Allow them to play with small toys, which they can take apart and reassemble as they like. Teach them basic counting by encouraging them to count spoons and bowls in the kitchen as you do the chores. Read out stories and urge them to suggest the endings. Allow them to get dirty with paints and use their imagination to mix colors. Children like to express their creativity and inner thoughts through paintings. Give them toys and dolls to set up a family and motivate them to imitate adult activities through the toys.
Walk with your child around your neighborhood. Point out parks, shops, schools, bus stops and library. Explain the significance of each spot while exploring them. Such observations open the child’s mind to his immediate neighborhood and inculcate in him a sense of belonging. Stimulate his memory and cognition by repeating the walk after a few days where you will ask him to point out the relevant landmarks and their utility. Encourage him to explore on his own while you keep watch.
The Child Development Guide suggests giving your child toys and equipment like shape sorters, puzzle pieces and different colored cards with pictures of fruit, vegetables and animals. These stimulate his reasoning skills as he has to sort and match the pieces according to shape, size and color and classify the cards into their respective groups. Help increase his concentration by giving him beads and buttons to thread under supervision. Such activities also increase his curiosity about patterns and colors.
Preschoolers love their fantasy world with kings, fairies, heroes and demons. Scholastic has details of an activity with wooden spoons of various sizes and colors. These can be converted easily to puppets to stimulate your child’s intellect. Wash and dry the spoons completely. Involve your child in selecting characters. Together, cut out shapes of faces and clothes from different colored felt. Cut colored wool for hair and mustaches. Glue them on the spoons at appropriate places. Stick colored straws to the sides as arms. Use the puppets to act out fantasy stories with your child.