Maximizing Holiday Fun: Quick Learning Activities for Preschoolers Amidst the Chaos

The holiday season brings excitement and joy, but it also means a whirlwind of activities, family gatherings, and travel plans. With everything on the schedule this month, it's hard to figure out what learning activities to do. Luckily, the holidays offer unique chances to blend holiday festivities and learning in ways that fit naturally into the chaos.

Use Everyday Moments as Learning Opportunities

The holidays are full of moments that naturally invite learning. Instead of setting aside long blocks of time, look for chances to sneak in quick activities during daily routines.

• Cooking Together : This is one that we've been over a lot. But with a new little twist. It's cookie season. No matter what holidays you celebrate, cookies are always in season this time of year! It can be fun to get creative and talk about different shapes of cookie cutters, and rolling out the dough is great for strengthening little hands. No extras needed here!

• Scavenger Hunts (Literally Anywhere): Grocery shopping, driving in the car, at a restaurant, you name it. Guaranteed your little learner will get bored waiting for something at some point, so use that to your advantage! Hunt for colors, letters, shapes, familiar logos (hey environmental print).

• Decorating and Wrapping: Sorting ornaments by size or color sharpens categorization skills. Counting decorations as you hang them reinforces numbers. Practice cutting skills with scraps of wrapping paper or ribbon. Use what you have, especially when you're busy!

Use Technology Wisely

Screen time can be meaningful on those long trips or when you have a very long to do list and need some time!

• If you want to use screen time, it's better to know what your child is working on. There are tons of learning apps for this age group as well as websites that they can play on. Just make sure any child blocks are on as needed.

• While teaching we loved using websites I could trust like PBS Kids and ABCYA.

• There are also books that they can listen to and interactive online books. Just make sure to do your due diligence before handing over that device :)

• I've used Storyline Online which was great and has appropriate books labeled by age. I'm sure there are more as well. I'll save that list for another post!

Keep Materials Ready and Accessible

Having supplies on hand makes it easier to jump into quick activities.

• Stock up on crayons, paper, glue sticks, and scissors.

• Keep a small box of holiday-themed stickers or stamps.

• Prepare simple puzzles or matching games related to the season.

• You can even buy little kits at your local craft or dollar store to keep kids busy and practicing skills at the same time.

Manage Expectations and Celebrate Small Wins

The holidays are not the time for strict schedules or long lessons. Focus on small, enjoyable activities that fit into your day. Don't stress about fitting learning into every activity. Kids are learning while they're playing, exploring new places, and spending time with family. So PLEASE remember to enjoy this season and let learning happen in less structured ways this month.

3 Ways to Cook with Math this Fall

Somehow Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, we are well into the school year and the holidays are not far now! Which for me as both a parent and educator means busy. School is busy and life is busy during this time of the year, so it got me thinking about how to adjust learning for this season.

Because the truth is, parents don't always have the time to make a seasonal sensory table or set up a cute craft. Sometimes we do and that's great, but sometimes there is just no time. Now that my son is getting older and is officially a toddler, we spend a lot of time trying new activities. But to be honest, his favorite activity is being in the toddler tower at the counter while I cook. He loves to watch the mixer, see what's going in the bowl, check on the pans from afar and remind me that all of the kitchen gadgets are "hot". So, this week's post is inspired by my little buddy and sous chef :)

This time of year is great for practicing math and science skills with little ones. All of the measuring, mixing, cooking, baking teaches them about their world. But how?

1. Sorting: simple wet and dry ingredients is a great start! Practice talking about what's needed for the recipe and have your child sort out what goes in the wet group and what goes in the dry group.

2. Counting: Count number of eggs needed, how many scoops or cups of flour, etc. This helps develop your child's 1:1 correspondence (realizing that one number represents one object).

3. Estimation: It's apple and sweet potato season! Have your child examine foods like these and then feel them to estimate which is heavier or lighter. Or, practice estimating how many apples can fit in a bowl, which container has more candies, etc.

These are easy and fun ways to incorporate STEM skills into your to-do list and to connect with your child. Children at this age love to be involved and adding a little learning in definitely doesn't hurt!

Learning to Read: Concepts of Print (just the tip of the iceberg but it's a start!)

I've been thinking a lot about what parents need in this stage of life and at this time of year. It is SO busy with the start of school just settling down and the holidays about to ramp up. Recently, someone asked for tips on teaching their preschooler how to read. Earlier that day, I had been stuck on ideas. The problem wasn't that I didn't have any- it was actually that I had too many ideas, goals and plans for this site that I didn't even know what to start on when I sat down.

Luckily, this question sparked something in me and I made some time this past weekend to sit and really think about what this person needed. I sat down and planned out my November books, made 3 different fall printable activities, and thought more about what families really need to help their kiddos. So. Let's get started with just the basics.

• Read with your child!! Please please do this early and often. This helps them build pre-reading skills called "concepts of print". AKA the basics that kids need to know in order to begin reading.

• This includes parts of a book: front cover, back cover, reading from left to right and top to bottom, how to turn pages and take care of books, etc.

• It also includes understanding that letters make up words, words are separated by spaces, words make up sentences and sentences start with a capital letter and end with punctuation.

I know. It sounds like a lot....

But the good news is, this comes naturally with exposure and talking to your child about these when they are reading. Another important part of reading is environmental print. This is when your little learner recognizes that they are at Target by the Target logo, Wendy's by the Wendy's logo, etc. It's not just for stores either. Popular TV shows, movies, and toy brands also have recognizable logos that children can "read". Think about signs as well. I bet most little ones can understand that a stop sign says stop pretty early on. It helps to point out that they already know a lot about words and letters before they can read books. (It also builds their little confidence up!).

All of this is a great start for parents and kids as you start your reading journey. From here we can talk about letter sounds, sight words, and word play like rhyming, which all play a huge part in reading readiness as well. Stay tuned for more on these!