Due to a young children’s egocentric nature, ME was one of the very 1st themes covered in preschool. And, as the year progressed, variations on ME was woven into other ‘themes’. For example, during our Night Time theme, with bedtime rituals, we’d also discuss brushing teeth. Nurturing your child’s competency in their self-care skills is important for their development. Just as in learning other skills, learning self-care skills can be done in a fun way! Start out with the fingerplay I Have a Little Toothbrush. (The words to the fingerplay are in the image) After learning the words, your kiddo can act out the movements with toothbrush in hand!
Feel free to release your creativity when thinking of learning opportunities during the early years of your kiddo’s life! I’m a big fan of learning using loose parts. Luckily a lot of learning activities use loose parts found right in your own home! In fact you can use this one right after everyone’s teeth are brushed in the morning!
Enrich the Play: Sorting/Categorizing Brush Collection
Materials Needed:
Variety of brushes
Tray
Labels (optional)
Instructions:
• Collect brushes from around your house, garage and shed
NOTE: Only use clean brushes or brushes that have been used in non-toxic materials
• Place brushes on tray or tabletop
• Let your child observe/manipulate items
• Review the name and function of each item
• Suggest a way brushes could be separated, ie, size or bristle color for example, into groups
• As an option, line up the items in each group, to facilitate seeing 1-to-1 correspondence. Count out the amount. Which group has the most? The least? Do they have equal amounts?
Extend the PLAY: Folklore, Fact and Fiction
READING provides info and insight to your kiddo plus gives them all kinds of chances for inquiry; in other words: Why this, how about that?! Enjoy these brush-related books!
BTW, IMHO Peter Spier was an earlier version of Oliver Jeffers in terms of capturing a young child’s imagination, sense of wonder and wonderment, plus adventure and PLAY! I’m trying to collect his hard-to-find books.
Even before reading, your child might know there are different applications for brushes. Some brushes are used by people, for projects or work; and some brushes are used on people (or for people). After reading the above books though, you’ll definitely have the chance to highlight this second category.
• Suggest your kiddo sorts the brushes into 2 groups:
Used on people, like hair brushes or toothbrushes vs Used by people, like paint brushes.
Create Labels:
The overall label for this learning activity theme, of course, is Brushes. Aid your kiddo’s literacy development by including other labels for categories. Possible labels include:
• toothbrush
• paint brush
• make-up brush
• hair brush
NOTE: These can be further defined into subcategories. For example, make-up brushes include eye, concealer, and blush brushes to name only a few.
Add One More…
Do you have pets in your house? If you do, there’s definitely work associated with taking care them them. AND a brush associated with it!
Now your child has the choice of making 3 categories: Animal Grooming vs Human Grooming vs Other
Sure I said ‘One More’ already, but you see once the creativity juices get flowing it’s hard to stop! I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if you told me your kiddo recognized that context mattered. That a brush could be used on someone and by someone depending on the situation. If they’re a bit unsure of this twist in thinking, show them this picture!
Yours in PLAY!
Teacher Karen