DESTRESSING KIDS WHEN THEY GET HOME

DESTRESSING

Your Kids When They Get Home

We tend to think of stress as only an adult affliction. However, preschoolers can suffer from it, too. This is especially true when their normal routines get uprooted. As any preschool teacher will tell you, little kiddos love keeping a regular schedule, comforted by knowing what will happen next.

Here are some activities that will help parents create a comfortable routine for their preschoolers at home, making them calmer and more content during the coronavirus pandemic.

Playdough

When I taught preschool, playdough was a staple in my classroom just like crayons, paints, paper, glue, and scissors. I made it available for children to use every day for two significant reasons: 1) it’s safe and familiar, helping them relax and feel in control and 2) it builds strong hands and enhances dexterity, so they’ll be able to hold a pencil correctly and comfortably when they get in kindergarten. 1 cup table salt 2 teaspoons Canola Oil 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 2 tablespoons cornstarch add food coloring

They can toss in glitter flakes and sequins to make it sparkle. They can add different spices to make it smell good. They can blend two food colorings to create new shades. They can collect materials found around the house so they can make imprints, designs, and patterns: cookie cutters, bottle caps, straws, dried pasta, pebbles, feathers, pinecones, and toy cars.

During the coronavirus pandemic, playdough can bring serenity to the lives of preschoolers. When stored in an airtight container, it will last for weeks and provide hours of enjoyment. I strongly recommend making it a part of a youngster’s daily routine during this stressful time.

Paper Bag Puppets

During difficult periods like this, preschoolers engage in pretend play to make sense of their world. Helping them create paper bag puppets and setting up a makeshift theater will give them an outlet to express their anxieties through imagination. Paper bag puppets are quick and easy to make. Kiddos, though, will need some adult help. Necessary supplies are paper lunch bags, glue, scissors, construction paper, and crayons. Let preschoolers get creative and make whatever characters they desire for their puppet show: a pig, a dog, a cat, a princess, a monster, or a superhero.

Shaving Cream

Preschoolers learn best through hands-on sensory activities. When they explore the world through their five senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight), they feel in charge, engaged, and content. While many sensory activities are messy—painting, mud and sand, splashing in the water—playing with shaving cream gets a child cleaner.

Generously spray shaving cream on a flat surface—a table, cookie sheet, tray, the bottom of a bathtub, a window, or glass door. Mix in a few drops of food coloring if you wish. Then let children use their fingers, straws and paintbrushes to write or draw. Let them drive their Hot Wheels through the foam. Give them dinosaurs or animals for pretend play in the “snow.”

Blocks

Blocks are a fun, developmentally appropriate tool to enhance math skills in little ones. Kiddos discover so much about measuring, comparing, balancing, and counting while playing. Parents can further enhance play by asking questions: • How many blocks did you use to make that tower?

• How many circle blocks did you use for that castle? How many square ones? How many rectangular ones? • Which block is wider? Which is longer? • How could you make that house’s foundation stronger so it can withstand an earthquake?

Collage

Making collages is an example of open-ended art (also known as process art). Unlike craft projects with their step-bystep directions, open-ended art is a powerful and liberating way for kids to express themselves. Instead of all the projects winding up looking the same, each person’s art is different and uniquely reflective of who they are.

Moreover, with open-ended art, the process of making it takes priority over the finished product. The creative journey is a joyful and soothing experience unto itself. In addition to collage, open-ended art includes drawing, painting, and clay molding.

One of the most common things to collage is paper. Kids either cut or tear pictures and words from magazines then glue them on a piece of construction paper, poster board, or cardboard.

Other items to collage include wrapping paper, greeting cards, and tissue paper. Non-paper items to collage include a wide assortment of items from your home or yard—buttons, leaves, stickers, ribbon, beads, feathers, fabrics, and lace.

Preschoolers are ripe to learn from playing games, and the coronavirus pandemic offers the perfect opportunity for them to do just that. According to the educational researcher, Dolores Dickerson, a game format is 30 times more effective for grasping new concepts than paper-pencil tasks. Yet, some parents may wonder which games are developmentally appropriate and will impart the skills that their kiddos need.

With that in mind, here is a list of terrific games for preschool-aged children along with the concepts that they teach:

• Hi-Ho! Cherry-O—enhances pincer grasp, teaches counting, numeral recognition, adding and subtracting. • Hedbanz Junior—encourages decoding, word recognition, and early literacy. • Don’t Break the Ice—promotes fine motor skills and the pincer grasp. • Pop-Up Pirate!—improves fine motor development, dexterity, and hand-eye coordination. • Don’t Spill the Beans—enhances the pincer grasp, teaches about balance, planning, and placement. • Uncle Wiggily—promotes early literacy, teaches rhyming words and counting.