Athlete/Actor/Surgeon Activities & Resources: Ages 3-5

Feb 01, 2013

Ages

3-5

Athlete/Actor/Surgeon

Your mover and shaker may seem to struggle when asked to sit, listen, and attend to auditory directions. The good news is that most preschools and kindergartens still integrate movement as a central component of learning.  As your child progresses in school, however, traditional education typically requires stationary bodies and forward facing eyes.  If this is true at your child’s school, you may wish to set up a meeting to talk to the teacher about your child’s Learning Profile, or simply provide increased movement-oriented access to learning at home.

  • Alphabet Surgeon:  Make some semi-soft/semi-solid Jello(R).  Mix in magnetic or foam letters, about the size that a pair of kitchen tongs could grab.  Dress your child in scrubs and a surgeon’s mask (if you have them) and invite your child to “perform surgery” and remove the embedded alphabet, one letter at a time.  Have her use the tongs to wiggle the letter free, then swish it clean in a bowl of warm water.  If your child is reading, put in phonetic words and then invite your child to put the letters together to make words.
  • Alphabet treasure:  Bury foam or magnetic letters (or phonetic words if your child is reading) in a sand bin or sand box.  You can also get pairs of upper and lower case letters for matching if you prefer.  Invite your child to use a shovel, or their hands, to dig for treasure!
  • Read with action!: Especially at this age, allowing children an active role in reading will engage all children, but especially Athlete/Actor/Surgeon children.  Some fun books to act out: Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendek, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda D. Williams and Megan Lloyd, etc.
  • Fine Motor Skills:  While many Athlete/Actor/Surgeon children have strong gross motor skills, they are equally likely to excel in fine motor precision as well, when they are not moving that is.  Foster your child's small motor movements with stringing beads, playdough, Lego brick(R)s, etc.
  • Ocean target math: Smear some sticky, fresh blue icing onto thick cardboard in any shape.  It might be fun to make it look like the ocarina with waves at the top.  Pin a card above the icing.  This might be a number or a math equation.  Your child will then throw Goldfish crackers ® at the icing, matching either the number or the answer to the equation.  The reward?  A yummy snack!  
  • DIY Instruments:  Use your child’s interest in moving to extend her fine motor and spatial skills! For example, to make a maraca, decorate a toilet paper tube.  Close one end and fill with different sized beans.  Close off the other end and enjoy!  Can your child make different rhythm patterns with maracas filled with different amounts or kinds of beans? You can make a tambourine with two paper plates facing one another the same way.  Read Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton and stage your own musical hoedown! For more Dino fun, check out the fine Motor activities in the parent portal ((LINK TO FINE Motor ACTIVITIES IN THE DINO SECTION OF 3-5 YEAR OLDS IN PARENT PORTAL))
  • For some fun online resources for Athlete/Actor/Surgeon children, check out some of these:
  • Strategize how to “chase” the bubble through the frame: http://bubbles.org/html/games/bubblechase.htm
  • Try out some of these fun online games: http://www.toytheater.com/games.php
  • Pop the bubbles with your “wand” and count how many bubbles you can get: http://www.ziggityzoom.com/onlinegames.php?game=bubble-catch
  • Online Community:  Decide for yourself how you feel about allowing your child to connect with other children in an online learning environment.  Since so many Athlete/Actor/Surgeons are also competitive, you can use this drive to your advantage with games like Arcademic skillbuilders: Play against others from around the world as you hone your skills!  http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/
  • For some great stationary fine motor options, check out the Dexteria app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dexteria-fine-motor-skill/id420464455?mt=8
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