Home Learning: Preschool & Kindergarten

Homemade Playdough

Store-bought works too if you have it, but if not, homemade playdough is simple to make (you can involve the kids too), easy to store for multiple uses and there is SO many benefits of playing with playdough. For more on how to make your own, click on my previous blog post HERE.

Ideas for using playdough:

• make a “snake” by rolling playdough between the palms of your hands. Use the “snake” to build letters, numbers, sight words or shapes. There are many free printable placemats with these on them as well. Print and laminate or buy clear plastic page protectors (listed above) if you don’t have a home laminator.
• pretend play- bakery, pizzeria, zoo…the ideas are endless! (another favorite is to make a playdough “cake” and use pipe cleaners, birthday candles, buttons, silicone muffin cups etc. to decorate the cake)
• practice cutting by making a “snake” and use playdough scissors to make small snips along the playdough
• practice fine motor skills by making balls of playdough and pinching them between index and thumb fingers to squish them

Salt Trays

Using a flat surface (I like using art trays so it is more contained) pour salt to cover. You can add sprinkles if you wish to make it more colorful. Have children use their pointer finger to practice writing in the salt.

For preschool- work on letter forms: a horizontal line, a vertical line, an “X”, a cross, a circle, a triangle and a square.

For kindergarten– work on uppercase and lowercase letters & numbers

Sensory Bins

SENSORY BINS. You have probably heard of them…and again, the ideas here are endless. Not only do they hold children’s attention, there are so many learning benefits when they engage in sensory play. Get a large shallow plastic bin and fill with materials of your choice.

Here are some of my favorite ideas: 

–plain or dyed rice (using food coloring + a splash of vinegar in a ziploc bag, then laid out on parchment paper to dry) with scoopers/measuring tools

-plain or dyed pasta with recyclable items and kitchen utensils

-shaving cream with or without food coloring

-washing babies, car wash or washing dishes station (use mild dish soap, water, washcloths and toy item of choice)

-dry beans, lentils or corn kernels with farm animals

-water beads and ocean animals

-water and fish/ducks

-sand and shells, small buckets & shovels

-ANY of the above items with magnetic letters! You can play “I Spy” the letter, hide-and-seek with the letters or a matching hunt for uppercase and lowercase

*Supervision required!

Ice Cube Play

In a regular ice cube tray or a Jello mold of any shape/design, fill with water/food coloring and item of choice.

For preschool- Freeze pom poms or small animal figurines in the ice cubes and allow children to play until they “free” the item inside OR allow free play with the ice cubes and scoops/cups in a sensory bin

For kindergarten- use plain cubes and construction paper to have them “paint” letters, numbers, shapes

*Supervision required!

Letter Formation Practice  

Have a little one that needs letter practice? There are SO many fun ways to build up fine motor skills for early handwriting as well as practice letter identification. (Side note: these would work for number formation and shape formation practice as well!)

• Stickers- write letters in large print along a roll of paper taped to the wall or one per page on printer paper or construction paper. Have children use dot stickers or dot markers to follow the formation of the letter(s) they are practicing.
• Writing in shaving cream
• Use masking tape on the carpet to form letters. Have children line small objects such as legos, cubes or blocks along the lines to create the letter.
• Use cookie sheets and magnetic letters to practice identifying letters, matching uppercase and lowercase letters, and building sight words
• Car park- using masking tape, create a “parking lot” of lines to have children practice driving their cars in to…believe it or not controlling those movements that it takes to “park” the car helps build fine motor skills (and they won’t even know it!)
• Letter practice dry-erase- all you need is an Expo marker & clear plastic page protectors or pouches if you do not have a dry-erase board. Print out handwriting practice sheets or simple make your own and stick them inside the page protector for your child to be able to practice again & again. *Tip- do not give your child an eraser! More than likely they will become more fascinated with the eraser and/or continuously erasing minor mistakes. Encourage them to continue practicing multiple times to improve their writing, rather than erasing and starting over.

Sensory Bags/Bottles

Make sensory bags/bottles together! Bottles can be sensory bottles found on Amazon or at a craft store OR recycled bottles (just use tape to reinforce the cap). Fill with water, hair gel, glitter, pom poms, confetti, food coloring, etc. To make a sensory bag I use the laminating pouches (listed above) and a hair straightener. I heat the straightener and then run it along 3 of the 4 edges of the pouch about 3/4in in depth to seal it shut.I fill the pouch with whatever we want to use and then seal the 4th side shut using the same method. This would be a great activity for a preschool/kindergartener to make for a younger toddler/baby sibling too!

Fine Motor Practice

Use a muffin pan, pom poms and plastic tongs to sort by color (cut out colored construction paper circles to put in the bottom of the muffin pan) or simply practice transferring using the tongs!