Preschool Education & Everything Preschool

October just might be the most fun month there is as far as fall preschool themes go. It’s early enough in the year that there are still plenty of outdoor activities that can be done with preschoolers. It’s also early enough in the year that you’re not suffering the stress of the upcoming winter holidays so you can relax some and really enjoy creative lessons with your kid(s). But it’s a busy month with a lot of fun kid-oriented activities (mostly centering on Halloween) so there are plenty of different things that you can incorporate into the day to keep things fun and interesting.

What better time to teach your child about fall than when we’re right about to enter the midst of it? Fall is a great teaching tool because it applies to so many different areas of life. Not only do kids learn about the seasons, but they also learn about the nature behind the seasons changing. As kids get older, these lessons can be used again and again in different ways. For example, as adolescents, they will learn about literature and poetry and the images and lessons of fall will play a big part in that. And when it comes time to learn hard lessons about death and loss, your kids will have a better grasp on it if they can compare it to the changing of the seasons.

September is rapidly coming to a close but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to incorporate some great September themes into your preschool lesson plans. September is a fun month because it’s all about going back to school, meeting new people and getting ready for the holidays ahead. That makes September a terrific month for transitional themes that allow you to really explore some creative lessons. You can begin teaching fall themes during the month of September but you can also use themes that aren’t related to any particular season so it’s still an in-between kind of month.

Fall is an exciting time of year for preschoolers. School starts up again which is exciting itself. Plus, there are changes in the seasons which gets everyone a little bit excited. That excitement comes from knowing that fall is filled with lots of fun holidays and activities. And of course it means that the winter holidays are just around the corner so everyone’s fall months are filled with that great anticipation. To make the most of these months with your preschooler(s), you should incorporate a number of different fall themes into your lesson plans.

Here are some great ideas for preschool fall themes that you might want to use this year (and for many more fall seasons to come):

Cooking with kids can be one of the most terrific activities that can happen in a home. Sure, there’s going to be mess and there’s always a little bit of risk when putting kids in the kitchen, but cooking with kids teaches a variety of lessons that will apply to all areas of life and education. Plus, cooking with kids helps to establish a bond between you that will last a lifetime.

Here are just some of the things that kids can learn when you cook with them:

As long as children have been defying their parents, the battle about eating their vegetables has been a regular part of the dinner table routine. For some families, this gets so bad that dinnertime is uncomfortable for everyone. You don’t want it to be this way for your family. Meals should be a fun time when the family spends time together. But of course you still want your kids to eat their vegetables. So, how do you do it without causing tears of frustration to ruin your supper?

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts for getting children to eat their vegetables:

This week’s review will be on the Taste of Home’s Kid-friendly cooking & Crafts Magazine. I had bought the Magazine last week when I was in the check-out isle at the Grocery Store. As I was waiting for my turn to check-out I scanned the magazine rack for my usual weekly gossip fill. But, as I was scanning the rack the Taste of Home’s Kid-friendly cooking & Crafts Magazine caught my eye. The cover of the Magazine had a bunch of super cute brightly colored alien cupcakes. Once I saw the sub-title, "Plan the Perfect Birthday Party!" I had to take a look.

You know that kid. He’s the one who is appalling even the other children with his atrocious table behavior. He spills food all over the place, he doesn’t ask before grabbing items, he makes obnoxious bodily noises and he talks with his mouth open. He’s only a child and yet you can’t help but be a little bit repulsed by him. When you look at your own children, perhaps in a public place where you can feel the scrutinizing eyes of other parents’ judging your parenting techniques, do you see this child in place of your own?

There was a time when parents didn’t worry about their preschoolers getting enough exercise. After all, kids that age are a bundle of energy that don’t ever seem to stop being in motion so they naturally get all of the exercise that they need, right? Wrong. It was probably always true that kids needed more exercise they were naturally getting but it’s even truer today, when technology has created more sedentary activities for children as young as toddler age.

Some kids are just naturally picky eaters, a fact which can be frustrating for parents and other adults in a child’s life to cope with. It can be difficult to make sure that kids are getting healthy food if they’re picky eaters and the whole process of mealtime can become something of a chore. But you don’t have to let your kids become picky eaters and you can help them get less picky if they’re just naturally that way.