Preschool activities to nurture children creativity

Education systems may be mass produced but every child is different and unique in their own ways. There will be children with different levels of abilities and interests. Some like to sit quietly, contented listening to stories being told while there are others who love to tell their own stories.

When they are doing their preschool activities be it in Math or English lessons, they need to work off their irrepressible energy.

Children are eager to show their teachers or their parents what they already know and can contribute. I have a girl aged 5 years old in my daycare center who likes to do her own thing. We were doing a project on creating a recipe book but this girl was different from the rest of the class in that she did not follow what was written on the board but she asked for some old magazines from the teacher, and copied the pictures of food and drinks as pictures meant more to her than the few rows of words.

Children usually like to take initiative in their work when they are given the opportunity and guidance to do so but sadly this does not happen very often in many classrooms. We should not stifle their creativity but provide them the right environment to work in, encouraging them to believe in their own gifts and the confidence to pursue them in the way they thought best.

In my classes, I would always have preschool activities which encourage them to express their ideas in pictures or in words through art projects like paper mache, dancing or singing. We cannot expect them to sit quietly and write lines of words which will not make them any more creative.

Children can learn to be responsible when they are given the opportunity to discover their own gifts and talents and take charge of their own learning for their future. Their development as individuals is more complete when they take charge of themselves and what they learn so that they can create and develop their own system of learning that is unique to them, a style which works for them. One of my favorite preschool activities which I love to do with the children is to keep asking them questions while I am narrating a story to them, especially when they are open-ended questions where there is no one correct answer, for example “Where does the sun hide at night?” This is one of the strategies which we use to train children to be brilliant and to develop their creative thinking.
When children can identify with what they are doing and learning, they are more than willing to participate and give you their full attention and they can stay focused in preschool activities that they are interested in and when they are deeply involved, they will learn best.

We cannot develop creativity in children by demanding them to complete pages of homework that they may find boring but instead give them plenty of opportunities to use and explore their creativity by encouraging them to create their own homework which they feel is important which can make their learning more effective.

Children handle boredom differently, one might keep quiet while another might be more vocal by letting everyone know how bored he is, and so we must learn to accept their differences with positive expectations so that they are made aware of their own strengths to develop their own individual gifts and talents.

The individual ability of every child is limitless and with the appropriate support, encouragement and guidance they will learn how to develop an effective and flexible learning strategy that works for them, develop independent thinking skills and their own creativity.

Consider downloading “Mind Power Series” today with a 56 –day trial at www.gamesforfunkids.com and see for yourself why parents, teachers, child care providers, kindergartens and everyone who are interested in early childhood education are so excited and sharing about how the “Mind Power Series” has widen their knowledge on how to use very simple, fun, effective and fuss-free methods to develop their children individual gifts, talents, creativity, thinking and learning skills.

Tags: games for fun kids, kindergarten games, preschool activities

How to make kindergarten learning fun and creative

Kindergarten learning is the period of life where they learning to develop their motor skills, cognitive thinking, social skills, creativity and it is very important to ensure that they are having fun and enjoying themselves.

During this period, they love to play and creating games which are fun are most effective for learning.

Pretend play

Pretend to use an imaginary object and have the children guess what you are doing. You can pretend to hammer a nail, water plants, cook, swim or drink a glass of water. Reverse roles where you guess while the children pretend.This game never fails to delight them but do not look down on this classic and simple game as it fosters many benefits as it can develop communication skills, cognitive thinking, observation skills, creativity and imagination.

Open-Ended Questions

Ask children open-ended questions during their kindergarten learning as such questions can stimulate learning by encouraging them to think and discover on their own. Suggested open-ended questions are such -

How would you describe…?

How would you design this schoolbag to make it more comfortable to use?

How does this work?

Why did you pick that?

Why do you need to drink milk?

Who would you like to be when you grow up?

What does a cotton ball feels like?

What would happen when you can combine pretend play with open-ended questions? Awesome and “FUNtastic” kindergarten learning!

1. Baby, Story time!
   When you read stories to your children regularly you are encouraging them to be good readers and you can promote pretending to read by providing them opportunities, such as reading to their baby dolls. Children who pretend to read in their kindergarten years are more likely to become successful readers.
   Set up the scene in their bedroom and place their favorite dolls, stuffed animals on the bed. Give your child books with big prints and colorful pictures, play lullaby music to set the mood and encourage them to read to their favorite dolls and although they are not really reading, they feel like readers when they pretend to read.
   After the story telling has ended, ask them open-ended questions like -
   How does your baby feel when you …….? Or
   what can you do to make them feel happier?
   This game can be played at their kindergarten but you can also bring this kindergarten learning to your home as the props are easy to set up, very safe, a single player game and can release you well needed time to do your own work.
2. Vet, Vet, Help! My pet is sick!
   When children are given opportunities to answer questions, their communication skills and as they become more active in questioning and answering, their understanding of the language will increase.
   Set up props to make your play area look like a veterinarian’s office. Make signs like “We are Open”, “Opening Hours”, or something humorous like “No toys please, we only treat real animals”. Encourage the children to think creatively for more of such signage to be hung around.
   Prepare slips of paper for them to “register” their pets – name, type, age of pet and allergies to any food. Have children pretending to be the receptionist, veterinarian and the customer.
   Roll the camera, start and action!
   After the session is over, ask them open-ended questions like -
   How can you tell if your pet is sick or happy?
   What did you do to help it feel more comfortable?

There are endless creative pretend games which you can create for fun and effective kindergarten learning such as playing detective, doctor or firefighter. When you provide props to enrich the environment, unique literacy experiences are enhanced that encourages children’s creativity, stimulate more ideas to bring into play and capturing their interest as they learn to read and write and have fun at the same time. Fun learning is effective learning!

Consider downloading “Mind Power Series” today with a 56 –day trial at http://www.gamesforfunkids.com and see for yourself why parents, teachers, child care providers, kindergartens and everyone who are interested in early childhood education are so excited and sharing about how the “Mind Power Series” has widen their knowledge on how to use very simple, fun, effective and fuss-free methods to develop their children individual gifts, talents, creativity, thinking and learning skills.

Tags: funny for kids, games for fun kids, kindergarten learning, make learning fun, preschoolers activities

Kindergarten Games

All children love to play kindergarten games. They are fun, engaging and develop motor skills. What about creativity? Do all these games involve the child in developing their creativity skills?

Children are packed with creativity but their potential to create remains dormant if it is not put into practice. Creativity requires exercise to grow and it is one skill which children can develop to varying degrees.

Kindergarten games which nurture and develop creativity skills in children must have the following attributes:

1. Foster use of imagination and make-believe
2. Encourage flexible thinking and problem solving
3. Empower the child to make choices and decisions and to do things on their own in their own ways.
4. Sharpen their observation skills
5. Learn to express themselves in art, music and dance
6. Develop abilities to create images and use symbols
7. Expose children to a broad and diversified range of artistic and intellectual pursuits
8. Show children how to be curious

We suggest several kindergarten games which can nurture children creativity skills.

• In this activity, allow the children’s ideas and imagination to run wild. Ask them on everyday common things which we use – washing machines, television, telephones. Challenge them to create or invent a better washing machine. List down the things which you like and dislike about the washing machine – the color, shape, features, functionality. Encourage them to draw out their ideas and most important to have fun in the process.
• Ask the children to choose their favorite cartoon character and make an enlarged stuffed copy. Draw it onto paper twice, color, cut and staple around the edges and stuff it with cotton or pieces of paper. Each child will then have to tell a short story about the character like what is its favorite food, color or toy and why is it their favorite.
• Provide children with open-ended toys as they are more conducive to develop creativity skills than closed-ended toys. Open-ended toys are sand blocks, play dough and building blocks as these toys allow the children to use them in creative ways, there is no one right or correct way to work and they have multiple outcomes. Closed-ended toys like a puzzle are designed with a single outcome and one correct way. Provide the children with multi-colored play dough and challenge them to make the most colorful and beautiful doll. After which the children come out and introduce their dolls.

The most important feature in choosing kindergarten games is that it must be fun for the children as they learn best when they are enjoying themselves, experiencing the freedom to explore and express their creativity.

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Tags: funny for kids, games for fun kids, kindergarten games, preschool activities