Early learning activities are so much fun, because they involve play.
There is no need to slug away at workbooks with preschoolers. They have more fun and develop their fine motor skills just by playing. For little boys, nothing beats trucks. Here are two ways to make playing with trucks extra fun and extra educational.
1. Dried Beans Construction Site
Dump trucks are made for dumping. Loaders are designed to load. Offer your child a tray with assorted sizes of dried beans, and tell him to grab his trucks. You are guaranteed at least a half an hour of quiet, engaged play.
Benefits of Playing with Dried Beans
Working with dried beans helps develop the pincer grasp that is so critical for writing.
Engaging in realistic play encourages active use of imagination.
When children put the beans away into separate containers at the end of the activity, they use sorting skills, an early precursor to math.
2. Play Dough Construction Site
Playdoh brand has developed some wonderful toys for construction play. They have a gravel maker, crane truck, steam roller and more. They even have colors like metal, brick, and sand. This is a welcome addition for little boys.
Even if you don’t buy these specific toys, you can use your child’s own trucks. They can make tracks on roads, and load and dump with their trucks.
Benefits of play dough
Again, fine motor skills and the pincer grasp are honed during clay play.
Play dough is essentially a sculpture medium, so children will develop both their creativity and their skill by creating different objects.
Play dough offers opportunities for discovery as children experiment with different tools.
The best part of both of these activities is they add another dimension to playing with a favorite toy. An old toy becomes new and fascinating all over again, while children play their way into learning.
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