5 Activities to Help Prepare your Toddler for Preschool

5 Activities to Help Prepare your Toddler for
Preschool
Starting school is an exciting time for young children and their parents. It can be a daunting time
too. But with a little preparation and encouragement, most children will settle in easily at school.
Don’t worry if your child hasn’t attended a childcare setting or preschool. Playing with other
children, whether friends and family members, or other children at the park or soft play area, is
good practice for forming friendships with classmates at school. Often children, who don’t know
one another will make friends very easily, but if your child struggles, teach them some useful
phrases such as “can I join in?” or “do you want to share?”
One important thing is to keep any preparation completely fun-packed, and learning should not
be a chore. Here are some tried and tested tips to help prepare you toddler for pre-school.
Focus on your child: Make the whole experience as fun as possible. Give your child your full
attention on the way to school. Phone calls can wait. Tell her stories about when you were a little
girl and how much you liked school. Sing songs. Ensure that all the preparation for school is
done well in advance and you focus only on the child right from the time she wakes up. Be
excited, smile a lot, and be happy for her.
Story time: Tell your toddler a lot of stories about going to play school. You may find a lot of them
in exclusive book stalls for kids. Else you could make up your own stories. Choose several to
share with your child over the summer before school starts. Talk about the story and how the
characters are feeling. Ask how your child is feeling.
Use pretend play to explore the idea of preschool. Take turns being the parent, child and teacher.
Act out common daily routines, such as saying bye to mommy and/or daddy, singing songs,
reading stories, having Circle Time, playing outside, and taking naps. Reassure your child that
preschool is a good place where she will have fun and learn. Answer her questions patiently.
This helps children feel more in control, which reduces their anxiety.
Play at your new preschool. Visit your child’s preschool together. Ask when you can tour the
school with your child. Play on the school playground a few times before your child starts the
program. These visits increase your child’s comfort with and confidence in this new setting.
Don’t linger: When it’s time for drop-off, keep your goodbyes short, sweet and simple. Give her a
quick hug, tell her how much you love her, and leave her in the hands of the capable teacher.
Even if she’s crying hysterically, she will likely only cry for a few minutes once you’re out of sight.
But if you linger, the crying will probably last longer.
Also Read: Prepare your Toddler for School