Preschool Learning: Fun for Pennies is Priceless!

Preschoolers spend most of their waking hours learning from the environment around them. What they see, hear, do, smell and taste leave lasting marks upon them at this impressionable age. What you choose for your youngster to do to pass the time can make all the difference in the world later on in life. Some children are given expensive learning toys, others books, others games and yet still others are simply put in front of a visual aid and left to their own devices.

Not all educational opportunities need be expensive ones. Some of the best educational games and aids are easily made from materials you have right in your own home. And these simple aids made with loving hands (and perhaps with the help of your young child) can easily become favorites of any child.

Remember, games not need be limited to home. Duplicates of these games kept in the car, at Grandparents home's or at preschool are also great places to expand a child's world and help them see learn as they go through their day as well!

One of the easiest games to establish word recognition is called "Yes you can read", In this game children will learn to recognize words by their unique shapes, colors and even patterns, This is not actually a reading game but is a game that fosters word recognition from unique words we see throughout our everyday life and establishes self esteem as well as children feel pride for their growing vocabularies.

This is a pre reading game that can be different every time the child plays it or different at wherever the game is located. To prepare for this game, take a newspaper with advertisements (Sunday papers with glossy ads work great here) cut out the names for stores you frequent with their logo such as "TARGET" or "WALMART", merchandise your child may see in your home such as "Sunny D", "General Mills", Captain Crunch" etc.

Mount these names on brightly colored paper to allow for sturdiness and also for a bit of a border to the word. Collect as many names as possible for as many products and stores as possible (also check cupboards for labels on treats and snacks, they work great!)

Place these in a brightly colored box or one that the child has decorated with markers. Now let the child pull out words he knows and "read" to you. The child will mostly be recognizing the labels from colors and logos but as they choose the word, spell the word for them. Show them that TARGET is spelled with a "T" and have them repeat what you have said. After a few times with this game you will see your child begin to look for new words when you are shopping or in the car.

When one is spotted add it to your box of words. A variation of this game can be where the child either pastes the words into a "word book" or puts them on a bulletin board. The choices are endless and the learning fantastic!

Yes I can read! is best used for children who are in preschool through Kindergarten ages, as this is basically a pre-reading to early letter/word recognition game. If older children use this game it can easily be expanded to include the child copying the word into a notebook to help with letter formation as well.

Kept up to date, this is a great way for children to see first hand how much they have learned as they have grown older. This game also teaches observation skills as well as parents of children who have played it for awhile find their child openly will search for words while out and about.

Good luck and remember, learning is a lifelong process and should be fun. There's no need to always make it a serious occasion!