Teach Preschool » Physical Development

Hands off in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:00:54 +0000

In our zest to help children “create” sometimes it is easy to forget what it means to be creative…

Creativity is inspired when we give children the opportunity to explore the art process and materials without the pressure of having to do it in a specific way…

In an effort to teach children, adults get the idea that if they control a child’s movements or actions that this will help the child be more proficient with the process…

When in reality, controlling a child’s movements or actions promotes a sense of uncertainty and keeps the child focused on whether he or she is doing something right or wrong rather than focused on just doing and creating…

Inspiring a child’s confidence in the creative process calls for the teacher or adult to use a “hands off” approach…

As children are given the freedom to explore cutting, painting, gluing, and other process without an imposing agenda or an expected result – they develop greater levels of skills and greater confidence in their abilities…

Perhaps the hand print won’t end up in exactly the right place on the paper or the child will use a thumb instead of fingers in the ink stamp – but the child needs to be given the opportunity to figure it out without getting the impression that his or her efforts will be judged as doing something right or doing something wrong…

Besides, it isn’t fun having someone else control your movements as you try to create. In order to be creative, a child has to be invested in the process and in order to be invested in the process, the child needs to feel that it is okay to freely explore…

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Rock climbing with a three year old

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 05:00:31 +0000

When my little nephew Wy comes over, I learn to view things in and outside of my house with new eyes…

Everyday, I drive past these rocks that are out in my front yard and don’t really give them much thought. My husband put them in the yard as a landscaping feature and I have just kind of gotten used to having them there…

But on this beautiful, sunny and warm day - I took Wy around to the front yard and there he found the big rocks…

As soon as he saw them, his expression was priceless and off he went on a rock climbing adventure. A little uncertain at first as to how to navigate the big gaps between rocks but it wasn’t long before he discovered he could make the leap and soon he was leaping easily from rock to rock…

And up and down the rocks, all the while never letting go of his bright blue bottle (which I will talk about very soon)…

I have a new appreciation for the rocks out in our front yard. My husband may have put them there to look pretty but through the eyes of a three year old, it is an adventure in rock climbing…

I was hoping to link up with the link-up below but I was a little late:) You can still view all the fun outdoor ideas anyway!

If viewing by email or in a feed – you will need to come to blog to view the linkups!

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Try the frog leap in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:47:33 +0000

In preschool, the frog leap is just a bit different than the old fashioned leap frog game where you jump over another person’s back…

In this classroom, the teacher laminated some lili-pads on the floor for her little frogs to leap across. We have the two-footed leap…

The split leap..

The full-body leap (sorry for a blurry photo – he was leaping kind of fast:) …

And the partner leap…

Another simple way to create some imaginative play and to promote some large motor control…

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Take time to let twos tumble in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:00:46 +0000

Young children have a need to get their energy out. They will do it in all kinds of ways – some of which you, as a teacher, may like and some you may not like!

Keeping in mind that children have a need to get out all that energy out – it is up to you to find constructive ways for them to get their energy out. I think this is why I was very excited when I walked into our large motor room and found that this teacher had taken the initiative to set up an entire tumbling experience for her twos class.

The twos were loving it. They were climbing, jumping, crawling, and rolling….

There were a few close calls along the way of one child jumping on top of another child but the teacher was right there giving guidance to the children and reminding them to wait until their friends are out of the way before they jump.

Once the children began to lose interest in the current layout of the mats, the teacher invited the children to help her rearrange the mats to create a tunnel.

This added a few more minutes of fun to the whole idea. I loved how the teacher stayed engaged in the play. She gave the children room to tumble as they liked but also spent time helping the children think of how to play safely.

In the process of planning your day, make sure you are giving attention to the need for children to get physical. They need the large motor experience just as much as they need all other aspects of the program you provide. There are many ways to keep it constructive but don’t over do the structure – use their interest and ability as a guide and let your preschoolers invest time in physical (large motor) play!

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G is for gumball counting in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:05:01 +0000

The children spent time doing a little counting as they played with play dough…

There are many ways to reinforce counting with young children but some of the best ideas engage children through a little exploration, discovery, and play.

The children were invited to roll up play dough to make gumballs on their gumball machine. The letter of the week was the letter G – thus the reason for using a gumball machine.

While this small group of children rolled up their gumballs, the teachers encouraged the children to count the number of gumballs they had made aloud. Other times, the teacher would suggest the number of gumballs to make.

This activity was a simple and relaxed way to integrate the sound of the letter G while promoting fine motor development and counting skills.

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