by Gayleen Langthorn

It’s mid-morning and your child is starting her second hour in the sandbox. She seems to be having a great time shoveling, sifting, and shaping sandcastles. But you wonder, couldn’t she be doing something more productive? Something more educational than squishing dirt between her fingers?

The fact is, your child is learning a lot more than you might think when playing in the sandbox and in other areas of your home as well. Playing in the sandbox is an exploratory learning activity. Children discover the textures of rough and smooth and the concepts of liquid and solid, if you add squirt bottles. Containers, sieves, and shovels can inspire self-paced lessons on cause and effect or even mathematical exercises (how many scoops are required to fill the pail?).

“Everything is an opportunity to help your child learn,” said Fran Bishop, preschool teacher at St. John’s Episcopal School in Oklahoma City. The sand table in the preschool classroom is a favorite spot for many students.

“It doesn’t have to be complicated,” said co-teacher Angie Walton. “Stuff you have around the house is great.” Suggestions for fun learning tools include baking pans, paper towel tubes, butter tubs, and plastic cups.

Learning Opportunities are Everywhere
Parents may be surprised at the number of learning opportunities they have every day with their children. A trip to the grocery store offers opportunities for math, language development, and lessons on culture or geography. “It takes longer and parents have to be patient,” Walton said. But a visit to the produce section is a chance to practice counting skills when selecting fruit. With older children, you could talk about where the fruit originates and how it gets to the grocery store. After the food is purchased, letting your children help make lunch gives them the concrete learning experience of preparing food—something we all need to know as adults.

Child-size brooms, dustpans, and miniature mops and vacuums offer a chance for children to practice doing adult jobs while they contribute to the family. In addition to lightening the housework load (after some practice), these tasks also have a positive impact on children: “It makes them feel responsible,” Walton said.

Some researchers assert that the interaction that takes place between parents and children during these everyday, mundane activities may be the best learning opportunities available. In Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, authors Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff explain, “The casual conversations you share teach your children about the world and about themselves. Parents help children interpret the day’s events and sort out little frustrations and confusing emotions.”

Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff also actively advocate play. “Your child will learn more when you play with him than when you buy him fancy boxes containing self-proclaimed ‘state-of-the-art’ devices with exorbitant claims to build his brain.”

Bishop agrees with the authors, “Spending 20 or 30 minutes concentrating on [your children] is the best thing you can do.”

Fred Rogers, familiar to many of us as Mister Rogers, wrote in his book, Playtime, that playing with your children has a bonus benefit for parents. “…you’ll tap into some of the playfulness inside you, remembering your childhood and discovering new things about yourself. Parenting gives us many chances to grow right along with our growing children.” Playtime offers 78 easy activities and includes a list of the skills developed with each one.

Walton adds that doing things together need not be elaborate or complicated. “Just turn off the TV and have a picnic,” she said. “My kids talk more about picnics in the backyard than any vacation we’ve ever taken.”

Looking at things from your child’s point of view can make the world seem like a whole new place. Walton said observing nature is a favorite activity for many children. The daily lives of insects set against the jungle of a yard can offer compelling drama. “Step out your backdoor and there’s magic.”

Another Great Book

 

365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do With Your Child by Steve and Ruth Bennett includes 50 bonus activities geared for older children.

 

Gayleen Langthorn is a freelance writer who spends her time in Oklahoma City keeping up with her teenage and preschool daughters. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma and is a regular contributor to MetroFamily Magazine.