Value Bookshop’s Reading Notes

A lot of times I hear parents ask “what to do with my child at home?” It can be exhausting coming up with ideas on how to occupy their time. Well, here is one activity that will be fun for your preschooler (and maybe even the slightly older children).

All you need is to lay down some paper on the floor (big enough for them to stand on), and have your child jump/hop from one paper to the next, according to your instruction. You can do it in a way that the paper represents stepping stones or islands that your child use to get from one side of the river/oceon to the other side. Children have wonderful imaginations, so go ahead and tell them about those crocodiles or sharks in the water. Heheheh.

What you lay down on the floor depends on what concept you want to reinforce. Below are a few examples:

• Colors - put down different colored paper e.g. blue, red, yellow, green etc…. Tell them to only use “red” to get across, or “yellow” or “green”. I think you get the idea.
• Numbers - lay down paper where you have written out different numbers. Shout out which numbers they must use to get across.
• Shapes - cut out different shapes e.g. circle, oval, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond. Select which shapes they must jump on to get to the other side.
• Alphabets - have paper with different alphabets written on them. Probably best to only have a maximum of 5 alphabets (ones they are currently learning), or maybe use alphabets found in their name. Call out the alphabets they must hop on to cross to the other side.

Another idea would be create paper that represent several concepts at the same time e.g. blue circle with the number 2, red triangle with the number 7 etc…. That way, you don’t have to create different sets of paper to teach different concepts.

This activity not only helps develop them mentally but also physically. After a while, you can let them play on their own as they make up their own rules on how to get across the river/ocean.

p.s. You might want to tape down the paper so your child won’t slip and fall.