Make calendar time part of your daily routine. Sing songs to help children learn the days of the week and months of the year. Talk about today's date and have children complete the sentence starters "Yesterday was ... " and "Tomorrow will be ... " Identify the season and discuss the weather for that day. Use the numbers on the calendar to teach counting. Mark special dates such as birthdays and holidays. Children can count how many sleeps there are until the special day arrives.
Create a schedule for children to bring items from home to show their classmates. Encourage the children to bring photos, toys, souvenirs, books or other items that are special to them. Assemble the class in a circle and allow one child to talk about his special item. This is an opportunity for the rest of the class to practice their attentive listening skills and to learn about others. One child at a time has the chance to be in the spotlight and to practice his communication skills. You may wish to have the class ask the child questions about his items when he is done sharing. This encourages turn-taking.
Daily story time can be a valuable literacy experience for preschoolers. Children in this age group are in the emergent stage of literacy where they are learning many concepts about print. Use story time to teach children that books are read from front to back, pages are read left to right, letters combine to make words and there are spaces between words. Use the title and cover of a book to discuss what the story might be about. Pause when you are reading to allow children to make predictions about what will happen next. Ask them about their favorite parts or to retell familiar stories.
Provide preschool children with outdoor time. Introduce them to traditional games like hopscotch, tag and skipping. Plan seasonal activities like taking nature walks, using sidewalk chalk or building snowmen. Let children explore a variety of equipment such as hula-hoops, bouncy balls and scoops. Spend time on playground equipment using swings and slides. Children can also engage in pretend play. On rainy days, plan a picnic lunch inside, go camping indoors or use sand and water tables.