Ages 0-4: Learning Through Everything They Do
Hands-On Activity: Play peek-a-boo with toys under blankets. Hide and reveal objects repeatedly. Let baby "find" things. This teaches the foundation of object permanence - understanding that things exist even when not seen - the basis of counting and memory.
Hands-On Activity: Provide graduated blocks, cups, or rings. Child stacks, nests, and orders them. Narrate: "Big cup, bigger cup, biggest cup!" Let them discover size relationships through trial and error.
Hands-On Activity: Have child help sort laundry by color, by owner, by type. "Find all the socks." "Put the blue things here." This is classification and set theory in real life.
Hands-On Activity: Child sets table for family. Count plates: "We need 4 plates." Count forks, spoons. This is one-to-one correspondence and counting with purpose.
Hands-On Activity: In the bath, provide safe objects that sink (washcloth) and float (rubber duck). Let baby explore repeatedly. They're learning properties of materials through pure experimentation.
Hands-On Activity: Go outside with a basket. Collect leaves, rocks, sticks. At home, explore them together. Which is rough? Smooth? Heavy? Light? This is classification and observation.
Hands-On Activity: Child puts soil in clear cup, plants bean, waters it. Watch daily. Draw what they see. This is the scientific method: hypothesis (what will happen?), observation, conclusion.
Hands-On Activity: Each day, go outside and observe weather. Child puts a picture on a chart - sun, cloud, rain. Discuss what to wear. This is data collection and pattern recognition.
Hands-On Activity: Baby sits in lap, holds board books, chews them, turns pages. Adult reads with expression. The connection is the point, not the words.
Hands-On Activity: Read a simple story, then act it out with puppets or toys. Child participates. This builds comprehension and narrative understanding.
Hands-On Activity: Child dictates a story. Adult writes it down exactly as said. Read it back. Child sees their words become "book."
Hands-On Activity: Child chooses their own books from library. They learn that books are theirs to choose, to love, to return and get new ones.
Hands-On Activity: Walk same route regularly. Point out landmarks: "There's the red mailbox. There's Mrs. Jones's house." Child learns their place in community.
Hands-On Activity: Visit fire station, talk to mail carrier, wave at bus driver. Meet the people who make community work.
Hands-On Activity: Document family traditions. Draw pictures of celebrations. Share with class. Learn that different families do things differently.
Hands-On Activity: At water table or in bath, provide cups and pitchers. Child practices pouring. This builds hand-eye coordination and concentration.
Hands-On Activity: Child digs holes, drops in seeds, covers them, waters. They experience where food comes from.
Hands-On Activity: Set up low table with child-safe knife (plastic), banana, apple slicer. Child prepares own snack. Independence and confidence grow.