Planning Quality Content for Your Early Learning Program
Planning daily activities for preschoolers can be exciting as well as challenging. Here are a few ideas that will help make your job easier, and ensure quality content for your early learning program.
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What do you have planned for your preschoolers today? Are you excited to share a rhyming song with them, or see what they create with some new art supplies you purchased?
In this post I offer some tips on delivering a quality program in a kid-friendly space where kids can play and learn.
The goal is to provide interesting materials in a welcoming setting that instills learning through play. This can include hands-on, child-led discovery - with sand and water play, dress-up clothes, and art supplies - along with teacher-led small group activities such as reading and singing together.
This is the fourth and last post in a four part series: Developing an Early Learning Program.
This article discusses ways you can design a functional environment with appropriate content that supports early childhood education.
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Table of Contents
- Set Up the Play Area
- Plan Activities
- Circle time
- Small group time
- Arts and Crafts
- Gross motor
- Conclusion
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Planning quality content for a preschool program
An early learning program nurtures developmental skills as children engage in everyday play.
The program you provide is supported by the activities you deliver as well as the environment in which you play and learn.
1. Set Up The Play Area
The learning space can be divided into separate areas depending on the activities you provide.
These designated spaces are physically defined by furniture placement, shelves, table and chairs, or floor coverings. They are often called stations, corners, or centers.
- For example, the art easel is separate from the housekeeping or dress-up area; the science shelf is separate from the block corner.
These individually designed areas separate activities to allow ease of use - limited number of participants in each center; related materials in each center - and to invite hands-on engagement with materials.
Related: Fun-A-Day explains what centers are and why they are important.
Routine Center Activities
- Build a tower in the block corner.
- Cook a pretend breakfast and set the table in the housekeeping corner.
- Dig up fossils in the sand box.
- Paint a rainbow at the easel.
- Choose a puzzle or small manipulative from the puzzle shelf.
- Perform a puppet show in a cardboard theater.
Free play or independent play allows students a portion of the day to engage with the various centers in the classroom. This engagement is an important part of the daily schedule, as it supports development of early childhood skills through child-led play.
Related: Pop over to PreKinders to see a more detailed discussion of center time.
Themed Centers
Many teachers adopt a weekly or seasonal theme in their facility. The centers or stations are stocked with props that reflect this specific topic.
- Dress up clothes include a fire fighter hat and pretend hoses during fire prevention week.
- Dinosaur figures are added to the block corner to complement a dinosaur theme.
Related: How to Plan a Dental Unit. from Little Sprouts Learning
Divided areas in your home or classroom will provide a unique environment for your early learners, helping to focus attention on specific learning themes or tasks.
2. Plan Activities
An early learning program will have a balance of free play - kid-led activities in centers - and scheduled teacher-led activities such as circle time.
Teacher-led activities contribute to the daily schedule in many ways. This component of an early learning program introduces new information and skills, encourages group interaction, and challenges students to explore and observe.
The activities you choose for this directed learning should be playful and inviting, so kids just naturally want to join in!
Even with activities guided or initiated by a grownup, attention should be given to following the child's lead.
- Is the child engaged? Is the activity age and skill appropriate? How do the child's responses alter or guide the delivery of the activity and the outcomes?
How to Choose Content
The goal with preschool activities is to provide opportunities for kids to experiment, explore and make discoveries while participating in both group and independent play.
Online searches allow us to choose and plan our programs from the comfort of our home or office, at any time of day. These tips can help you optimize your online searches to save time and stress.
Preschool classrooms and home schools often have a range of ages and skill levels, so activities are chosen to fit a broad demographic.
Example: Read a book during story time such as Sadie and the Snowman
As the children gather around the art table, ask what type of weather they saw in the story.
Rather than instructing children to "cut out a yellow circle for the sun", provide scissors, crayons and construction paper. Guide them through discussion and feedback as they draw or glue materials on a sheet of paper to make their weather pictures.
Assess the activities you hope to provide to make sure they are suitable for all participants.
- Does the story book have large colorful pictures that everyone seated in circle time can see?
- Is there enough space in the room for kids to leap-frog over cardboard lily pad cutouts on the floor?
- Are there options for different ages and skill levels to complete the flower craft?
- Is there adequate supervision to play that outdoor game the kids will love?
With any activity, sharing your enthusiasm and encouragement is invaluable to the learning process. This is achieved simply by participating in the activities with the children - dance with the kids at small group time; share a conversation with a budding artist at the easel; make your hand prints in the play dough at craft time.
What are we doing today?
One morning I had a child ask: What are we doing today?
Once children learn that there is always something 'going on' in your classroom they will bring their energy and eager anticipation to the early learning environment. By choosing activities that encourage play, you're opening the door to countless opportunities for children to learn and grow, all while having fun!
Here are four areas where teacher-led content can be added to your daily planner.
Circle Time
The terms circle time and small group time are sometimes used interchangeably but I will draw a distinction between the two for the purpose of this discussion.
Circle time is generally conducted in a quiet comfortable setting, away from the main floor space if possible. Children are seated on a carpeted floor, or on individual mats, in a circle or semi-circle. The teacher is seated facing the group.
Students engage in planned activities with the teacher: reading stories; singing songs with finger plays; matching colors or shapes on the felt board.
Related: How to provide a welcoming circle time from Preschool Inspirations.
Small Group time
Small group time is generally held around a table or in an open space. It generally involves an activity that requires children to move about, or handle a variety of materials.
Kids collaborate on group art projects, play games, sort seashells, make vegetable soup, or plant seeds. Materials are provided to engage students in experimentation and observation.
Arts and Crafts
This area often includes a table and chairs for working with materials, and storage options nearby for craft supplies.
Art sessions are opportunities for drawing, painting, cutting, gluing and creating with a variety of materials such as construction paper, glitter glue, colorful feathers, pipe cleaners and modeling clay.
Process art is a term applied to art activities with a goal of making each activity less about following step-by-step instructions and more about following the child's creative lead.
Teachers and parents can engage with kids by using open-ended questions and comments.
I see you chose the red crayon to color your house.
Are you going to cut out leaves for the tree?
Strive for child-led art activities, where the benefits of an activity should not be limited by expected outcomes.
- Take a look at the different results in our flowers paper craft.
Gross Motor Play
These activities incorporate large body movements such as jumping, swinging arms, and stretching.
Games will generally be non-competitive and open-ended, although kids may want to add up their scores in a game of toss, or run races in the backyard.
- bean bag games, balloon volleyball, ring-around-the-rosy
- balls and skipping ropes, relay races, parachute games, playground equipment
Related: Outdoor backyard play ideas
4. Conclusion
The development of young children benefits from the care and expertise offered by early learning teachers. The training and experience they bring to the home or classroom are even more valuable when coupled with the energy and enthusiasm shared during playtime, as kids explore, discover, create, and learn.
Your sincere commitment to understanding the role of play for nurturing developmental skills will assist you in developing a successful early learning program.
Making the effort to do the best you can for the children in your care will help bring out the best in them.
Plan
- an environment that fosters independent learning and exploration
- a variety of activities that nurture a wide range of developmental skills
- a daily schedule that flows smoothly from one activity to another
- policies and procedures with open communication between staff and parents
Deliver
- toys and materials that will spark imagination and creativity
- opportunities for open-ended experiences and exchanges, and guidance to help problem-solve
- kindness and respect in an environment that fosters sharing, caring and fair play
- leadership by being dependable and enthusiastic, and by maintaining a safe environment
Here are the links for the posts included in this four-part series:
Part 1: Determining the Goals of your Early Learning Program
Part 2: Establishing a Daily Schedule for Your Early Learning Program
Part 3: Why There is Value in a Daily Planner for Your Early Learning Program
Part 4: Planning Quality Content for Your Early Learning Program (you are here!)
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