look at the front cover of your chosen book. (5 min)

Story time:  Introduce the book...talk about the title and the author/illustrator, spine, front/back cover, and title page.  If these children are from abusive families they probably have not had much "education" and this is a great time for you to help in that area!  Read enthusiastically a picture book.  Use puppets, pictures etc...to add interest. (15 minutes)

Centers/structured activities (1 hour):  How many children will you be having?  Think about how you can set this up.  I find that a 10 minutes time period is perfect for this age group in each area.  I usually do a

*  sensory (beans, sand, rice, pom poms, lentils, etc. in a tub) in a hard plastic wading pool.  

* writing "center" area with paper, stamps, pencils, crayons, markers, theme related printables, stickers, etc.

* Scissors:  again in a pool with scrap paper and magazines in a dishtub (dollar store).  They can cut to their hearts content.  You can add interest by placing large paper or posterboard (theme related shape if you want) near the area with glue sticks and they can glue their cuttings on like for a collage.

* art- theme-related open ended art projects

* math/numeracy activity- usually with tactile numbers, and manipulatives... providing material that can be used without adult 1:1 is the key.

* playdough is always out here...some type of homemade playdough and I use theme related cookie cutters, rollers, cutting boards/plastic knives, plates/cups, scissors, etc.

You do what works for you...setting out the activities and assigning the children to the "centers".  Set the timer for 9 minutes and when it goes off it's time to clean up the area for the next child or group of children and then rotate in the same order every single time!  They'll eventually get it!

Are you the only person?  If you are I would suggest you teach the children how to move the materials to a specific location for easy clean up later before moving on.  If you aren't...then one person puts away the materials and the other entertains.

Free Play: (45 min to an hour) dramatic play prop boxes, puzzles, manipulatives, blocks, etc.  all easy movable things.  They can be placed on a cart with wheels and all be put back on the cart.

Music and Movement (20 minutes): cd player and cds (local library), make your own rhythm instruments, streamers, scarves, free movement and then organized movment.

Coming to a close (20 minutes): putting instruments and such away, walking slowly around the room, getting heart beat down, transitioning into another theme related story time.

Good luck.  Of course it all depends on what is available to you.  Do you have an outdoor play area?  How many people are working with you?  What materials do you have on hand? All questions that will effect your chosen "routine".

Answer 4

you can try this website link...

www.everythingpreschool.com

Good luck.

Answer 5

There is so much to do/Messy play is a good start.Children love playing with cornflour, jelly, shaving foam, water play, sand play and lots of stories

There is a website called sparklebox.com and a website called childminders.biz .com which will give you great ides

Answer 6

My favourite activities:

to make SLIME:

corn flour, water, food colouring

to make PLAYDOUGH:

2 cups of plain flour

4 tablespoons of 'cream of tartar'

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

1 cup of salt

2 cups of boiling water

food colouring

to make BUBBLE SOLUTIONS

1/2 cup dishwashing detergent

4/1/2 cup water

2 teaspoon water

use a wire to make a loop and handle to blow out of

Answer 7

depending on your resources there are a lot of things you could try.  children that age love to dance.  maybe see if you can find some CD's that have children's nursery rhymes or such.  one particular artist is Raffi.  his CD's are based for young children.  you could find bells or ribbons for the children to play with while dancing to the songs.

playdoh, finger painting are some ideas.  in the daycare i work at we put the kids in their seats and put a small pile of shaving cream in front of them and let them play with that.  we also use bingo dabbers for "painting" and we use the small pom poms that come in different colors for different craft ideas (or even pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks are good craft resources).  

puzzles are another hands on activity to promote fine motor skills.  hand puppets, a dress up box (i.e. pirate box, salon box, restaurant box, etc) are a few other ideas.

I know that it may seem like it would cost a lot, but honestly, you could find many of these things or other ideas in garage sales in your area.  

I hope this helps.  Good luck with your new endeavor!!!

Answer 8

try to think simple and clean.  You can never have too many balls to play with, bubbles are always exciting, you would be amazed at what you can do with a roll of masking tape and a bean bag ( hop scotch for the girls which also help strengthen their strategic thinking and fine and gross motor skills.  For the boys you can do any number of things.  Make sure to let them think of some ideas too.  Creating a game can be just as fun but remember to be simple. good luck this is a great age.

Answer 9

When you work with young children, think of appealing to as many modalities as possible: touch, taste, sight, etc.  They are very interested in exploring at this age and given the right place, they will do it naturally.  

To break apart that 3 hour block, I would maybe read them a story (choose bright pictures, simple text), do some activities (where they can explore on their own--after you tell them what's available), come back together and do some singing, fingerplays, rhymes (nursery rhymes), etc. Maybe some snacks?  Or you can show them how to make their own snacks.  

As an example, author Eric Carle is always a classic and it's good quality writing, too. Perhaps your activities revolve around this book as well--that would be a thematic approach (example, you read a book like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and you do art related to that or build something related to it)

Since these kids are coming from families with real difficulty, I'm going to make a leap and suggest that perhaps literacy is not at the forefront and that you as a volunteer can make it a really positive Learning experience for the little guys.  Why not make it as fun (and educational and meaningful) as possible?  They are like sponges at this age.  Anything you can do to help them learn would be appreciated by their future Kindergarten teacher (I can speak to this because I am one--I've also worked with preschoolers for many years.).

Ideas:

-Read, read, read (get it on tape or CD at the public library)

-Learn how to write their name (with ONE capital letter)

-Learn letters (how to form them--present this in multiple modalities--clay, playdough, marker, glue and glitter, crayon which is best for developing fine motor skills, etc.)

-Numbers--writing them, counting things (one-to-one correspondence), noticing patterns (this is a big skill they will use throughout life!)

-Learn letter sounds

-Do rhymes and songs, fingerplays

-Make or borrow musical instruments

-Science related: bubbles (we use kitchen items for "wands" such as cut up strawberry baskets, slotted spoons, fly swatter--trust me they work!),  shaving cream on a tray (it smells good and they love to play with it)

-Art: water colors, coloring sheets, play with constarch mixed with some water to make goop (add food coloring)

Most of the time, the kids don't read at this age so trying to teach them to read will make you go crazy.  Leave that to the teacher but anything you can do to help expand their vocabulary, help them problem solve, get them to be excited about learning is great!  You might be the only positive thing they can look forward to right now...make it fun!  

Google 'preschool crafts' or 'preschool literature' and I'm sure you'll find tons!!  Good luck!  Hope this helps!

Answer 10

Get ahold of a classroom reference book like the Big Book of Playtime Activities from Usborne Books.  You can search for it here:  http://www.ubah.com/g2687 -This is a great book of tons of activities for preschoolers.  Check it out!

Answer 11

coloring

tag

catch

watching cartoons

help cook(little things)

show and tell

Answer 12

Kids this age love anything active.  Songs with lots of movement are fun for them (email me if you want some specific at [e-mail]).  Also, they will spend hours with play dough or, something less messy, modeling clay.  If you have a place for tents and tunnels, that would be great.  Kids this age have very vivid imaginations.  They love to act out plays from books, and can with a little help.  A favorite at my day care is Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears.

Playing dress up if fun, and you can do it simply, with hats and jewelry the kids make themselves.  With a little constrution paper and some beads to string, they'll have loads of fun.

Good for you for working with an abused women's shelter. I do the same thing and love it!

Answer 13

At the mixed age that you'll have you need a variety of toys and equipment...but you also have to remember that these children may be a bit insecure/emotional if they have witnessed the abuse so I wouldnt bombarded them with toomuch in terms of a routine and group things.

Have freeplay-which means having the toys out which the children can access themselves. I would split room up a bit:

Messy play: Chalks, paints (if your brave), sand tray, maybe a craft activity for the older ones...can be something s simple as junk modelling.

Quiet Area: with cushions, pillows etc fr comfort and relax...can have different age books from toddler to nursery, a tape recorder with headphones.

Floor Play: Things like bricks or large puzzles that can be played on the floor...preferably away from messy area!

Role PLay: Like a house with babies, food, cooker etc even though they may have negative experience of 'home' it will support them in explore their emotional issues!

Writing area: With pencils, crayons, paper, card etc.

This should be enough to amus them and keep them occupied...if you see they are getting broed or stroppy then swap a few toys over for different ones to renew their interest.

If you do want to do group things make it optionalso they can play if they prefer...you can have instrument time, a sing song, or a wiggle and jiggle to music. If it's 'night' as in late night then you may not want to over stimulate them with music etc or their ums might not be too happy when they dont sleep :)

(Also have a sleepy area if children are tired as you never know what their sleep routine is!)

Answer 14

when i was in pre-k, my teacher made cookie dough and gave us some plastic cookie cutters. We got to make shapes then decorat them with choc. chips. We got to eat some and take some home. I felt like such a 'big girl' when everybody at home loved my cookies!

Answer 15

play pretending games like camping, house, restaurant, and things like that

you can also put on magic or puppet shows or you could get the kids involved in a fashion or talent show