One of the most difficult things about the childcare business is coming up with creative and easy daycare activities. This is especially true if you have a wide range of ages. Obviously, you want the activities for each child to be age appropriate, and at the same time, promote learning or some other positive result. You also want to make them fun, or you'll never keep the child's interest.
Most likely you will participate in many of the activities, but you also need to have some activities ready which will keep them busy. This allows you to look after some of your other duties also. With all these things on your mind, it sometimes seems like you can get in a rut from doing the same daycare activities over and over. Here are some simple ways to mix things up a bit while still making it beneficial and fun for the children at the same time.
Daycare centers should definitely provide some free play time, which allows the children to learn some social skills and develop their creativity as well. Additionally, you will need to set up some structured daycare activities. Allowing the children to draw and write is important, however doing it too often might become boring and the children won't stay interested.
Choose a Theme
Theme based daycare activities are always fun and popular with the children. Base your activities on any sort of theme you like. The possibilities here are endless. Animals, colors, careers, holiday or seasonal themes are some ideas to get you started. Or just about anything else you can think of. Some activities could be arts or crafts, or maybe a coloring or drawing contest, for example.
Try Acting Out A Story
Another neat idea is to come up with some type of story line and have the children act it out. You come up with the idea, and let the children create the story from there. This really lets them show off their creative side, and children of any age could participate. You could also take it a step further and allow the children to create their own costumes and props. This is a great way add some variety to your daycare activities.
Kid's Choice Day
Something else you can do when you are out of ideas is to simply ask the children exactly what they would like to do. You could pick one day out of the week that could be the kid's choice day. This would definitely eliminate the worry about doing something the children are not interested in. Each child could suggest an idea and then take turns until everybody's ideas are used up. Not only is this fun, but it will give the children confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
Everyone Likes To Help Out
Some of your daycare activities could be incorporated into your daily chores as well. Many children love to help adults with certain tasks. It gives them a sense of importance when they do big people jobs. It could be something as simple as setting the table or arranging a book shelf. It really doesn't matter what the task is, as long as the child is actively involved.
Most likely you will participate in many of the activities, but you also need to have some activities ready which will keep them busy. This allows you to look after some of your other duties also. With all these things on your mind, it sometimes seems like you can get in a rut from doing the same daycare activities over and over. Here are some simple ways to mix things up a bit while still making it beneficial and fun for the children at the same time.
Daycare centers should definitely provide some free play time, which allows the children to learn some social skills and develop their creativity as well. Additionally, you will need to set up some structured daycare activities. Allowing the children to draw and write is important, however doing it too often might become boring and the children won't stay interested.
Choose a Theme
Theme based daycare activities are always fun and popular with the children. Base your activities on any sort of theme you like. The possibilities here are endless. Animals, colors, careers, holiday or seasonal themes are some ideas to get you started. Or just about anything else you can think of. Some activities could be arts or crafts, or maybe a coloring or drawing contest, for example.
Try Acting Out A Story
Another neat idea is to come up with some type of story line and have the children act it out. You come up with the idea, and let the children create the story from there. This really lets them show off their creative side, and children of any age could participate. You could also take it a step further and allow the children to create their own costumes and props. This is a great way add some variety to your daycare activities.
Kid's Choice Day
Something else you can do when you are out of ideas is to simply ask the children exactly what they would like to do. You could pick one day out of the week that could be the kid's choice day. This would definitely eliminate the worry about doing something the children are not interested in. Each child could suggest an idea and then take turns until everybody's ideas are used up. Not only is this fun, but it will give the children confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
Everyone Likes To Help Out
Some of your daycare activities could be incorporated into your daily chores as well. Many children love to help adults with certain tasks. It gives them a sense of importance when they do big people jobs. It could be something as simple as setting the table or arranging a book shelf. It really doesn't matter what the task is, as long as the child is actively involved.
About the Author:
About the Author: This article about Creative Ideas For Daycare Activities was written by prolific writer Fran Jensen. she also writes about many other Daycare related topics on her website.
No comments:
Post a Comment