Helpful Tips for Parents

• Learning is most durable when it's embedded in play. Don't pull children away from play to "do learning" — find the learning inside the play they're already doing.

• Read aloud daily for at least 15 minutes. This single habit is the strongest predictor of kindergarten reading readiness and long-term academic success.

• Answer "why" questions fully and honestly. A child who gets real answers to their questions develops deeper curiosity than one whose questions are dismissed or oversimplified.

• Screen learning (educational apps and videos) supplements but never replaces human interaction as a teaching medium. Learning happens most efficiently in social, conversational contexts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the role of technology in preschool education?

High-quality educational apps and programs (PBS Kids, Khan Academy Kids, Starfall) used in limited, adult-co-viewed sessions can supplement preschool learning. However, interactive human experiences (conversation, shared book reading, hands-on experimentation, social play) remain far superior as primary learning modes. Screen-based learning is most effective when it is: co-viewed with an adult, limited to 30–60 minutes per day, followed by extension activities in the real world (after a nature app, go outside), and consistently educational rather than commercial.

Related reading: See also our writing readiness guide and our alphabet activities for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• ⚡ Executive Function — Planning, sequencing steps, holding rules in mind while acting, and stopping a prepotent response all build executive function — the cluster of cognitive skills most strongly predictive of long-term academic and life success.
• 🤔 Critical Thinking — Being asked "why do you think that?" and forming and defending an answer develops the analytical reasoning children need for reading comprehension, mathematics, and evidence-based argumentation.
• ✏️ Pre-Writing Development — Drawing, tracing, and early mark-making develop the fine motor control and visual-motor integration that handwriting requires — making every drawing activity a contribution to writing readiness.
• 📖 Story Structure Understanding — Understanding that stories have a beginning, problem, solution, and ending develops narrative comprehension — the mental schema children use to make sense of increasingly complex texts throughout their school years.

Preschool Feelings and Emotions Circle Time

Talk with the preschoolers about things that make you happy.

Talk with the preschoolers about things that make you sad.

Make a poster with the names for different emotions that preschoolers have felt.

Talk with preschoolers about what we can do to feel better when we are sad or angry.

Ask each preschooler how they are feeling today.

Show Your Emotions Preschool Activity - Does your preschooler like show his/her emotions? Does s/he like to draw too? Then this preschool activity is perfect and as easy as drawing a happy face.

Preschool Feelings and Emotions Arts and Crafts

Have preschoolers draw pictures of how they feel.

Preschool Emotions Poster - Take pictures of the preschoolers in your class making faces showing different emotions. Make a poster using the photos and label them with the emotion that each preschooler is showing.

Have preschoolers make a collage of things that make them happy.

BALLOON FACE STICKERS (36PC) - Show your emotions by making balloon faces.

MAKE YOUR OWN FUNNY FACES STICKERS - Make faces that will make you laugh using these fun stickers.

Preschool Feelings and Emotions Math and Science

How does exercise make us feel better when we are angry?

Make happy faces and sad faces and cut them out. Have preschoolers practice making patterns using the happy and sad faces. For younger preschoolers, you can draw a pattern of happy and sad faces on a piece of paper and have preschoolers match the happy and sad face cut outs to the ones on the piece of paper.

Preschool Feelings and Emotions Music and Movement

Sing "If You're Happy and You Know It"

Use your body to show how you feel today.

Listen to an upbeat song and have preschoolers dance. When they are finished dancing ask them how the song made them feel.

Preschool Feelings and Emotions Pretend Play

Provide dolls in your pretend play center and allow preschoolers to pretend the dolls feel sad and practice nurturing them.

Help preschoolers roll play by giving them one of the following situations to act out. Assign roles to preschoolers and ask them to try and solve the problems.

• A preschooler is sad because they miss their mom.

• A preschooler is tired because they have played for a long time.

• A preschooler is angry because someone took their favorite toy.
• A preschooler is scared because they see a bug.

Preschool Feelings and Emotions Reading and Language

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Hi! I'm Rachel Lister, the Preschool Education writer at PreschoolRock.com. I live in Utah with my husband and two beautiful boys. When my oldest son was born, I quit my teaching job and opened a home daycare and preschool. I love to help preschoolers learn about the world around them. They make life interesting and I can't imagine doing anything different. If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments, feel free to contact me.