Helping Your Child at Home

Play and communication are key ways in which children learn with enjoyment and challenge. At home with your child, you can provide opportunities both indoors and outdoors for learning through play. As a parent/carer you can encourage your child by providing:

• Dressing up clothes (pieces of material) and props for imaginary games and role play (this could be their favourite character)
• Junk such as cartons and boxes to build and make models and instruments with
• Large boxes to make vehicles, dens, whatever they imagine
• Playdough to manipulate and build up hand strength
• Small world play e.g. Duplo, Lego, Brio, cars, trains, Happyland
• Puppets, soft toys, dolls, different size clothes
• Pencils, pens, crayons, paints, chalks, different sized paper
• Mark making tools to encourage your child’s own attempts at writing
• Greeting cards, magazines, catalogues for your child to cut up, stick, sort and discuss
• Natural materials e.g. cones, leaves, pebbles, shells to sort, compare
• Water and sand play with different size buckets, containers, etc
• Wheeled toys, balls, bats for physical activity
• Cooking together, even making a sandwich
• Toys in the bath

 

Encourage your child to talk about what they are doing and play with them.