Play-based, Hands On Learning…and Sometimes Feet On!

Ok, so we’re play-based, hands on. What does that mean?  They play all day?  The answer is… yes and no.  My challenge as an Early Childhood educator (aka preschool teacher!) is to come up with strategies that involve whole body movement, sensory experiences, creative thinking and fun… that teach specific skills that will prepare a child for academics and life in general.

What many educators (or people deciding what children should learn) are forgetting lately is that children’s brains are still growing and forming in the preschool years.

How is the brain stimulated?  Through sensory experiences and MOVEMENT!  Different body movements affect different parts of the brain.  They DEVELOP different parts of the brain.  Learning through play readies the brain to absorb MORE!

I often say we don’t have worksheets at RHCNS.  Occasionally, you’ll see one.  Here’s an example of hands on (ahem, FEET on learning!)

We read The Foot Book  by Dr Seuss.  Children were invited to be barefoot.  Different textures were available.

 

Can you pick up a scarf with your toes?  Which textures are rough? Scratchy? Soft? Smooth?  The vocabulary in addition to the sensory experience stimulates the brain.

When introducing concepts to preschoolers, it’s most effective to start with concrete items (real things), then move to representational (pictures they can handle and move) then symbolic (written letters, numerals, shapes, etc.)

We work with numerals and counting on a daily basis.  On this day, the children were to count their toes and fingers and record the results on a tens frame.

 

Do you see how much more relevant this is to a child, counting his toes (concrete) and recording the results (symbolic) than  a typical worksheet?

Then came the fun:

 

The beauty of our “small group days” is that we CAN do messy projects like this with only eight children in the room! It allows for more individual attention.

Some children made simple foot prints, others danced on the paper.

We made what I like to call “memories.”  Anything with a child’s hand or foot print that will prompt discussions. Their hands and feet will never be this small again!  (These are my “gifts” to parents!)  I like to imagine that someday, a parent will pull this out of a box and say, “Do you remember when you were four and learned about bald eagles in preschool?  Look how little you were!”

 

Many thanks to http://www.readingconfetti.com/2013/06/bald-eagle-handprint-and-footprint-craft.html for the bald eagle idea!

So on this particular day, the children played. They played with vocabulary, their senses, math skills, handwriting skills, creativity, and reinforced their scientific study. (Making the foot/hand print eagles prompted many discussions about the color of a bald eagle’s eyes, feet, beak, the nest, eating habits, etc.)  They laughed. The giggled. They learned. More importantly, those brains got a chance to grow and get ready to retain more information at another time!