From the category archives:

Physical Development

Coloring inside the lines in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart July 18, 2010 Physical Development

Do you want children to learn to color inside the lines? Then follow these very important steps…. Start by giving a child a piece of paper and some crayons…. Then invite the child to draw some lines…. And some shapes….. And then invite the child to color inside the shapes! How important are those lines [...]

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Choosing scissors for your preschooler

by Deborah J. Stewart July 14, 2010 Physical Development

I observed some children cutting today and realized there was an odd assortment of scissors on the table. I noticed that some of the children were struggling with the ability to cut so I wandered about the quality of scissors. I decided to check them out myself. This pair was unusual in that it didn’t [...]

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Turn a box into toddler fun

by Deborah J. Stewart July 11, 2010 Boxes

My plan was to decorate this box and make it really cool like this one here. But as much as I liked the idea of making a cool oven Wy  had other plans. Wy was all about the play! In and Out went Wy And Open and Shut went the “doors” Since the doors were [...]

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A brief look at developmental domains in early childhood education

by Deborah J. Stewart July 10, 2010 Cognitive Development

The early childhood years are filled with staggering growth and development. There are four main areas of development that occur all at the same time: Physical development: In the first years of growth young children are physically developing at a rapid pace. There is both large motor (crawling, walking, running) and fine motor development (eye-hand [...]

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Time to create in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart July 10, 2010 Creative Art

My teacher set the colored tape, black construction paper, scissors, and chalk on the table. All I needed was a little time and the chance to do something all by myself. I concentrated on my work. The tape was sticky and I had to use my hands and my mind to figure out how to [...]

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Parachute play in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart May 23, 2010 Physical Development

Parachute play is a great way to promote teamwork and to get those large muscles moving. The children gather around the parachute and hold on to one of the parachute handles.  There are more children then there are handles on the parachute so the children who are not holding a handle become the ball fetchers. [...]

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Twos at the easel in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart May 5, 2010 Creative Art

In this twos classroom, easel painting is part of the daily routine. The children know how to get their own paint smock, slip it over their head, and then they head over to an open easel where paint, brushes, and paper is ready and waiting for them. Some days they paint on short paper and [...]

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Centers in the preschool classroom

by Deborah J. Stewart April 30, 2010 Cognitive Development

When children enter this classroom, they will discover plenty of things to do and the freedom to explore because each center in this classroom was designed just for them.  At this table the children are creating paintings with the dot painters. At the block center, a couple of boys have decided to pull out the [...]

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Fine motor development in preschool with play dough and straws

by Deborah J. Stewart April 27, 2010 Physical Development

Play dough is such a wonderful resource for building fine motor skills. Wy and I sat down to play with some play dough recently. I cut the straws down so they were a little shorter then showed Wy how to make a ball of play dough and then stick the straws into the play dough. [...]

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Let’s talk about communication

by Deborah J. Stewart March 8, 2010 Language Arts

My guest today is Marcy Fox. Marcy is a speech pathologist and one of our fellow bloggers that I really have enjoyed getting to know. We are all challenged to help young children develop their speech and language and Marcy has provided us with some very important information about this process below… Let’s Talk About Communication [...]

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Large motor skills in the preschool classroom

by Deborah J. Stewart February 4, 2010 Physical Development

Getting large motor skills moving in the classroom is a very important aspect of developmental growth. Especially in the winter time, when children spend less time outdoors, you need to make sure you are investing time in planning activities that promote various types of large motor skills. What kind of large motor activities are there? [...]

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Preschoolers need opportunties to develop their cutting skills

by Deborah J. Stewart November 19, 2009 Physical Development

Give your preschoolers opportunities to develop their cutting skills but before you do so consider a few of the following suggestions: Make sure scissors will actually cut. If you can’t cut a piece of paper with the child-sized scissors you select then chances are, your preschoolers wont be able to either. Have left and right [...]

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