Fall is in full swing! The leaves are changing colors and falling and the air is nice and brisk.  As many child daycare centers begin to implement fall themed activities, consider this pumpkin sorting activity. Pumpkin sorting is a fun autumn-themed activity that supports cognitive development.

Cognitive Development in Preschoolers

Cognitive development focuses on developing functions of the brain such as thinking, learning, awareness, judgment, and processing information. According to developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, children go through several stages of cognitive development and learning activities for toddlers and children should correspond to the appropriate developmental stage.

Pumpkin sorting is a cognitive activity for preschoolers that helps them learn and practice the skills of classification, relationships, and counting. This lesson plan includes preparation instructions, procedures, and materials list for this activity. The lesson plan also includes age-appropriate learning objectives and examples of the simple supporting verbal cues necessary to encourage participation and support learning in child care centers.

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Through storytelling and activities, celebrate and teach young children in your daycare center about  the season autumn (or fall).  This resource list will provide you with a fall themed reading list and free autumn themed  printable worksheets and activities for young children in child daycare centers.

Reading List

Autumn Board Books and Picture Books (Baby – Age 3)

Dappled Apples by Jan Carr and Dorothy Donohue [Holiday House, 2001]

Leaf Baby: Baby Seasons Board Books by Mary Bridgid Barrett and Eve Chwast [Red Wagon Books, 1998]

Autumn by Gerda Muller [Floris Books, 1994]

Fall: Seasons Board Books by Chris L. Demarest [Red Wagon Books, 1996]

5 Little Pumpkins by Michael Scott [Hyperion Books, 2003]

One Fall Day by Molly Bang [Greenwillow books, 1994]

Pumpkin Baby by Jane Yollen and Susan Mitchell [Key Porter Books, 2009] (more…)

Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States on the 4^th Thursday of November to commemorate a feast in 1621 that the Pilgrims shared with Native Americans. Thanksgiving is also celebrated in Canada on the second Monday in October in order to give thanks for a bountiful harvest.

Daycare providers can create a Thanksgiving lesson plan filled with fun, educational activities.  First provide children with a brief summary of the meaning of Thanksgiving.  It is appropriate to discuss the story of Thanksgiving and the spirit of thankfulness, along with the symbols associated with Thanksgiving with the children in your licensed home daycare.  The traditional Thanksgiving symbols include turkeys, pilgrims, Indian corn, autumn leaves, and cornucopia. Your Thanksgiving lesson plan should include activities in a variety of areas of development.

Thanksgiving Craft for Preschoolers (more…)

When teaching  young, preschool aged children about Halloween, keep lesson plans simple.  It is not necessary to discuss the historical background of Halloween at this time. Instead, young children in daycare centers can celebrate Halloween by having costume parties and playing special games like bobbing for apples.  Halloween can be fun and educational when you incorporate the following activities:
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All child care services must incorporate some type of learning through play. Your child care business should focus on a strong preschool curriculum that builds learning opportunities directly into play so that learning develops at the same pace as the growing child. Children by nature are curious, active, and eager to learn and try new things. To keep them that way, preschoolers need a readiness curriculum that encourages “playful learning.”

Different types of play support many different types of development:

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Children who are enrolled in day care are unique. Each and every child has his own personality which is why it is an important task for you to be able to give each and every one of them what they need. This includes the programs and activities which you have for the children. Part of this includes the learning techniques as well as the extracurricular activities which you have prepared for them. You should be aware that there are so many things which children can learn from the activities in your day care this is why you need to make sure that you offer a varied selection of these activities.
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What makes a preschool classroom an efficient place for learning and growth? First of all, it should be a place where children feel safe and well cared for. Secondly, it should be a venue where the individuality of each child is given importance, and where they are given adequate attention, affection, and approval. Lastly, a preschool classroom should be able to assist children to attain the foundation they need for academic excellence. Young students have a lot of needs that a day-care centre needs to respond to, and these in include the following:
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Children are always so enthusiastic to learn. At this stage, their learning abilities are at a maximum this is why parents should take advantage of this. You child is still willing to grasp new ideas and skills that they may find to be useful in the future. It is important that you come up with activities that will be both fun and effective for your child. Children learn best when they are having fun so you need to be as creative as possible. You can incorporate in your daily activities lessons in numbers, reading, writing, drawing, history and even science.
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Preschoolers should learn about the different animals that are present in our world today. These animals can usually be seen and observed in zoos, however if a trip to the zoo can’t be done, there are activities that a preschool teacher can do to introduce the different zoo animals to the kids without having the need to leave the classroom.
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Teaching a preschooler or a kindergartener the alphabet can really be a fulfilling adventure. The alphabet’s literally all over the place. Introducing the children the alphabet is a step closer to them being successful readers. However, this end goal requires hard work. To open the children’s eyes to the alphabet, you need to do much more than giving flash cards, tracing exercises and traditional songs. You can use the immediate environment around you so you can easily teach the children the alphabet.
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