It’s with both a smile on my face and tears in my eyes that I say — my daughter is beginning preschool this year. I am in complete disbelief that in just a few weeks she will be such a big girl. How’d this happen? I have been homeschooling her for the last (almost) 5 years, so I know she will begin preschool with all of the skills necessary to feel like a confident learner. Even still, it’s important for us to continue the learning process at home after school to reinforce what she is learning from her teacher. That’s why purchasing engaging educational materials, like the Disney Junior Ready for School kits available at Walmart, is important to make learning fun.
Preschool-age children are curious, inquisitive, enthusiastic bundles of energy who are so ready to absorb everything presented to them. If you plan exciting lessons, preschool-age children are always ready to learn. Here are 5 tips to make preschool learning fun:
1. Offer choices. Children want to feel like they are in charge of their learning environment. Allow them to choose learning activities that interest them. Lydia selected the Doc McStuffins Counting Learning Activity and Sofia the First Numbers Learning Activity at the store. When we play these learning games together, I let her choose her favorite activities. She was so excited to try each math game within the two kits. The Doc McStuffins kit has simpler activities while the Sofia the First kit has more advanced activities.
2. Select engaging materials. Young children may not be ready for straight-forward pencil and paper tasks. They want a variety of manipulatives that provide them with a concrete learning experience. Both the Sophia the First and Doc McStuffins math kits contained small , wipe-off cards, and writing utensils. The different materials make learning fun for young children!
Lydia really liked using the marker on the Doc McStuffins cards because she could draw pictures to respond to the prompt, then erase her work and start over. 
3. Allow children to work together. When children work together, they practice social skills, like sharing and turn-taking, and learn that there are many different ways to view the same problem. Lydia enjoys helping her 2-year old brother Bryce who is just learning to identify numbers 1 – 10.
4. Let children make mistakes. Young children will make errors and that’s okay. If we focus on having children correct all their mistakes, they may lose interest in participating in learning activities. What I usually do is allow children to make mistakes (like my daughter writing her S backwards below) and take note of those mistakes. Later on, I can target that one specific skill in a fun way. For example “S is for Snake. Can we draw pictures of snakes? Here’s what they should look like!” while drawing a snake that is actually a properly-formed S.
5. Celebrate successes! Every new learning experience should be a time for celebration. Provide children with specific positive praise like “I love the way you solved that math problem!” or “Great job counting!” Give high-fives, tickles, and hugs to teach children to value their accomplishments.
Disney Junior Ready for Preschool kits come in all your child’s favorite characters, like Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and are available at Walmart. Starting at just $2.97, they are a great value for learning materials.
Thank you #CollectiveBias for helping my daughter Lydia (and me) get #Ready4Preschool.
looks like fun! We bought the boys kits and had a blast too! Something for everyone!
My kids really enjoyed both kits – so affordable and great variety of activities!
Great tips! My 3 year old just started nursery this year and I still can;t believe she is growing up so fast. It is always better if we make learning fun for the little ones, especially that they get distracted easily at this age. I think she would love the Doc McStuffins Kit!
I’ve not seen those but will be looking for them immediately! My boys would love them and they will be great to prepare my oldest for school this fall!
There were some fun Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake kits if they are into more of the “boy” themes.
Great advice here. I particularly like the fact that you said they like to be in control of their learning environment. This is not always easy to remember and it’s an important aspect of teaching. Great post!
These are some great tips, and those kits look so cute! I am nowhere near ready for my little guy to start preschool, but when he eventually does, this will help! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Kristen. My son is only 2, but really enjoyed trying to do the counting activities as well.
What cool ideas. My daughter would love to do these activities.
I love being able to play with my daughter Zoë (she is 3 years old) and make learning fun for her. I love seeing the way she starts to comprehend and see the understanding in her eyes.
She loves Disney Junior, I could totally see her loving these learning games! Thanks for sharing!
These look like a lot of fun! I’ll have to try it with my son. He loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
I’m not sure if those particular kits are in the stores here but I appreciate your great advice. With 4 munchkins it can sometimes get a bit hectic and teaching begins to slide a bit (ok, a lot) so having a kit already prepared makes things a lot easier.
These look so cute! My daughter loves Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins. I like your advice to let them make mistakes. Easy to expect too much of them!
Making mistakes is what helps us to learn. I let my daughter misspell words, write letters and numbers backwards, etc. I would rather she enjoyed the activity than focused on getting everything correct.
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