six stickers sticking,
five books to read,
four chirping birds,
three story maps,
two Play-Doh tools,
and a story under the tree!
Our younger hoots love any activity that includes stickers. They enjoy picking out the different styles we have available and always ask for more, more, more. Stickers are fun and educational in a way that is not stressful or overwhelming for the kids. It just feels like playing, which makes them more eager and excited to participate.
Stickers have many various uses in the classroom, and at Wise Wonder, we work to include all of them in some way.
A child’s introduction to stickers is often one of the first times they come into contact with this particular texture. Integrating various sensory experiences into your child’s education is key for their developmental growth. Stickers are a particularly useful tool as it develops their sensory recognition and fine motor all at once. Peeling the stickers strengthens their hand muscles, which readies them for gripping and handwriting.
As our little ones get used to the stickers and become comfortable with the task of peeling and placing, we add a bit more structure and incorporate hand-eye coordination. Placing the sticker in a designated area (the smiley face) as opposed to simply inside the shape allows our students to singularly control and guide their movements. This skill focuses their hand-eye coordination, which in turn readies them for more detailed activities such as tracing letters.
Our shape worksheets focus on this particular skill while also combining with other tasks to form a fully realized and rich exercise. We work in spacial reasoning by placing our owl stamp (hi, Ollie!) in different locations around the shape each week. This allows our kids to grasp positions and directions. They love using the stamp and giving our wise owl a high-five each week!
Even seemingly simple tasks open children up to a world of educational discovery and growth – and lets them have fun while doing it! 🙂