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Preschool activities


Moxie
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I really need to make a plan for my 3 year old for next year. He gets so bored and naughty while I'm working with the older kids. Is there a book or web-site that has easy to make, cheap pre-school activities? What about file folder games; where do I find information about those? Thanks!

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Kumon Books are simple, affordable, and don't require much from you. You can buy them at a local bookstore or online at amazon. The one on cutting was fun and my DD enjoyed it at about that age.

 

Making the Most of the Preschool Years by Valerie Bendt:

Valerie offers 100 activities to encourage independent play. You can set up play centers in your home to entertain and educate your young children.

 

These were fun and really held my DD interest for a looong time. Try this link....

 

www.valeriebendt.com/MakingTheMostOfThePreschoolYears.aspx

 

Shannon

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I love the website notimeforflashcards.com It gives hands on crafts and books. I do things from homeschoolshare.com

 

I have several baskets that are set up with things like clay with hidden treasures where you have to work the clay to get the object out (I have buttons in there) and I have a different number of them and so it becomes a math lessons to count them. I took the shape magnets from the dollar store and made matching game using 3x5 cards. I also used 3x5 cards and put the numbers 0-9 and have her use what ever objects to put on those cards to equal the number. We have books on tape that she listens to and when she is done she tells me the story in her words. We made a calendar with items from the dollar store and start our day talking about days weeks and months and numbers. We have used an empty sauce jar and filled it with items and guessed how many items were in there and then counted. We play lots of games that we get at yard sales thirft stores or as gifts such as LeapFrog Letterfactory game, Sequence for kids MightMinds Go fish and Blokus even candy land and chutes and ladders

We have a basket of puzzles and we work on those and when she gets fast at it we turn them upside down and work on them with out using the picture and looking just for shapes that fit. We go out side and turn over rocks and play in the dirt with the worms and the bugs. We are going to get tadpoles and a butterfly house this spring

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What about file folder games

I got a book from my library about file folder games. I can't remember what it was called, and can't find it now at their website. But I copied a bunch of pages (to use as templates), and made a couple of games. One of the games suggested using a particular picture book with it (Mouse Count). You read the book, then play the file folder game. It was cute. I'll probably make a couple of more for my youngest dd.

 

I did a search on Amazon just now, and there's lots of file folder game books.

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I know how you feel! I have a kindergardener and a dd who is 3 1/2. I was letting her watch TV and then revolted against the idea of just turning her into a blob so I could have time with ds to do school. The last few weeks have been AMAZING and I feel like it's all in my preparation. I just have to make sure she is involved in what we are doing. Sometimes she listens to our readings for Sonlight, she takes part in any art projects we do, and we use MFW for his main curriculum so I try to copy his workbook pages for her to do too. She loves to color, cut (especially the Kumon book), use a hole punch (big hit), cut yarn, count/sort buttons or different scrapbooking embellishments like clips, brads, etc. She is 3 1/2 and in the last 2 weeks she has gone from 24 piece puzzles to being able to do 63 piece puzzles on her own! She sits right at the table with us and I tell her she has school work, too. She also loves stringing Cheerios or buttons or beads, looking through picture books, doing play doh... Today I used toothpicks and drew lines on a paper that correlated with the size of the toothpicks. I did some lines and some shapes and that kept her busy for a while. That one just needs to be supervised :) I think the biggest problems are that the older one can't really do work on his own. It's very interactive, so he needs my time. The only other thing is that he thinks what she's doing is more fun. It really has been a work in progress, but I've seen great results recently. Good luck to you!

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It wasn't free, but I bought this toy:

http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-5941-ThinkFun-Shape/dp/B00000IRZ4/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1237865741&sr=8-6

for my ds4 and it really keeps him busy. He really loves it. I also got the Kumon books, with those two and listening to Eric Herman songs, he is busy all day and away from the T.V.

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I use a box system of hands of stuff, similar to the bag idea. Each box is for a day of the week and are rotated throughout the week. Items include, threading beads, counting/sorting bears, abacus (for fun), lacing cards, oatmeal for dumping and filling, coffee grounds for dumping and filling, dominoes, peg stacking etc...

 

I would skip printing and preparing file folder games. It is much easier to buy them from Mailbox or Teacher Created type books. We didn't have any money when I started with DS, so I did everything myself. I now LOVE to just buy them, tear them out, and be done with it. That reminds me that I also prepared some felt board games too such as stacking an ice cream cone, putting spots on a ladybug, making a train, making a street scene, butterfly etc...

 

This spring, we have started our own green house temporarily located in my dinning room. It took the kids a week to finish, but it kept little hands busy AND was educational. They now enjoy spraying their seedlings and themselves in the process. Just an idea, but we sometimes forget the practical activities like yard work and cleaning. Hand a 3 year old a water bottle and a rag and set them loose (if closed off in an area without expensive furniture - not a problem in our home).

 

HTH

Erica

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Jacky

I'm a homeschooling mom. My kiddies 7 years and one toddler. If you are looking for free printables, lesson plans, curriculums, preschool tips and many more then you will be able to find it on this site.

 

http://www-easy-preschool-activities.com

 

They also have free bible lesson plans, children stories etc. All focused on the preschooler.

 

Most of it is free.

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