The following activities are for children age 3-5 Years. There are a range of activities to choose from, but you must choose based on your child’s capability and the resources available to you.
The activities should not be rushed, instead repeat as much as is needed, and do variations to ensure that the child understands the concepts. If the child is already proficient in some areas use some of the extensions provided or talk to your child’s practitioner for other available ideas.
As much as possible minimize tension and conflict between you and your child when doing the activities; learning should be fun for your child. Get to know what level is appropriate for your child so that he/she does not get bored with what is too easy or frustrated with activities that are too challenging.
The activities below should be spread over (1 month) four weeks. Try doing them early in the day when you and your child are not tired. Ideally you should aim to do only 2-3 activities daily, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. Activities should be 15-30 minutes, no longer!
Remember children learn a great deal, especially life skills, when doing chores round the house. Keep them occupied by helping you with various chores. Counting pegs to hang clothes on the line is numeracy, following simple instructions is literacy, sweeping is physical, cooking is science. You can incorporate some of the activities below with some light chores to maximise your child’s learning and development.
Routine is very critical to a child’s development. Despite the chaos, it is important to stick to a routine as much as possible. Ensure that your child goes to bed at a reasonable time. Lack of sleep can impede your child’s learning and development. Tiredness makes a child easily irritable and most often lead to challenging behaviour.
Inform your child’s current care giver about maintaining routine if you are not working from home. If you work from home, create a schedule that reflects time for work but be flexible too. If you have zoom meetings prepare your child by informing him/her and plan some quiet activities for your child to engage in for the duration of the meeting. If you are unemployed find a balance of what works for you and your family, bearing in mind that routine will benefit everyone as it will help to alleviate some stress.
Both you and your child will need down time, so incorporate some rest into your daily routine. Even if your child does not nap during the day, there should be some time allocated for rest. Your child can sit/lay down with a book or engage in a quiet activity, preferably not in front of a screen.
It is easy for children to accumulate lots of screen time during this period. As much as possible, try to minimise your child’s screen time. It might be an easy way to keep your child quiet but lots of screen time is harmful for his/her development.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Literacy
Arts and Craft
Health and Nutrition
Numeracy
Shapes and Geometry
Telling Time
Science