🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop
- 🤝 Social Competence — The ability to join a group, initiate friendship, negotiate conflicts, and cooperate toward a shared goal are the social skills that determine whether kindergarten is a joyful or miserable experience.
- ✏️ Fine Motor & Writing Readiness — The fine motor skills developed through drawing, cutting, and manipulating small objects directly build the hand strength and pencil control that kindergarten writing demands.
- 🔢 Early Mathematical Thinking — Hands-on counting, sorting, pattern work, and early number sense build the mathematical foundation that kindergarten math curriculum builds on and that research consistently links to long-term math achievement.
- 💬 Language & Communication — A child who can express needs clearly, tell a sequential story, ask for help appropriately, and answer questions in complete sentences has the language toolkit that classroom participation requires.
Kindergarteners spend a lot of time writing. Often times, preschoolers that are more interested in gross motor, will choose not to practice their writing skills. Provide a variety of different writing tools to encourage less enthusiastic writers to practice.
Finger Paints
Technically, finger painting is not writing. It is building the small muscles of the hands and fingers, though. Purchase some finger paints and a roll of butcher paper. Preschoolers can work at their skill level whether scribbling, drawing, or writing. If you are worried about the mess; purchase some bath tub finger paints and give your preschooler a new bath time writing activity.
Sidewalk Chalk
Use your sidewalk as a huge chalk board. Spend some outside time drawing, writing, or practicing colors. Sidewalk chalk is an inexpensive purchase that can entertain preschoolers for hours. Sidewalk chalk does not need to be closely monitored, because it washes off of most everything with the squirt of a hose.
Sandpaper
Don't just vary what your preschooler's writing tools. Allow them to write on different surfaces. Use crayons to write on sand paper. The texture makes artwork or letters appear different. Preschoolers like novelty. Allow them to scribble and oy experiment with the sandpaper's texture. Encourage them to notice what happens when they write on the rough surface of a sheet of sandpaper.
Dark Colored Paper
Use a white crayon, chalk or colored pencil on a piece of black or dark blue construction paper. The white writing on dark paper is "backwards." Preschoolers will notice the contrast. The construction paper is a bit heavier and allows preschoolers who have a heavier touch to write without tearing the paper.
Salt Tray
Fill a cookie sheet with a layer of salt. Demonstrate how to "write" in the salt using your index finger. Show your preschooler how to "erase" the picture by gently swishing the salt around. Make sure you do this activity over an area which can be easily swept or use a drop cloth. Salt will end up outside of the tray.
