Educational Games for 4 Year Old Kids
Young children can handle sophisticated concepts when they are presented as games. Parents and teachers return to classic games generation after generation because children love to play them---and because the activities teach important skills and concepts. Introduce an old favorite or invent your own variation to engage the 4-year-olds you know.
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Science Matching Cabinet
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A wooden cabinet with small drawers that pull out easily and shut completely can become a treasure chest of discovery. Develop attention spans and concept skills by collecting nature items on a walk outside: acorns, fall leaves, pretty stones, feathers, shells, sea glass---any natural things. Get two of each type of item---even if they don't match perfectly. While the children close their eyes or wait in the next room, place the pairs of items, singly and randomly in the drawers of the cabinet. Children take turns opening two drawers to see if they can match the items. Name each item as the drawer is opened. Each match is removed from the cabinet and placed in the basket of the child who identified it. The most matches wins. Before playing, model careful drawer opening and closing to prevent overenthusiastic players from accidentally slamming their fingers.
(The American Museum of Natural History has a slightly more elaborate version of this game in its children's Discovery Room.)
I Spy
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To pass the time on a walk or a bus ride---and to encourage language skills and noticing---play I Spy, using challenges appropriate for the child's ability. Start by saying, "I spy with my little eye, something that is red." The guesser finds red objects until the correct answer is revealed. (Any color can replace red.) Then it is the guesser's turn.
According to Montessori theories of early childhood education, listening games such as "I Spy" are prerequisites to successful reading. When the child masters simple versions of "I Spy," raise the bar to keep things interesting and increase pre-reading skills.
The game can be changed to "spy" something that begins with a particular letter. The child guesses things that begin with that letter that are within view. Adults tire of this long before children get their fill---I Spy engages age-appropriate learning, and the attention from Mom or Dad is a bonus. It can be played with several children, as long as a good referee can keep things on track.
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Attribute Blocks
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Attribute blocks are flat, tile-like, primary-colored geometric shapes in small and large sizes. The shapes are usually circles, triangles, rectangles, squares and pentagons. Variations can include secondary colors and more shapes, such as hexagons.
Introduce the attribute blocks before beginning a game. First, discuss the shapes with the children while they pick up each shape and repeat its name. Examine what makes a "square" a square or a "circle" a circle. Let the children volunteer their observations first.
Hand out bingo-like cards with pictures on them that represent the blocks and have the children find each block and place it on their card. Or call out a shape and size or color and have each in turn locate all the blocks that match the description.
Kids like to fit the blocks together as puzzles or to stack them up.
To liven up a dull afternoon, "hide" the blocks in plain view and have the children find them and place them in baskets tagged with the size, color or shape of block.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics lists identification, classification and comparison of 2- and 3-D shapes among their geometry standards for elementary school. Early work with attribute blocks prepares young children for more complex problems and analysis later.
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- Photo Credit kindergarten image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
