“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.” ~Albert Einstein
In the preschool classroom I do not regularly set up or have out competitive activities. Being that this is an early childhood setting and we are setting children up for having as many successful experiences in and with school as possible.
To have a lot of competitive board games would mean having one happy “winner” and a group of crying or angry children to console….I like to go home with my head intact.
I have a lot of self correcting or open ended activities. This means if something spills,tips over, or goes splat there are materials available for the child to clean it up immediately themselves, and so on.
Duplo Legos, Marble Mazes, Wooden Blocks are all open ended activities that have no right or wrong way to use them. As the children grow and develop we can challenge them more with materials as they are introduced and added to the preschool setting.
I notice the children gaining confidence, staying focused for increased periods of time, and problem solving together.
Warms a preschool teachers cockles…..whatever that is….
I’ll have to Google it.
Some great non-competitive games & activities are:
*Candy Land-Hasbro
*Snails Pace Race
*Etch a Sketch
*Pound a Peg
fatbraintoys.com website has excellent reviews of toys that are well researched. It is actually quite impressive.
How about you? What works for you?
2 comments:
Hello! I am not a preschool teacher yet but I agree with what you said in regards to have one happy winner and then a bunch of angry, upset kids to console. I like the self-correcting materials better then competitive games for children of preschool age. I hope you are staying warm where you are. Blessings!
http://brighthours.blogspot.com/
Hi B.H.
Well warm blessings to you as well. Thank you.
I saw the snow you have....wow.
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