How to Interact with a Preschooler

By the time a child reaches preschool age, he or she has developed new abilities that make new activities appropriate. The most productive activities for preschoolers are fun and interactive, and they provide an opportunity to learn. Interact wtih a preschooler at a level that is best for their development.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Find opportunities to each in everyday activities. Asking questions, and answering them, are helpful. Pointing out new things in your environment, from your house to your backyard, grow your child's perspective and pique an interest and curiosity in the world around them.

2. Read to them. Preschoolers absorb letters and sounds that form new words at an amazing rate. Even if the child can't read yet, they will learn if you use your finger to trace the words as you read them.

3. Teach the child a new word each and every day. Breakfast is a great time to introduce this activity. Tell the child the new word, explaining its meaning. Challenge the child, and yourself, to use the new word as many times as possible throughout the day.

4. Create a special hideaway for the child out of a large cardboard box. Sort of an indoor clubhouse, you can fashion the box into a house, a castle, car or spaceship - it's up to their imagination. Cut windows and a skylight in the top, make curtains and a doormat. Make it theirs. Place a few items in the hideaway, such as books or toys. They'll learn as the project is built, and find fun and pride in having something of their own.

5. Map it out. Place a large map of your community on the wall. Each day, have your preschooler help you figure out where a new spot is, and mark it with a tack or a sticker. His school, your house, the grocery store and post office are just a few ideas.

6. Roleplay stories at bedtime. When a child knows a story by heart so well he or she can recite it, let the child pick one of the characters and have he or she speak those parts of the story aloud.

7. Make a "boat" out of a cardboard box. Fill it with your child's stuffed animals and allow their imagination to run wild, creating a story about where they will set sail with their animals.

[sheila325]

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[joshhusson]

on 5/11/2009 Good tips, thanks! I'm going to give these a try with our preschooler :-).