Are you looking for fun home-learning activities to do with your four-year-old? Our team of early childhood curriculum experts thoughtfully curated these home-education activities from our proprietary Life Essentials® curriculum to help your family Learn On® when away from the Academy. Whether it’s during mealtime, playtime, clean up time, bath time, or bedtime – our at-home curriculum is built so you can easily integrate school-from-home learning opportunities in seamless, easy, and fun ways.
Level of instruction: Easy
When: Playtime, Quiet time, Outdoors, Mealtime
Time recommendation: 10-15 minutes
Participants: One-on-one, Child-led, Siblings
Learning Domain: Cognitive Development
Learning Standards: Names, draws and constructs two- and three-dimensional shapes
Materials: Toothpicks, small sticks, grapes or marshmallows, rope or string, paper, markers
Show your child the sticks and toothpicks. Challenge him or her to use them to create simple shapes. Add the grapes or marshmallows and invite him or her to create more shapes using the toothpicks as straight sides, and the grapes for the corners or angles. Encourage your child to explore the materials and create shapes with varying numbers of sides. Encourage your child to identify the shapes he or she made.
Ask your child to think of shapes that have curved sides. Show him or her the rope. Invite your child to use the rope to create curved shapes. Challenge him or her to make circles, ovals or figure eights.
Further challenge your child to see what shapes he or she can create using straight and curved sides together. Encourage him or her to draw the new shapes on paper.
Observe if your child is able to identify and create different shapes. Ask open-ended questions as he or she works, such as: Could you make curved shapes with straws? Why does string work better to make curved shapes? What other materials would work to make shapes?
Level of instruction: Moderate
When: Quiet time, Mealtime
Time recommendation: 20 minutes
Participants: One-on-one
Learning Domain: Language and Literacy
Learning Standards:
Produces scribbles or letter-like shapes to convey meaning, Describes the intended meaning of drawings and writings
Materials: Paper, stapler, crayons, colored pencils, pencils
Ask your child to recall what he or she had for breakfast. Discuss the variety of choices that are available for breakfast foods. Be sure to include healthy food options. Explain to your child that often times people keep track of everything that they eat by creating a food diary. Explain that a food diary contains information about everything that has been eaten at each meal and for snacks. Encourage your child to create a food diary. Invite your child to draw pictures of foods he or she has for meals and snack. Encourage him or her to label the pictures by sounding out words and writing the sounds he or she hears.
Does your child attempt to label the pictures? Does he or she write one or two letters, such as M or MK for milk? Children learn to write at different stages. Provide lots of opportunities such as this to encourage your child’s development.
Or return to the Life Essentials® At Home page to find activities to explore with other age groups.