Learning through Play – Page 2 – Creative Learning for Young Children

November 16, 2017November 16, 2017 Jumble House Learning through Play, numbers

Understanding Numbers

It’s very common to hear young children counting. They count up and down steps. They count cars passing. They count the number of people sat round the table. But do they really understand what numbers are? It’s unlikely because basic number concepts and number conservation are not easy to acquire and so it’s important to start early.

How can we help?

Children learn best through play so letting them play around with a few counters or bricks is a good start. Begin with one number. Have it as the ‘number of the week’ . Place visual prompts around the house. Magnets on the fridge. Mats on the tables. Toys etc.

For example if its number 3.

Have 3 magnets on the fridge. Encourage your child to change the pattern. This will help them to develop an understanding of the number. To realise that three magnets remain three no matter what pattern they make.
Set the table for a tea party with three place settings. Help them to put out three spoons, three plates etc.
Make ‘cakes’ from playdough and give each toy three cakes.
It’s fun to make your own board games. They don’t need to be elaborate or fancy! For very small children I like to make them without numbers. (See the video). Children love ‘action’ games so a board game where actions have to be performed is great fun. Keep the numbers on the dice low. Maybe just 1 2 and 3. When the dice is thrown then the counter is moved that number of places and the action shown on the square is performed the same number of times. So, for example, if you throw 3 you move 3 squares and if the square indicates to clap hands then you clap hands 3 times!
Going out on a number hunt is fun. It can also be very useful for parents when they have to do something boring as it keeps the child’s attention! Numbers are everywhere. On clocks, car number plates, doors, signs. Spotting the number of the week on such an excursion is a great way to reinforce number recognition.
Shopping is good for practicing real life maths. Children can be asked to put a certain number of items into the shopping trolley. This activity will also keep them from getting bored and cranky!

Don’t pay out lots of money on number resources. Very effective ones can be made at home using resources you already have in the house. Let the children help to make them and encourage them to come up with suggestions for new ones.

November 12, 2017November 12, 2017 Jumble House Crafts for kids, Fun Learning for Young Children, Learning through Play, Music

Balloon Drum

Easy and fun.

Bought musical instruments for young children are very colourful and adaptable but you can’t beat helping your child to make a musical instrument and a good first one is a drum.

I made this one it’s my little granddaughter from a burst balloon and a coffee mug but an empty canister would do just a# well. She played with it for ages. We tried out different drumsticks, wooden spoon, metal spoon, chopstick, paintbrush and achieved very different sounds. Then I clapped out simple rhythm patterns and she tried to copy.

Then all the toys arrived and had a go! It was great fun and that’s where learning starts , with play.

October 18, 2017October 18, 2017 Jumble House Early Learning, Learning through Play, parenting, Parents

Letter recognition and pre-reading skills

Young children are so ‘open’ to learning. They are creative, inquisitive and just love learning new things. In the preschool days their learning is at a level they will never experience again as is their enthusiasm to learn. They are learning new concepts with every turn of their heads, to them learning is play and learning through play is fun not just for them but for parents too.

There’s no need to buy expensive equipment. No need to enlist them in special playgroups.

Just a small amount of time spent making a few resources and playing together is sufficient. They will learn so much and will be content to play on their own afterwards.

Letter recognition is an important pre-reading skill and one that can be acquired through play. There are so many fun activities to help with this. The old traditional game ‘I Spy with my Little Eye’ remains one of the best and requires no preparation or resources. It is great on shopping trips and journeys and children love it! With very young children beginning to learn sounds it is best to say ‘ ……something beginning with the sound ‘a’ or ‘d’ rather than the letter name.

The way the sound is said is very important. We tend to add an ‘rrr’ to our letter sounds which makes for confused soekking later. You know what I mean? We should say b.b.b.bor. baby but it sort of comes out like bur.bur.for baby! Cur.cur.cur for cat! Etc.. it’s a good idea to visit a good phonic site where you can practice the correct sounds. Here is one I recommend:

Sound pronunciation

When my eldest was two I decorated the walls of her bedroom in lower case letters in pastel colours of paint. I don’t remember how this started but I do remember that her bedtime routine, in addition to a story, was to recite the letters painted on the walls. She refused to go to sleep till this had been done! We started with just three letters and when she knew these a new one was added. I guess it’s not everyone’s idea of good decor although it did look pretty and was cheap.and easy too!
Other less permanent ways of learning letter sounds and names are explained on my video which you can find by following the link below:

Letter Recognition Activities
I really hope you find the video useful.
Please take a look at the others in the same playlist. They are all for parents of young children.

Your children may enjoy the art and craft and science programmes. Everything is free.

Thanks for taking the time for reading this.

Judi Brereton.

October 3, 2017October 3, 2017 Jumble House Autumn, Crafts for kids, Fun Learning for Young Children, Learning through Play, nature

Autumn Garden

Kids love gardens and one like this is so fun to make and takes virtually no maintenance apart from watering. They will really enjoy making new items for the garden and changing the theme as the seasons change.

It is a very good way of teaching about plants and germination and seasons plus they will hopefully develop a sense of responsibility caring for their little garden.

We don’t have a garden so I created this on a patch of tarmac at the bottom of the steps.

I simply laid a sheet of plastic over the tarmac raised up around the borders on bricks. This made a hollow in the centre which I filled with compost.

I planted a mixture of real and artificial plants . Some planted directly into the compost. Others in small plant pots.

The garden was made in the spring and has survived high winds, rain, drought and temps. of 40+

Last week I changed the theme to Autumn by adding lots of fir cones, dry leaves and little Veggie characters.

September 12, 2017March 21, 2018 Jumble House Learning through Play

Balloons Preschool Learning from Jumble House

It’s FUN learning at Jumble House so come on in! (The link below will take you to the programme)

Thematic Preschool Learning. Short programmes (typically around 6/7 minutes) for 3 to 5 year olds. Phonics, Number, Art and Science connected to a central topic.

The programmes are presented by Lizzie Witch and friends!

Designed as a ‘ Watch with,Mum, Dad, Auntie, each programme suggests follow-up activities.

The introduction to each programme is the same encouraging interaction and learning of rhyme and numbers to 10.

BALLOONS. It’s fun learning at Jumble House

Today the theme is balloons

The letter is: Pp

The number is: 3

The colour is green .

And the narrated story is all about PEDRO PEAR and the folk who live on FIVE A DAY HILL.

September 8, 2017 Jumble House crafts, Learning through Play, Recycling

Fun with Plastic Bottles

If you, like me, dislike throwing lots and lots of good plastic bottles into the recycling bin you may enjoy giving them a ‘second life’ by making some of the things shown in the video below.

Warning!

A very sharp knife and sharp scissors are required so this is not something for children! However, they will enjoy decorating the objects you create and will have lots of fun with the left over bottle tops!

August 31, 2017August 31, 2017 Jumble House Learning through Play, Science

Egg Magic. Part 2

So this is where we find out how to make a bouncy egg like Lizzie’s but without the magic spell!

Vinegar is such a useful ingredient to have in the house especially when it comes to doing science experiments. Here you will need a light coloured vinegar like cider or white wine. You will also need a large screw top glass jar, a couple of eggs ( one raw and the other hard boiled and something to protect the table.

Allow two days for the experiment because the eggs will need to soak in the vinegar for at least 24 hours.

Once the eggs have been treated it IS possible to bounce the raw egg but be careful! You can bounce the hard boiled egg as much as you like.

watch the video below. I hope you enjoy it.

BOUNCY EGG

August 29, 2017August 30, 2017 Jumble House Books, Crafts for kids, Learning through Play

Make a Jumble Tuft

Make your own little Jumble Tuft puppets and have fun making up and telling stories with them. They can also be used to decorate backpacks. They are quick, cheap and easy to make like all the ‘Jumbles’ toys and the basic ones don’t require any stitching. One pair of coloured tights will make about four little Jumble Tufts. I make the hats and little shoes from a contrasting colour of tights stuffed with cotton wool and secured with rubber bands or tiny hair elastic. I make the arms from pipe-cleaners so the Jumble Tufts can hold objects. Inserting magnets into the hat, feet or body opens up even more opportunities.

To use them as puppets a chopstick or wooden skewer can be inserted through a tiny hole in the back of the Jumble Tuft. To make it secure smear a tiny bit of glue on the tip of the skewer before inserting.

Watch this video to see them in action as ‘Santa’s little helpers’ last Christmas.

SANTAS LITTLE HELPERS
Once you have made a basic model then have fun designing your own Jumble Tuft characters. Just change the colour, the shape, the kind of hat, the legs, the size or type of bobble eyes .

In this video Georgie Jumble shows you how to make a very basic model. Then you can have lots of fun adding your own features.