5 Educational Activities to do at Home

This post is sponsored by Amazon, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This year I long debated what was the best preschool schedule for my 3 year old. 2 days a week? 3? 5? Full days? Half days? Montessori? Reggio Emilio? Traditional school? What is the best for a 3 year old for both learning education and social skills she’s going to need to succeed in school and life? Finally I landed on 3 days a week, half days, at a traditional style preschool, and a couple of outside of school activities as well. Here’s the thing – most schools require 4 or 5 days for Pre-K, which MG will be in next year, so this is really the last chance for me to have her do 3 days. A full day would be too long for her. And I want to be there to do learning activities with her outside of school as well.

Start a garden. Every day Maddie Grace asks about her plants and wants to go water them. She understands now that we plant seeds that grow into plants. Some of those bear flowers and eventually some of the plants bear fruit. It’s a great way to both learn about the circle of life and nature, as well as

Use technology. Technology is the modern parent’s greatest resource. From digital books to educational apps, tablets are awesome for preschoolers. I’ve tried a few, and my favorite that I recommend to everyone is the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. The tablet is so easy to use, especially for little ones. It’s touch responsive and has an awesome screen resolution. I have FreeTime, your first year of which is included with the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition purchase, set up on my kids Fire’s – when you set it up you enter in your kids birthday and it automatically pulls up the books, videos, and apps that are age appropriate. Parents get access to the Parents Dashboard, which allows you to track what your kids are watching and set restrictions as well as limits on screen time. The tablet comes in a fun colored super durable case making it great for clumsy little ones. Amazon makes Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablets starting at $99, which is a great value, and you can shop for them here!

Cook together. This is another thing my preschooler loves. She wants to help with everything and cooking is a great way to get her involved. Not only does she learn about food and we discuss colors and numbers while cooking, but she’s learning real life skills. And we both have fun!

Explore outdoors. And while you explore talk about it. Look at birds nests and talk about eggs and how birds hatch from them. Look at plants and talk about what they are. The best way to learn is always to experience it for yourself. Leave the house if you need to and explore places around your town and talk to your kids about them! Really anything can be a learning experience!

Music. Listen to music. Play music. Dance to music. Exposure to music is great for preschool aged children. There’s been studies done that show exposure to music as children results in higher intelligence levels and accustoms kids to tones and rhythms.

What type of educational activities do you do with your little ones? I want to hear all about it!!