Easy & Inexpensive Educational Activities for Children HES 470 Kali Kiebler Fontbonne University

What are some games or activities that you currently play with your child? (Google Images, 2012)

 Can activities and games be fun AND educational?  YES!  Play is considered by many professionals and theorists, as the best way for a child to learn and interact with his/her environment  Sometimes we don’t consider games or activities we engage in with children to be educational or provide a learning experience, when in reality children are learning! Play = Learning

Play Depends on the Child’s Age Birth – 2 years  Sensorimotor Stage  Learn through sensory system and reflexes  Children at this age enjoy repetition and patterns  Ex: Continuously dropping items 2 – 7 years  Preoperational Stage  Children see the world through their own experiences  Children enjoy pretend play  Ex: Playing house, acting out roles, acting like animals/pets

Play Depends on the Child’s Age 7 – 12 years  Concrete Operational Stage  Development of concepts, numbers, relationships, processes occurs in this stage  Children need tactile objects to learn  Ex: Manipulatives, pictures, objects, examples 12 years +  Formal Operational Stage  Ability to reason logically  Can think abstractly  Ex: Increased social play such as sports activities, dance, spending time with friends

 Children prefer different methods of play and activity at each stage of development  Knowing how a child is thinking and developing helps us find and introduce engaging games and activities  Parents are the child’s first teacher! Why Does This Matter? (Google Images, 2012)

 A behavior that is self-motivated, freely chosen, process oriented, and enjoyable  Natural activity for children  Provides opportunity to create, invent, discover, and learn about the world  Provides children joy Importance of Play

Examples of Inexpensive Activities  Memory  Matching  Any form of art  Story bags  Reading  Pretend play  Building forts  Ice blocks  Open ended materials  Nature exploration  Listening to music  Stringing beads  Crafts  Sensory exploration

Google Images. (2012). Sensory balloons. Retrieved from msrachelsroom.blogspot.com/2012/04/sensory-ideas-make-it.html Google Images. (2012). Pipe cleaners. Retrieved from bpxpPwwT5zM/TmUm68xH91I/AAAAAAAABCY/-1Ma2bhJZwE/ s1600/1+277.jpg Google Images. (2012). Child bubbles. Retrieved from home/children/ Google Images. (2012). Child reading. Retrieved from parenting4tomorrow.blogspot.com/2011/11/10-reasons-to-read-aloud- to-your.html Google Images. (2012). Children posing. Retrieved from Jackman, H.J. (2012). Early education curriculum: A child’s connection to the world. Wadsworth Cengage Learning: Belmont, CA. References