Activities 4 Years

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Dot-2-dot-2-dot

Help your child develop the fine motor control needed for printing and writing by drawing loads of dots all over a page – this might be something that your little one enjoys doing anyway....now take a different coloured pencil and connect the dots in a random order to create a unique design. Once they have mastered this freeform activity you may want to introduce a simple dot-to-dot drawing that has up to 20 dots.

Grouping together

Encourage the development of problem solving and classification skills by arranging groups of 4 things together. Make sure 3 of the things can be classified as a group and ask your child to point out which one doesn't belong. You can group by colour, shape, size, function or class; for example, 3 red blocks and one blue, 3 squares and one circle, 3 tools and 1 bowl, or 3 little cars and one little man. You may need to explain clearly the first couple of times why you would choose to group things together – when your child understands the game they can try grouping things for you to assess.

Bingo

You can introduce simplified versions of matching and memory games at this stage. These are particularly effective if they are illustrated with pictures of familiar objects and concepts. You may use a boxed set or make a couple of bingo cards with 6 or 9 blocks...get creative and draw them yourself – or involve the children and cut pictures out of old magazines – can you find matching pictures to make the call cards (if not you can use photocopies). Place all the call cards down on the table and take turns turning them over one at a time. You may find that you have a little helper as they start watching your board for you as well – and helping you to place the pieces.

Books...wonderful words

Children of this age group love books that have rhymes and silly words. They appreciate humor and can follow more complex stories. At four, your little one will have an understanding of story telling and with your help can make a simple book of their own. Help them to fold four A4 pieces of paper in half and staple them down the fold to make a book. Introduce the concept of a cover page for the book that should have a title, a picture and their name on it. They may be able to write their own name now. Help them to develop a short story and have them draw pictures to illustrate their ideas. You can add text if necessary. This is fabulous for manual dexterity, concentration and creativity. It also solidifies their understanding that pictures and words represent ideas or activities.

Fun with Friends

Children love to socialize and with an increased ability to play cooperatively with their peers you should encourage and support your child in developing friendships. At this stage children need less guidance in how to engage with each other or play together, and can develop some wonderful games on their own. Often these revolve around pretend play and role-playing to further develop understanding of social etiquette, typical routines and responsibilities. They may play House, Mum's and Babies, or Firemen. You can support these games by providing props that can be adapted for play...a large scarf for example could be a babies blanket, a superhero cape, a picnic blanket or a dress. Tea sets and a doll are also great to have on hand.