A Day at Home with your Preschooler

            I recently had the opportunity to spend the day with my four-year-old niece, Brianna. I would like to talk about some observations I made and let you know how we spent some of our days. We started off our day with a healthy lunch and Brianna had a wonderful two-and-a-half-hour nap. After her nap, we had a quick snack of veggies and fruit, and then it was off to explore my backyard.  Wow!  I was very surprised that my niece was so excited and eager to explore.

            Our adventure outside took us to the creek where we talked briefly about the dragonflies that were growing in the water.  I have a dragonfly book that shows us how and where dragonflies grow and live. I also showed her and a blue rubber dragonfly. Both of these things were helpful tools in explaining the growth process to her. 

            I recently had several trees cut down on my property for firewood and some turned into mulch. I never would have thought that this would be a climbing hill for a child.  She went up and down, over and over until she discovered that the tree stumps which were still in the ground. She then started jumping off of them.  Brianna counted one stump, two stumps, three stumps, and four stumps.  I told her how the trees were 70 feet tall and suddenly we are counting to 70!  This also opened the door for us to talk about trees and their growth, why some are small and some are large, some leaves are colorful and some are not.

            All the questions came out, one after another, as we continued on our stop-and-go adventure through the 1/2 acre.  All of a sudden, we came to another creek in the front of the house and she started describing how beautiful it was, using one adjective after another.

            It started to get dark, and we were starting to get hungry, so we headed into the kitchen where we made stuffed shells with cheese and spinach.  We made a mixture of ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, and spinach then we spooned it into jumbo shells which had been partially cooked earlier.  We poured a white sauce on the bottom of the pan, added the shells, put red sauce on top, and finally a sprinkle of shredded cheese.  We baked it until it was golden brown and had it ready for us to eat when her mother came to pick her up.

            Brianna found the bongo drums I had and performed the most songs, keeping the beat and singing song after song.  My son, who teaches music, was impressed with her musical ability. She was able to sing two songs for us using the drums and the shaker egg, keeping two instruments in beat with the song.  Another wow moment for us!  Needless to say, I think this was her favorite part of her day and where she spent a good amount of time creating new songs and singing child ones.

            This is one of the best ways to teach children.  Hands-on, one on one, listening to the child and giving them the opportunity to explore and ask questions.  I hear that the rain is coming this weekend so maybe you can use that time to create your own wonderful adventures with your child.

-Dragonfly Teacher