What’s Happening at UDA Creative Arts Preschool- Halloween!

preschool theme ideas

Bringing art to life is one of the things we do best at UDA Creative Arts Preschool.  Making art fun is something we do even better!  Our preschool theme, “H is for Halloween”, lent itself great to our continued study of Van Gogh.

Dream Big!

preschool theme ideas

As we considered his painting, Starry Night, we discussed how Van Gogh was inspired by the stars.  Then, the children shared what inspires them.  We concluded that Starry Night might be considered a little spooky, but would make a perfect backdrop for our Halloween Performance.

Our three and four-year-old artists went to work creating their own version!

preschool theme ideas

preschool theme ideas

Giving children different tools for art encourages creativity and ingenuity.  And who doesn’t want to jump in and start smearing paint on a mural?  However,  if your mop goes missing at home, we recommend you do a quick inventory of your paint.

H is for Halloween

preschool theme ideas

In the end, our finished product created a spooky backdrop for our Halloween program.  We are grateful for all the wonderful parent and family support received from all who attended!  We were excited to share the music and movement we’ve been learning, as well as our displayed art.

preschool theme ideas

preschool theme ideas

Magic Pumpkin Patch

preschool theme ideas

Each child planted a glitter enhanced pumpkin seed on our playground, and surprise!  Over night they grew into our magic pumpkin patch.  Then, our preschoolers picked out their own pumpkin to bring home.  In addition to being fun, we love pretend play because it fosters social, emotional and cognitive development.

Busy Bakers

preschool theme ideas

Look out Better Crocker, we have some new chefs in the house!  Our kiddos went crazy over this pumpkin spice play-dough.  This multisensory dough filled the whole discovery room with the aroma of pumpkin spice as our inspired culinary artists spent the hour “baking” cookies, muffins, pies, and cupcakes.

preschool theme ideas

preschool theme ideas

Try This at Home-

Good news!  This fabulous recipe is too good to keep to ourselves!  We hope you will have just as much fun as your sous chef as he goes to town in the kitchen, filling your home with the smells of the holidays.

Pumpkin Spice Play Dough

  • 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 2 tablespoons of oil 
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of cloves
  • 1 teaspoon of allspice
  • 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ginger
  • OR skip the separate spices and 4 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice 
  • 1/2 cup of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar

 Add first four ingredients to a large pot and heat on the stove {stirring regularly} until just bubbling.  Remove from heat and add in dry ingredients.  Stir until combined and dump mixture out on the counter.  Allow to cool for 5 or 10 minutes.  Knead dough until soft and fully cooled (it may feel sticky in the beginning, but resist the urge to add flour – the stickiness vanished completely  once the dough is no longer warm).  Store in an airtight bag or container in the fridge when not in use.

Sunny Day, Sweepin’ the Clouds Away-

preschool theme ideas

Halloween is such a fun time for us, as we see all the fun costumes our preschoolers dress in, and as we are able to share what they’ve been learning in our program.   While we’re at it, the inner child in each of us couldn’t help dressing up ourselves!

Our staff at UDA Creative Arts Preschool hope you know how much our preschoolers sweep our clouds away.  As we give our very best to create a whole child learning experience, we, in return, receive a ray of sunshine with each of their smiling faces everyday.

If you haven’t already received a tour of our preschool facility, we invite you to come visit us by calling (801) 523-5930.

Written by: Elsje Denison

What’s Happening at UDA Creative Arts Preschool– Farms and Gardens

preschool theme ideas

The last couple weeks at UDA Creative Arts Preschool we’ve been learning all about our F is for Farm theme and G is for Garden theme.  In Utah, crisp fall weather brings with it leaves, pumpkins, seeds, and farm animals to explore!  We have loved providing so many interactive learning opportunities for our preschoolers.

Applied Learning

It is so exciting for us to see our learning in the classroom coming to life for our preschool friends!

preschool theme ideas

In our movement class, the children used their large motor skills as the leaves fell from the trees to the ground.  We observed the colors and shapes of leaves as they change in the fall.

preschool theme ideas

Then, how exciting it is for us to see the applied mulitsensory learning as the children discover gravity at work as the leaves dropped off our very own preschool trees!  The falling bright colors came to life on our playground.

preschool theme ideas

Farm Country

preschool theme ideas

Milking our cow “mooved” us to a new understanding of milk production.  This activity not only helped us learn where milk comes from, it also strengthened small motor skills and allowed us to practice turn-taking, an important life skill.

theme learning ideas

We followed up our milking activity using milk to make cream and butter.   All our children had a turn shaking it up!

theme preschool activity

preschool theme ideas

But it may be unanimous that the best part was tasting it!  What a fun way for us to put scientific learning into action! We not only learned where the milk comes from, but watched the chemical change from milk to cream to butter.

preschool theme ideas

Also, for our F is for Farm theme, we had some farmyard visitors!

preschool theme ideas

preschool theme ideas

Having chickens come visit our preschool inspired our play-based learning, solidifying the concepts we discussed as we examined our new clucking friends and other farm animals.

Growing Gardeners

preschool theme ideas

For our G is for Garden theme, at our science table we were able to see how a pumpkin grows on the vine, what it looks like inside, what its seeds are like, as well as some other grain and the soil that helps them grow.

Our little soil lovers also experimented with what happens when you add water to soil.  You can ask any preschooler, it doesn’t get much more fun than mud!  We also planted seeds and discussed the importance of soil in growing seeds.

Finding Our Courage

preschool theme ideas

preschool theme learning

I spy a butterfly has become a favorite pastime at UDA Creative Arts Preschool. We’ve not only learned about the process of caterpillar turning into a butterfly, we’ve observed butterflies, moved like butterflies,  we created artistic butterflies, we’ve even sung about butterflies.

preschool theme ideas

We felt different emotions as we said goodbye to our butterflies. We were sad it was time to say goodbye, but we felt happy they could be free.

preschool theme ideas

One of our butterflies didn’t want to leave Ms. Sherene’s hand.  We thought maybe it was nervous!  Then, one of those heart touching moments of teaching, the children helped the butterfly find it’s courage as they yelled, “It will be okay!”, “Try your best!”, and,  “You can do it!”.  Then the butterfly found its courage and was on its way!

preschool theme ideas

Courage comes in all forms!  Role play can often help children overcome fears they may have as they imagine and act them out in their minds.

preschool theme ideas

And sometimes we need to find our courage to solve problems.  Ask your child what they’ve been learning about courage!  Help them see how they are using their courage to be a problem solver at home.

Sunflower Art

preschool theme ideas

While we were discussing F is for Farm, as well as gardens and seeds, we also learned F is for Flower.  In art we did a Vincent Van Gogh unit and discussed his sunflower paintings.  The children studied sunflowers, their color and textures, and applied their learning and observations to create sunflower paintings.

preschool theme ideas

preschool theme ideas

preschool theme ideas

TRY THIS AT HOME:  As with all our art activities, our focus is more on process over product.  Allow your child the same opportunity at home to find flowers or garden food and examine their shapes and colors.  Then let them use an art medium to recreate them.  Remember, there is no “right” way for art to look.  Let them explore the possibilities.  Here are a few ideas for art mediums:

  • Seeds, lentils, or beans with glue.
  • Chalk or pastels.
  • Peel the paper off, and use the sides of old broken crayons.
  • Fallen leaves and glue could make a fun bright colored pumpkin.
  • Pieces of tissue paper.

Fun Friends

preschool theme ideas

The school year is well underway, and at UDA Creative Arts Preschool we are having so much fun as we use our theme weeks to teach the whole child.  The children are not only learning, but building character and friendships. We invite you to come visit us!  You can take a tour by calling, (801) 523-5930.

Teaching Children to Become Problem Solvers

problem solve

Here at UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we feel it is paramount to teach our preschoolers how to be problem solvers.  After all, isn’t life abounding in problems to be solved?  And when it is time for us to send them on their way, we want them to have the skills they need to confidently tackle the issues they face.  Here are some of our thoughts on how to help children solve problems, and some ideas you can try at home as well.

Problems Come In All Shapes and Sizes

Every day of life contains a series of “problems” to be solved.  We are constantly finding solutions for lost keys, stacks of mail, an empty milk carton, a sick child, a low gas tank, a low checking account, an upset employer, traffic…the heart rate goes up just thinking about it!

Our adult problems can feel overwhelming at times.  Although our preschooler’s problems may look simple and obvious to us, it’s important for us to recognize that their problems may feel just as overwhelming to them.

solve problems

But not all problems are stressful.  Learning a new skill, creating something new, and facing new challenges also present the opportunity to solve problems.  For a preschooler, the process of learning how to come up with a solution, like building this fence for the barn animals, is challenging and, most often, fun!

Teach Them How to Express Their Feelings

solve problems

Feelings are one of those things preschoolers are learning how to manage.  Let’s be honest –  aren’t we all?  But there are healthy and unhealthy ways to express feelings.

We can start by modeling healthy expression of feelings as caregivers.  Then, another tool to help you teach your preschooler are “I statements.”  Using “I statements” not only helps your child identify what they are feeling, it is a healthy way to communicate those feelings to others.

Here are some examples:

  • I feel angry when…
  • I feel sad when…
  • I think a good solution would be…

Using “I statements” avoids pointing blame on others and acknowledges that what we are saying is our own thoughts and opinions and not fact. Although, you may want to be prepared for a preschooler to argue their thoughts are, indeed, fact!

Ask the Right Questions

Questions are a fabulous tool for coming to solutions!  We can ask questions to help solve problems of discovery, as well as leading the thought process through a social disagreement or hurt feelings.

solve problems

  • What will happen if? A great question for discovery!  While playing, have children try different variables.  What happens if I stack this here?  What happens if we add this water to the sand?  What happens if we drop this leaf and feather at the same time?
  • Is there another way you can do it?  Especially three-year-olds can get fixated on one right solution.  By asking your child if there is another way, he or she can step back and brainstorm the possibilities.
  • How did that make you feel?  Whenever we have a social conflict arise at UDA Creative Arts Preschool, the first thing we ask is how the situation made the child feel.  Identifying their feelings helps them recognize their emotions and identify the desire to avoid this same situation in the future.
  • How do you think they feel? What a wonderful opportunity for children to learn how to empathize and have compassion!
  • How can we make this a win-win situation?  Learning how to compromise is necessary for healthy relationships in life.  Some ideas for making compromises are turn-taking, sharing, and “let’s make a deal”.

Their Solution May Look Different Than Yours

solve problems

So, your child decided the colander was a better helmet than the one in the dress-ups.  No biggie!  Usually your solution to a problem is going to look different than your child’s.  Just like math, there is more than one way to find the solution.

There may be times when the sandals for sledding are just not going to cut it; however, in order to build confidence in problem solving, make sure you allow your child to use their solution as often as possible.  If they do march out in the sandals, present the problem of being cold and see if they can come up with a new solution.

Remember, this is a process.  Your two-year-old will probably not be able to work as a team to create a “turn rotation,” while your four-year-old posse may have it all drawn out on paper for you.

Use Literature to Model

solve problem

What Do You Do With a Problem? by Kobi Yamada and Mae Besom is a darling book about tackling our problems.  We highly recommend this book as a tool to discuss how to deal with problems, and how they can be a positive thing in our lives.

Literature is a great way to discuss problem solving with your child.  Most books have some kind of a dilemma.  Ask your children, (You guessed it!), more questions.

  • What is the character’s problem?
  • How do you think that character feels?  
  • How do you think they are going to solve the problem?  
  • What would you do?

It thrills us to watch our sweet preschoolers leave our four-year-old program not coming to teachers to solve their problems, but hearing them say things like, “I know!  Let’s make this a win-win situation!”  Children are very capable to solve problems when given the opportunity to practice.  Come see how we are making problem solving a daily skill at UDA Creative Arts Preschool.  You can schedule a tour by calling (801) 523-5930.

Written by: Elsje Denison

 

How to Gauge Your Child’s Speech and Language Development

 

speech and language development

Your child is always watching and listening, soaking up language and communication skills at the speed of light. And did you know that in those first early years, the interactions your child has with adults will help set the stage for how well your child will learn? Along with your child’s preschool teachers, you can have a hugely positive impact on your child’s speech and language development — giving your child the gift of academic (and life!) confidence.

“Children who develop strong language and communication skills are more likely to arrive at school ready to learn. They also are less likely to have difficulties learning to read and are more likely to have higher levels of achievement in school.”

And children who can communicate their needs, wants, and interests have an easier time engaging with those around them. Plus, it’s simply more fun for a child when he can be a full participant in what’s going on!

The first five to six years of life are a sensitive period for developing language skills, and you can make the most of those years by promoting high-quality language interactions. Read on to find out how.

Stages of Language Development

When children are infants and babies, they understand far more words than they can speak. By the end of their first year, they’re experts at pseudo-language — that is, their babbling actually mimics their native language. Next, they move on to single words, or holophrases, and those little smarties can use pointing, emphasis, and more to indicate different meanings of the word.

Between 18 and 20 months, children have a vocabulary of about 300 words and begin putting two-word sentences together, like, “Eat banana.” Soon, their sentences get a bit longer and indicate more meaning. “Where cat go?”

The ball really gets rolling after this, and by age 3, children have a vocabulary of about 1,000 words and can speak in full sentences with adults about ideas, needs, desires, and more. They begin to understand grammar rules, and they make a lot of sense (most of the time!).

By about age 6, children have a vocabulary between 8,000 and 14,000 words, and they continue to improve pronunciation, understanding, and abilities.

speech and language development

Are You Concerned About Your Child’s Speech and Language Development?

As parents, we’re always worried about our kids. It’s easy to compare your child to one of his preschool classmates or one of her best friends. It’s wise to pay attention to warning signs, but getting worked up over comparisons will only cause you and your child stress.

Instead, keep an eye out for these signs  of speech and language development in your preschool-aged child:

Understanding

  • Struggling to understand what gestures mean
  • Having a hard time following directions
  • Having trouble answering questions
  • Struggling to identify objects and pictures
  • Struggling to take turns when talking with others

Talking

  • Having a hard time asking questions
  • Struggling to name objects
  • Having trouble using gestures
  • Having a hard time putting words together into sentences
  • Struggling to learn songs and rhymes
  • Having trouble using correct pronouns, like “she” or “they”
  • Having trouble knowing how to start a conversation and keep it going

Early reading and writing

  • Having trouble with holding a book right side up
  • Struggling to look at pictures in a book and turn pages
  • Having trouble telling a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end
  • Having a hard time naming letters and numbers
  • Struggling to learn the alphabet

If you’re concerned about your child’s speech and language development, talk with her preschool teacher and/or doctor, and begin working with a speech language pathologist.

How to Encourage Speech Language Development

If your child has delays, his speech language pathologist will give you specific activities to do. But whether your child struggles or not, the following activities can help your child develop strong speech and language skills — and they help to form bonds between the two of you as well!

Talk

  • Talk a lot. From the time your child is a baby, keep a dialogue going. Describe what you see and what you’re doing, ask your baby questions, and respond when your baby responds.  As your child grows, continue to talk — and actually listen.
  • Pause what you’re doing when your child talks to you and make eye contact to model good listening behavior.
  • Encourage language, in addition to gestures your child may be using to communicate.
  • Ask questions that give your child a choice.
  • Point out silly things in books and have your child tell you why those things are silly.
  • Have your child explain what’s happening in a picture book or family photo.
  • Sing songs and make music.
  • Read, read, read! Read picture books, cereal boxes, store signs, and more. Just read.
  • Discuss the stories you read.
  • Sing nursery rhymes together.
  • Tell stories to each other.
  • Have your child retell or act out a story you’ve read.
  • Ask your child what he likes about the story.

As you make language and speech development a priority, many of these ideas will become second nature to you. But no matter what, we’re pretty sure you’ll always be amazed by the things your preschooler says!

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool,  we encourage our students to develop their language and speech abilities throughout each day as we go about our multisensory activities. Our teachers are trained in listening and encouraging children to increase their speaking abilities, and we love helping our children succeed. Give us a call at (801) 523-5930 to schedule a tour and see the preschool in action.

What’s Happening at UDA Creative Arts Preschool — D Is for Dinosaur

We have so much fun at UDA Creative Arts Preschool, and our themed weeks create a framework for important concepts to be taught while enjoying subjects that interest the children (and adult teachers!). 

Recently, we had a blast during our “D Is for Dinosaur” week. We packed in plenty of roaring fun, hands-on learning, fine-motor skill development, history lessons, science lessons, movement and music activities, a field trip, and so much more. We’re busy from the moment the children to arrive to the time they’re picked up!

Paleontologists in Training

d is for dinosaur

d is for dinosaur

The children were thrilled to pretend to be paleontologists with their own tools (a mallet, a plastic knife that acted as a chisel, and a brush) and unearth dinosaur skeletons from blocks. While they had an absolute blast, this activity also helped to develop hand/eye coordination.

d is for dinosaur

Digging through the sensory bin of sand, the children found plastic dinosaur pieces and put them together to make a dinosaur skeleton. Not only did the field of paleontology become more familiar to them, but they developed visual discrimination skills with this activity.

Dinosaur Habitat in a Box

d is for dinosaur

Everyone added a new word to their vocabulary: Habitat.

Together, we looked at books and photos of dinosaurs and talked about what it would have looked like where they lived and what they would have needed to survive. Then, with sand, play dough, plastic trees, plastic dinosaurs, and more, each child made their own dinosaur habitat. They included volcanoes, hot lava, a river or lake, and more. Some children even added nests and eggs because they remembered we had learned that dinosaurs hatch from eggs. We love when concepts come together like this!

Dinosaur Stomp

d is for dinosaur

During creative movement class, we moved like dinosaurs in a dinosaur stomp. We also sang songs that helped the children learn to distinguish between different dinosaurs.

Playing Is Learning

d is for dinosaur

d is for dinosaur

Children learn through play, so dinosaurs are heavily featured in our play and art time as well. We even incorporated dinosaurs into our letter and number recognition activities.

d is for dinosaur

d is for dinosaur

d is for dinosaur

Finally, we took advantage of being so close to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. Everyone enjoyed this fun field trip where the children could get even more hands-on dinosaur experience with their parents.

UDA Creative Arts Preschool believes in developing the whole child through a variety of multisensory activities. Give us a call at (801) 523-5930 to arrange a visit and see what we’re up to.

Landing the Helicopter- Teaching Life Skills

teaching life skills

We can all agree that our end goal is a happy, productive, independent adult who knows how to contribute to society.  The question is how do we get from Point A, infant in arms, to Point B, this “functioning” adult?  It’s strange to think of our preschooler as an adult, but sometimes stepping back and changing our perspective can help us “land the helicopter” of parenting as we begin teaching life skills.

teaching life skills

Helicopter parenting refers to parents who “hover” over their child, protecting them from any harm and solving all their problems.  It’s instinctive for parents to protect their children, so striking the balance between protecting and allowing life’s experiences to teach our child can be tricky.  

Professionals agree that failure to allow children the independence they need to learn life skills creates individuals with increased anxiety, decreased self-worth, under-developed coping skills and a sense of entitlement.  Yikes! So what are some things we can do increase autonomy and a positive self-image in our children?

5 Tools for Teaching Life Skills

TEACH

It may be stating the obvious, but sometimes our expectations are too high if we don’t set children up for success.  Then, when they fail, we get a false sense of their capabilities. Before expecting a child to perform a task, model it for her.  The Boy Scouts of America trains its leaders in the Teaching EDGE Method.

Educate- Explain the “why’s.” We put the plates facing the middle of the dishwasher and the cups upside down because the water sprayer spins and will clean them better there.  We feed the dog because, just like humans, he needs food for energy to move, and so his tummy doesn’t feel hungry.

Demonstrate- We show them where the dishes are placed in the dishwasher and how to fill the dog bowls with the right amount of food and water.

Guide- Stand by them as they try it themselves, ready to make gentle corrections as needed.

Enable- Allow them to do it autonomously, watching from a distance, and again making gentle corrections only when necessary.

TRUST

Trust your child’s capabilities.  I’m not talking about trusting your preschooler with your grandmother’s china.  But become familiar with what is age-appropriate for your child and trust him to start trying new things.  This website offers ideas of age-appropriate life skills for all different ages.  It’s easy to forget to teach tying shoelaces and making a phone call in our world of velcro and text messaging.  They are capable, they just need the practice.

PATIENCE

teaching life skills

Akin to trust is patience. And some patience. And then some more patience.  Waiting for a three-year-old to put his shoes on could tip your stress levels over breaking point as you’re trying to hurry out the door.  Allow your preschooler ample time to learn new skills in a stress-free environment.  And on those stressful, have-to-get-out-the-door days, it’s okay to rotate which things your child will be autonomous on for that particular day.  Just make sure you are giving them enough opportunities to really learn the skills.  

OBSERVE

Gandhi taught, “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory.” If our child doesn’t learn to get that coat zipper up the first, second, or fifteenth time, lovingly encourage him to keep trying.  Allow the struggle. Only step in if frustration levels are becoming overwhelming to your child.

teaching life skills

In our world of instant gratification, it’s important for our children to experience working hard to gain success.  Like the chick hatching from it’s egg, if we do it for her, she will lose the strength and ability to become. Let them experience satisfaction. Sometimes the hardest part is keeping our hands to ourselves when we yearn to reach out and “fix” the problem.

CELEBRATE

Once a new skill is achieved, help them recognize their success and celebrate it!  Often the feeling of satisfaction is reward enough.  But sometimes it’s also fun to celebrate with something special.

teaching life skills

One of our preschool families celebrates with “the fox plate.”  Whomever has accomplished a special achievement gets to decide what the fox “says”, as they sing the song, “What Does the Fox Say”.  And naturally, they get the plate that night.

teaching life skills

Another idea is to have a special toy that is played with when a life skill has been achieved.  This toy was played with every time one little boy was successful on the potty.  

teaching life skills

Charts are another fun way to measure and celebrate success as children set and achieve goals.  Some reward ideas are: a visit to the library or park, staying up twenty minutes past bedtime, dance party, some family outside play time, etc.

 

Whatever the celebration is, the years of progressing towards that happy, well-rounded adult is definitely worth landing the helicopter and celebrating along the way.  A great rule to remember is: never do for your child what he can do for himself.  Check out this great article for more ideas to help your child on her road to independence.  

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we are dedicated to teaching life skills to our preschoolers as we celebrate their successes and failures alike.  We believe in the process of learning and satisfaction we find along the way.  We’d love to show you!  You can schedule a tour by calling (801) 523-5930.

Written by: Elsje Denison

September School Adventures

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

We have loved starting our new school year at UDA Creative Arts Preschool with our adorable preschoolers!  September has been full of fun school adventures.  Here are a few highlights of what we’ve been up to:

A is for Animal Week

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

Our four legged friends were almost as obedient as the kids. (Wink wink.)  

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

We had so much fun discussing and meeting different pets.

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

And who knew a hedgehog was so fun to explore?  In fact, who even knew what a hedgehog was?

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

But we do now, and our new little friend kept our preschoolers quite intrigued.

B is for Bird

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

This little bird’s nest made the rounds at circle time as we discussed a bird’s home and her eggs.

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

Our character trait, kindness, in action.

C is for Caterpillar

Caterpillar Week has been quite scientific as we’ve discussed the life-cycle of a butterfly.

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

Our caterpillars made their chrysalises right in their jar!  

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

We were all fascinated with their transformation!

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

We applied our scientific learning to our movement and art class as well.  Here we are crawling like little caterpillars.

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

We learned symmetry as we created our own bright butterflies.  We’re not sure if it’s more fun to paint with our fingers or to see the discovery on the children’s faces when we open their butterfly and see their art on both wings.  This is a fun school art activity you can continue discussing at home.

Try This At Home!

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

The kids love this activity and it’s so easy to replicate.  

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

We start out with the primary colors using water and food coloring.  

UDA Creative Arts Preschool

Give your child an ice cube tray and some droppers (a clean egg carton and a spoon works, too), and let the color experimentation begin!

 

We hope you will continue your child’s learning at home as you discuss and continue some of our school activities at home.  Parents and guests are always welcome to come see our school adventures in action.  You can schedule an appointment, (801) 523-5930.  Or you can learn more about UDA Creative Arts Preschool on our website.

 

Let’s Play — Why Your Child Needs Play-Based Learning

play-based learning

Keeping up with the Joneses has always been a hazard of modern life. We want what our neighbors have. And try as we might, we just can’t shake this competition when it comes to parenting. Even the least-affected among us want our children to excel academically, socially, physically, and more.

And we naturally worry when it seems like our child is falling behind. But in the rush to make sure our kids keep up, we sometimes focus too heavily on academics, sports, and more. While these components of childhood are all important, we may forget one very important thing:

Play.

play-based learning

It may look like our kids are just wasting time when they’re playing, but it’s actually a critical component of their development. In fact, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights even recognizes play as a right of every child!

Read on to learn why play is so important at home and at school — and how you can make sure your child gets enough of it!

The Many Benefits of Play-Based Learning

Children need to learn their ABCs and 123s, and play is one way to effectively make that happen. When you incorporate fun into regular lessons, children just get it.

But the benefits of play-based learning extend far beyond academics. Play develops imagination, cognitive strength, and dexterity. It allows children to have control over their environment, giving them confidence and the ability to master what they’re doing. It helps children face fears in a safe space, and it lets them practice adult roles. They learn how to work in groups, to negotiate, and to advocate for themselves. They learn to try on different interests, and find what they’re really passionate about.

And that’s all just from unstructured play!

play-based learning

When a teacher uses guided play as a teaching tool, she can ensure her students build vocabulary skills, gain background knowledge on subjects being taught, and even push through academic challenges.

Indeed, researchers have determined that successful learning contains four key ingredients. The best learning happens when children are:

  • Mentally active
  • Engaged
  • Socially interactive
  • Building meaningful connections to their lives

Think of the last time you watched your child play. Whether you noticed it at the time, chances are good that you saw all of those ingredients mixing together for a deliciously fun time of learning.

How Parents Can Incorporate Play-Based Learning at Home

  • Make time for it! In your own life, you probably won’t relax unless it’s part of a daily ritual or if it’s put on the calendar. But much as you suffer when you don’t leave time for relaxation, children suffer when they don’t have time to play. Include it in your daily routines.
  • Step back. You don’t have to direct your child’s play. If your child calls a dinosaur a parrot, don’t correct her. Let her direct her own play. She’s building worlds of imagination.
  • But play with them too! There’s a time to step back, and there’s a time to engage. Playing with your child gives you a front-row seat to the stage of your child’s mind. It’s beneficial for both of you when you get down on your child’s level and play. But the key? Follow your child’s lead. Don’t take over. Don’t make judgment calls on his decisions. Just do what he does, and follow his lead.
  • Provide materials. Give your child new materials to play with — fabric pieces, play-doh, ribbon, dry pasta, empty tissue boxes… you get the idea. Don’t give any direction; just let them play.
  • Go outside. A change of scenery opens the mind. Head out to your backyard, to the park, or to a nature spot and see what your child comes up with.
  • Allow for mistakes. Learning happens when children are allowed to make mistakes.
  • Appreciate your children’s efforts. Display their artwork, tell them you’re impressed that they continued to build a block tower even when it kept toppling over, and praise them for being kind to playmates.
  • Get messy. (Well, as much as your comfort level will allow!)

play based learning

Need some ideas for what you can do together? Try these on for size:

  • Draw with chalk outside
  • Read books
  • Put puzzles together
  • Dress up
  • Play together at the playground
  • Go for a walk
  • Dance to music
  • Play board games or card games
  • Play with puppets
  • Arrange or sort tiny toys or trinkets
  • Do housework together
  • Kick, throw, or bounce a ball
  • Jump in leaf piles
  • Play hopscotch
  • Draw, paint, or color

Remember — while there is much you can do with your child, she also benefits from playing on her own. Don’t stress about how you play, how often you play, or if you’re playing the right things. Just allow for play — structured and unstructured — in your home.

At UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we take a play-based learning approach in our classrooms. We guide children to use their imagination to help concepts stick, learn new ways of doing things, and more.

 

Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose- The Benefits of Multisensory Learning

multisensory learning

There is no question that babies are learning to identify the world around them with their senses.  From the familiar smell and sound of mom, to feeling swaddled and warm, babies are participating in multisensory learning.  

Multisensory Learning

It should be no surprise that preschoolers are continuing in their quest to identify and explore their environment through multisensory learning.  For those of us who are not immersed in the child development vernacular, multisensory just means using more than one of the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) in a learning activity.  So here is an easy rule of thumb: the more senses the activity uses, the more effective the learning will be.

Benefits of Multisensory Learning

We all have a different learning style, the most common being visual or verbal. But one of the great benefits of multisensory learning is utilizing all learning styles.  Furthermore, did you know that multisensory learning can also help children with learning and attention issues?  These children are better equipped to collect data and problem solve as they participate in a more hands-on approach to learning.

Studies have also shown that multisensory learning increases proficiency and effectiveness of learning as it accesses more parts of the brain, improves memory, and enhances brain development. Don’t be surprised if your child is repetitive when doing a multisensory activity.  This type of learning is all about the process!

What Does Multisensory Learning Look Like?

To the untrained eye, multisensory learning may look a lot more like play than learning.  Look a little closer and you’ll find that multisensory play is actually their little brains at work.  

multisensory learning

Put together a puzzle and your little guy is using his sight as well as critical thinking and kinesthetic learning.  Talk about the puzzle as you complete it and you’ve added verbal and social learning styles.

multisensory learning

Role play gives children the opportunity to handle objects in their world as they discuss and apply their usefulness, using logical–and sometimes not-so-logical–thinking.  They are able to develop social learning skills as well as a combination of visual, verbal, and even auditory learning.  (When was the last time you noticed your preschooler singing while playing?  Yep!  That was auditory learning!)

Water tables are fabulous multisensory learning tools, as they just beg to be played in!  Whether using rice, water, sand, beans, or water beads, the feel of the medium on your hands and fingers are firing those synapsis all over the place!  Add the toys, and our preschoolers are busy little bees learning laws of physics while their processing brains go wild.

3 Multisensory Learning Activities to Try at Home

Puzzles and role playing are easy to play at home, too.  Get a plastic tub in the back yard and fill it with water, add a funnel, and you have your own water table as well.  But here are a few more fun multisensory learning activities to try at home:

1-Play-doh

The store-bought or homemade kind both work great.  Not only do they work their little kinetic minds while kneading the dough, they process so much more when you give them tools to use.   Here are a few ideas:

  • Plastic knife or fork
  • Plastic scissors
  • Cookie cutters
  • Milk lids
  • Wire whisk
  • Measuring cups
  • Scale
  • Muffin tins
  • Rolling pin
  • Stampers- any shape you have around the kitchen

And if mixing colors gives your OCD heart an attack, make your own dough and let them help you mix the colors in. (Make sure the dough is cool enough.) You can always make more if the final product is “blah” in color.

Homemade Playdough

2 c flour

2 c water

1 c salt

2 T oil

4 t cream of tartar or alum

Food coloring- add to liquid

(Or add a package of Kool-Aid for scent and color)

Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes until ball is formed.  Knead until stiff.  Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

2- Cook!

Popcorn. Lemonade. Cinnamon Toast. Any food preparation your preschooler can participate in introduces them to textures, smells, colors, shapes and best of all, taste!  Not to mention all the small muscle development, independence, and scientific learning it fosters.  This Rainbow Salad recipe is healthy and perfect for little hands to make with a plastic knife and parental supervision.  Don’t forget to discuss shapes and colors as you make it!

multisnesory learning

Rainbow Salad

½ c sliced strawberries (sliced with egg slicer)

1 small can mandarin oranges, drained

½ c pineapple chunks

½ c kiwi, slices cut into triangles

½ c blueberries

½ c red grapes, cut in half

Mix and enjoy.

 

3- Textile Mosaic

Grab some different textiles and colors and let your child cut and paste them.  What shapes can she make?  What sound do they make if they crinkle?  (Lois Ehlert, illustrator of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a fabulous textile artist if you need some ideas.)

Here some example mediums to use:

  • Tinfoil or foil paper
  • Corrugated cardboard
  • Felt
  • Any scraps of fabric
  • Feathers
  • Pipe-cleaners
  • Craft foam
  • Newspaper or magazines
  • Construction paper
  • Small sticks and pinecones

 

This month at UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we have been learning all about our senses and we are dedicated to implementing multisensory learning! In addition, we are prepared to teach all styles of learning, including the “taster” who is prone to put that paint brush right in his mouth.  We invite you to come watch us in action.  You can schedule a tour today by calling (801) 523-5930.

Written by: Elsje Denison

Music Matters! How Music Benefits Preschool Learners

We all know of the importance of preschool when it comes to ABC’s and 123’s, but what about the Do Re Mi’s?  Let’s consider how music benefits children, as well as how can you enhance that learning with music activities at home.

Albert Einstein said, “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music.  I live my daydreams in music.  I see my life in terms of music.”   

Really, is there anything music doesn’t teach?  Music has the ability to reach every part of us, developing our whole selves.  It moves us and gets us moving.  It brings us together and creates meaning.  

Music Benefits for Preschool Learning

Here is a list of some of the ways we use music at UDA Creative Arts Preschool to benefit your child’s learning.

    • Math Skills are developed as children learn patterns, sequencing, beat, rhythm, and dynamics.
    • Memory is enhanced as children learn lyrics and repeated patterns, as well as curriculum.
    • Language develops as children recognize sounds, syllables, vocabulary, story sequencing, and sentence structure.
    • Science Skills are developed as children discover cause and effect with instruments and body movements. UDA Creative Arts Preschool also uses music to teach science curriculum in the exploration of the world around them.
    • Motor Skills are used as children use instruments and create movement.  Children love the opportunity to move their bodies in various ways to the music and to internalize tempo and dynamics.  Also, small motor skills develop as children learn how to clap and shake and tap instruments.
    • Brain Development occurs as children use both their right and left brain hemispheres simultaneously.  They practice using their eyes, ears, and bodies at the same time.
    • Emotional Development occurs as children learn to recognize feelings created by different styles of music.  Like Einstein said, it inspires children to dream and create.
    • Social Skills are developed as children interact with one another and the teacher during songs, and as they learn to take turns with the instruments.
    • Self-Discipline is practiced as children learn to pause before playing, to leave their instruments in their laps, and to share.
    • Listening Skills are developed as children listen to learn lyrics and rhythms and focus on sounds in order to recreate them.
    • Happiness and joy are felt as the children giggle and wiggle, laugh and smile.

 

Music benefits children

Music Activities For Preschoolers You Can Do At Home

While we are implementing this wonderful teaching tool with our music activities at UDA Creative Arts Preschool, we don’t want you to miss out on the fun!  Consider these music activities you can do with your preschooler at home:

1- Expose Your Preschooler to a Variety of Music.  Children songs are so fun, and we all have our favorite radio stations, but add some variety to give your child exposure to different rhythms and timbres.  The Salt Lake County Library System has a collection of music you can download for free with Freegal.

2- Name that Instrument! Play a game when you listen to music and have your child identify the instruments they hear.  Drums and guitar are pretty easy to find on the radio.  Go to a classical station to add more instrument families.  You may even challenge yourself!

3- Make use of Downtime! We all have those moments when an app is just the thing to entertain our rambunctious munchkin while we…fill in the blank.  Why not make it a learning opportunity?  Common Sense Media provides a list of music learning apps for preschoolers, along with ratings and summaries so you can chose what works best for your little learner.

4- Sing! Sing in the shower! Sing in the rain!  You don’t have to be a professional for your child to love your voice.  Sing a phrase and have them come up with a rhyming word for the next line.  Composing your own songs while you flip pancakes, brush hair, or tie shoes will encourage your child’s creativity, develop language skills, and most importantly, convey your love!

Ask your preschooler what songs they are learning at school and some of our budding musicians may give you a concert.  If you can’t wait for our next program for a performance, come visit us at UDA Creative Arts Preschool and see for yourself how music benefits our little learners.  

Written by: Elsje Denison