Spring Into Play

springPLAY!into

Author: Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County Staff

Spring is in the air … the short, chilly Florida “winter” is past, and Springtime temperatures are just right for outdoor play and activities. Changes abound in nature as gardens bloom, birds and insects migrate, and many baby animals are born. There are holidays to celebrate and it’s the perfect time to engage children in skillbuilding Spring pursuits!

Not sure what skills your infant, toddler or preschool child should be accomplishing? It only takes a minute or two to check out the milestones for your child - there are several resources for accessing those milestones. One is the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) which provides free milestone charts for children birth through 5 years of age; scan QR code for milestone chart.

Thinking how to provide skill-building activities for children may feel overwhelming to parents. The demands on time and stress of work, pandemic and life’s general responsibilities may make families feel that there just isn’t enough energy or time left for supporting learning activities. No worries – Spring activities don’t have to be elaborate lesson plans that take a large chunk of time. Simple is best, and the most basic and

simple way to help children develop those basic skills is PLAY. Did you know that play and learning are interconnected? Play is a child’s framework for learning. There are many types of play – from the most straightforward - imaginative play - to more structured games with rules and skills. But no matter what type of play a child is engaged in, it benefits their development in many ways.

sunshine includes getting a daily dose of vitamin D, which is essential for absorbing calcium, influencing cell growth and immune function, and maintaining the nervous system function. Through play, children also develop language and literacy skills with a little interaction from family or a friend… children use vocabulary and language to brainstorm, plan, and explain their work as mud play evolves. Children can be encouraged to use sticks or other tools to A good example of this is mud play – it’s the perfect write in the mud or label their work, and there are outdoor Spring activity. Give a child a tub so may great books to read before, during of dirt, some containers of water and after mud play to arouse interest, and a few ‘found’ objects, and the inspire creativity and ideas, and learning opportunities abound. Cognitive skills are developed Just squeezing mud expand the possibilities of mud! Try these children’s books about as the child experiments and through fingers is a wonderful mud: “Mud Puddle” by Robert problem-solves how to create sensory experience, soothing Munsch, “Mud Book - How mud, then uses imagination and relieving anxiety and to Make Pies and Cakes” by and creativity to determine what can be made with the stress, ultimately aiding in John Cage & Lois Long, “Mud Pie Annie” by Sue Buchanan, mud or how to use found self-regulation skills. “Mud” by Mary Lyn Ray, “Mud Is objects such as sticks, leaves, Cake” by Pam Muñoz Ryan seeds, or stones to play with the mud (remember as a child forming Spring holidays and events also provide dishes, animals or other sculptures from the many opportunities to engage in leaning with mud?). Mud play not only fosters science, math and children. Think of the classic job of Spring Cleaning creative skills – it develops emotional skills as well. ... even a toddler can use their classification skills Just squeezing mud through fingers is a wonderful to help sort and put away cold weather clothes sensory experience, soothing and relieving anxiety as the warm weather clothes are brought back to and stress, ultimately aiding in self-regulation skills. closets and drawers. And don’t forget that all those As children manipulate the mud and gather props to “why?” questions from children are opportunities enhance their play, they are strengthening physical to encourage them to use language and develop skills such as walking, balancing, bending, lifting, vocabulary and thinking skills – return their question reaching, picking things up with fingers, squeezing, to them and ask, “why do you think?” etc. In addition, the health benefit of playing in the

First Day of Spring (March 20, 2022) with a celebration of the new season. This can be something as elaborate as a Spring scavenger hunt looking for specific signs of Spring, or as simple as a nature walk where elements in the outdoor environment are noticed, named, or gathered. Gathered items can then be sorted and counted as they are displayed on a tray later in the day. Don’t forget to use language to talk about textures, sizes, colors and other attributes.

Earth Day (April 22, 2022) is not only a great time to start something restorative for our planet, but a great learning opportunity for children to become aware of caring for our world. This is a perfect holiday to begin a conversation and habit of reducing, reusing and recycling. Children can assist in planting or caring for a tree or garden; they can help set up and sort recycling or use trash/discards to create and make marvelous, imaginative artwork. Using cognitive skills such as problem solving, and re-imagining materials make creating and constructing some of the best activities for developing higher level thinking skills.

Mother’s Day (May 8, 2022) and Father’s Day (June 19, 2022) end Spring. These special days offer many opportunities for children to develop skills as they help celebrate – from a simple ‘cooking’ project where they are challenged to use fine motor, math and literacy skills to help with the recipe, to using their creative skills to make a card or gift for the person of honor.

Finally, no matter how you approach learning activities with your child, don’t forget to read. Reading to your child not only develops strong early language and literacy skills, it is also one of the easiest ways to bond with your child and inspire a love of reading. Studies show that reading aloud is a foundation for future learning success. Books are plentiful and free to borrow at your Public Library. What better way to usher in Spring learning than a trip to the neighborhood library and fostering your child’s independence and self-confidence by allowing them to choose the books that they want to hear!

Spring is in the air … take a deep breath and let the learning begin!