Preschool at Home {Prewriting with Toddlers}

When Riley and I do preschool activities, I have a tendency to be drawn towards the cutesy crafts. I love having pretty finished projects to display in the playroom, but I've recently been forcing myself to make most of our tasks more educational than adorable. While crafts have their place and we do lots of discussing while we're doing them, I know she's ready for some more structured learning activities. 

This week, we did our first prewriting activity - it was fun for both of us and Riley took to it much more quickly than I thought she would. Teacher expectations have such an impact on student learning, I can't help but wonder if she'd have done even better if I'd expected more from her. 

Anyways, here's what we did. It's such an easy activity to recreate, too. It can fit with any theme or topic. Lucky for me, this activity is both educational and cute. 

First, I printed out some pictures for a farm scene. I used this preschool packet and Riley and I glued the pieces on a blank piece of construction paper. I encouraged Riley to make the scene realistic (the horse and the pig are in a "pasture," by the way, not floating in the air), but I allowed her to place the pieces wherever her little heart desired. Of course, we added glitter grass (because everyone knows a craft isn't complete without it). 

After we had our picture, I helped Riley tell a story using her picture. I asked prompting questions about the picture; then I had her name the characters and tell me what they were saying. In the end, we came up with an adorable story about Riley and Daddy spending a day on a farm. 

Chances are, your little one is going to love hearing the story she wrote. She'll probably be able to "read" it without much help because she's so familiar with it, too. I'm planning on making this a weekly activity. Before long, Riley will probably be making up stories all by herself. 

Linking up:
I Can Teach My Child
Six Sisters' Stuff
Friday Photo Journal