What Do Preschoolers Need?

Rebekah loves to puzzle, just like her Daddy

What do preschoolers need?

That’s an easy answer: #1 they need YOU!

Yep: they need Mom, in all her constantly loving glory, with lots of hugs, snuggles, toe-kissing, hand-holding, hair-tousling, kisses, pats, holding-on-her-lap and listening. That’s the #1 need. And in your moment-by-moment interaction, be sure to lead them to the one who loves them most of all: God. In this, you will be doing the best thing you could for your young child.

#2 Routine
Little ones thrive on routine. Can you imagine living your life without a watch or a clock? Preschoolers can’t read the time (or figure out what significance it has) quite yet. They gear their daily living off of routines such as bath-time, meal-time, nap-time, a daily walk, bedtime and other regular activities. That is why vacation or Sunday can be so disruptive to them. If you want them to be content, set into stone some daily routine that they can depend on.

#3 An Enriched Environment
Preschoolers are trying to make sense of the world, and learning rapidly. You can help by providing sensory experiences for them, including taking walks outside in nature, reading them endless amounts of stories, setting up water play, teaching them grooming, cooking with them, enjoying animals, helping them remember good manners, playing puzzles, smelling flowers, interacting with other people (not necessarily children), and providing real toys and tools. Toys are fun, but real stuff is what learning is all about! My preschoolers always preferred playing with my wooden spoons and pots and pans to playing with toy pans. Little snatches of learning are great too, such as a 10 minute phonics game, but don’t tire them with much traditional academic work.

#4 Physical care
Good nutritious food, plenty of sleep, daily run-and-play exercise outside, and some small chores to work on will help them be healthy and happy.

And what don’t preschoolers need?
Television, running too many errands, lack of supervision, staying up too late, computer games, too many toys, listening to mom talk on the phone, getting their way all the time, video games, scolding, junk food, too much shopping, movies, lack of discipline . . .