On Saturday, I had the pleasure of being a part of the "Learning Through Play Conference" at the Cincinnati Museum Center. It was a wonderful day full of educational sessions for parents and early childhood professionals. One session included play ideas for children to help them develop small muscle coordination--necessary for writing and develops naturally over time as a child plays. Here's a small list:
- Play with playdough and clay.
- String beads.
- Fingerpaint, shaving cream, pudding and cool whip.
- Work puzzles.
- Cook, especially when it involves stirring, spreading, cutting etc.
- Dress dolls.
- Tear up paper for pasting and gluing.
- Play "office" by using tools like scissors and hole punchers.
- Drive toy cars and trucks along masking tape roads.
- Build with tinker toys, legos, and blocks of all sizes.
- Poke pretzel sticks into soft cheese cubes for snack.
- Make a rubber band board for your child by pounding roof nails into a flat, square board.
- Shell peas.
- Wash doll clothes and hang them to dry with clip type clothespins.
- Snap fresh green beans into pieces to cook for dinner.
- Play with pegboards.
- Pick dandelions.
- Paint with water colors or poster paints.
- Garden together. Plant seeds. Pull weeds.
- Play in the sand or water with colanders, sieves, flour shakers, funnels, plastic tubing.
- Scribble and draw.
- Crumple up wads of paper and aim them at a basket.
- Play a game of matching ...use different jars and lids and practice screwing the lids on.
- Enjoy action songs and fingerplays such as "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Eency Weency Spider".
- Play dress up, especially with clothes that have buttons and zippers...old billfolds, purses etc.
THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!
-Karen