Motivate Your Kindergartner
Ever wish there was a secret to unlocking your child's natural love of learning? Try these tricks.
Use blocks to stack up learning skills and curiosity.
Knowing what excites kids is the key to helping them master new skills and become successful students. Here's how to tap into your child's passions in a fun, meaningful way:
Kindergartners Love: Block-building
How It Helps Learning: Whether your child is constructing a wobbly tower or an elaborate city, playing with blocks fosters creativity, confidence, and problem-solving skills, while teaching math and science skills. "Just by handling blocks, your child learns about size, shape, weight, quantity, and gravity," says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., a child development psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia and co-author of Einstein Never Used Flashcards. When a child lines up blocks on the floor, he's mastering one-to-one correspondence. As he searches for the right-sized triangle to make a roof for his house, he's learning how to sort and categorize. And every time he mulls which block to place next, he's thinking analytically and learning about cause and effect.
Motivating Activities: With a few simple props and prompts, your child will be busy building and learning.
- Offer a variety of building materials. Start with basic wooden unit blocks. "These are wonderfully open-ended and can become something new and different each time your child builds with them," says Amy Flynn, director of the Bank Street Family Center in New York. They also strengthen muscles and gross motor skills, because they have some heft to them when lifted. Make sure your child has other types of blocks to pick from too, in different weights and sizes. Foam blocks, cardboard blocks, smaller, brightly colored blocks, and interlocking blocks, like Legos, are all great choices. "Store them in a way that helps your child learn to classify and organize," suggests Flynn. Stack bigger blocks on low, open shelves, so they're easily seen and accessible. Store smaller items, like connecting blocks or accessories, nearby in bins or baskets.
- Provide props. Vehicles, figures (people and animals), and play food and other accoutrements boost symbolic thinking and help expand story lines. Kids this age will typically recreate structures or scenarios they're familiar with in real life, says Flynn. She suggests also having paper, crayons, and clay on hand, so you can help your child make a sign for her skyscraper or zoo, or sculpt tiny fruits and vegetables for supermarket shopping.
- Talk as you build. Don't take over, but do think out loud with your child as you play. Comment on what she's doing, and ask open-ended questions, like "Why do you think the building keeps falling?" and "What can we do to help it stay up?" Then problem-solve by saying something like, "Let's see if we can find another block for the bottom that might work better." Spark narrative skills by asking your child to tell you more about her construction. "Who lives in that house?" Where are the people going to sleep?" What kinds of things do the people in this city do for fun?" As your child formulates imaginative answers, she's enriching her vocabulary development.
One step ahead: Find out what motivates 1st graders.
