The Best Activities to Prepare Children for Kindergarten

Ask the Experts:  Donna Tavalieri, PT and Megan West, OTR/L

As pediatric physical and occupational therapists we are often asked "What types of activities are best to prepare my child for kindergarten?"  We believe that by building a good foundation of gross and fine motor skills, children will be better prepared for the expectations of kindergarten and beyond. 

Good gross motor skills provide strength, balance and coordination in the body, arms and legs that is needed to support fine motor control e.g. sitting at a desk to color or write.

Ideas to promote gross motor development:
1. Painting or coloring with chalk on a large easel, drawing/coloring with sidewalk chalk on cement and/or using soap crayons in the bathtub (these activities use more whole arm movement)
2. Digging in the dirt or sand
3. Jumping, galloping, skipping
4. Climbing, hanging, swinging, etc. on playground equipment

Fine motor coordination skills continue to become more refined as children progress through kindergarten. 

Ideas to promote fine motor development:
1. Hand/finger strengthening activities

• Molding and cutting Play Dough to make different imaginative things
• Building with resistive type blocks e.g. Legos
• Squeezing a squirt bottle to erase the chalk drawings from the sidewalk or easel
• Playing with resistive type toys e.g. Velcro toy fruits and vegetables, legos
• Crumple paper and throw into trash (use trash can as a target for more fun!)

2. Two handed activities

• Stringing beads of different sizes big to smaller on pipe cleaners or shoe laces
• Hold piece of paper with one hand and use other hand to snip with child scissors.
• Pull apart toys e.g. Legos
• Ripping paper to be put in the trash

3.  Grasp skills

• Coloring with small pieces of chalk or crayons (break them down from their original size)
• Picking up small food items such as Cheerios, raisins, M&M's etc. with pointer finger and thumb
• Pushing small objects into Play Dough and then dig them out
• Lite Brite

Most importantly explore, be creative and have fun with your child's development!

Donna Tavalieri, PT is a licensed pediatric physical therapist. Megan West OTR/L is a licensed pediatric occupational therapist.  Donna and Megan are both graduates of Wayne State University.  They are therapists at Pediatric Potentials, a division of The Detroit Institute for Children in St. Clair Shores.  Pediatric Potentials is a member of The Family Center's Association of Professionals.

Save The Date
'Making a Successful Transition into Kindergarten' presented by The Family Center
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
7:00-9:00pm  Panel presentation followed by Q&A session
Barnes Early Childhood Center, 20090 Morningside Dr., Grosse Pointe Woods.  
Fee $5 per family
This annual winter school transition program will feature a panel of experts - followed by an open Q & A panel discussion. Tavalieri and West will be two of the panelists for this special Ask the Experts presentation that will be offered to help preschoolers prepare for kindergarten.
Register online at www.familycenterweb.org or contact The Family Center, 313.432.3832.

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