The Benefits of Preschool Arts and Crafts

At Suburban we make art and crafts an important part of our daily routine! These  activities for promote growth and development of your child's fine motor skills, creativity, and confidence. Painting or drawing are always available at the easels, but our Teacher Jan Lorko also provides a special craft during each class that connects to the daily, weekly, or monthly theme. These projects are created for the age and level of your preschool child to engage them and build confidence in their skills. They are are fun activities for your children and a give you (the parent) a wonderful visual timeline of your child's development.

Here are some great articles and resources promoting the benefits of arts and crafts for preschool aged children:
PBS Parents: The Importance of Art in Child Development
Scholastic: Preparing for Preschool: Art
Education.com: The Value of Art for the Preschool Child

Parents here is a list of everyday supplies we collect throughout the year for some of our art projects:

• Newspaper
• Pringles lids
• Rinsed juice and milk cartons
• Paper grocery bags
• Paper lunch bags
• Magazines
• Construction paper 

Taking nature walks: preschool learning activities

Taking a nature walk with your child can be an incredibly fun and enriching learning experience. It is a great opportunity to spend time together, in the fresh air, being active, all the while learning about and gaining an appreciation for nature.

When preparing for your walk make sure you where comfortable clothing, bring water, perhaps insect repellent, and bags to collect your treasures for further exploration at home.

There are many elements you can draw from a nature walk and incorporate into learning activities both while you are walking and after you are home.  On your walk, pick up and explain natural elements such as leaves, seed pods, sticks, barks and small branches. Have your child hold items, feel their textures, and smell them. Save these items in bags.

Natural elements can be collected and placed in a basket at home for exploration and play. There are so many things you can do with the collected items to further learn from them and extend the enrichment of your walk. Sticks, rocks, leaves, nuts and pods once collected can be sorted, counted, and used to create art projects. Further ideas will be listed at the bottom of this post.

Bring your phone or a camera and take pictures of animals and birds you see. You can come back to this record and draw pictures of the animals you saw. Also if you would like you can research the animals further on the web, to learn more about them.

You can draw so many different learning activities and experiences from a nature walk with your preschooler. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Make leaf art on the ground during your walk.
2. Make stone stacks, or create shapes and patterns with stones.
3. Bring a few sheets of paper and some unwrapped crayons to make leaf rubbings.
4. Go on a planned scavenger hunt. There is a great booklet from the Merry Messy Life blog. Here is a link to their free printable booklet.
5. Collect sticks and rocks for counting, sorting and pattern making.
6. Paint pictures with pine tree branches.
7. Make a nature collage with elements from your walk.
8. Create a matching game with photos of animals and elements of your walk by printing two copies of each image, flipping them over and finding the matches.
9. Create a nature walk bin or basket for your child to revisit the items you collected. Reviewing the textures and smells of each item. Make drawings of these items.
10. Read stories about nature. Here are a few good ones: Eric Carle, The Tiny Seed; Robin Bernard, The Tree for All Seasons; Jane Werner Watson, Wonders of Nature; and Kate Riggs, Wild Backyard.

Enjoy your nature walk with your preschooler!

15 fun summer picture books to share with your preschooler!

Summer is a wondrous time of year when you are a child. The days are longer, the sun is shining, the weather is nice, it is time for fun! Here are some great Summer themed books to take with you anywhere! Whether you are camping, at the pool, laying on a sandy beach, on a trip to visit family or friends, or relaxing in the cool of you air-conditioned room, these books are great fun to share with your preschooler! Reading together not only promotes literacy, but it also engages your child, and supports the parent-child bond.
Enjoy your summer reading together!!

These are the titles and authors of the selected books from left to right.

1. Summer Days and Nights by Wong Herbert Yee
2. Mama is it Summer Yet? by Nikki McClure
3. Fire Flies by Julie Brinckloe
4. The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
5. Summer by Alice Low
6. Summer is Here by Heidi Pross Gray
7. Biscuits First Beach Day by by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Pat Schories
8. Beach Bugs by David A. Carter
9. Curious George Goes to the Beach by H. A. Rey
10. Harry By the Sea by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham
11. Let it Shine by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
12. I See Summer by Charles Ghigna and Ag Jatkowska
13. Bear's New Friend by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
14. Down by the Bay by Raffi and Nadine Bernard Westcott
15. Froggy Learns to Swim by Johnathan London