Holiday Learning for 3-6 year-olds Week 1

Term is over and I am now enjoying the holidays with my three-year-old son. We made a list of ‘must do’ activities, and then I made another list of learning activities either related to the Early Years Learning Framework or preparing for the Foundation level of the Australian Curriculum.  I wrote the learning activities on coloured paper and put them into a bag so that there is an element of surprise when my little guy pulls one out. 

I have actually been a bit surprised with how keen he is to do these learning activities. On some days he has run straight back to the bag after we finish so that he can choose another! Rather than type out the whole list, I thought I might explain the activities day by day so that I can provide greater detail.

I think these activities would work well for 3-6 year olds – either as preparation or revision. I find the initial activity holds his interest for about 10 minutes and then he takes things off in his own direction - sometimes leading to even further learning. I also find that he refers back to the ideas in the days that follow. Let me know what you think.

Make some sequence photos. Then put them in order.

We took a sequence of photos related to everyday activities and experiences in the little guy’s life: getting dressed, washing clothes, ripening strawberries, going for a bike ride, sliding down a slide. Later in the day when we were shopping, we got the photos printed. Back at home, we scattered the photos on the table. My little guy chose a ‘story’ and collected the pictures he needed. He put them into the correct sequence and then I supported him as he told the story using words like: firstly, then, after that, next, finally.

Make your name using playdough

One of my good friends gave us the Cookie Monster's Letter Lunch Play doh set, which my little guy enjoys without realizing that he is even learning! He loves to feed the Cookie Monster, but with this learning activity card, he was prompted to make his name first! We talked about the letters he needed and found the moulds. We repeated the activity in a second colour before he lost interest and moved on to feeding Cookie Monster.

Play a Reading Eggs game on the iPad

We have Eggy Alphabet and Tap the Cat on my iDevices. Eggy Alphabet is great for learning letter formation and we use a stylus so my little guy can also work on pencil grip. Tap the Cat focuses on a range of skills including word recognition and vocabulary (which are the two we have worked on so far!) Both have reward systems that give my little guy a sense of achievement.

Learn a new poem

My little guy wasn’t so excited about pulling this one out. He was very hesitant to repeat back the poem I said to him. After working on it for a while with very little joy, I realized that this is an area to keep working at and come back to. A little later he quite happily recited the poem to me. Sometimes you just can’t win!

Make a photo book to show how you have changed

I must admit, I was a little less excited when this one was pulled out. On the bright side, Snapfish had a special deal running for Christmas, so it wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting. My little guy helped me to find some photos to add to our book and suggested a few captions, but as a 3 year old, he didn’t have as much to contribute as I’m sure an older child would.

Play the taste test game

A favorite from my childhood, this was a winner! My little guy went into the other room while I loaded up teaspoons with all sorts of flavours. I blindfolded him and gave him the tastes one by one. I asked him to describe what he was eating – gooey, runny, sweet, salty, crunchy etc. While he didn’t guess all of them correctly, he definitely had fun doing it!

Go for a walk. Take photos of all the signs you see. What do they say?

We didn’t walk too far for this one, as we only had a short amount of time. We still found quite a few signs and the next time we went for a drive, the little guy had more of an interest in the signs around us.

Choose an experiment from the Big Book

The Big Book aka “730 Easy Science Experiments with everyday materials”  is one that I picked up from the social book club at school. My little guy chose an experiment to see the strength of different structures made from paper. After we completed the experiment, my little guy used the structures for a craft project.

Put some music on and make up a dance

This is an activity we don’t do a lot of in our house, so that’s why it was included. My little guy pulled it out during lunchtime, so I cheated a little and just put on some kids songs that have dances connected to them. Between bites, he ran around in circles doing some of the actions!

Do some pages in your numbers book

I purchased a simple numbers workbook set for numbers 1-20. It comes with stickers and paper ‘ribbons’ as incentives for completing the work. I thought that something like this would transfer learning we have been doing from the iPad to pencil and paper tasks. It was very convenient too, that my little guy pulled this one out while I was bagging a quarter of a cow for freezing, so he could do it in the kitchen next to me with minimal help!

 

Take photos of shapes using the iPad. Outline the shape.

We walked around the house looking for shapes my little guy recognized and took photos of them. We then traced around the outline with a drawing app.

Follow our journey on Google Maps as we drive somewhere

I used Google Maps on my iPhone to direct me to the pool. My little guy asked if the blue line was us, so I explained that that was the path we were travelling and that the blue arrow was us. I handed him the phone for the remainder of the trip and he kept telling me what was coming up ahead. I was quite surprised when he informed me that we were about to go on a bridge over some water. I asked how he knew it was water, and he told me it was because there was blue on the map!

Follow the instructions to build a Lego set

We worked on a Lego set together and my little guy has been getting much better at looking at the pictures to create the cars and buildings in the book. He has been using Duplo for quite some time and has just recently made the shift to the smaller Lego pieces. There are lots of  skills involved in following the instructions, so I offered help with finding the pieces and gave minimal direction on where to place them, encouraging my little guy to look at the picture.

Tech Tips Tuesday

iPad for Preschoolers #5 Bookshelf

Today I thought I would share some book apps that are available and beneficial. I must admit that these apps have not had much use on my iPad, as I'm still quite committed to the old-fashioned, ink-on-pages variety. While I agree that it is nice to have a book with moving pictures and flashing words, my son also prefers to cuddle up on the couch and read one of his favourite, slightly torn and buckled books. While he will sit still for multiple readings of one such book, I struggle to keep him from pinching the page of the electronic version! And so, I think to myself, "Why am I fighting this?" and put the iPad away for another time, draw him up onto my lap and read with my own voice and expression - maybe this is what it is really about after all!

That said, there are some great book apps, that provide for interaction with the text and images.

Sesame Street Books - I love some of these, particularly The Monster at the End of this Book which was a favourite of both my husband and I when we were growing up. The original version of this book draws the reader in and Grover asks (or begs) the reader not to turn the pages as they draw us closer to the monster at the end of the book. The electronic version does not disappoint, and equally enjoyable is Another Monster at the End of this Book.

Dr Seuss Books - I was amazed to see how many Dr Seuss Books have now been made electronic and are available through the app store. I remember learning to read with Dr Seuss and his zany, rhyming tales. As in the original version, these texts are fairly lengthy - too lengthy for my two-year old at this stage. The apps allow you to read the story, hear it read, and touch words to hear them again. I bought a selection of these stories when they were on sale recently.

Graeme Base - The work of Graeme Base is a sight to behold. His detailed illustrations attract and captivate the attention of both children and adults. The text is also amazing, reminding us of how beautiful the English language can when words are carefully selected. Through his work we can teach children about using adjectives, adverbs and interesting verbs to paint with words. In Animalia, Base makes good use of alliteration to explore each letter of the alphabet. The Waterhole is a counting book with so much more. Base illustrates different regions of the world and the issue of biodiversity and shared resources. The apps encourage the reader to take a closer look at the details within the illustrations and to find the hidden items.

Bedtime Stories - Here are two apps I have found that work well at bedtime. Goodnight Safari is a read-along story that invites children to interact with the safari animals. It also includes some learning activities beneficial to preschoolers. Nighty Night has been a favourite of ours for bedtime. Children turn out the lights in the farmhouse and put all the animals to bed before going off to bed themselves. It is in the 'book' category on iTunes, but doesn't include written text, and children choose the order in which they interact with the farm animals.

If you'd like to read more on selecting appropriate book apps, you should read this article: Let the Reader Beware:| Evaluating Digital Books.

Other posts that might interest you:
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #1 Mathematics Concepts
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #2 Alphabet Apps
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #3 Let's Pretend
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #4 Creative Play

Tech Tips Tuesday

iPad for Preschoolers #4 Creative Play

Kids love to create - be it a ball of dough, a pile of construction blocks, a box of textas, a handful of craft materials or a musical instrument. Today I will share some iPad apps I've found useful to support your preschooler with exploring his/her creativity.


Construction
Lego App4+ With this app children collect Lego bricks, construct a vehicle, and drive the vehicle through an obstacle course. On completion of the route they are awarded a Lego puzzle to complete, which is then displayed in the scene they drive through. My little guy has completed this game but continues to play it as he enjoys creating and driving the vehicles. He particularly loves using the siren piece and the helicopter piece! Lego also has a story based Lego Duplo Zoo app which he enjoys playing, and this also has some elements of selection and construction.

Zoo Train Through this app, children play a variety of games. One of these games involves selecting track pieces in order to complete a train track for a mini train to travel on. Another requires children to select the passenger cars for a train and then choose a scene to see it pass through. There is also a musical game, a puzzle game and a word game. Given that it's a train game, it's proven quite popular with my little guy.

Toca Robot Lab This is a fairly simple game that draws on children's creativity. They select the parts to construct a robot and then try to collect stars as they move it through the factory.


Visual arts
Faces iMake This fun app allows you to create a picture using images of everyday objects. I have only recently purchased it, but had some fun designing some faces of my own before my little guy got into it. At the moment the premium version for iPhone has greater functionality than the iPad version (in my opinion) - so hopefully this will be sorted out through updates.

Play School Art Maker Based on the characters from the popular Australian television program Play School. Children can create a scene using a variety of craft materials and add animation by moving items around their scenery. There are also puzzles to be completed. My little guy is just getting started with this app, but loves completing the puzzles. He tries to create videos, but doesn't really understand that he needs to "move the toys and make some noise". I see it as a useful app that will grow with him.


Music

Mozart Interactive This is one of my favourite music apps for kids. Children interact with Mozart's Rondo alla Turca by selecting which musical instruments will be included at key decision points. It's fun and it introduces kids to classical music and the instruments. Also produced by Melody Street LLC is My Musical Friends HD which introduces children to the different instruments of the orchestra.

Little Fox Music Box What a great way to experience three well-known children's songs! I think I 'purchased' this app when it was free, and I have been very happy with it. The song plays, the words scroll, and children interact with the illustrations. I particularly like the use of the seasons for Old McDonald had a Farm and think this is a great talking point with a toddler. Creativity comes into play in the Fox's Music Studio, where children can touch objects to hear their sounds and thus create their own songs.

Toca Band Another favourite of mine, this app is addictive and the songs you create get stuck in your head! In the usual Toca Boca style, you take on the role of conductor and create a band using a collection of characters with their unique sounds. Move the character up the levels to change their tempo and pitch. When this came on sale, we got it on all the iPads at school - and recommended it highly to the teachers! Too much fun!

Songs For Kids As my toddler has only just started singing along to songs, we haven't fully explored this app yet. It features 14 children's songs which children can sing along with and record their singing. The pictures are cute and interactive.

Tap A Tune This is another app new to me, but featured in the 'top' lists. I am yet to introduce this to my little guy. Using this app, children can follow cues to play children's songs and create their own songs.


Of course, this is just a taste of the many creative apps available for iPad. These are the ones that I have discovered to date, and which my two-year-old is using. Please feel free to leave a comment to share your favourites.

Other posts that might interest you:
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #1 Mathematics Concepts
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #2 Alphabet Apps
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #3 Let's Pretend

Tech Tips Tuesday

iPad for Preschoolers #3 Let's Pretend

Some of my little guy's favourite apps are those that allow him to play pretend. He enjoys exploring different roles both in the 'real world' and using technology. We don't set a strict time-frame for screen time (TV, iPad etc) however, we make a point of finding time for other forms of play. The iPad forms only one small aspect of his total play time. In most cases, he would prefer to take down one of his toy boxes and play pretend with actual objects. The iPad version proves most useful when he needs some down-time, or when we are travelling. That said, there are some great apps available which spark the imagination and provide opportunities for children to play pretend and learn while doing so.

Little Charley Bear
This is a simple app and free (at time of writing). It is based on the television program Little Charley Bear which is about a little bear with a big imagination. It contains video segments from the television episodes, with a puzzle challenge mid-way through the shortened episode. I can identify with the narrator in his interactions with Little Charley Bear, and I'm sure my little guy shares the frustrations of Little Charley Bear as the narrator tries to determine the things he is pretending to be/do! My biggest struggle with this app is that it is really just another form of 'watching TV' and while my little guy loves following Little Charley Bear's adventures, it is hard to justify - except as down-time!

Toca Boca Apps
We first discovered Toca Boca through Toca Kitchen Monsters (the lite version of Toca Kitchen) because my little guy loves cooking - both pretend and real. The beauty of these Toca apps is that the children get to cook for someone and see their responses to how it tastes. They select an item from the fridge, prepare it and then serve it. Other apps, such as Baby Chef by MyFirstApp.com, allow children to decorate a meal and photograph it, but it isn't served or eaten. Order Up!! To Go by Chillingo Ltd takes it further than the Toca apps, but is designed for an older audience - thus my little guy needs me to help him with it.
We then tried out Toca Doctor, which allows children to pretend to be a doctor and solve problems to 'fix' the sick person. This involves giving injections, pulling out splinters, cleaning and dressing cuts, removing lice and more!
Toca Store is another of our favourites as we seem to go shopping in the real world on quite a regular basis. This is a great game for two (if you can convince your preschooler to share with you) with one taking on the role of shopper and the other shop keeper. I find it a useful tool for talking about money, numbers and counting as well. My gripe with this app is that if you run out of money, the magic purse winks and gives you more. While I'm sure we would all love a purse like this, it's unfortunately not a reality!
I bought Toca Train as a treat for my little guy, because he SO loves playing with trains. It was a winner! He loves controlling the train, stopping for passengers and reloading the cargo - just as he does when he plays with his wooden train set or Thomas set or Daddy's LEGO trains... (need I go on!)
We got Toca Hair Salon in response to my little guy's reaction to haircuts. We thought that playing with other people's hair might prevent his concerns about having others cut his. We're not quite there yet, but he does enjoy playing with this app and seeing the reactions of his customers when he cuts off all their hair, or sprays it bright colours!
One last app from Toca Boca that is a winner is Helicopter Taxi for iPhone only. It doesn't really qualify for this post, but is worth a mention all the same.

I realise that this post may read as an advertisement for Toca Boca, but this is not the case. They just produce quality products that Preschoolers enjoy. I'd love to see a Toca Builder in the future and maybe a Toca Emergency (eg. Ambulance, Police, Fire Officer).

Have you discovered any similar apps, which provide opportunities for children to role play?

Other posts that might interest you:
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #1 Mathematics Concepts
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #2 Alphabet Apps 

Tech Tips Tuesday

iPad for Preschoolers #2 Alphabet apps

I was a little nervous about putting my iPad into the sticky hands of a two year old, particularly one who seems to hack into things with natural ability! I bought a Fisher Price cover which has proven goop resistant so far and the hard plastic case seems to have done the trick in protection from everyday kid use. While not cheap, it has made me a lot more relaxed and so has been worth the investment. There are far too many things for mothers to stress over when living with a two year old!

I also adjusted the restrictions settings to prevent in app purchases and to request a password every time for new purchases. I have put all my apps (email etc) into folders for Mummy on the last page of apps. There is enough of interest to my little one that he doesn't bother with mine.

So today I thought I would share some of the Alphabet apps that are available and which I have found useful and worthwhile. It is worth noting here, however, that my little one has been more interested in numbers than the alphabet so far, so I am yet to see how his enthusiasm for these will develop.

Elmo Loves ABCs
This app is very large with great content for each letter of the alphabet and thus takes up quite a bit of space on the iPad. Activities are provided to support children with letter id, letter sounds and letter tracing. Children are rewarded with more content. My little guy loves the videos with the ABC songs that are included in this app. Parents can also track their child's progress.

Bugsy Pre-K
This app covers numbers, colours, shapes and the alphabet. The nice thing with this one is that it includes both the text and the audio for the questions, so my little one has some clues to help him answer the questions! He loves the Bugsy games and I am able to see his progress in this and other Peapod lab apps with an account. If you are interested further, you could check out the other ABC apps Peapod lab produces as they are similar to topic dictionaries and may enhance vocabulary and letter id.

Alien Buddies
This is another general preschool app that builds learning around colours, shapes, letters and numbers. The cute alien characters add to the appeal of this app, and the matching game is attractive to littlies. I got it for free when it came on sale recently, and my little guy was enjoying it today. There is an info page for parents, but no customizable features or progress reports.

AlphaTots
This app includes an interactive activity for each letter of the alphabet. My little guy enjoys this app, and has his favourite activities. It is a good introduction to the alphabet and sure beats the alphabet frieze or basic ABC book of yesteryear!

Goodnight ABC
This is one of my little guy's favourites. He frequently comes back to it and enjoys the music on the panda page in particular. It is VERY interactive and each page has loads of learning opportunities for children. To extend further, they can change to vocabulary mode and the label for each picture comes up so that they can hear and see the name of the item. My only gripe with this app is that, unlike Animalia, the pages include items beginning with different letters of the alphabet.

Animalia
This beautiful book is the work of Graeme Base, made interactive for iPad. Each page contains objects beginning with the relevant letter of the alphabet. Children search each page for the hidden items and can discuss the many other items starting with that letter/sound. My little one hasn't explored this yet, but I feel it will be more relevant to him as he gains a greater understanding of the alphabet - particularly for extending his vocabulary. I have only purchased the iPhone version so far and upsized it to fit the iPad, as I am waiting for the iPad HD version to come on sale.

rEd Writing
We only purchased this app in the last week, but so far it has been a big hit with my little one. We have the iPhone version, upsized on the iPad, but he has mainly played it on my phone. This is an Australian app, complete with accent and appropriate fonts for Australian schools. Children are rewarded stickers for tracing letters and numbers correctly. The monsters make it very cute! I was amazed by how interested my little guy was in this one given his usual disinterest in the alphabet.

Little Writer
This is another cute app for writing letters, numbers, shapes and words. I'm not sure of the font for this words, but if that's not a concern for you, than it's definitely worth looking into (and free at time of writing). I like the way that it shows the order of the pencil strokes and that it includes some words. I haven't looked into it much yet, but there are customizable options as well. My gripe: it is not very forgiving when you go off the pathway - which is good when you are trying to promote neat letter formation, but not great for very little ones just starting out.

Other posts that might interest you:
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #1 Mathematics Concepts

Tech Tips Tuesday

iPad for Preschoolers #1 Mathematics Concepts

We went on a trip to the USA this year. It was the first time we had really done the west coast and we had a great time. We flew into San Francisco and then drove up the coast seeing Napa/Sonoma, the Redwoods, Portland and Seattle. Needless to say, the trip involved a lot of travel - both in the plane and on the road.

In preparation for this journey, we bought an iPad and loaded it up with games for our almost two year old. There were many times that we were VERY grateful for having done so. Had it not been for this trip, I doubt I would have seen the value in buying and 'sharing' an iPad with a toddler. He would have missed out on a huge range of learning experiences that are available and easily accessible. We continue to use the iPad when going on a long drive, and also at home. I use AppShopper to watch the price drops of apps and to watch items on my wish list. this way I don't have to pay the full price unless I want an app immediately. While I still look for quality free apps, I've learnt the value in paying for good apps. I am not a fan of in-app advertisements or lite versions when it comes to apps for kids. I would rather pay for the whole service up-front than have to buy additions to make it enjoyable.

So, over the next few weeks I thought I would share some of our favorite apps. This week we start with apps to build early Maths concepts including number and shape.

Bugs and Bubbles
I love the beautiful graphics in this game. It is great for building vocabulary (more/less, size, colour, etc) for practicing counting and number recognition, and for identifying simple patterns. It's not free, but I waited until it came on sale, and will do the same for the partner app - Bugs and Buttons.

Bugsy K Math
My little guy keeps coming back to this one. I'm not sure what the appeal is for him, but he seems to like the hamster! This app has counting, adding and number tracing as well as subitising ( seeing a number of items as they flash by - like knowing the amount shown on dice.) If I got my act together I could set up an account and track his progress with this and other Peabody apps, but at this stage, he seems to be taking delight in showing me how wrong he can be! That or he likes the way the hamster says huh-uh when he gets the answer wrong!

Team Umizoomi Math
This one appealed to us because we had previously watched the television program. We haven't got past the first two levels yet, which consist of touching objects to 'count' them and matching numerals 1-6. This one is more costly as it is part of the Nickelodeon family, but it has more appeal as such. I like that this is one that will grow with us over the years.

Tally Tots
This app has not been the huge success I'd hoped for yet, but I'm still waiting to see if it becomes more enjoyable for the little guy. I like that it works with numbers 1-20 and that it has an activity for each number.

I'm sure there are many that I have missed. Please let me know the great ones you have found.

Update 17/12/2012
After not playing with it for a while, my little guy returned to Counting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar yesterday. It held his interest and he busied himself following the instructions on level 5. While not his favourite, it was great to see him trying it out and being successful.

We also came across Hickory Dickory Dock which both my husband and I struggled to figure out, but sure enough my son was on top of within 10 minutes! This is a clock game that also reinforces number recognition and familiarity with an analogue clock face. Just be warned, the first time you play, you are hit with an ad straight away - ugh! I hate the ads!

Other posts that might interest you:
Tech Tips Tuesday - iPad for Preschoolers #2 Alphabet Apps