Educational activities for children 3-4 years old
The leading activity in 3-4 years is gaming, so it is better to conduct all classes in the form of a game. And the main need of age is communication and recognition of the child's independence. Therefore, in educational classes for children 3-4 years old, you need to give your child more freedom. To help only as needed and in the form of a suggestion: "Can I try? Maybe I can do it."
The content of the article:
Classes for the development of logical and mathematical thinking
Speech development classes
Physical development classes
Classes for the development of large and small motor skills
Classes for the development of intellectual abilities
Classes for the development of creative abilities
Classes for the development of musical abilities
Classes for the development of social abilities
Classes for the development of household skills
Getting to know the world around you
Classes for sensory development
Conclusion
Classes for the development of logical and mathematical thinking
At the age of 3-4, visual and imaginative thinking prevails. The child can already imagine something as a complete image, but he needs to see all the parts of the image in front of him. Feel them, try them on, move them. Therefore, for most exercises, you will need to make didactic material.
✅"Find the item." Cut out the basic geometric shapes from cardboard: circle, square, triangle, rectangle and oval. Put them on one table, and next to them on another surface — various objects of similar shapes. For example: an apple, a cookie, a triangular box from under something, a book, an oval piece of cloth. You can take fewer figures, but it is not recommended anymore, since it will be difficult for the child to keep them all in attention.
Invite the child to go to the table with the carved figures, and then find a similar-shaped object and lift it over his head. If you choose the right one, clap your hands and praise the child. If it is wrong, suggest thinking again, but do not criticize or scold.
✅"Pentamino". This is a set of 5 flat geometric shapes. Each figure consists of 5 equal squares. The goal of the game is to assemble a figure from individual parts. You can buy a ready-made set with instructions and all didactic material or cut figures according to a template:
Print out the template, paste it on cardboard, cut out the figures
Print out the template, paste it on cardboard, and cut out the figures.
There is a color option that makes the educational activity even more attractive to the child and additionally helps to introduce him to colors.:
And these are examples of figures that can be assembled:
Options for a color set:
Even more schemes can be found in books, for example, Draco M.V. "Stomachion. The Pythagorean game. Pentamino."
And you can also come up with your own figures or collect rectangles. You will get 4 rectangles of different sizes from the set: 6×10, 5×12, 4×15 and 3×20.
✅"Wide–narrow, long–short". For the lesson you will need:
2 toys with different "waists", for example, a doll and a plush bunny;
nylon or satin "belts" of different lengths — on the "waists" of toys;
strips of cardboard of the same length as the fabric ones.
Tell the child that the bunny and the doll are going to a party today. Offer to help them get ready — tie their belts. Then tell them that they want to try on each other's belts and invite the child to change them. At this stage, he will notice that the doll's belt does not fit the bunny, and his does not fit the doll. Explain to the child what is "wide and narrow", "long and short". Explain how to use a belt to measure the length of a cardboard strip (put a belt on it). And then ask him to do it himself and find a pair for each belt.
Speech development classes
Speech development classes
At 3-4 years of age, the child's vocabulary contains 600-25000 words, on average 1,500. But for this you need to study and communicate with the child as much as possible. At this age, he can build complex sentences, for example: "The wind picked up, and then it started to rain," but speech development needs to be helped.
Reading with repetition. The optimal genre is small fairy tales. At the end of the reading, talk to the child: what is the fairy tale about, what happened to the main character, what was especially liked and remembered. At 3-4 years old, children like to read the same work several times, so do not insist on new fairy tales. But offer a choice periodically.
If the child has a fuzzy speech, use the exercises from N. Nishcheva's book "Cheerful articulation gymnastics. FGOS".
"What, where, when?" Throw the ball to the child and in the process ask different questions from the series "what, where, when". For example:
Where do the fish live?
When does it snow?
What does the cat say?
Where does the grass grow?
Or start saying a sentence and ask the child to continue. For example: "We swam in the river, and saw there ..." (fish).
✅"What is shown in the picture?". Show your child pictures and ask them to tell you about them. Ask different questions:
general — "What is shown in the picture?";
clarifying — "What color is the girl's dress?";
suggestive — "Who is the boy standing next to?" etc.
You can use pictures from books, magazines, and coloring books. Or replace them with photos.
⭐Read also in our blog: speech development by age
Physical development classes
Physical development classes
At 3-4 years old, the spine is still weak, and joints and bones are easily deformed. Another feature is the narrow passages of the respiratory tract and the vulnerable mucous membrane of the respiratory organs. Therefore, the loads should be moderate and careful, taking into account the peculiarities of age.
At 3-4 years old, children grow rapidly and they have a lot of energy. The task of the parent is to direct it in a useful direction. But the class time should not exceed 15 minutes.
✅"Fluff". For the development and strengthening of the respiratory system. Invite the child to compete to see who will blow the fluff further or higher. You can use other objects and move them with air or buy a breathing simulator. And also include exercises in other activities. For example: you are reading a fairy tale about three piglets with a child — ask him to depict how the wolf blew on the houses.
"Do as I do." At 3-4 years old, children can run, jump, stand and walk on their toes and heels, keep their balance. Invite the child to perform one or another action together on command: jumping with two legs, walking on tiptoes, heron (freeze on one leg), jumping back and forth.
You can rename all actions to animals (by analogy with the heron). For example, jumping is a hare, walking on tiptoes is a giraffe (as if you are reaching up and getting taller). Before the game, discuss the team with the child so that he knows how to act.
✅"Obstacle course". Build it from different stages, for example: running in a straight line, walking along a line, jumping over objects (height — no more than 5 cm), a "snake" between objects. You can arrange competitions in the family or invite other children, hold competitions between families on the street.
At the age of 4, you can send your child to the sports section. The optimal schedule of classes is once or twice a week for 1-1.5 hours. Try different sports and choose the one that responds more to the child.
Classes for the development of large and small motor skills
Classes for the development of large and small motor skills
Puzzles and other sedentary games with small objects that need to be collected or sorted out will help to develop fine motor skills. To develop large—scale motor skills - outdoor games with large objects, for example, a ball.
Fine motor skills
✅"Clothespins". Prepare colored clothespins, colored napkins and a rope. Ask the child to match the elements by color and hang the napkins on the rope using clothespins.
✅"Autumn" (finger gymnastics). Read the verse of the speech therapist N. Nishcheva and show the child what actions to do:
"The wind was flying through the forest" — smooth movements of the palms, imitating waves;
"The wind counted the leaves" — nothing yet, then bend the fingers on each leaf in parallel on both hands;
"Here's an oak one, here's a maple one, here's a rowan carved one, here's a golden one from a birch tree";
"And the wind threw the last leaf from the aspen tree onto the path" — bend the last finger and put your palms on your knees.
The second time, ask the child to perform the movements on his own while you read the verse.
"Feed the bird." Stick an image of a bird on the bottle and invite the child to "feed" it with cereals. You can take grains from one container and spoon them into a bottle or take them and pour them with your fingers.
At 3-4 years old, a child can hold a pen or pencil, fasten a zipper and buttons, take off and put on clothes and shoes, cut shapes out of paper, draw lines and shapes or connect them by dots, string beads on a thread, unscrew lids, unfold wrappers, tie knots. All this develops fine motor skills, and each element can be added to everyday life.
⭐You will find more exercises and games for the development of fine motor skills in our article
Large motor skills
✅"Mirror". Invite your child to copy your movements: raise your hands up, scratch your nose, bend your leg at the knee, take a step to the side or circle around yourself, etc.
✅"Hold the ball." Place a light ball on a sheet or bedspread. Hold on one side, and ask the child to hold the other side of the sheet. Move it, creating the movement of the ball. The goal is not to let the ball fall to the floor.
✅"Hit the target." Prepare a bucket and a ball or other container and an object to throw into it. Invite the child to hit the target. A similar exercise is to put rings on the base of a pyramid or other vertical support.
Large motor skills are actively developing in dancing.
⭐You will find more exercises and games for the development of large motor skills in our article
Classes for the development of intellectual abilities
Intelligence is the ability to recognize new things, learn and memorize information based on experience, and use knowledge in practice to solve problems. Intellectual abilities (IQ) are hearing, attention, memory, speech, and thinking. All this needs to be developed together.
"What has changed?" Place 5 objects/toys in front of the child. Ask him to look at them and then close his eyes. Change something, for example, swap 2 toys, and change clothes for 3 and 4. Ask the child to open his eyes and tell him what has changed.
You can print out the "Spot the Differences" pictures and show them to your child. For example, such:
There are 7 differences in the first picture, 5 in the second
✅"Find the treasure." Hide a toy, gift or treat for the child in the room and invite him to find the "treasure" according to your coordinates. Direct the child with the words "straight", "backward", "right", "left".
✅"Separate the animals." Place cards with images of animals and any others in front of the child. Suggest separating the animals. Then, among them, select domestic and wild ones. From home, suggest finding animals with and without horns. Or it can be classified according to other characteristics: swims – flies, jumps – crawls, eats grass or not, etc.
In A. Beloshistaya's manual "The first steps to intelligence are 3-4 years old. Educational tasks for children" you can find many games for the comprehensive development of intelligence.
Read also: 11 factors for the development of intelligence in children
Classes for the development of creative abilities
Classes for the development of creative abilities
Any kind of creativity is useful: drawing, modeling from plasticine, applique. Classes with an element of fantasy, rather than playing along the pattern, are especially effective. However, at 3-4 years old, it is still difficult for a child to fantasize himself, but he will gladly support the fantasy of a parent. For example, if you tell him that a stick is a shovel, he will begin to see a shovel in the stick.
✅"Non-existent animal". Invite the child to remember what he likes about different animals and combine it into one drawing. It will turn out to be a non-existent animal.
✅"Your dream". The child still has a poorly developed imagination, but there are dreams and desires. Even if they are unrealistic or naive in places. Invite your child to make a collage of wishes. Ask him what he dreams about, and help him find suitable pictures, and then cut them out and paste them on a sheet of paper.
✅"Home Theater". Together with your child, turn his favorite fairy tale into a performance. You can act as actors yourself or take toys. And you can also buy finger or glove dolls — an original idea for a home theater with additional development of fine motor skills.
Read more information about the development of creative abilities in our article
Classes for the development of musical abilities
Classes for the development of musical abilities
At an early preschool age, children can recognize songs, distinguish genres of music or tone (sad or cheerful), and give an emotional response to the work.
✅"Guess the melody". Prepare a cut or a selection of songs known to the child. Turn it on one at a time and offer to guess, sing.
✅"Dance". Introduce the child to individual movements, such as marching and circling around yourself. And then combine it with music: march — we march, waltz — we spin. Turn on different music and invite the child to move to it according to the agreed commands.
An alternative version of the exercise is to move to the rhythm. Learn a simple bunch of clapping and stamping with your child. This will help to develop a sense of rhythm.
✅"For me, this is...". Turn on different melodies without words in turn (you need to be careful with sad ones, it's better to add no more than one) and ask the child to describe his emotional response. You can help by asking "What do you feel or remember when this melody sounds?". Or start with yourself: "When I hear this melody, then... and you?"
If the child shows a clear interest in music, invite him to play musical instruments. You can go to a trial class at the development center.
Classes for the development of social abilities
At 3-4 years old, teach your child:
say hello and get to know each other;
share (offer to play with his toys to make friends, talk to someone) and change (ask to play with other people's toys);
Play together and work as a team;
observe the rules of conduct in public places;
communicate politely with peers and adults (do not interrupt, do not shout).
These are basic social skills for early development. They are actively developing in role-playing games.
✅"Train". It's better to play in a band. One becomes a train, and the rest of the participants become wagons. And they follow them. Then the other participant gets up first, etc., until everyone finds himself in the role of "driver" and "trailer".
✅"I agree – I disagree." Invite the child to listen to your statements, and if he agrees, then clap, and if he does not agree, stomp. Prepare a list of statements like these in advance:
"Petya hit Kolya because Kolya didn't want to play with Petya";
"Dima pulled Katya's pigtail. She was hurt, so she was offended.";
"Others need to be helped";
"If you want to make friends with someone, you need to approach them and offer to make friends.";
"If a boy or girl doesn't want to share a toy with you, you need to take it away."
Ask each time why the child thinks so.
✅"Polite shop". Invite your child to be a seller or a buyer and act out the "going to the store" scene. But tell me that this is a special store: all the people here are very polite. Remind them of the value of the words "thank you", "please", "hello" and other polite words, calm speech and behavior.
❗Pay attention! In all the exercises that we analyze, there is a comprehensive development. The emphasis is on individual abilities, but other areas are involved. For example, in "What, where, when?" speech and large motor skills develop, in pentamine — logical thinking and fine motor skills, when reading fairy tales — speech and social skills.
Classes for the development of household skills
Classes for the development of household skills
At 3-4 years old, a child should be able to dress himself and put clothes in a locker or on a high chair, wash and brush his teeth, eat carefully, use napkins, go to the toilet on his own, wash his hands.
✅"Dress up the doll." Invite your child to assemble a doll for a holiday / kindergarten / nature. Help with leading questions: "What should I wear first? Then what? And what is the weather like, and what is more suitable for it?
✅"Cooking borscht." And other dishes. Prepare pictures with ingredients or buy a set of Kitchen toys and invite your child to assemble a dish.
✅"Who is faster". The task is to remove toys or put things in a closet in the form of a competition.
Getting to know the world around you
Getting to know the world around you
At 3-4 years old, a child should know the names of animals and birds, the days of the week, his first and last name, the name of his hometown, the names of body parts, basic safety rules (cross the road at a green light, do not touch hot objects). The kid should understand the seasons and time of day, distinguish between vegetables and fruits, have an idea of popular professions and respect for nature.
"Tell me about the animal." Show your child pictures of different animals and ask them to tell you about them. Who is it, where does it live, what does it eat, at what time of the year can it be found, etc.
✅"Edible – inedible". You throw a ball to a child and name something edible or inedible. If it is edible, the child catches the ball, if it is inedible, he hits it.
"What did the artist confuse?" Ask the child to look at the card and tell them what is wrong here. Examples of cards:
Classes for sensory development
At 3-4 years of age, the organs of perception are especially active: hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste. Therefore, knowledge of the surrounding world should be comprehensive.
✅"Guess the product". Blindfold the child and ask him to guess by taste and smell what he ate.
✅"Whisper". Whisper different words and ask the child to repeat them aloud.
✅"Find a couple." Prepare 6 pairs of boxes with different fillings. For example, put grits in 2, put pens in 2 more, and identical rattles in 2 more. It is important that the sound of the paired boxes is the same. Keep three boxes for yourself, and put pairs of them in front of the child. Shake one box and ask the kid to find a pair, so do the same with the second and third pair of boxes.
You will find even more exercises and games in the article "Sensory development of young children".
Conclusion
In 3-4 years, the personality base is laid. There is an active physical, mental, intellectual, moral, and creative development. The child absorbs everything like a sponge, and you need to use it.
However, at the same time, 3-4 years is a difficult period, because it accounts for the crisis of "Myself". Children can show negativity, stubbornness, and emotional instability. The task of parents is not only to assemble a set of exercises, but also to understand the peculiarities of age in order to better understand their child.
And do not forget about the value of communication and games of a child with peers, because in a group development is even faster. You may not always have enough time to organize games with your child. Then you can sign him up for classes at the Baby Club. We employ professionals, and you can be 100% sure that the baby develops according to age and taking into account individual characteristics.
