Preschool Kids - "When I Grow Up, I Want To Be"

For preschool kids, one of the biggest open-ended questions they can be asked is "what do you want to be when you grow up?" When asked this question, many preschool kids tend to shoot for the stars. However, this question can be an easy way to introduce a unit on occupations and community helpers, two subjects that can be explored though games, activities, crafts and even guest speakers.

The Helpers in the Community

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It's important to teach preschool kids about the many tasks of community helpers, such as doctors, dentists, nurses, teachers, mail carriers, and police officers. Start by asking the children if they know any adults with these professions to see how much children know about the tasks associated with these various occupations.

When learning about doctors and nurses, try this fun craft called "Fix my Wound". For this craft, trace the outline of the child's arm or leg on a piece of paper. The children are to color or paint their limb including a small wound. Once the paint has dried, distribute band-aids to the children for them to place over the wounds on their crafts. Then, have each child present a story to the class as to how they got hurt and who helped them fix it.

Here's a craft where children make police badges that's perfect for learning about safety and the police. To begin the craft, cut out a number of badges from cardboard, and cover each badge with aluminum foil. Use stickers to decorate the badges, or try etching patterns into the foil with the stubby end of a paintbrush.

There are also a number of fun games for preschool kids to learn about the objects and tasks associated with various community helpers. First, cut out a number of pictures from magazines that are associated with community helpers, such as letters, stethoscopes, toothbrushes, or fire hydrants. Next, place a picture of each community helper on the wall and have the children match the objects to the corresponding person from the community.

"Special Delivery!"

Here's another fun matching game that's perfect for practicing what it might be like to deliver mail. Cut out a large number of different colored shapes, like triangles, circles, stars, and squares. Gather an equal number of mailboxes to the number of shapes, and label each mailbox with a picture of one of the shapes. Give the shapes to the children to place in the corresponding mailboxes. After all the shapes have been delivered, try the exercises again by sorting the deliveries by color instead of by shape.

Finally, here's a matching game that teaches children good nutritional habits, which can be played in conjunction with learning about oral hygiene and dentists. Place two large teeth on the wall. One tooth should be white and sparkling clean while the other is covered with dirt and plaque.

Next, hold up a series of pictures of foods, both good and bad, and have children decide which food goes with which tooth. This last exercise in this preschool kids series can also be performed with real food, as long as there aren't too many examples of bad food!

Preschool Kids - "When I Grow Up, I Want To Be"

Grow Calendar 2011

Preschool Printable Calendars - An Easy Way to Preserve Your Child's Memories

If you have a little guy or gal at home you know how valuable simple tools like preschool printable calendars can be. You can use these convenient and widely available resources to help your preschooler learn about the passage of time, the flow of the seasons, numbers, the alphabet and so much more. A decorated preschool calendar is a very fun and easy teaching device for a parent to incorporate into every day life.

However, with a little creativity, you can use these calendars to do so much more. One excellent idea is to use your preschool calendars to develop a written log of your child's life. By simply being intentional with the usage of your calendars, you can have a long term written and visual record of your child's preschool years.

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Here's how it works.

1. Keep track of the basics.

Every parent loves to remember the milestones in their child's life and rightly so. Growth patterns such as height, weight, etc., doctor's appointments, and that first dental visit all can be documented on the preschool calendar. Why keep track of these things twice - once on your personal calendar and then rewritten in a baby book? Print out a preschool calendar each month, fill it out and decorate it together with your child according to the month or season and keep track of all monthly events concerning your preschooler in one place.

2. Developmental growth.

Hang your preschool calendar in a convenient place where you can use it everyday, first of all to teach your child about the date and days of the week, secondly to jot down developmental notes in real time.

Who are your preschooler's friends at this stage of life? What parties did your child attend (or give)? Make notes on outings, weather, favorite toys, new vocabulary; all of those precious, sweet moments that will tug at your heart forever. This is the official written record of your child's life. Use it everyday and be generous with your notes. These will be your memory joggers in future years. Your words are priceless!

3. Assemble and enjoy.

As the months roll along, keep each of your preschool printable calendars in a scrapbook. Add scrap booking pages for additional material and pictures, if you like. Setting aside just one morning or afternoon a month to assemble pictures and pop them onto pages for your book is all it will take to keep your child's life book current, accurate and satisfying. The key to this whole idea is that you are going to do most of this 'work' anyway, as a course of daily life, so simply do it in such a way as to preserve it easily.

Believe me, your preschooler will be delighted as she watches 'her' book grow and grow. This will also help her understand difficult concepts such as time passage and help her put her seasonal experiences into a context she can muse over again and again.

This method is an easy and fun way to record all the details in your young child's life with very little hassle. You can do a search on the web for preschool printable calendars or see my resource box below for free ones. Get started today preserving your preschooler's daily fun!

Preschool Printable Calendars - An Easy Way to Preserve Your Child's Memories

Grow Calendar 2011