In preschool, the math skills that students learn are decidedly more basic than the ones they will master later in their schooling. Make your math instruction interactive and engaging by mixing math into your snack time. When passing out crackers to your students, ask them to count the crackers, practicing this skill. Give your students paper plates loaded with several different types of treats and ask them to count the number of each type and write the numbers on the plate. For example, you could give them five gummy bears, three carrots and four pretzels on their plate, along with a marker or crayon with which to write the numbers at which they arrive.
Get your preschool students excited about learning to read by making the task of reading interactive. Add to the interactivity of this task with the use of puppets or costumes. As you prepare to read a book with your students, gather puppets to represent animals or people in the story. After reading, allow your students to join together and act out the story, using the puppets. Or create costumes that could be used to represent people in the tale and allow the students to engage in an act-out session after reading it.
Preschool students are often eager to engage in creative, artistic activities. Mix art into your learning activities to increase student interest in completing them. For example, give students letter stamps and allow them to use these stamps to create letter-heavy works of art. After learning about several different animals, provide students with images of these animals and ask them to create collages featuring them. As you read the students poems, ask them to create pictures to represent this poetry, giving you insight into how the poems made each student feel.
One of the many skills that preschool students need to learn is the ability to communicate clearly through speaking. Offer your students the chance to speak by engaging them regularly in show and tell. At the start of each week, create an opportunity for oral communication by asking students to tell the class what they did that weekend or answer a topical question, such as what they will do for an upcoming holiday.