Take your students on a nature walk around the grounds of your school or through a nearby park. This activity will get children outside, allowing them to enjoy fresh air and stretch while learning about the world around them. While on your walk, point out trees, flowers and other things in nature and have discussions about them. Lay on the ground and observe and talk about the clouds. Discuss the weather and talk about the changes that occur in nature based on the seasons. Provide children with bags to collect nature items that they can use to create a nature collage upon returning to class.
Cooking and preparing food is not only fun activity, it also offers several educational benefits. While engaging in this activity, teach children about fractions and adding, talk about the ingredients that are being used and discuss the changes that occur when different items are mixed together and heated. Children also learn how to follow directions, work together and -- if you have access to a kitchen -- bake cookies, cakes or pies. If you don't have a kitchen available to you, you can prepare things that don't need to be cooked, such as instant pudding or have children combine different ingredients to make an ants-on-a-log snack. After preparing the items, enjoy them at snack time.
Art is a staple activity in prekindergarten, as it provides children with a host of benefits. Through art, children explore their creativity and learn to appreciate the varied opinions of others, as they observe their classmates work. They learn how to follow directions, are able to explore different art mediums, gain problem solving skills and develop their vocabulary. Offer children open-ended art activities by simply presenting them with different art supplies and offering suggestions for things that they can make, or allow them to make anything they wish. You can also offer structured art activities in which children follow a set of directions to create a specific item.
During pre-kindergarten, children should begin to be able to identify the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that specific letters make. Present them with a variety of hands-on activities that promote letter identification and awareness of the sounds letters make. Have children create collages of items that begin with specified letters. For example, have them cut out pictures of items from magazines that begin with the letter A and glue them to sheets of construction paper. Send them on scavenger hunts to search for items that begin with specified letters. Encourage them to sort toys into piles based on their beginning sounds. Point to a letter and ask them to identify it and tell you something that begins with the letter.