Fun at home
This page includes lots of ideas and activities you can enjoy at home with your child. For example:
Making Your Home a Place For Readers
Several tips to help parents of young children promote literacy at home.
- Choose a quiet time for reading to your child, as in before a nap, bedtime, or after dinner.
- Choose a special place for family reading, like a comfortable chair or pillows piled on the floor.
- Let your child select the book for you to read aloud.
- Hold the book so that she or he can see the pictures. If possible, also let her or him turn the pages.
- Take time to look at and talk about the pictures. Don't just read the story: talk about it. Let your child point out letters, shapes, colours, and animals.
- Understand that reading begins at home. Children read their environments, so make your home a print rich environment.
- Read! Don't expect reading to be important to your children if they see that it's not important to you.
- Invite your child to read to you. If he or she is a pre reader, he'll often interpret his own story using illustrations and his imagination.
- Make lists, lots of them. Make them for grocery shopping, books to buy and things to take on trips.
- Read aloud to your child every day.
The Calendar
Parents, explain to your preschool child that days, like people, have names.
Say, "Today's name is (Monday). Tomorrow's name is (Tuesday)." Show him or her the day's names at the top of the calendar. Help your youngster understand the passage of time and how we measure time by the month, day, hour etc.
Circle special days on the calendar and count how many days until each special day arrives. The special days can be any day that you and your child will be doing something that your child likes, for example, a visit to grandparents, trip to the zoo, or the day he or she will help wash the dog etc.
Tracing Shapes
Parents cut out a circle, square and triangle from a large piece of cardboard. Give your preschool child a large sheet of paper on which to make a picture or design by tracing the shapes. Encourage your child to colour the picture or design. Write your preschooler's name at the top of his or her picture, spelling their name letter by letter as you write. Later take your child to the library. Find some books on shapes, colours or sizes to enjoy with your child.
Observation Walk
Take a walk with your child. As you walk ask your child to look at the different ways people are moving.
Examples: walking, running, biking, driving, etc.
Ask your child to tell you how the people are moving.
During your walk, suggest that the two of you find and name things that grow.
Examples: trees, flowers, weeds, cats, people, dogs, etc. Ask, "Do rocks, streets, or cars grow?"
Traffic Lights
While out walking with your youngster, see if he or she can tell you the colours on a traffic light. Talk about what each colour means. Go over important points of safety with him or her. Talk about how and when to cross the street. Talk about bike safety.
Outdoor Bug Hunt
Give your preschooler a magnifying glass and go on an outdoor bug hunt together. Encourage your child to look at the bugs carefully and tell you what he or she sees.
I Love You
Tell your child four things that you love about him/her. Write them on a sheet of paper and give it to your child to keep.
Sing Together
Sing some favourite songs together. Use your arms and hands to show the action of particular words in the song.
My Picture Story
Allow your child to draw and colour anything he or she wants. When finished, as your child to tell you about his or her picture. Write your child's story and then read it hack to him or her.
Frozen Ants
Ask your preschool child to peel a banana and cut into two or three small pieces with a plastic knife. Spread peanut butter on each piece then roll each piece in raisins. Wrap loosely in waxed paper and freeze. Your young child may want to eat right away so have more than one banana available.
Drawing Together
For this art activity you'll need crayons or markers and some large paper. Both parent and preschooler draw pictures together. Take turns telling about your pictures. Then ask your child to name the colours that he or she used. Afterwards take a "Colour Walk" with your child. Ask him or her to point to all things that are (choose a colour).
Shapes
Parents ask your preschooler to copy simple shapes on a large sheet of paper. You draw a shape first. Then have your child try to copy it.
Examples: 
Later go outside and find a place where you and your youngster can look at clouds. Talk about how they look and how they might feel. Ask her/him to look for shapes in the clouds.
Counting Groceries
Have your youngster help you put the groceries away. At the same time, give him/her practice with counting.
Examples: Ask, "How many carrots did I buy? How many bars of soap? How many cans of soup? How many boxes of cereal?"
Counting Pegs Game
You will need ten pegs and one large empty milk carton. Place the milk carton at your child's feet. Have your young child hold a pegs at eye level, and tell him or her to drop the pegs into the container. Have your child count the number of successes out of ten tries.
Rub-A-Dub-Dub
Preschool children have fun learning science in the bath. If you've ever sent a young child to wash his or her hands in the bathroom only to call out, "Don't play in the water." You'll appreciate these bathtime ideas that take advantage of a child's desire to splish and splash.
You will need:
Sponges, meat baster, boats, squeezy bottles, tubes, plastic jugs, soap bubbles and rubber animals. Keep everything in a net bag that can be hung up to dry.
Ideas for science activities:
- Ask your child to find out which items sink/float
- Use small jugs for pouring and measuring. Talk about the meaning of full/empty.
- Fill a variety of bottles with water. Talk about which has more, which has less.
- Fill one container with soap bubbles and another container with water. Talk about heavy and light.
- Float a plastic container in the water. Start adding rubber animals. Count the number of animals your child can put into the "boat" before it sinks.
Recipes for Fun
Inexpensive fun recipes that parents and their preschool children can mix up together. Lots of learning takes place as young children help prepare these easy to follow recipes for art materials. Measuring, pouring and mixing ingredients provide preschoolers with math experiences. When children observe the changes in texture etc. science skills are developed. Creative art experiences begin when children (and their parents) actually use the materials that they have created from everyday household ingredients.
No Cook Playdough
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3 cups flour
- ½ cup salt
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil
- 3 tsp. alum
- food colouring
Preparation: In a large bowl, mix ingredients listed above. After mixing, knead well. Add food colouring as desired. Store in an airtight container or heavy plastic bag for up to six months.
Cooked Playdough
- 3 cups flour
- ½ cup cream of tartar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil
Preparation: Mix 1 cup flour and cream of tartar together in a large saucepan. Add water and oil and cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to stiffen. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. Knead an additional 1 or 2 cups of flour into the mixture. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag.
Finger Paint
- ½ cup boiling water
- 2 tbsp. corn starch
- 6 tbsp. cold water
- Food colouring
Preparation: Dissolve corn starch in cold water in a cup. Add mixture to boiling water. Stir constantly. Heat mixture until it becomes glossy. Add food colouring. Cool completely before using.
