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: Moderate
When: Bedtime, Outdoors, Playtime, Getting Ready for the Day
Time recommendation: 10 minutes
Participants: One-on-one, Siblings
Learning Domain: Physical Development
Learning Standards: Engages in physical fitness activity, Combines movement for gross motor skill development
Materials:
Jump ropes, teddy bears, large open space, lyrics to the rhyme, large piece of paper, marker
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, show your shoe.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, that will do.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, go upstairs.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, look over there.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the light.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, say goodnight.
Write the words to the rhyme on a large piece of paper. Read through the words with your child as you point to each one. Ask your child to tell you the rhyming words as you read. Underline the rhyming words with a different color marker. Explain to your child that some people say rhymes as they jump rope. The rhythm of the rhyme helps them to know how to coordinate their movements to successfully jump over the rope. “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear” can be used as a jump rope rhyme.
Take your child outdoors or to a large open space. Ask your child to demonstrate how to use a jump rope. If he or she is not able, you may need to demonstrate how to jump rope. If your child is unable to perform the task, tell him or her to lay the jump rope on the ground in a straight line. Encourage your child to jump over the rope instead.
Recite the rhyme as your child jumps rope. Invite him or her to perform each task that is mentioned in the rhyme. For example, he or she will jump over the rope and then turn around in a circle. Then he or she will jump over the rope and touch the ground.
Observe if your child moves with balance and coordination. Is your child able to identify the rhyming words?
Level of instruction: Easy
When: Getting ready for the day, Outdoor, Bedtime, Playtime
Time recommendation: 15 minutes
Participants: One-on-one
Learning Domain: Physical Development
Learning Standards: Moves with balance, control and coordination
Materials: The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle (or search for an online version of the story)
Read the story, The Tiny Seed. Talk about the steps the seed took to grow into a plant. Invite your child to pretend to grow like a plant. Encourage your child to crouch down low to be a seed. Invite him or her to act out the seed’s story as you describe its transformation into a plant. Pretend to sprinkle rain water on your child and blow air to represent the wind.
What movements does your child choose to do to demonstrate the different parts of the story?
Looking for more activities for you and your four-year-old?Or return to the Life Essentials® At Home page to find activities to explore with other age groups.
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