Preschool years create a solid foundation for a child’s growth and development al process. In fact, the pedagogical and curricular structure of education has a make-or-break effect on a child’s academic journey. Broadly, any activity for nursery class helps in building essential reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. However, the impact of these activities is not limited to these foundation skills alone. Because there are many long-term and serious implications of the quality of preschool education.
Let’s discuss more about these activities before we discuss how to plan an easy activity for nursery class.
GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Quality education a child builds the essential competencies that a child requires in life over a period of time. Be it a nursery class English worksheet, or any easy activity for nursery class, they serve a larger purpose and support future success. Other than the foundation skills, these activities also support early language acquisition, improves cognitive abilities, along with the much-needed socio-emotional learning.
Importance of Preschool Activities
A well-planned and executed activity for nursery class is the cornerstone of high-quality preschool education. Let’s understand the vision of our Indian policymakers in this regard. And understand the importance of these activities in the formative years of a child’s growth and development.
At the preschool level, teachers plan their lessons to organize various activities in order to develop these critical skills. And eventually, it improves broad educational outcomes.
INDIAN POLICYMAKERS ON PRESCHOOL EDUCATION
The early years of a child’s formal education (between 3 to 6 years) are given a lot of importance in our recent education policy, i.e. NPE 2020. The Department of School Education & Literacy (Ministry of Education, Government of India) reiterates the importance of these years through some enlightening facts:
- Rate of development- 90% of a child’s brain development takes place by the age of six years.
- Educational outcomes- Good quality preschool education has a long-term impact on broad educational outcomes. It improves the chances of completing education. Other than this, physical activity for nursery class also promotes overall well-being.
- Improves School readiness- In primary grades, early education supports a higher level of learning by improving overall school readiness in children.
WHY ARE ACTIVITIES NECESSARY FOR NURSERY STUDENTS?
Learning activities in the class of nursery improve student engagement. These activities not just help students to participate actively in the class. But also helps stakeholders to make the most of these formative years of a child’s growth and development process.
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD QUALITY PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION:
By far, we have discussed some dimensions of preschool education and related activities. Our next section will enlighten you with the planning processes of the Nursery class worksheets and activities like:
- Craft activity for Nursery class
- Maths worksheet for nursery class
- Physical activity for nursery class
DIFFERENT NURSERY CLASS WORKSHEETS AND ACTIVITIES
Craft Activity for Nursery Class
Hands-on activities and play are the basis of any instruction at this stage. Online classes (online schooling), in-person mentoring and printable worksheets, etc. are highly effective with these age groups. Teachers can plan engaging lessons that include cutting (with assistance for preschoolers), folding, and decorating. In addition, it is a great idea to link the student’s previous knowledge to these activities. The use of colorful eye-catchy material, and step-by-step instructions in lesson planning help in meeting the desired educational goals. These activities are also perfect to improve the student’s ability to focus. And also support the next easy activity for nursery class.
Maths Worksheet for Nursery Class
Planning or structuring a Maths worksheet for nursery class help in defining the clear objective of the activities. These are a great way to strengthen understanding of the learning activities. And also help students to revise all that they have learned. Teachers make use of instructions that allow the use of body parts (like fingers) to add elements of fun to these worksheets. Simple questions like pairing, adding, subtracting, etc. are effectively revised through these worksheets.
Other than these fun activities, physical activity for nursery class is also equally important.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India suggests 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day (for children above 5 years to 17 years of age). And the stepping stone to this habit is seamlessly built through activities for nursery class.
Some examples of physical activities are as follows:
- Running
- Jumping
- Climbing the ladder
- Throwing balls
- Crawling
- Dancing
- Animal walk
- Balancing etc.
A teacher/stakeholder can incorporate the elements of both structured and unstructured play to increase the playtime and add value to the activity. At this age, a child also learns essential life skills and ways of teamwork through physical activity for nursery class. All this creates a foundation for a well-rounded personality. Because children start developing a good understanding of following rules and guidelines.
KEY STRATEGIES FOR A CLASS OF NURSERY
Multisensory learning-
Research supports real-life learning implications under multisensory conditions. Teachers can incorporate experiences that include different senses and help students to build connections through multisensory signals. Simple activities/games that include touch, smell, hearing, etc. are a great input in lesson planning. And surpasses the unisensory experience at this critical stage of growth and development.
Create a conducive environment-
Children learn the best when they are given the freedom to express, explore and play around. Try to create a classroom that fosters creativity. Because this will make learning more enjoyable. And children will love being in the classroom.
Innovation –
At this stage of formal education, there are numerous ways of engaging kids with elements like fun titles, labels, and jingles etc. You can add some of these in your classroom to set clues. For instance, backward counting techniques or verbal clues to get ready for the class can be highly effective to maintain decorum. And these simple techniques will effortlessly get the kids into the momentum for better learning.
SIMPLE TIPS TO ADD VALUE TO A NURSERY CLASS:
Make use of Music –
A class of nursery kids certainly responds well to music. In fact, studies have proved numerous benefits of music for young children. It boosts the child’s physical skills, helps him/her to stay active. And also teaches the ways of communication. Jingles, rhymes, songs, and opportunities to add music are a fool-proof way of engaging this age group productively.
Introduce Class Rules –
Most teachers create and reiterate class rules before any easy activity for nursery class. It builds a basic understanding of rules and their importance in the minds of the children. And also helps them to understand the defined limits. At this particular age, the best way is to show and tell or model the expected behavior. You can use creative ways like jingles or make use of voice modulation to make the rules revision a fun part of your daily classroom routine.
STEM Activities –
Spark innovation in your young genius through STEM activities. Activities with slime, number games, cardboard telescopes, objects floating in a swimming pool, etc. are always some great picks for your preschool students.
Must Read:-
Before we wrap up, let’s take you through some enlightening facts.
Quick Facts:
- The quality of any activity for nursery class affects a huge number of Indian students. As per the recent data (2021-22) published by the Government of India, 5051523 boys, and 4443684 girls were enrolled in pre-primary classes.
Pre primary enrolments in 2021 and 2022
- The Indian preschool market is expected to witness a growth of USD 753.13 million between the years 2021-2025. This growth shows a progression at 8?GR.
- Despite challenges, an organized preschool franchise model is believed to set and maintain good standards of education.
Final Thoughts
Like any other stage of formal education, preschool class teaching also needs a though planning to engage kids purposefully. With the growing influence of technology in our lives, teachers now have varied sources to hone their skills and ad creative elements to their lesson planning (such as digital resources or strategies used in an online school). However, the core idea still revolves around the strengths and weaknesses of the group.
A well-planned lesson is the cornerstone to reach preschool learning goals. Discover the joy of adding broad ideas to your lessons. And see how even the simplest activity for nursery class creates a series of memorable experiences for the young learners!
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are the most popular activities for children?
Some popular activities for preschoolers are playing with sand, role plays, number games, puzzles, letter games, dancing, animal walk, and other unstructured play opportunities. - What can we teach to nursery class?
While most of the teaching at this stage appears to be through play and activities, the actual success lies in the lesson planning. Teachers who teach these age groups need to be well-prepared, know their strengths and weaknesses, decide the right pace (that goes well with the kids). And most importantly give step-by-step instructions without rushing. A good mix of active and passive activities also helps in supporting deep learning. Besides, it also improves overall student engagement. - What should a teacher include in a nursery class English worksheet?
These worksheets must include categories that cover spelling, alphabet understanding, phonetics part, etc. Some simple ways of checking the student’s understanding are through exercises like missing letters, puzzles, drawing lines to label parts, etc.
