Preschool learning activities at home: 15 ideas for Singapore parents

Learn more about preschool learning activities at home and get ideas for activities that you can do with your own kids!

Preschool learning activities at home: 15 ideas for Singapore parents

1. Names and faces

The fact that the members of our families are — more often than not — geographically separated makes it strange and scary for little ones to be hugged and smothered in kisses by grandparents they hardly know.

Similarly, it is just as upsetting to grandparents to be ‘rejected’ by their little darlings.

To avoid this, display family photos in your home and put together a small photo album for your child. Fill it with photos of family members and close friends, and say each person’s name as you point to the pictures.

This activity will not only help your child get over his or her anxiety when it comes to facing 'unfamiliar' relatives, but it can also become a springboard for simple learning discussions about families, manners, etc.

2. Play “Who Is This”

Using the photo album described in #1, play a 'Memory Game' with your child. Point to a picture and ask your child to tell you who it is.

This will help your child learn association with family members and improve his or her memorization skills, especially if there are many unfamiliar faces in the album.

3. Sing nursery rhymes

What child doesn't like nursery rhymes, right? Sing them to your preschooler as often as possible (even if you think you are offkey most of the time!)

Encourage your child to sing along with you. Singing helps develop vocal skills, enunciation skills, memorization skills and rhythm skills.

4. Learn the alphabet

Purchase an inexpensive set of alphabet magnets. Using a metal baking sheet, teach your children to recognize the letters of the alphabet.

For starters, you can place a few magnets on the sheet then ask your child to give you a certain letter. You can also teach simple word recognition using these letters.

5. Go on ‘sound hunts’

Walk around the house with your child (your yard and child-friendly public places are great, too). Search for objects that begin with a certain letter sound.

For example: The letter B will send you hunting for things such as beds, bread, bugs, bandages, bricks, birds, etc. During your sound hunt, both you and your child should repeat the ‘B’ sound over and over.

6. Teach your child about colors

Teaching color recognition can be done in the same fashion as sound hunts. Other ways to teach children their colors is to color with them or play with colored building blocks.

Purposefully ask your child to hand you a red block, a pink crayon, a yellow crayon, etc. Allow your child to pick out a blue shirt or green dress to wear.

7. Opposites attract

Teaching opposites is both fun and simple, and provides a venue for interactive and hands-on learning.

For example, ask your child to put his hand in cold and warm water — this teaches the concept of cold/hot.

Similarly, playing with different-sized blocks or balls teaches the concept of big/little. Standing side by side in a mirror teaches tall/short. (You get the idea.)

8. See how they grow

Purchase medium to large sized flower pots, soil and seeds to teach your preschooler about how things grow. Allow him or her to plant the seeds, water them, and tend the seedlings once they've grown.

9. Count throughout the day

Have your little one count out tableware to help set the table. Allow her to count the bottles of nail polish in your makeup drawer while you apply your makeup.

Count the number of pillows on the beds in your house as you tidy each room. Let her ‘help’ fold the laundry, counting towels and washcloths as they are folded, before putting them away.

Take a walk and count the number of houses on your block or the number of trees you see along the way.

Really, counting can be done anytime, anywhere, and is a fantastic way to build up number skills!

10. Read to your child

Reading a variety of books will sharpen your young child's cognitive or thinking and reasoning skills. He will want to know (and even try to guess) what happens on the next page.

As you read, don't forget to point to the pictures and words on each page. You can also make things more 'dramatic' by using different voices for different characters and even little props or puppets!

If you don't get to do much with your preschooler at home, at least read to him or her for a minimum of 20 minutes a day — just doing this will do wonders to expand your child's learning!

11. Learn through music and movement

Expose your child to a variety of music. Encourage him to dance to different tunes (don't forget to dance with him!), sing along to his favorite songs, and play music using homemade or inexpensive children’s instruments.

12. Left or right?

Teaching your child to distinguish left from right is simply a matter of repetition. You can also play games or sing songs like "The Hokey Pokey" to teach which is the left hand, right hand, left foot or right foot, among other things.

13. 1, 2, tie my shoe!

There are numerous poems and songs that can help you teach your child to tie his shoelaces. Select one you like and go for it!

Take note, though, that this may be a skill that your child is not ready to learn yet. Children develop at different paces, so be patient.

14. Self-care at an early age

Hygiene skills should be taught with patience and supervision. Brushing their teeth, washing their hair, cleaning themselves properly after using the toilet — these are all things that come with time and coordination.

Be patient and persistent, and don’t expect your preschooler to do everything well for a while. These things come with time and maturity.

15. Values are important

More than anything else, teaching your preschooler about values should be something you do on a daily basis.

Respect, obedience, being responsible, and knowing what's right from wrong — these are just some of the values you need to teach your child.

Remember, he or she will learn best by seeing your example, so be and do as you would want your child to be and do!

Teaching and preparing your preschooler for their early school years can be a joy, and become a time for building strong bonds between you and your child. It can help create memories of a childhood filled with love, acceptance and adventures in learning.

So make the most of this special time, because take it from someone who knows… children really do grow up way too quickly!

Written by

Darla Noble

kidsparentingparentsactivitiesfunparentpreschooler activitiespreschool activitieslearning activitiesfun at homewith kidsplay at home