Preschool Ideas

One of my favorite preschool ideas that I use to plan my lessons is the idea of cooperation. This is a new concept for preschoolers. As two year olds they have been busy establishing their independence and ability to do things "by myself". They are so proud that they don't need help.

As they mature it is important to show them that they can work with others to do even more. Working cooperatively doesn't take away from their own abilities but is a way to expand their potential.

The best way to show them how to work cooperatively is provide preschool ideas that create the environment and then offer them the chance to work together to solve a problem.

Here are a few ways to introduce cooperative play to your kids.

The Lost Bear

Tell your students a story about a teddy bear that is lost and cannot find his way home. He should be hidden somewhere in the room, and students must figure out where he is based on the clues in the story. When they find him, they must bring him back home. Once the students find the bear during this preschool game, you can finish the story by telling them that the bear was reunited with his friends and family and that everyone in the village gives your class many thanks and good wishes.

Musical Hula Hoops

This is like musical chairs but it is a game of cooperation instead of getting people “out” of the game. Use 4 hula hoops and lay them on the floor making a square. If you don’t have hula hoops, you can use tape and mark off four large circles of squares. The class will stand in a circle around the hoops. Start by playing music. When the music stops, everyone needs to get into one of the hoops. Start the music again but remove a hoop. When the music stops, the children need to help everyone get into the remaining hoops. Continue until you are down to one hoop and see how well they can help each other get into the one hoop.

Cooperation Challenge

Start this activity by giving each child 3 or 4 blocks at the most. Tell them they can build anything they want with these blocks. Make suggestions to build a house, a zoo, bridge, etc and suggest that they all work together using what each of them have to build a fun project together. Point out that they couldn’t build much alone with just the blocks they have but working together gave them more opportunities to create more things.

This may take a few times doing the same project or trying variations of it until they discover this on their own. With preschoolers, doing and discovering is the best teacher of all! These preschool ideas provide a starting point for you to build upon with your preschool kids.

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