Raining Outside? Try These 7 Fun Indoor Activities with Your Preschoolers

Rainy days can be long and tedious if you have preschoolers at home. Children that age have a lot of energy, and it’s healthy for them to be active, both physically and mentally. Sitting in front of the TV or playing on a tablet isn’t fit for preschoolers. Try these seven fun indoor activities with your preschoolers.

1. Coloring or Art Projects

Coloring is a way for children to express their creativity and imagination. Children can color with crayons, colored pencils, markers, or paint. You can let children color on a simple blank piece of paper to stimulate self-expression or have them color in a coloring book. Coloring has many advantages, such as developing hand strength, fine motor skills, and learning to focus. Crafts are also fun for children. Many of these are available on Pinterest or other websites.

2.     Children’s Yoga

Yoga can provide many benefits for young children. It can help their strength, coordination, and flexibility. It can also give them a sense of calmness and relaxation. There’s a great website with information on children’s yoga.

3.     Board Games

Many board games are fun and educational for children, such as the classic Chutes and Ladders or Candyland. Games can help children learn their colors and learn to count. They also help children learn patience and how to take turns, which are invaluable life skills. Check out your local toy store, department store, or even look for second-hand games from friends or neighbors.

4.     Physical Games

Many physical games give preschoolers exercise and also teach them life skills. Games such as Duck, Duck, Goose, or Musical Chairs get children up and running around. Games such as Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light help children learn to listen and follow instructions. Hide and Seek, doing a scavenger hunt or an obstacle course, are also fun. There is an informative blog about children’s games and life skills.

5.     Fantasy or Creative Play

It’s healthy for children to fantasy play. Set the stage by encouraging them to dress up as one of their favorite princesses or superheroes and re-enact a scene they saw in a movie or heard in a book. Or perhaps they want to play restaurant or with dolls.

6.     Read a Few Books

Reading to and with your preschoolers is one of the most important things you can do for them. Always have books in your home, whether they’re books you own or books you get from the library. The National Education Association has tips for reading to preschoolers.

7.     Play Dough, Clay or Other Molding Materials

Playing with play dough, clay, or other molding material is not only fun for children, but it enhances fine motor schools, develops hand and eye coordination, and can have a calming effect on children.

Enjoy your rainy days with these fun activities for children. The days will go by much faster, and your children will learn and get exercise too.

5 Things to Ask When Shopping for a Daycare for Your Kids

Finding a daycare to enroll your child or children into can be a task in and of itself. Allowing someone else to care for your child and be the role model/teacher they learn from while not in your care is often overwhelming. Going in armed with questions can often make it easier, though, to allow parents to know upfront what can be expected of both them and the daycare providers, as well as the children involved. Many children spend a lot of time, learning and growing in a daycare setting, so starting on the right foot is a crucial step to take. Meeting with the daycare’s leader/director ahead of time, to tour the facility and possibly meet staff can help to alleviate any concerns and allow questions answered before any final decisions are put into stone. 

Aside from the obvious question that many starts off with – how much will the daycare charge, whether it be per hour, per day, or even per week? Does this differ if more than one child per family is enrolled?

Licensing & Training

If it’s important to you that the daycare is licensed, this would be a good first question. Is the daycare licensed? What certifications have they undergone? What education/certifications do specific teachers within the daycare have? What training does the daycare provide for its employees?

Staff/Children Ratios

If more than one daycare teacher will be present, what is the teacher to student ratio? If it’s a larger sized daycare, finding out the number of children present on any given day could be significant. As well as the age range of children that will be together. 

Scheduling

Finding out what a typical daycare day looks like is essential to many parents. Will there be any schedule followed? What is that schedule? Are meals provided within this schedule? If there are no catered meals, are there any rules about what can or cannot be brought for the child(ren)? 

Philosophies

What are the theories followed when it comes to caring for the children? How are behaviors, both good and bad, handled? What is the discipline process? For example, if your child bites, hits, or bullies another child, how will staff handle this? If temper tantrums are thrown?

Policies

Also, Austin daycare Casner Academy (www.casnerchristian.org) suggests that parents ask what policies are required and followed. Are you charged if you “call off” due to illness and keep your child home? What sort of security measures are followed to make sure all children and staff are kept safe? Will staff administer medication if this is something that your child needs, whether it be an everyday thing or just as needed? Do they practice open-door policies, in which parents can stop in anytime to visit or see how things are going?

These are just a few crucial questions that come in handy when finding a daycare that fits with what you may be looking for. All of these can help ease the minds of parents as they consider weighing options for finding the perfect fit.

Six Fantastic Learning Games for Early Elementary School Children

Learning games for elementary students can increase their understanding and retention of material, and it can also help them to engage with lessons and have fun while they learn. Hopscotch The classic game of hopscotch is a very adaptable game that you can use to teach children material in many subjects. If you have very […]