Learn to Tie Shoes, Braid, & Count to 20

Your preschooler watches you tie your shoes. Maybe you braid your hair, an older child’s hair, or maybe your preschooler’s hair. You definitely count to 20 regularly, have you done it out loud for your preschooler? These life skills activities for preschoolers will challenge an older 4 year old, but they’re up for the task! Especially since they simply want to mimic you.

Letter of the Week

This week of lessons is from the free homeschool preschool curriculum, Letter of the Week. It has been reimagined for all that home learning has to offer. There are 26 weeks for the 26 letters in the alphabet and each week is themed around a letter. This week is Yy is for Yarn. 

Here you can check out the schedule and activities included for the week. Find instructions for each activity, the free printable, and additional coloring pages by following the button below.

A sample preschool schedule for life skills activities for preschoolers.

Monday highlight: Train Alphabet Wall Display.

In the Letter of the Week schedule it is important to have reading time and review time set aside almost everyday. There is an emphasis on play based learning activities and life skills activities for preschoolers, but the alphabet is also important. The activities more or less enhance the learning of the alphabet experience and get your child excited for the lessons in their entirety.

Today we did not do anything other than introduce the new letter, Yy, and review the alphabet. For this week we have a couple whimsical books where yarn is at the center of a wonderful story and beautiful illustrations. These include, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and A Friendship Yarn by Lisa Moser. We read both these books repeatedly throughout the week because they’re so fun and my 4 year old never tires of them. And because they’re so well done, neither do I!

Alphabet Wall Display

To introduce new letters, track our progress, and play review games we use an alphabet wall display. My son chose a train but there are more options you can check out here. These include a squirrel with acorns, caterpillar, and more.

Mick, 4 years old, traces the new letter and says its name. We then hang it on the wall next to Xx. We spent several minutes playing a review game. I call out a letter and he runs and slaps it. Occasionally, we will switch and he calls out a letter. I will sometimes choose correctly and other times test him to see if he knows that I’m “wrong.”  

Tuesday highlight: Learn to braid.

First thing we read our books during the morning basket. Next we review the alphabet from Aa to Yy with a wooden alphabet puzzle. Finally, it was time to learn to braid. 

Setting up the braiding is very easy as long as you have three different colors of string. My 4 year old caught onto the pattern very quickly. His fine motor skills were struggling to keep up so I occasionally reached in to help untangle or reposition the string in his hands. When my eldest first completed this his fine motor skills were great but he required more directing for longer. Read more about this activity here.

Wednesday highlight: Practice tying shoes.

After the morning basket and reviewing the alphabet using the wall display I needed to gather materials for the activity. I gave my 4 year old the second coloring page, we used the first one on Tuesday. I let him color while I hunted for the shoe box I had saved. 

To set up the activity and read the full instructions, check out this post here, Out with the Velcro Shoes. We use this as a motivator for our children to learn to tie their shoes. Once they can tie the shoe box correctly we buy them a new pair of shoes with laces. 

Thursday highlight: Yarn ball #1-20 recognition.

Morning basket and reviewing the alphabet began our lessons for the day. Then I pulled out the math activity. My 4 year old has been practicing simple addition with the printable from Uu is for Umbrella and recognizes numbers 0-10 from using Apple Math. Now he is ready for numbers to twenty. The preschool printable has a yarn theme to keep it in alignment with the week’s activities, using yarn. The free printable is available at Yy is for Yarn.

Letter of the Week usually ends on Thursdays because Friday we have a nature group we attend locally. 

Life skills activities for preschoolers.

Braiding, shoe tying, and counting to twenty may be simple for us but they’ll challenge your preschooler. Don’t expect them to get these the first day. Revisit these activities over the course of the next few weeks. Watch your child grow in their skills and become more confident the more they practice.

Looking for more life skills activities for preschoolers? The blog here at Playing for Hours offers many more ideas to integrate life skills activities for preschoolers into your homeschool. From practicing scissor skills to cooking in the kitchen your preschooler will be proud of what they can do.

More creative life skills activities for preschoolers.

You’ll also find more life skills activities for preschoolers in Letter of the Week. This 26 week curriculum is play based. Your 3-5 year old will be challenged and encouraged in their lessons. They’ll learn more than their alphabet. They will about science, math and more. Your child will take ownership of their lessons, learn through curiosity and play, and will be proud of all that they can do. Check out the full Letter of the Week below or to sign up.

A week of life skills activities for preschoolers at a glance.