Online Sources for Kiddie Learning Activities

Do you have children who go to preschool for two or three times a week only? Or do you have kids who do home schooling? I'm sure they do a lot of activities at their schools, and for those who do home schooling, they have a curriculum that they follow. Still, just like any other kid, using the kid's time wisely with learning and fun activities is a good idea to keep them busy and going.

Some teachers provide materials for students so they can continue learning at home. But if you wish to look for some on the Internet, here are some suggested websites that give activities that your children would definitely enjoy, especially during weekends and long breaks.

1. First School (Preschool Activities and Crafts). This is a very good site because it caters to children aged 18 months to 6 years old. Since their site has the word "first", they focus on children who are learning topics or themes for the first time. For those who are being introduced to letters, they provide users with printable letters that they children could cut and color. There is no need to be a member of the site to be able to print these materials. An accompanying activity that would focus on the sound of letters is provided. To introduce students to writing, printable alphabet worksheets that would allow them to trace letters are also available. There are also printable pictures of animals, color game flashcards and step by step instructions on how to do crafts. The site covers a wide range of activities with topics like health, weather, multi-cultural celebrations and holidays, fables and even some biblical activities. They even have activities that teach children about safety. They have interesting games and project-making activities that focus on fire prevention, safety on a vehicle, and knowing the role of police officers and other important members of society. Go to www.first-school.ws to discover this wonderful site.

2. Preschool Express. Creatively done, the website's themes are divided in what the creator calls as stations. Nicely created was a calendar for each month that could come in handy for parents of children who stay home a a lot. A suggested activity is placed on each day of the calendar, and this would allow variety in things that the children can do. The stations included are art, alphabet, music, games, patterns and many more. So as not to get lost with the abundance of activities, the owner of this site was creative enough in grouping most of the activities in each station into 5 groups: winter, spring, summer, fall and anytime. This could be a guide for the parents and even teachers who may want the children to enjoy and learn from their plenty of learning games, stories, crafts, songs and rhymes. A bonus of the site is the "Learning Station" which is geared to share a lot of information to parents. There are a lot of reading articles for parents. Topics include raising the self-esteem of children, teaching children to be responsible, and tips for parents on how to ready their kindergarten kids. Visit this site at www.preschoolexpress.com.

3. Preschool Education. This website provides creative ways of teaching young children. Choose a topic, and a book would be suggested and then a step-by-step guide to an activity that should follow. The activities may be using cut-outs, or simple cut and glue fun games. What is very interesting is the site's wide collection of songs that can be used by children beginning to learn the alphabet. Many contributors send their lyrics of their own songs that are adapted from old nursery rhymes. For example, an activity that focuses on the letter "A" includes a song that goes "I'm a little airplane" that has to be sung to the tune of the song "I'm a little teapot". Other than songs, poems for each letters are also being submitted by contributors. Their other activities are quite simple but very interesting. Parents and other grown-ups can make use of materials at home, fruits, food, plants and flowers to teach concepts of letters and numbers. A very detailed guide to help explain concepts are also available for the users. They also provide readers with a lot of interesting articles about children's schooling and development. Type www.preschooleducation.com to go to this exciting site.

4.Kinder Art. This is a website that provides both free activities and suggested materials that can be purchased. They have tons of fun activities on learning about the alphabet, pre-writing, math, music, shapes, health, science, safety, stories and poems, safety and self-awareness. Aside from the provided fun games, crafts and activities for each topic, they give a list of suggested books and materials for each topic. These materials and books can be purchased, but they give a very good description of these materials for sale. Kinder Art provides fun and easy recipes, printable coloring pages, and hands-on instructions for seasonal crafts. A very interesting part of this site is called "The Fridge" where they allow submission of cool art work done by children. They have a page that exhibits submitted and accepted art work. The site has a good collection of suggestions for creative use of recycled materials, as well as links for fund raising endeavors through recycling. Their website is www.kinderart.com.

5. Funschool. This would interest children who are already into computers at an early age, and may have the motor skills to use the mouse. Similar to other websites that has games, this one makes use of very colorful pictures and interesting sounds that could really get the attention of little ones. Although it does provide some printable materials like coloring pages, most of its activities are done on the computer. They focus on improving skills that involve numbers, letters, shapes and colors. The child would be able to develop coordination as well as he work on these skills. The games are fun yet simple. They have catchy sound effects and cute child-friendly stuff like fishes, cars, trucks, and school bus. Other interesting games include creating a house, and a coloring activity that incorporates learning the alphabet as well. Bigger kids can use the site with activities involving multiplication and fraction. Some simple recipes that children can make are also shared. A page for parents and teachers is also available. They provide parental tips, health guides and suggested activities for teachers. Visit www.funschool.kaboose.com to enjoy this website.