Key Skills that toddlers will pick up at MindChamps City Square Mall
Once your child breeze through the one-year mark, you can expect to see huge changes in terms of their development. These include their fine motor skills, oratory and self-help skills, which are the building blocks to instilling confidence in young children and act as seeds for nurturing a positive attitude towards learning.
At this young age, toddlers will be working hard to fully develop the above skills. For this reason and more, playgroup programmes at preschools such as MindChamps City Square Mall, are designed to facilitate the learning process for kids aged 18 months to 2 years old.
Here’s a sneak peek at what kids in the playgroup programme at MindChamps City Square Mall get up to during the day and how they benefit from these activities.
Read also: Playgroups: Are They Really Worth The Investment?
Of songs, stories and rhymes
Singing, listening to songs, rhymes, poems and storytelling are some of the many activities conducted with the children in playgroup with the aim of developing their oratory skills.
Singing aids in language development and reinforces repetition of commonly used words in a fun and enjoyable manner. To strengthen their learning, materials related to the theme of the activity will be introduced for them to explore.
“I can do it all by myself!”
Teachers will encourage and support toddlers in feeding and dressing independently. Children in the playgroup will be exposed to a wide variety of foods during their lessons for them to relate it to mealtimes.
Kneading and balancing acts
One of the key areas of development for children in playgroups involves their fine motor skills and gross motor skills.
Activities such as kneading playdough and shaping objects develop and enhances their fine motor skills. On the other hand, they also get to do fun balancing acts on the balance beams to work on their gross motor skills.
As fun as these activities may sound, they give the playgroup children the opportunity to practice at perfecting the movements of the small and big muscle groups.
Read also: Fun Activities for Kids to Enjoy After Picking Them Up From Preschool in City Square Mall
We play and learn outdoors!
MindChamps City Square Mall has a spacious outdoor area where children are encouraged to play and learn through the following:
Outdoor Playground
Toddlers in playgroup spend about 30 to 40 minutes each morning at the outdoor playground if the weather is fair. The outdoor playground houses tricycles, colourful slides, playhouses and balls for the little ones to enjoy.
Herb Garden
A herb garden sits in a corner of the outdoor playground for toddlers to get in touch with nature and observe how the herbs, plants and flowers look, feel and smell. The toddlers also get to try their hands at planting plants.
At times, lessons are conducted outdoors for a change of environment, giving the playgroup children a break from being confined within the four walls of the indoor classroom. Being outdoors helps to refresh their minds and increases their attention span.
Read also: Why PreSchools in Singapore Should Provide Gym Lessons in Their Curriculum
Water Play with Inflatable Pool
During the term breaks, inflatable pools will be set up in a corner of the outdoor playground for the children to splash up some fun.
Although kids often associate water play with fun, this also doubles up as a fun learning tool where they get to pick up important lessons and skills, such as:
Science concepts
In the process of manipulating the water play materials, children get to learn about basic science. For example, when given buoyant and non-buoyant objects, they will soon learn that large objects do not necessarily sink and not all small objects float.
Read also: 5 Reasons Why Drama Classes for Kids are Beneficial
Physical Development
Water play enhances a child’s physical development. Simple actions of scooping and pouring water, transferring water from one container to the other or squeezing eye droppers trains their dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
Social and Emotional Development
Water play can be relaxing and therapeutic for young children as they soak their hands in water, pour and splash as a way of releasing pent-up emotions and frustrated feelings.
Social skills are worked upon when children play together, as they share and negotiate with the use of limited equipment, space and materials.
Written by Jamie Koh
Are you ready for your child to experience learning in a unique setting at MindChamps City Square Mall?