(Three to Five Years)
The “Why” years can be rather trying at times, but what a clear sign of your child’s expanding knowledge! This is the prime time to make memories through shared activities. Creativity can be encouraged through art, dance, music and story-telling activities. These activities may be one-on-one with your child or with small groups of preschoolers.
Three to Four Years
At three years of age, you may notice new skills such as matching shapes, colors and patterns or drawing simple faces. Three-year-olds may use a pencil or crayon to print large capital letters or they may cut with scissors and begin to follow simple outlines. These are some activities you may enjoy trying with your child:
- Reading stories and poems with repeating phrases where children can join in
- Singing or dancing activities in small groups such as “Ring Around the Rosy” and “Musical Chairs”
- Reciting rhymes or finger plays with counting
- Dancing or exaggerated movements in front of a mirror
- Making collages using paper, glue, and pictures cut from magazines
- Labeling your child’s artwork using his/her own words and then letting your child “read” it
- Humming familiar tunes and encouraging your child to recall lyrics or add new verses
- Asking your child to choose a favorite storybook character to act out and discussing the character’s feelings and emotions
- Reading a familiar story and pausing halfway through to let your child recall the ending or make up a new ending
- Telling stories of grandparents, aunts and uncles when they were children
- Imitating movements made by animals (loud and fast or soft and slow)
- Imitating sounds found in nature (wind, rain, hail, thunder)
Four to Five Years
Are you starting to hear “stories” from your child that show imagination and exaggeration? Do these stories involve lots of actions such as running, jumping and hopping? Here are some other creative activities to try:
- Repeating sequences of three to five simple movements to fit a song or dance
- Creating child drums by using empty containers
- Making a patchwork quilt with scraps of paper or fabric
- Inserting a familiar song when telling a story or reading a book
- Drawing a character from a favorite book or drawing a self-portrait while looking in a mirror
- Observing animals and drawing them in motion
- Identifying what is missing from a drawing of a face or animal
- Bringing clipboards outside so children can draw trees, flowers, pine cones, and tall grass
- Dramatizing a story together with familiar roles and then reversing roles in the same story.
Five Years
“I can do this!” Yes, your child will demonstrate many new skills during this year! Physical skills may include jumping rope, playing hopscotch, doing somersaults and cartwheels and riding a bike. Buildings made with cardboard or blocks may become quite elaborate and so will the stories that accompany these adventures. Encourage your child’s creativity by providing opportunities to try some of the following activities:
- Making scrapbooks of favorite stories or artwork
- Writing a song together
- Telling a brief story and have your child draw or paint pictures showing emotions
- Role play a familiar chore and have your child guess the activity, then reverse roles
- Choosing a theme and have children create a mural using sidewalk chalk
- Demonstrating dance movements and then have children take turns leading the dance while the music plays
- Reciting poetry about emotions and experiences. Reciting a second time with pauses to let your preschooler provide keywords especially concerning feelings. Encouraging your child to talk about any other feelings.
- Provide a prop box of durable items and choose stories to dramatize
For more information on developmental milestones, check out our NebGuide on Ages and Stages for 3, 4, and 5 year olds https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2106.pdf
Our Beautiful Day video inspires families to Go on a Nature Walk https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/12406 or here is another on playing a game of Bean Bag Toss https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/13187. Discover and Design are packed full of ideas https://fitandhealthykids.unl.edu/discover-and-design.
Linked resource: Creative Connections: Young Children and the Arts
By the Maryland State Department of Education, 2013
www.marylandhealthybeginnings.org
LA DONNA WERTH, EARLY CHILDHOOD EXTENSION EDUCATOR | UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
Peer Reviewed by Lynn DeVries, Lisa Poppe, and Jackie Steffen, Early Childhood Extension Educators
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