Supporting Your Young Child’s Development and Learning During Summer and COVID
Your child’s development does not stop during summertime or a pandemic. If anything, because of the disruption from the novel coronavirus, we encourage you to spend a little extra time each day helping your child with activities that are age appropriate and support their social, cognitive and physical growth.
If your child normally participates in a child care program, you may already be receiving some tips, ideas and pointers from your provider on how you can engage your child in various activities at home. If not, check in with your child’s teacher for their feedback and suggestions as they are one of your best resources when it comes to early childhood development.
No matter the age, here are some general tips to remember as you support your child’s development now and in the future:
Playing is learning for young children. Unlike older children, they do not need printouts or focused academic materials to learn and hone their important developmental skills. Try and offer them a mixture of play that involves open, independent play that encourages your child to take the lead as well as play where you are an active partner.
Young children may only be able to focus on a particular activity for 15 minutes or less in one sitting and grow tired of playing with their same toys which makes open-ended materials like playdough, blocks, objects found around the house, art materials great choices for their creative minds. Open-ended materials allows children to make decisions and supports their independence and creativity which develops critical thinking skills.
When it comes to focusing, young children’s attentions spans do not last very long. For instance, you can expect infants under one year to have an attention span for 1 – 3 minutes. Two-year-old toddlers may focus up to 6 minutes while three-year-olds may attend up to 8 minutes. You can expect your four-year-olds to last around 10 minutes with specific activities.
Fresh air and frequent breaks help provide pauses in the day, restore patience and are calming for you and your child.
You are your child’s first teacher, and these first five years are when their brains are developing the most rapidly. Being responsive to your children builds brain architecture and lays the path for all future learning. Try to have meaningful time with your child each day that includes back and forth interactions, also known as serve and return. Some examples of these would be sharing their focus on an activity, asking questions and waiting patiently for their response, and letting them help with chores.
The following resources offer a variety of ideas for you to engage and interact with your child:
Zero to Three: At-Home Activity Guide offers lots of ideas for outside play, quiet play, parent-child play and more.
Too Small to Fail Indoor Activities Toolkit provides parents with fun activities when it is too hot or rainy for the outdoors as well as some great discussion prompts to create a dialogue with your child.
Jumpstart At-Home Learning Activities presents video read-alouds, sing-alongs and themed activities.
PBS Kids Age-Themed Activities that can also be sourced by topic such as social-emotional learning, science or arts.
Additional Resources:
