Ages 3-5 are perhaps the most crucial time for both – children and parents. This is the time when your child learns, develops, and absorbs every bit of knowledge around them. It is this age when they are constantly curious and tend to ask several questions as they explore their surroundings.
Hence, parents must engage in active participation in their child’s growth through play in the stages of growth and development. To make this stage more fun and adventurous, we have listed down some exciting activities which can support your child’s overall development.
The letter game:
Often children are big fans of drawing and colours. You will often find your 3-year old drawing circular people with stick limbs and funny faces. Use this penchant for drawing and art to help them learn their letters or even numbers. All you have to do is dot the shape of the letters and help your child connect the dots. This activity will help them learn the shape of each letter. Another way is to draw the letters and ask your child to go over it. You can do the same for the number. Try using more colours as they tend to stimulate the brain.
The numbers game:
Apart from colours, various shapes also stimulate the brain development of a child. The numbers game will help your child learn their numbers in a fun way. For this activity, take a chart and create calendar grind with 31 boxes. Now, keep 31 cards prepared and on the first day of each month, add a monthly sign and the number 1 card. This card has to be placed on the right day of the week. With this activity, your child will begin to understand the calendar and numerical system.
The places game:
A quick trip around your town can help your child fetch a plethora of knowledge. So, stepping out with your child will help them get familiar with the town. Pointing out to places such as supermarket, fire station, gas station, etc. will certainly keep them interested in knowing their town better. Support this information with stories which feature these places. Print pictures and cut name tags of various locations in your town. Have your child match the name of the place with its correct image. You can also teach your child which professionals they would find in which places. For example, they will find a firefighter at a fire station or a doctor at a hospital or a teacher in a school.
The scavenger hunt:
The scavenger hunt is perhaps the most versatile activity to play with your child. It practically supports all the child development stages. Since children are more curious during 3-5 years of age, they have a natural instinct to explore and finds things. Thus, a scavenger hunt is one of the efficient ways to help your child hone their cognitive skills, reasoning skills, and promote physical development. A scavenger hunt can be created beforehand or invented on the spot. You can do this in places which feature more objects such as a supermarket or home. You can label certain items at home and ask them to find or pretend that you can find an object at home and ask your child to find. You can do the same for numbers, alphabets, colours, and shapes.
Along with these activities, you can also create a kids’ growth chart for yourself. This will help you keep a tab of what your child has learned, what you should be introducing them to now, etc.
While you are taking care of your child’s physical, emotional, and mental development through these activities, ensure that you child does not lack any nutritional requirements. Nutrition plays a crucial role in a stages of growth and development of a child, and lack of this may result into deficiencies which may hinder the growth of your child.
So, incorporate healthy food in your child’s diet and the fun activities mentioned above, and you will certainly be able to sail through this time.
