Ask An OC Expert: After-School Activity Ideas
Erica Shearer is the director of Tutor Time in Laguna Niguel, a center where infants through kindergarten students develop skills that are appropriate for the child's age. With so many kids in such a range of ages, Shearer is used to keeping kids entertained with educational activities. She provides some effective and low-cost ways to keep your children busy after school.
Tutor Time
24291 Avila Road
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
(949) 831-8887
www.tutortime.com
Erica Shearer graduated with a Bachelors in Liberal Studies from Cal State Fullerton and spent a year in the teacher-credential program there. Before coming to Tutor Time - where she has been for more than four years - she taught public kindergarten in Colorado for four years. At Tutor Time, she taught private kindergarten for three years before moving up to associate director and director, the position she currently holds.
You wouldn't necessarily think of shaving cream as something that is a great activity for kids, but it has lots of benefits. First, kids want to use it because they see dad use it. Second, it's probably something that's already in your house so you won't have to spend money on it. Third, there is a sensory aspect to it that kids enjoy. If you spread some shaving cream on a plastic tray or on a table, kids can practice writing letters in the shaving cream. Another good thing about this is that it's a good exercise for kids from early preschool to early elementary - and it's pretty easy to clean when the kids are done.
Kids have an innate desire to tell stories. Plus, once they are old enough, they like to make basic drawings to accompany their stories. All you'll need for this is paper and things to write with, which is about as inexpensive an activity as you can find. For older kids, you can challenge them to come up with a certain number of sentences per page. Making books is a way to get your children thinking about the books they read, and to foster their creativity in the books they make.
Board games are often an activity for rainy days, but they are truly good activities for any day. Board games are developed for all age groups. They teach kids to follow rules and to predict what might happen next. More than that, board games are great teachers. Kids learn sportsmanship because they realize that no one - not even adults - wins every contest. With practice, kids learn to win and lose with grace.
Kids love to reach an objective - even if it's as simple as finding an object on a list. Scavenger hunts can be designed for all ages, and can be as elaborate or as simple as you want - depending on what you want your child to get out of the activity. A scavenger hunt doesn't have to be about finding hidden objects. It can be as simple as finding a certain letter or number on packages in the pantry. This allows you to be creative in determining the objective and it allows your children to compile a list of found objects.
Beginning in kindergarten, kids have words that they are supposed to recognize by sight. It's great to give kids sight words, but it's not the only thing you can do with words. You can have your children discuss things that are big or red (or whatever word you choose). You can also ask your children to use the chosen word in a sentence. This helps your children explore much-needed language skills that they will always use.
