Guidebook for

Planning and Organization of Preschool Education

Activities in Anganwadi Centers

National Institute of Public Cooperation & Child Development

5, Siri Institutional Area, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016

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Why this Guidebook?

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is an indispensable foundation for lifelong learning
and development, and it has critical impact on success at the primary stage of education. ECCE
refers to programmes and provisions for children from prenatal to six years of age, which cater
to needs of a child in all domains of development i.e. physical, motor, language, cognitive,
socio- emotional, and creative and aesthetic appreciation; and ensure synergy with health and
nutrition aspects. This would cover developmental priorities for each sub stage within the
continuum, i.e. care, early stimulation/interaction needs for children below 3 years, and
developmentally appropriate preschool education for 3 to 6 year olds with a more structured
and planned school readiness component for 5 to 6 year olds. It therefore becomes
imperative to accord priority attention to ECCE and invest adequately by providing
commensurate resources.

Sending children to preschool therefore holds a significant importance in child’s life for his/her
life-long term development. The fundamental idea of sending children to Anganwadi is to
provide the children with stimulating and enriching physical and psycho-social environment so
as to form a foundation for inculcation of social and personal habits and values that are known
to lasts lifetime. Such early habits inculcated in preschool years will shape his/her personality
for the future.

The use of computers, mobile phones, tabs and other digital technologies continues to rise in
early childhood programs, and technology is being used as a tool for improving program
quality in many interesting ways. Similarly, mobile phone or a tab can act as one of the
important teaching tool. The secret to integrating technology in the early childhood classroom
is to view technology as just another tool and another kind of material to teach specific skills
and concepts. It must not be a goal in and of itself (see Dos and Don’ts below). Use of
technology in the classroom is intended to expand, enrich, implement, individualize,
differentiate, and extend the overall curriculum.
The AWW or Supervisor can download various audios and videos for children coming to the
AWC and make them listen whenever the time permits. One can download different poems,
rhymes, prayers, moral stories and show it to the children. This will not only be interesting but
children will also enjoy different graphics and voice modulations. The mobile can be connected

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to different computers and big screen boards for wider display. She can record or make video
of good and innovative ECCE activities at her AWC and can send to her counterparts for their
use.
These days many activity and learning based apps are available in the play store. These can be
downloaded which can enhance the listening and writing skills of the kids. Phones or tabs can
be used to capture the children in action, their development milestone, play new songs, email
or Whatsapp photos of children to their families, and more.
About this Guidebook
An attempt has been made to make this book AWWs friendly and can cater to their needs. The
book aims to provide a bank of activities which are deployable in the AWC. The idea behind
providing this book is to enable AWWs/ preschool teachers to understand the relevance of the
activity vis-a vis the objectives to meet the requirements for different domains of child
development.
All of us as preschool teachers or supervisors are aware of the theoretical aspects of program
planning and the concepts of child development. However this book will help build relation
between these theoretical concepts so to be able to put it in practice. The overall idea is to
minimize the gap between theory and the practice.
Structure of the Guidebook
Details of different aspects of the guidebook have been provided with its practical usability
features in respect of various domains of child development and have also been supplemented
with examples for better understanding.

There has been an impressive expansion of ECCE in India in quantitative terms with low or
inadequate attention to the content and quality of preschool education. However with the
growing realization that more qualitative changes are required the need for greater attention
with specific aspect to PSE is also being perceived.

There is no dearth of PSE material/resource material available for AWWs to implement

activities that promote the holistic growth and development of young children. But still there
are some gaps which need to be identified and new and innovative activities need to be
complemented with the present traditional ongoing activities of PSE. It is in this context, this
Guidebook will not only fill the gap in terms of both content and methodology but will also
offer a “hands on” guidebook for AWW/ Caregivers, Supervisors and other allied ICDS
functionaries.

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 Guidebook for
Planning and Organization of Preschool Education Activities in Anganwadi
Centers

Contents
Foreword Page

Chapter 1
Introduction

 Objectives of Preschool Education

 A Word with the Trainer/AWW
 Competencies of Children (3-6yrs)
 How Children Learn
 Role of AWWs
 Skills & qualities of AWWs
 Introductory Games for Rapport Building with Children
Chapter 2
Physical & Motor Development

 Gross Motor & Fine Motor Skills

 Essentials of Optimum Physical Development
 Activities /Games for Gross Motor Skills
 Activities for Fine Motor Skills

Chapter 3
Cognitive Development

 Essentials for Cognitive Development

 Development of Basic Skills
- Activities for Sensory Development
- Activities for Mental Skills
- Activities for Concept Development

Chapter 4
Language Development

 Essentials for Language Development

 Games/Exercises for Language Development
 Activities for Language Development
 Development of Listening Skills
 Development of Reading Skills
 Development for Writing Skills

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Chapter 5
Development of Science Experience & Creative Expression
 Areas of Creative Expression
 Science Experience Activities

Chapter 6
Social & Emotional Development
 Essentials for Social & Emotional Development
 Activities for Social-Emotional Development
 Games for Socio-Emotional Development

Chapter 7
Suggestive Teaching Aids
 Suggestive Low Cost Educational Material

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 Foreword
In India, children constitute 39 per cent of the country’s population (Census 2011). Children
being our most valuable resources, it becomes pivotal to elicit attention from all the quarters to
ensure development of children to the fullest of its potential. The first six years of a child's life
are fundamentally important. Recent research confirms that the first five years are particularly
important for the development of the child's brain, and the first three years are the most
critical in shaping the child's brain architecture. In this contextual view, the first six years of life
are proved critical since the rate of development is maximum and 80 percent of brain
development has already taken place by this time. A psycho-socially deficit environment or
emotional neglect can lead to negative consequences for the child development, which may
even be irreversible. The development of brain is influenced not only by health, nutrition and
quality care but also the quality of psycho-social environment the child is exposed to in these
early years. Quality child care is imperative in ensuring children’s success educationally,
socially, and developmentally. It has been observed that children who received quality child
care at a young age were better prepared for school, had greater analytical ability, greater
thinking and attention skills, and fewer behavioral challenges.

In this direction, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), Government of
India, has brought out the National ECCE Policy, and a developmentally-appropriate National
Curriculum Framework for ECCE to promote early stimulation and play-based, experiential and
child-friendly provision for early childhood education and all round development. The
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme which is the largest and most
unique early childhood development programme in the country provides early childhood
education through Anganwadi Centres across the country.

As a sequel to the initiatives made by MWCD, Government of India, the Institute has
developed this Guidebook as a tool to enhance pedagogic interest in Anganwadi Workers
(AWWs) and enable them to assess the progress of children in a meaningful way. The
development-appropriate activities explained in the Guidebook seeks to meet the requirements
for various domains of child development and facilitate the AWWs with to a variety of new
ideas for implementation of “theme-based” programme plans in Anganwadi and minimize the
gap between theory and practice by offering them an opportunity of a hands-on guidebook for
AWWs.

I sincerely hope, this Guidebook would prove useful to the AWWs, ECCE teachers/Caregivers,
their Supervisors, Programme Managers, as well as Trainers in bringing about quality in early
childhood /preschool education and re-establish the enthusiasm among AWWs to plan and
organize preschool educational activities in a joyful manner so as make the network of
Anganwadis a vibrant resource centre for Early childhood Development.

I would like to acknowledge the efforts made by Sh. B.Sahu, Assistant Director in developing
this Guidebook for the benefit of grassroots-level functionaries of the ICDS programme, ECCE
teachers, and trainers of AWTCs and MLTCs.

Dr. Dinesh Paul

Director

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

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 INTRODUCTION

The National Policy on ECCE & New ECCE Curriculum has given a great deal of
importance to ECCE/Preschool Education. It takes into account the holistic nature of early
childhood care and education and has pointed out the need for organizing programmes
for all round development of children. It specially focuses on the need for early
stimulation, since the age covered by ECCE is from conception to six years, emphasis is
given to child centered approach, play way and activity based learning. Hence, there has
been a noticeable increase in the number of childcare institutions in the last few decades.
The expansion of ICDS programme has led to the establishment of a large number of
Anganwadis. Generally, the emphasis has been on programmes related to health and
nutrition services.

Realizing the crucial importance of rapid physical and mental growth during early
childhood, the child’s holistic development can be enhanced through stimulating
environment. The idea learning situation is created with stimulatory material. Therefore,
there is a need for creating awareness among AWW about the importance of toys and
play material that are required to be provided for optimizing physical and motor,
cognitive, social and emotional development of children. The activities suggested in this
Guidebook need very little or no money and material suggested is low cost or no cost or
locally available from the natural resources. The activities have been grouped, for
convenience into sections each dealing with one major area of development. Trainers of
AWWs at AWTCs and AWWs of Anganwadi Centers will get immense help and support
while organizing activities to generate interest for learning.

Hopefully, this guidebook will prove to be handy and user friendly for the Anganwadi
workers/caregivers.

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 OBJECTIVES OF PRE SCHOOL
EDUCATION

Good healthy
habits and
basic social
skills
Muscular
coordination Sensitivity to
and basic the rights and
motor skills privileges of
others
To develop
and
encourage
the child
The ability to
express Aesthetic
his/her appreciation,
thoughts and independence
feelings and creativity

Readiness for
formal
education

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 A word with the Trainer /AWW

Pre-School Education

What How
 Education for all round  By providing rich and
development of children stimulating experiences.
from o-6 years.  Learning through
 It is educational readiness observation and
for formal schooling & investigation.
learning.  Learning through
 Education to support interactive and active
normal growth of children experiences.
through opportunities,  Learning through direct
conducive environment and and first hand
appropriate play activities. experience.

Competencies of pre school children

In order to make the games and activities rewarding it is necessary to understand the
competencies of a child at different ages. Every game and activity can be played with certain
variation to suit the child’s age and competence level. Thus, games and activities planned
according to the pace of child’s growth can help the child at each stage to grow to his
optimum.

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 Competencies of 5-6 years children

Physical & Motor Cognitive Language Social & Emotional

- Balances on objects - Solves puzzles -Uses fairly - Washes, bathes, combs
- Climb tress and - Performs simple extensive hair and uses toilet
swings additions and vocabulary independently
- Cuts along shapes subtractions -Narrates small - Follows rules in a
and pastes them - Is able to focus stories group
- Traces with pencil attention on several Give answers to - Actively participates
and joins dotted lines attributes i.e. why, how and in events, festivals and
color, shape and what. household tasks
size
- Understands others

Competencies of 4-5 years children

Physical & Motor Cognitive Language Social &

 Walks forward and Matches similar  Uses long and Emotional
backwards and can objects on the basis of complex  Helps in simple
also walk on zigzag color, shape sentences household tasks
 Dresses independently Understands basic  Describes event  Follows basic
 Manipulate toys and number, and time
can play simple games
in small hygiene and
concept sentences cleanliness
with rules
 Cuts a long line and
Describes pictures by  Tells his/her  Buttons up
draws more difficult
identifying objects, name, address clothes
shapes. Throws and things and their and parents independently
catches ball action name
 Can hold pencil



Competencies of 3-4 years children

Physical & Motor Cognitive Language Social &Emotional

-Walks, hops, jumps - Recognizes objects, - Names the objects - Likes to play with
and runs without animals, fruits and other children
Support vegetables -Uses long and - Interacts with family
- Climbs up and down - Discriminates and members
stairs simple
identifies colors and - Calls known people
- Walks on toes Sentences
- Strings bead shapes by name
- Tears, folds papers - Enjoys role playing - Begins to answer - Takes up small
and draw simple Understands the responsibilities
shapes. concept of shapes, simple questions - Undress
- Throws and catches size independently
ball
 Can hold pencil
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How Preschool Children Learn?

Preschool aged children learn:

 Through play
 By manipulating objects
 By exploring the world around them
 By experimenting
 Through trial and error
 By asking questions
 By observing and imitating others

The age and level of development of children is important in selecting activities. Selecting
activities that are stimulating and developmentally appropriate for classrooms with children
ranging from age three to six can be challenging, but it is important to remember that children
have a way of making activities developmentally appropriate for themselves. For example,
while playing with blocks, a three year old may stack several blocks on top of each other to
make a tower; a six year old will build more complex structures. This is done without the
prompting of a teacher. Thus, playing with blocks is an equally appropriate activity for both a
three and a six year old.

Children also learn through play: Play to Learn

As Plato Once Said: “Not by Force Shall the Children learn but through Play...” . There
is a need to provide an environment which allows children to Explore, Discover, Create and
Play. With our specially developed ECCE curriculum and methodology, Child experiences
hands-on activities filled with the joy and challenge of independent learning and growing. Why
Is Play So Important? Because it
 Allows children to learn at their own speed
 Helps children to try out different ways of doing things
 Stimulates the child’s imagination
 Can provide a sense of achievement
 Helps children observe, listen and communicate
 Provides a way for children to express their emotions
 Helps children develop gross (big) muscles (e.g. through jumping, running and climbing.
 Develops children’s eye/hand coordination (e.g. through catching, pouring and cutting)
 Helps children follow rules and work with one another
 There are sensory plays, dramatic and constructive plays children get engaged in.

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 REMEMBER!
AWW should give children the space and opportunity to work on their own development,
including making activities developmentally appropriate for themselves.

Role of AWWs

The role of AWW in ECE is very important and multifarious. Teaching young children is
demanding both in terms of time and responsibility. Besides this an AWW should possess
certain skills for assuming responsibilities and to meet the developmental level of the children
and effective programming.

To plan
activities as per
the daily
programme

To be
To implement
resourceful in
and organize
managing the
the activities
activities

Role of
AWW

To observe the To create

children to conducive and
identify their stimulating
strengths and environment
interests for the children

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 Skills and Qualities for an AWW

Skills Personal Qualities

 Teaching skills  Understanding

 Planning skills  Creative and
 Communication skills resourceful
 Listening skills  Firm and fair
 Problem solving skills  Adaptable
 Observational skills  Enthusiastic
 Fun loving
 Patient

Points to be kept in mind by AWW while planning the activities –

 Activities should be planned according to the need and interest of the children.
 Attention span of the children should be kept in mind i.e. activity should not be
planned for more than 10-15 min.
 There should be appropriate space for the activity.
 Balance between indoor, outdoor, active- passive and group-individual activity
should be maintained.
 All developmental domains of children should be considered while planning
activities.
 As far as possible activities should be planned as per the availability of locally
available material.
 Activities should be theme based.
 Activities should be planned with various modes/ methods so that interest of the
children is maintained.
 Provide first hand experiences.

Points to be kept in mind while conducting the activities

 Make the children sit in a semi circle so that eye contact is maintained with each
child.
 Clear and specific instructions should be given to the children while conducting
activity.
 Each child should be encouraged to participate in the activity.
 Provide appropriate guidance and support while conducting activity.
 Preparations should be made.
 Environment should be conducive and safe for the activity.
 Transition from one activity to another should be smooth.
 While conducting activities various modes /methods should be used to retain the
interest of the children.

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 While teaching children AWW must follow the methods such as :

Transition from one

activity to another
should be smooth
Activities proceeds
from simple to
complex
Provide hand on
experience

Introduce the
concepts gradually
from simple to
complex

Provide enough
opportunities to
explore

Plan activities
according to the
attention span of
children

Give opportunities to
speak and listen

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Setting the Environment for learning

A. How Does A Child-Friendly Classroom Look?

♦ Furniture and materials should be suitable sizes. The charts on the wall should be at the
child’s eye level.
♦ Displays of the children’s art work give children pride in themselves while offering good
decoration for the classroom.
♦ Hanging and window mobiles should be displayed in the classroom according to the
weekly theme.
♦ Daily routine chart should be displayed for the teacher to follow easily and may include
pictures or images for the children to follow along.
♦ The furniture used should be movable to easily put carpets down for story time.
♦ Clean and organized.
♦ Have some mats/sponges/mattresses in case the children want to sleep.
♦ There must be a storeroom cupboard to keep their materials.

B. How Does The Outdoor Area Look?

♦ Be well fenced with a lockable gate at the centre.

♦ Have a safe play area in the courtyard of or backyard of AWC with stones and any
other dangerous objects removed.
♦ Have a vegetable garden (if there is space and enough supplies…communities can
help!)
♦ Have hand-washing facilities, either a tap or water tank strategically placed near
the toilets to ensure that children do not forget to wash their hands after toilet usage
and before meals.
♦ Have safe and clean drinking and cooking water.
♦ Have necessary outdoor play materials, e.g., swings, balls, jungle gym, tyres,
tunnels, merry go around, climbers, sand pit and where possible trees for shade. All
these help the children to exercise their body muscles. It is nice for these to be painted
in bright primary colours.
REMEMBER!
The best ECCE centers are hands-on and “child-centered” rather than “teacher-centered”
to allow for play and exploration, independence, and self-direction by the child.

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The Government of India approved the National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
Policy in 2013. The Policy framework also includes the National Curriculum Framework and
Quality Standards for ECCE. The Policy caters to all children under 6 years of age and commits
to universal access to quality early childhood education.

The learning environment for Preschool Education should be safe, and secure, allows the child
to freely explore and promote experimentation. The enriching environment either at home or
school coupled with easy accessibility to play materials stimulates thinking and enables the
child to attain optimum development. The stimulating environment opens the scope for social
interaction with the adult care givers. Studies on learning, cognitive development and teaching
have highlighted the importance of learning environment (context), adult interaction and
individual relationship in attaining learning.

As part of "Strengthening and Restructuring of ICDS", the Government of India (GOI) is

focusing on strengthening of AWCs as "Vibrant ECD Centers" to become the first village
outpost for health, nutrition and early learning and the Government has also proposed
minimum 6 hours of working of AWCs.

Anganwadi centers should provide opportunities for children to work at their own interest level
and at their own pace. An effective AWW is ever-present to bring about individual learning
through teacher guided interactions and activities.

When designing a developmentally appropriate curriculum for preschoolers, activity area in

the Anganwadi centers are a major consideration.

 Rooms need to be commonly divided into learning centers which provide for a variety
of learning opportunities for children to maximize interest and engagement. Each child
has an opportunity to solve problems, to exchange ideas with peers, and to learn
appropriate social behaviors.
 Most activities are typically child initiated (the child decides which center to work in,
how long, what materials he/she will use and what the activity will be) while some
planned activities may require more teacher involvement to take advantage of
teachable moments or develop interest among children. Learning centers provide
children with:
 Flexibility in the time spent on an activity
 Freedom to participate in a variety of self-selected activities

Setting up classroom

The ECCE classroom arrangement must be flexible, which can be adjusted to lesson
plans and activities, such as large groups for singing, storytelling and smaller groups for
activities like drawing, blocks and for individual play. It should also have learning/activity
‘corners’, such as creative corner, book corner, game corner, so that the children can
play according to their interests and choose their activity. An example of optimal
utilization of classroom space which allows flexibility is given below:

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• Classroom arrangement during large group activities (e.g. circle time): During
the morning circle time, leave enough space between the children. This way the children
who come late will be able to join the circle easily and participate in the activities with
minimal disruption.

• Circle time: During this time, the children sit in a circle, along with the ECCE teacher.
Circle time may be used for engaging the children in a discussion, reading a book or singing
songs/ rhymes etc. Sitting in a circle allows all children to face each other clearly. The
teacher sits on the same type of chair/ mat as the children, which conveys that the
ECCE teacher is a facilitator rather than a director.

• Classroom arrangement during small group activities: The classroom should

allow ECCE teacher to engage children of a particular age group in small group
activities. During this time, other children can play independently in one of the four
corners (free play). The children should be encouraged to choose a corner of their own
interest as this will motivate them to be engaged in the learning process. Meanwhile, in the
small group, the ECCE teacher can focus on facilitating activities or discussions that are
somewhat challenging and need guidance from an adult. In this way, the space in the
ECCE centre can be used efficiently by dividing the children intone (sing one tone together)
large group and four small groups. It should be ensured that the ECCE teacher can
observe all children in each of the corners from where she might be working with a group
of children

• Free play:
It is important to give children some opportunities to engage in free play. When children
have the opportunity to choose what to play with, they follow their interests and
usually remain engaged in activities for long periods of time (15-20 minutes) and
require minimal teacher supervision. Such opportunities help children to make simple choices,
a skill that is needed for problem solving. In addition, as they remain focused in such
activities for a longer duration, it helps to increase their attention span.

Learning/Activity Corners

A physical space is divided into interest areas in an ECCE setting where children can explore,
make things, experiment and pursue their own interests. Separate interest areas or
learning corners are established places in the classroom with resources that actively
engage children and may change according to the theme/ topics. Young children
learn a great deal by interacting with objects in their surroundings. They are naturally
curious; they love to explore and experiment with objects and learn from such experiences.
The important learning corners that need to be set up in a preschool classroom are:
dramatic play corner, reading/ story books corner, puzzles and block corner and
drawing/ painting corner. The other corners such as the creative art corner, writing corner,
science corner and music corner could be included and set up on a rotation basis in the
classroom.

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 Reading and story books corner: Young children need to have the opportunity
to touch, feel, and smell the books. When exposed to books, they begin to identify the
front and the back of the book and learn how to turn pages. After reading a story if the
ECCE teacher leaves a copy of the book in the book corner, it should give children
opportunity to revisit the book and take an active interest as they begin to understand
what this book is about. After some exposure children begin to love reading different
books, sometimes they have a “favorite book” based on their favorite story or the pictures
in the book. It is essential for children to interact with books as they acquire a number of
pre-literacy skills through such experiences. A variety of children’s books, children’s
magazines and books made by children in the classroom should be in this corner. These
can include large board books, picture books, local folk tales, simple story books,
theme related books, comics, newspapers etc.
• Dramatic play corner: Children often enjoy pretending to be a teacher, a
parent, a policeman or a doctor. It is an important mechanism for children to learn
Through fantasy. By acting out what they see in their environment, they strengthen their
memory. Also, this is a way for children to solve problems and engage in perspective
taking. The materials here can include: various kinds of dolls, doll-sized furniture and
clothes, doll-sized cooking utensils (pots, dishes, spoons etc), pretend food (vegetables
or fruits made of clay), dress- up clothes (e.g. scarf, cap, stole, jacket, small sari, long
pieces of cloth etc.), combs and a mirror.

• Puzzles and block corner: By playing with blocks, children begin to learn
about shapes, sizes, and colours. They may compare the blocks, arrange them in some
shapes (e.g. railway track) etc. Blocks motivate children to think in creative ways as they
build different kinds of structures. Moreover, children build a structure cooperatively, which
requires them to communicate with each other and work as a team. This corner should have
blocks of different colours, shapes and sizes, puzzles, matching cards, lacing strings or lacing
cards, threading strings and beads. Include small toys such as cars, trucks, animals, people
figures and other toys that relate to children’s current interests and objects from the
environment.
• Creative art corner: Through drawing, painting and working with clay children
begin to understand that real life objects and events can be represented in many ways. This
fosters symbolic thinking, which is an important pre-writing skill. In addition, these
activities provide opportunities to exercise fine motor muscles of the fingers and the
hands, which prepare them to write. The materials include: different types of paper,
crayons, pencils, washable markers, slates, different coloured chalks, pieces of fabric, paints,
brushes, tape, play dough or clay, rolling pins and boards, old newspaper and magazines for
collage and ice-cream sticks.
• Writing corner can provide children with opportunities to develop their early
literacy skills. Children should be allowed to experiment and activities in this corner without
having directed. This corner should have materials that encourage children to explore

19
writing such as different varieties of paper in different sizes, note books, note pads, thick
pencils, stamps and stamp pads, punchers, string, envelopes, etc.
• Science corner need not be a permanent corner in the classroom as children
learn scientific concepts and skills in other areas of the room as well. We know that young
children learn best through play and investigation. This corner may be equipped with
materials that focus on only one topic at a time for example ramps and wheels,
magnifying glass, shells, plants, seeds, magnets and iron filings, weighing scales and weights,
measuring tapes, or any other locally available materials.
• Music corner should provide the children with a comfortable space to relax in. It
may be equipped with a tape recorder and a variety of music including rhymes on CDs /
tapes, if possible. This corner may have materials such as ribbons or scarves for the children
to use to promote creative movement. This corner must also encourage children to
experience and explore the sounds of different instruments, such as bells, singing bowls,
flutes, tambourines, string instruments and other local musical instruments.

Points to Remember:

 All the materials should not be displayed at once, as this will be too overwhelming for
the children. Consider changing the materials in each corner after every two weeks.
Children need time to practice but if the materials are never changed they will get
bored and will lose interest in the corner.
 Keep active, noisier centers (blocks and constructions) at a distance from quiet ones
(read ing, gam es and t oys).
 Al l corner s sh ould be labeled using words and i llustr ations alongsi de and stating
how many children can work there at a time by drawing stick puppets such that
children can ‘read’ it.
 All containers in each corner should be labeled and similar labels should be put on
the storage shelves showing children where the materials need to be stored. Once
children finish working with a specific material, s/he over time and with support, can
participate in cleaning up and caring for the materials.

Displays on the walls

It is essential to display children’s artwork and projects on the wall. This helps children to
remember the activities in which they participated and fosters their self-esteem, as they
feel their work is valued. Parents also feel proud of their children and take a more active
interest in their education when they see their children’s work displayed in the centre. All
displays should be at children’s eye level.

Other pictures displayed on the walls must relate directly to the current curriculum in the
classroom, such as the theme of the month. It is best to label pictures as this helps young
children understand that written words can be used to represent objects, which in turn
helps them to understand the purpose of reading and writing. Pictures can also include
those of the children in the class or the community in which they live.

Furniture and mats

If there is furniture in the classroom, it must be child-sized, so t h a t children are

comfortable in sitting and working on them. It should have rounded edges and height of
furniture should be such that children can sit comfortably and use their hands freely.
Furniture may not be essential for preschool classrooms. Colorful mats can also be used to

20
mark the sitting area. It is important to consider the texture when selecting mats. Children
must feel comfortable as they sit on the mat and focus on their tasks.

Shelves

Shelves should be low in height and hold manipulative toys, puzzles and other learning
materials for children to explore. Children must have easy access to these resources.
Storage shelves and/or low room dividers can be used to separate learning corners to
clearly mark boundaries.
Establish ‘traffic patterns’ of movement for entering the room, putting belongings in a
specific space, access to bathrooms and sink areas and moving from one area to
another.

Grouping

An effective ECCE programme should use appropriate grouping practices. It is well

known from research that a multi grade as well as mixed-age grouping is on the whole
more appropriate for young children. In classroom , the AWWs should have the
flexibility to use grouping that ranges from individual work, to small and large group work,
as well as whole class engagements to facilitate learning.

• Individual / multi age groups and ability: If the children in the class are more or
less of a similar age, consider grouping them according to their developmental needs and
abilities. Offer a range of activities for each group that caters to individual children and their
educational needs.

 If a class has children with different ages, consider dividing them into groups
according to their ages. Let each group of children work together. The curriculum
should be planned in such a way it must meet the developmental levels of each age
group.
• Individual, small and large group interactions: While planning the day and
activities, make sure t o bala nce quiet individual time with larg e and small gro up
interactions. Indiv idual time m ight include the choice of free play in quiet centers such as
the read ing, writing or the puzzle centre. Group time is often energetic and noisy. Songs,
rhymes, finger plays, dramatics, scie nce, math and physical activities can be used during
group time. Plan opportunities for group interactions both in the indoors and outdoors
settings. Balance it with active and quiet activities. A large group quiet time might include a
story read aloud session. Small group interactions might include children working
together in the creative centre on a collage or in construction work in the block centre.

The ECCE learning environment should be planned creatively and imaginatively. While
planning specific activities, remember to include the development of the whole child. A
well thought out and planned activity can involve several aspects of development.

Essential Learning and Play Material

In early childhood stage, a child learns through interacting with immediate environment
hence environment should be stimulating which have a variety of materials to arouse and
sustain the child’s curiosity, interest and promote his learning. Any preschool or ECCE
centre should have adequate and varied supply of play materials which is
developmentally and age appropriate.

21
• Developmentally appropriate play materials to foster all round development should be
available at the ECCE centre

• The materials should be safe, clean and in good conditions. Sufficient quantity should
be available to work in small groups and it should be easily accessible to the child.

• The materials should promote gross and fine motor development and help the child to
discover and explore including constructing and reconstructing. It should promote
sensory exploration and social interaction along with creative expressions through arts,
painting, etc.

• The materials and teaching strategies should be differentiated on the basis of

children’s needs and context. Strategies such as simplifying directions, use of concrete
materials/examples, sequencing learning tasks from easy to hard, repeated
opportunities to practice skills and adapting materials by increasing stability (by utilising
Velcro), accessibility (e.g. developing a hand splint to hold materials,), visual clarity or
distinctiveness (adding contrast or specialized lighting) etc can be adopted

• The materials should be differentiated o n the basis of its use by child, teacher,
AWW and home use. Materials which can be adapted for multi-purpose usage should be
given preference.

• AWWs should be encouraged to develop learning materials using locally available

natural resources. Parents, local toy makers, craftsperson and other community members
may be encouraged to create play materials for children.

Some essential learning and play materials are

Indoor Material

 Blocks for constructive play

 Manipulative toys
 Material for imaginative play /Dramatic play material – dolls, puppet, masks, kitchen
sets, mirrors, old spectacle frames, purses, old shoes, weighting scales, clock etc
 Material to develop Language skills – Books and picture books, storing telling
aid- puppet, etc, story cards, sound board, conversation cards, flash cards,
picture dominoes, collection of rhymes and stories, visual discrimination and
auditory and visual association, slates, chalks, crayons, blackboard, drawing paper,
etc
 Material to develop cognitive skills – sound boxes, visual discrimination cards,
touch cards, feel bag, food items of varying kind to develop sensory skills and
materials in the environment, cards, picture jigsaw and self correcting puzzles
for matching, sorting, arranging, classifying, problem solving, memory and
sequential thinking to develop cognitive skills
 Musical and art material for creative expression such as paints, crayons, sketches,
pencil, paint brushes, cotton, threads, clay, knife, papers, scissors, cloth, gum
and fevicol, bead, etc. Any open ended material that can be used by children in a
variety of ways
 Nature as learning material.

22
  Indigenous play materials and teacher made learning materials using
available resources

Outdoor Materials

Play equipment like climbers, swings, sports field, sports equipment, bicycles, jump ropes,
balls, movable items (boxes, plastic crates), storage shed to build balancing, jumping,
climbing, swinging, swaying, cycling, etc

Materials like large or small balls, old tyres, rings, etc for throwing, catching, kicking, rolling,
etc Sand and water play arrangement with sand pit, mugs, spoons, cups, bucket, sieves,
strainer, etc. may be used for conducting different activities

Quality Standards as per ECCE Policy

To standardize the quality of ECCE available to children, basic Quality Standards and
Specifications will be laid down for ECCE which will be enforced across public, private and non-
governmental service providers. The following base standards would be non-negotiable for
promoting quality ECCE and shall be made mandatory for all service providers rendering any
kind of, ECCE service:

 An ECCE programme of 3-4 hours duration

 Classroom measuring at least 35 square meters (377sq ft) for a group of 30 children
and availability of adequate (at least 30 square meters) outdoor space for a group of
30children.
 Adequately trained staff
 Age and developmentally appropriate, child centric curriculum transacted in the mother
tongue/local vernacular (language).
 Adequate developmentally appropriate toys and learning material
 A safe building which is within easy approach. It should be clean and should have
surrounding green area
 Adequate and safe drinking water facilities
 Adequate and separate child-friendly toilets and hand wash facilities for girls and boys
 Separate space allocated for cooking nutritionally balanced meals and nap time for
children
 Immediate health service in terms of First Aid Medical Kit available at the centre
 The adult Caregiver: Child ratio of 1:20 for 3-6 year old children and 1:10 for under 3s
should be available at the ECCE Centre. Children should not be unattended at any given
point of time

23
 CHAPTER 2

PHYSICAL & MOTOR

DEVELOPMENT

24
 Physical Health and Motor Development:
¾ Developing coordination and control of large motor muscles
¾ Developing strength and coordination of small motor muscles
¾ Demonstrate the use of body with proper sense of space and direction
¾ Coordination of fine muscles with dexterity; eye hand coordination
¾ Developing sense of balance, physical co-ordination
¾ Recognize different food and demonstrate healthy dietary habits
¾ Display healthy habits, personal care and hygiene. Display ability to follow
safety rules, make choices and avoid danger

PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

The process by which a child learns to use his/her body parts is referred as “motor
development”. Motor development is important for further development in all other domains
of development. For example: if a child doesn’t learn how to walk (motor skill) he may never
be able to live an independent life. It may be defined as developing control over bodily
movements through the coordinated activity of the nerve and muscles.
A motor skill is a skill that regards the ability of a child to utilize skeletal muscles effectively.
Motor skills depend upon the proper functioning of the brain, skeleton, joints, and nervous
system and thus motor skills involve the proper functioning of such systems. Most motor skills
are learned in early childhood, although disabilities can affect motor skills development.
Motor skills are divided into two parts:
Gross motor skills are the skills which are performed using the large muscles of the body. It
includes lifting one's head, rolling over, sitting up, balancing, crawling, and walking. Gross
motor development usually follows a pattern. Generally large muscles develop before smaller
ones. Thus, gross motor development is the foundation for developing skills in other areas
(such as fine motor skills). Development also generally moves from top to bottom. The first
thing a baby usually learns is to control their head.
Fine motor skills are the skills that involve the small muscles of our body. It includes the
ability to manipulate small objects, transfer objects from hand to hand, and various hand-eye
coordination tasks. Fine motor skills may involve the use of very precise motor movement in
order to achieve an especially delicate task. Some examples of fine motor skills are using the
pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) to pick up small objects, cutting, coloring and writing, and
threading beads.

25
 Please explain to me the types
of motor development.
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Activity: --------------------------------------
----------------------

Essentials for Optimum Physical

Development

Health and Hygiene Good Muscular

Coordination Balanced Diet

 Activities for Gross motor skills


 Personal hygiene  Energy giving
 Clean clothes  Walking food
 Running  Food for growth
 Clean
 Climbing
surroundings  Skipping  Food for
 Catching maintenance of
 Balancing body
 Crawling
 Throwing
 Jumping
 Hopping
 Cycling
 Kicking
 Pulling & Pushing
 Activities for Fine motor Skills
 Tearing
 Pasting
 Folding
 Drawing
 Coloring
 Clay modeling
 Sand play
 Cutting
 Threading
 Writing
 Beading
 Buttoning

26
ENHANCING FINE AND GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
Although children tend to acquire both gross and fine motor skills on their own with time but
given a bit of extra stimulation children can learn using their muscles and body parts in a
better way which further helps in overall development of the children. The best way for a
person to promote this development in a child is to provide with a wide range of activities and
material to manipulate as per the dictation of their imagination. Some activities and material
has been given below which can aid in both fine and gross motor development.

Activities for Gross Motor Skills

1. Name of the Activity: Balancing while walking

Material Required Method

Draw a straight line on the floor and ask children to walk

Dafli along chalk line.
Dhapli can also be used while the child is walking on the
line. Start playing the dhapli when the child starts to walk
along the line and stop playing dhapli when the child
finishes walking along the line. It is better to use "dhapli",
Beat "dhapli" Allow another child to walk along the rope or
the line in the same way. The activity may continue for all
Rope children

Activity can also be organized with the following

variations
 Put a straight line using sand on the ground and ask
children to walk over the sand line.
 Place 5-6 bricks in a straight line and ask children to
walk on the bricks without sidestepping.
Chalk  Use durries, mats available in the AWC. Ask children to
walk along the mats and durries border maintaining
balance of their feet. Get children to walk on the rope
or the chalk line to the beat of "dhapli or song
 Draw shapes like square, circle and triangle on the
floor. Ask children to walk on the shapes without
using or asking for any support.
Bricks
 Introduce variety by providing hurdles e.g. Put planks
or tyres on which children step over with proper
coordination & balance of body.
 Place the rope or draw line in a zigzag manner and ask
children walk along.
 Allow children to walk backward and forward too.

27
2. Name of the Activity CRAWLING:
 Develop coordination; synchronizes right and left
body sides

Material Method

Rope Crawling is a great fun for every child. Group can

participate in the activity and children should be given
clear instructions what to do.

Under a rope
Chalk
Call two older (5-6 years) children to hold a rope straight
little above the ground. Ask children to come in a row,
creep and crawl under the rope without touching it. Let all
children creep and crawl under the rope by following the
instructions. After a little practice, increase the height of
Pillow the rope above the ground and ask children to creep and
crawl again under the rope without touching it.

Activity can also be organized with the following

variations
Box Follow the line:
Draw a chalk line for children to crawl along the line. Ask
children to crawl behind someone, some moving objects or
plants.

Crawling for Treasure hunt:

Tyres Keep an object (ball, pen and blocks) under a table or a
chair or a drum, or a box and ask children to crawl to find
out the hidden objects.

Balls Crawl through an obstacle course

Ask children to crawl through eg.boxes, pipes, and tunnel,
under objects, around objects and over objects

28
3. Name of the Activity Climbing
Material Method
Rope  Take three boxes (wooden or cardboard) of different
size and place them on a line and ask children to climb
up and down the boxes.

Activity can also be organized with the following

variations
Box  Make a rope ladder, suspend it from a tree or a beam,
and ask children to climb the rope. It should be swung
in such a way that ends should not touch the ground.
Guide the children to climb the ladder by holding the
ropes on both sides tightly. Help them climb gradually
and keep proper supervision over them. Keep in mind
that children need support initially as they are likely
Tyres to fell down. Hence they need to practice

 Some other skill development activities may also be

organized like
- Climbing the stairs
Log - Climbing the small tops
- Climbing up/down the verandah/steps

Wooden plank

Drum

4. Name of activity Jumping

Method
Material
Jumping over objects:
 Draw a straight line using chalk on the ground. Ask
the children to come in a row and jump over the line

29
 Rope without touching the line. Children may be guided to
lift their feet at a time while jumping over the line or a
rope.
Activity can also be organized with the following
variations
High Jump
 Make all children stand in a row. Ask two older
children to hold each end of the rope above the
ground. Ask the children to jump over the rope one
Bricks by one. Gradually, the height of the rope may be
increased.
Jumping in and out
 Place one old motorcar / jeep tyre on the ground.
Ask children to jump in and out. AWW can use
"dapli" and command them with the beats for
example, say "jump in” and "Jump out". She can
change the beats so that the children jump in or
jump out as per the beats.
Tyres
Jump and touch
 Make two children hold each end of the rope 2-3 fts
above the ground with suspended objects like
balloons, biscuits or toys. Ask children to jump up
and touch the balloons, toys or biscuits
Stand and Jump
 Make all children stand in a row. Draw 2-3 straight
lines on the ground at a distance of 1-2ft. Ask
Chalks children to jump one by one over the chalk lines
without touching the line.
 Draw different shapes (Triangles, Squares, Circles etc.)
on the floor or ground. Ask the children to stand and
jump over the shapes. You can also ask the children
to jump from one shape to other for example from
Stool square to circle, circle to triangle so on and so forth.
In the same way, you can place tyres on the ground
and ask children from one tyre to other.

5. Name of the Activity Hopping

Material Method

30
  Place a rope on the floor and ask the children to hop
Chalks along the rope.

Activity can also be organized with the following

variations

Hopping on shapes
 Draw different shapes like square, round triangle on
the ground and encourage children to hop from one
Box shape to another

Animal Hopping:
 Games dramatizing animal movements can be played
example; Draw straight lines on the ground. Ask
children to hop like frog, rabbit or monkey along the
line.

Dafli Statue Game

 Draw a line or place a rope straight on the ground.
Ask the children to come in a row and hop along the
line/rope while the children are hopping play dhapli.
Tell them to listen carefully to the beats of dhapli.
When you say stop, children must stay still without
twisting their body like a statue.
If any child moves/tries to step down, the child is out.
Rope
Sack race
 Two-legged/ sack race can be organized for children
where they hop from one point to other

Color

31
6. Name of activity Throwing and Catching

Material Method
 Divide children into two groups and make them stand in
Ball circles. Ask children to throw the ball up in the air and catch
it. Between throwing and catching let the children carry out
an action such as clapping, hopping etc. before ball comes
down.
Activity can also be organized with the following
variations
Throwing ball into a box/basket
 Draw a line and ask the children to stand behind the line.
Place a basket or box in front of children at a distance. Ask
Basket children to throw the ball into the box/basket. Gradually the
distance of the box/basket may be increased as the game
progresses.
Throwing ball over and under
 Ask the children to stand in a circle and throw the ball to
one another in different ways i.e. over the head or under the
legs. Children will throw catch and vice-versa.
 AWW can also organize activities like passing the ball,
bounce the ball, roll the ball, kicking the ball and moving the
ball as per the body parts and ask them to name the body
Throw
parts.
 Gradually, when children become older, AWW can introduce
number and colors to the group and organize the game (1,
2, 3, 4 & Red, Green, Blue etc.)
Catching Using Launch Boards
Place a small ball or beanbag on the launch end of the
board. If using a ball, drill a 2" hole in the end of the
board to lay the ball in. A beanbag may be the best choice
as it lays flat on the board and is easy for children to grab
out of the air.

"Place your beanbag on the low end of the board. Go to

Catch
the other end, get your hands ready to catch by holding
them out in front of you, then raise your foot and stomp
on the end of the board. As the beanbag flies into the air
in front of you, clap your hands around the beanbag and
catch it.

The instructional emphasis for this activity should be to have

children concentrate on getting their hands ready to catch the
beanbag and to focus on watching the beanbag as it moves
through the air. Children should first focus on attempting to
catch the beanbag with both hands at the same time then with
the right and the left hand alone.

32
7. Name of the Activity Rolling
Nature of activity Outdoor
Material to be used Method

Roll the ball:

Ball  Draw a straight line or curved line on the floor. Ask the
children to come in a row and roll the ball along the
line drawn.

Rolling on the mat

 Spread a mat on the floor and ask children roll on the
mat. Encourage them to roll forward and back ward.

Rolling Ball with Feet/Hands

Rope
 Draw a line and ask the children roll the ball with their
feet/ hands along the line. Children should not roll
over the line. If a child rolls the ball over the line,
he/she will be out and another child will join in.

Mat

8. Name of the Activity Walking/Stepping

Participation Group
Material Method

Blind fold walking:

 Place the rope or draw a straight line on the ground.
Lines may be drawn in such a way that each line
should be parallel to each other. Blind fold the child.
Ask the child to walk over the line or rope without
touching it. You can beat "dhapli". If they touch the

33
 rope or line

In and out:
 Place a rope in a circular manner or draw a circle on
the floor. Call the children to stand along the line of
the circle. When you say "in' children will step "in" and
when you say "out" they will step out of the circle.
Play "dhapli” for commands. The child who does not
follow the command and do wrong is out. Continue
the game until the last child is there. Announce the
winner in the end.
Chalks Walk along “Q” shapes
 Draw various shapes on the floor. Ask children to
walk along the shape as per your. The child, who
does not walk along the right shape, must sit out and
watch.

Dafli

9. Name of activity Hiding castle

Age 2-3 years
Materials How to organize
Take a big cardboard box closed on all sides. Cut holes on the sides of
Cardboard box the box in the shape of windows and doors. Ask the children tol crawl
in and out of the box, using it as a hiding place.

10. Name of activity Push and Pull

Age 2-3 years
Materials How to organize
String Tie a string to a toy car or to some small furniture. Children will pull
or push it along while walking.

34
 Toy car

11. Name of activity Dancing

Age 3-6 years
Materials How to organize
Dholak Arrange a dafli or dholak. AWW/AWH will sing while playing the
musical instruments and the children will dance on the tunes.

Dafli

12. Name of activity Imaginative activity

Age 3-6years
Materials How to organize
Dancing sticks Give children some Ribbon dancing sticks, jump ropes and hula hoops,
and tells them to use it as many things as they can imagine it to be.

Hula hoops

13. Name of activity Outdoor painting project

Age 4-6 years
Materials How to organize

35
 Newspaper Lay sheets of newspapers on the ground and fill paint pans with
different colors. Encourage children to paint as “big” as possible, using
his hands, legs, feet and body to paint as much of the canvas as he can.

Color

14. Name of activity Garden make over

Age 4 – 6 years
Materials How to organize
Ask children to help with gardening by lifting dirt or pulling weeds or
None clean up by collecting sticks or raking leaves.

15. Name of activity Balloon Toss

Age 5-6years
Materials How to organize
Blow up several balloons and toss them back and forth. Try blowing
Balloons the balloon up in the air using different body parts (hands, elbows,
heads). See how many times your preschooler can bounce the balloon
up before it falls to the ground.

16. Name of activity Mother May I?

Age 5-6years
Materials How to organize
None In this simple game, the direction giver stands on one side of the
room/yard, and the child(ren) stand on the other. The children take

36
 turns asking the direction giver, “Mother, may I _____?” (i.e., take 3
giant steps; hop 4 times; take 2 baby steps) The direction giver can
answer “Yes you may” or “No you may not” at her whim.

17. Name of activity Hopscotch

Age 4-6 years
Materials How to organize
Pebbles Draw your basic hopscotch grid, and then the first player throws a
marker (we use a rock) into box #1. The player hops on one foot (or
alternating feet, or both feet for some kids!) all the way to the last box
and back, stopping to pick up the marker on her way. Players take turns
trying to throw in each box in order (1, 2, 3, etc.).

Chalk

Activity: Tick the activity which will aid in gross motor

development.

37
 Games for Gross Motor Skills

1. Name of the Game Musical Chairs

Nature Outdoor
Participation Group
Material Method
Chalks  Place 5 - 6 chairs in a large circle. In case there
are no chairs available, you can replace chairs by
placing papers, cloths, old tires, and mats. Keep
one chair less than the number of children taking
part in the game. Ask children to run around the
chairs and you being the organizer beat "dhapli".
Tell every child to find its chair when you stop
playing dhapli the child who does not get his chair
Dafli will be out of the game. Now remove one of the
chairs and continue the game until only one child
is left. He will be the winner.

Tyres

Papers

Mats

38
2. Name of the game CREATIVE MOVEMENT

Material Nil - (use body parts)

Nature Indoor/ Individual and group

Method

Children need to be explained about the game. Ask

one child at a time to do the action.
In this game, ask the children to move like a monkey,
bloom like a flower, blow like a balloon etc. Share all
these to children when they are in a group. Let the
children choose their ways to move. Follow the
children. Ask the children to show different
movements as per their imagination & experience.
For example, a child may show the movement of a
batsman or kite player. Others will watch and guess
whose movement it is. Here, none will express the
action rather demonstration action before the group.

39
3. Name of the Activity LALA JI KA LADDOO

Nature Indoor
Participation Group
Material Method
 Collect picture chart of Domestic Animals. Keep
Ball the cutouts of the pictures of domestic Animals
ready. Divide the children into two teams e.g.
Team I & Team II.

Each team will have 5 children; both teams

should pined up one domestic animal picture on the
shirts. For example, one child will be “dog”, other
Rope as “cat” so on and so forth. Call both teams to
stand on a line, one facing the other, and place the
ball in a plastic plate in the middle. The middle
line should be marked at a distance of
approximately 10 f/s from the line.

Now, call out the name of domestic animals; for

example ‘cat’, the ones who have been pined up as
Dafli “cat”, (in both the teams) must run to the centre and
pick up the ball. The one who picks up the ball will
be awarded a point of the concerned group. In the
same way, call out another name and repeat the
game. The team who has maximum number of pick
up, will be declared as winner of “Lalajee Ka Laddoo”.
Hanky They will take out the ball for their team. It is
interesting if toffees or laddoos can be arranged
instead of a ball.

Safety pin

Plastic plates

40
4. Name of the activity Potato Race/Lemon Race

Nature Outdoor
Participation Group
Material to be used Method
 Prepare children for racing;
Rope  Explain them the rules and regulations.
 Collect required No of potatoes or lemon and
spoons.
 Divide the children into two teams i.e. Team –
A or in the name of any animal i.e.
Cheetah & Team – B as “Dog” etc.
 Ask children to keep the potato on the spoon
and hold the spoon under the teeth.
 Place a landmark within a distance of 20 – 25 ft.
Tell children to run and touch the mark and
come back to the starting point. Tell children
Dafli that they should not drop spoon and
potato/lemon from the mouth while running. If
a child drops any of the items, will be out of the
race. The team completes the race successfully,
will be declared “winner”. Subsequently, the
other Team will play in the same manner.

Spoon

Lemon

41
5. Name of the Activity Do As I Say. (Captain Speaks)

Nature Indoor
Participation Group
Material to be used Method
 Draw a circle using chalk on the floor. Ask
children to stand along the circle. You stand in
the middle and perform a simple action, for
example; putting the hands over the shoes, feet,
Dafli eyes, head or shoulder.

 When you are performing an action, describe

something else different from what you are
actually doing. For example, if you act “bending
down” tell children to show “stand up” or
“walking” Children must do whatever you say
not what you perform, do or act. Children who
do what you do, will be out of the game and
watch. Go on doing this exercise until one child
is left. Let the children take their turn and try to
be the leader or captain of the game.

6. Name of Activity Granny’s Chasing (दादी की दौड़ )

Nature Indoor
Participation Group
Material to be used Method
 Select a group of 8 - 10 children to take part in
this game. Pick up a child who can play the
role of a Grand Mother or Daadi Maa, other

42
 child as Dada (Grand father) and rest will play
Dafli the role of local children.
 Explain the instructions and steps to be
followed.
 The game proceeds as; “Daadi Maa” comes
to take bath in the pond while children play
near the pond. Suddenly all children come to
her and stops her from bathing in the pond.
They demand sugar candy or toffees from Dadi
Maa if she wants to take bath in this pond.
After a little negotiation with children, the Daadi
Maa is allowed to take bath. Then she comes
to the kitchen and prepares chapatti for Dadaji
. Suddenly she decides to go to a nearby
market to fetch fresh green vegetables for
making curry. In the meantime while Daadi Maa
is out, one of the children enters her kitchen
and eats up chapatti. Daadi Maa returns from
market and find her Chapatti is missing. She
comes out and asks children one by one ,” who
has eaten my chapatti?”
 Children reply,” a dog, a cat, a crow” Suddenly
the child who has eaten her chapatti speaks
loudly,” I have taken”.
 Daadi tries to chase and catch the boy and
The boy who is caught by Daadi will be invited
to play the role of Daadi Maa and the game
continues further

7. Name of the activity Blind fold

Nature Indoor/outdoor

Participation Group

Material to be used Method

 Collect a black ribbon of I ft length or

handkerchief.

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 Dafli  Tie the handkerchief over the eyes of a child. Ask
other children to clap or beat Dhapli keeping
pause in between clapping or beating Dhapli.
Child, who is blindfold, asked to chase the sound
of clapping or beats of daphli and try to catch the
child who claps or plays “dhapli”. If the blindfold
catches the child, he/she will be tied with ribbon
or handkerchief again and the game will continue
then.

Handkerchief

8. Name of the activity Statue making

Nature Outdoor

Participation Group

Material to be used Method

 Draw a circle on the floor. Call all children to

stand along the circle. Explain them how to go
Dafli about it. Beat Dhapli and ask children to walk
in the circle. Make a rhythmic sound with
Chalks “Dhapli” and tell children to stop as soon as the
beat (rhythm) of the “dhapli” is stopped. Tell
children to stop and stand still. If any child
attempts to move or flicker, or loses its balance
must be dropped out of the game.
 To make this game interesting, ask children to
initiate the game like an animal; say, monkey,
rabbit or frog.

44
  Ask children to walk like a rabbit, frog or a
monkey. Stop the dhapli and children are
supposed to stand like a STATUE (as is
where is). The child who holds/stands the
place longer hours is declared winner.

Tick the game that helps in improving gross motor development.

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 Activities for Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are described as small muscle movements; those that occur in the
finger, in coordination with the eyes. Fine motor skills need to be developed over time
and practice. Let us try a few activities.

1. Tearing, Placing and Pasting

 Place a variety of objects (e.g. Blocks, felt pen, paper, string, wool, cereal, cottonseeds etc.)
Give them old newspaper, magazines, petals etc to tear. Trace outlines for children ask
them to place the objects on the outlines.

 Match shapes, color, or pictures to a page and paste them within the outlines. Take a few
flower petals or leaves and ask children to place them in the traced shapes.

46
2. Tracing and Coloring

 Trace a thick black line if needed

 Trace and then color shapes, increasing the size and complexity gradually
 Draw outline sketch of some Animals/Plants/Flowers and ask children to color it.

3. Practicing Self – Care Skills

1. Buttoning
2. Lacing
3. Zipping
4. Carrying
5. Locking and unlocking a door/lock
6. Winding a Wire/Thread/Rope
7. Opening and closing Bottles
8. Peeling off skins of vegetables/banana/orange etc
9. Washing dishes/plates
10. Booming floor/arranging beddings
11. Dressing up dolls/self
12. Bathing toys/self too

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 4. Finger Tracing

 Have the child trace a pattern in sand, flour, finger paint, etc. The textures give the child
aesthetic feeling. It helps to trace the pattern with his finger before he tries it with a
pencil.

Using Smart Board

6. 5. Pre-Writing (Joining Dots)

7.
 Dot-to-dot drawings of pictures, objects, shapes, numbers, letter, etc.
 Tile and mosaic designing with dominoes
 Folding activities (Paper napkin etc.)
 Fine coloring (fine traced outlines on Animal Figure)

48
6. Building Blocks

 Katories/Plastic cups can be used or building blocks. Marble pieces can be collected
locally and used as block play. Safety measure needs to be taken when use local objects
like bricks, stones, marbles etc

8.
7. Sorting

 Sorting small object such as beans, seeds, paper clips and rubber bands into groups, will
strengthen the child’s fine motor skills. Be sure and watchful child should not eat them
(safety).

8. Dressing & Undressing

 Children can build up self-care skills by buttoning, zipping, buckling, etc. Tying their
shoes will help too. On this same path, dressing up their dolls will also encourage fine
motor development. Also such practices promotes eye hand coordination and balancing

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9. Drawing

 Manipulating pencils, crayons, and stamps are good activities to build fine motor
development. Free drawing on the floor, on the paper and mixing mud with water are
good exercises for child’s finer motor coordination skills.

10. Wind up Toys

 Winding up toys will strengthen the child’s pincer grip. Be careful the toy’s winding
mechanism is not too difficult to turn, that will frustrate the children Kitchen Utensil
set are also best aids for child to learn the manipulation skills

11. Play with Fit- in Puzzles

 Completing or putting puzzles together develop the eye hand co-ordination that is so
very important to the development of fine motor skills. Children also play with picture
puzzles in different segment

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12. Pegboards
 Pegboards enhance children’s fine motor skills. The ability to pinch the peg between
their fingers and relocate the peg to another slot strengthens their skills. Use card Board
or Mount Board or old File Boards for this purpose. Draw Small shapes where children
can play.

13. Clay Modeling

 Modeling clay is also great for developing fine motor skills; add plastic forks and other
utensils for cutting the clay into pieces. A garlic press, whisk, rolling pin, cookie cutters,
even a rolling cake cutter (with supervision) can add a new dimension to the same
activity.

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14. Inserting

 Allow children to insert coins into an earthen pot (Gulak), (the kind with a slot on top) to
build fine motor skills. Children enjoy putting coins in the pot to and love to collect coins.
You may provide seeds/stones to drop them into a tin and play. This is a traditional
activity performed by children at all places.

15. Finger Painting/Printing

 Use finger painting as more than just a sensual experience and entertainment for
children. As the child uses their fingers to paint, they are developing good motor skills.
Handmade colors are also useful for the child to engage himself in finger
painting/printing. E.g. turmeric, brick powder, green leaf juices etc

16. Stringing Beads

 Stringing beads, buttons, flowers and seeds are also fun ways to help a child refine fine
motor coordination. They play with clay beads and flower buds too. In some places,
children gather leaves and make garlands for rituals.

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 Name of activity Egg Carton and Beans
Age 3-4 years
Materials How to organize
Beans Have the child hold a few beans in his hand, and place them into the
container one by one by moving a single bean up to
the fingertips each time. Once finished he can again pick up the
beans from the container one by one.

Egg carton

Name of activity Mini Paper Crumpling

Age 3-6 years
Materials How to organize
Newspaper Crumpling small pieces of newspaper into balls and using it for
craft activities such as sticking it on a pre drawn figure to fill it instead
of coloring.

Glue

Name of activity Woolen Squirt Toys

Age 3-4 years
Materials How to organize
Woolen ball Take a woolen ball and with help of some paper turn into the shape of
any animal. This ball can be used as a squirting toy for children.

Paper

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 Name of activity Play dough and beads
Materials How to organize
Beads Make colorful dough by mixing some edible color in the flour. Give the
dough to the children and ask them to make any animal, utensil or
bird of their choice using the dough. Then give small beads to the
children so that they can stick the beads on the figure that they have
created.

Flour

Color

Name of activity Woven paper place mats

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
Paper strips Give children some newspaper strips and ask them to weave a mat
out of it. The AWW/AWH has to give a demonstration first.

Name of activity Learning with coins

Age 3-4years
Materials How to organize
Coins Provide children with some coins or buttons and ask them to make a line or
flower or any other shape using only those coins or buttons.

Buttons

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 Name of activity Clothespins on a Box
Age 3-4 years
Materials How to organize

Clothes pins Children squeeze the clothespins and clip them to the sides of the box

Shoebox

Name of activity Nuts & Bolts

Age 4-6 years
Materials How to organize

Children use their fingers, hands, and wrists, coordinating both hands
while grasping and twisting the metal nuts onto the bolts.
Nuts & bolts

Name of activity Sewing/Lacing Cards

Age 4-6 years
Materials How to organize
Cardboard shapes
Cut cardboard boxes in to different shapes and puncher them using a
punching machine. Use shoe laces or plastic lacing. Tie one end of
the lace to one hole of the card. Children lace the string through each
hole.

Laces

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 Name of activity Water shifting race
Age 3-6years
Materials How to organize
Flennel Give children a flannel cloth, 2 bowls one of which is filled with colorful
water and ask children to take water from one bowl into the cloth and
squeeze it dry in the second bowl.

Bowls

Color

Name of activity Punch sheets

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
Newspaper To do this activity, cut squares of newspaper. Draw a numeral, letter,
or simple shape with a marker. Children place the paper on the table
or floor and use broomstick to punch holes all along the black lines.
When they are done, they can hold their paper up to the light and see
the light shining through the holes.

Broom sticks

Name of activity Pinching Sand

Age 3-6 years
Materials How to organize
Glue
Provide a simple outline (or have the children draw one), a small bowl
of white glue, a small bowl of colored sand, and a “glue brush”.
Children paint the glue on their paper with the brush, pinch some
sand with their fingers, and sprinkle it over the glue. Place a pan, tray,
or paper plate on the table for children to shake off the excess sand.
Sand

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Tick the activities that help in improving fine motor
development.

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 CHAPTER 3

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

58
 Cognitive development
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT is the development of
mental process or
skills that enable him
to understand his
environment in which
he lives
What is
cognitive
development?

Essentials for Cognitive development

1. Development of Basic skills
2. Development of Mental skills
3. Concept Formation

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 1. Basic cognitive
skills

Sense of sight Sense of Hearing Sense of Touch Sense of Taste Sense Of Smell
(Visual) (Auditory) Tactile (Gustatory) (Olfactory)

2. Mental Skills
in Cognitive
Development

Problem solving
Observation Classifying Sequencing

3. Formation of Basic
concepts
Concept of color
Concept of size

Concept of shape
Pre Number Concept

Concept of
environment
Concept of Time

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Cognitive Development Domain

 Development of various concepts including pre number and number concepts and operations
(knowledge and skills related to comparing, classification, seriation; understanding of and
vocabulary related to space, quantity, length and volume, one to one correspondence; counting
etc),
 Predicting patterns and making estimations in measurement; data handling;
 Develop skills related to sequential thinking, critical thinking, observing, reasoning and problem
solving;
 Explore the physical, social and natural environment by manipulating objects, asking
questions, making predictions and developing generalizations.
 Differentiate between events that happen in past, present and the future
 Develop knowledge of relationship between people, places and regions
Development of Basic Skills
Activities for Sensory Development

Sense of Sight
Material Picture/Aids (to provide experience to children in matching, charts, discriminating,
seriating, sequencing etc.)

Method  Make children sit in small group of 5-6 each

 Give them aids (cards ot game on a tablet) so that they learn to match
identifiable objects i.e. two same pictures or objects
 Discriminate a different object from a group of common objects e.g. picture of
an animal from group of fruits

Activity Look and identify

Material Picture card of birds/picture chart of Birds/Animals

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Method  Place picture cards of birds like peacock, parrot, hen on a board/floor
 Give enough opportunity and experiences so that children are able to identify
the birds
 When the children are able to identify, give them number of cards
 Then call the children, one by one and ask the child to pick up on card that that
matches with the picture placed on the board.

Sense of Sound

Activity Identification of sound

Material Wood, Glass, Tin, Musical Instruments etc.

Method  Make children sit in semicircles or rows

 Familiarizes them with sound of different objects like metals, glass, wood,
musical instruments, animals, means of transport etc. Also make them aware
about the sounds of clapping and snapping
 Then blindfold children one by one and ask them to identify different
object/animals etc. by their sound
 Also ask them to tell the direction from which the sound has been heard
 Allow one child to search his family using the sounds e.g. cat mewing

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Activity Listen and identify

Material Bell, glass and spoon

Method  Ask children to sit in a circle and close the eyes and listen to the sounds
created carefully
 Then create the sound of clap, scrip, tap, bell glass spoon
 Ask the children to identify the sounds made
 The child who identifies the maximum number of sounds is greeted with
clapping

Activity Identifying sounds in sequence

Material Bell, ghungroo, daphli, dholak, glass-spoon, pebbles in a small box etc.

Method  First show all the children the different collected items
 Then one by one familiarize the children with the sound of the collected items
and ask the children to listen carefully
 Ask the children to close their eyes
 Make the sound of any three items and ask the children to listen carefully
 Ask the children to identify the sound in the object in the correct order.
 The child who identifies is the correct order is greeted by clapping
Sense of Touch
Activity Feely bag
Material A bag of cloth containing items like piece of wool, metal, plastic, cork, rubber, small
fruits etc.

Activity Touch Board

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Material A cardboard piece on which pieces of sand paper glaze paper different clothes
such as jute, wool, nylon, silk, cotton etc. have been pasted.

 Make children sit in a circle

Method  Pass on the feely bag to children use Daphli
 Stop the beat. The child who holds the bag at this time has to touch one
object inside it and describe his feelings
 He has to tell whether the object is rough or smooth, hard or soft, light or
heavy, short or tall, round or square etc.
 Finally child has to identify the object and show it to everyone
 The activity continues till all children get a chance.
 Similarly, each child can touch the various pieces of cloth, paper on cardboard
and identify them.

Sense of Taste
Activity Identification of different taste
Material Sugar/Jaggery, Salt, Lemon/Tamarind, Methi Seed Powder Chilies etc. Small bottles
(plastic)

Method  Make children sit in two consecutive semi circles or rows

 Discuss with them about things that taste sweet, salty, sour, bitter and hot etc.
 Make them taste these things so that they can identify them by taste. Do not
force anybody to taste chilly powder
 Blindfold one child, give him something to taste so as to identify the item with
its taste
 Give chance to all children turn by turn
Sense of Smell
Activity Identification of different taste
Material Kerosene oil, pieces of onion, fresh and fermented food, spices, pieces of rubber,
leather and other smelly objects like flowers garlic, agarbatti, pudhina etc.

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Method  Make children sit in consecutive semi circles or rows
 Make them smell the above objects and identify them
 Then blindfold children one by one and ask them to identify different objects
by smell.

Activities for Mental skills

Memory and Observation

Activity Odd man out (Classification)

Material Cards of different shapes/size

Method  Make children sit in a semicircle.

 Call one child at a time and ask him to spot the shape
that is different from the rest.
 Helps to discriminate between various shapes, and
classify them.
 Increase observation skills.
Activity Be Quick (identification & Classification)
Material NIL
Method  Make a children sit in a circle
 Ask the children to clap their hands twice and click their
fingers till they get into a rhythm.

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  At the clicking of fingers, the children have to tell the
names of the objects with specified shape. For example
the teacher starts with. - “Be quick” tell me the names
of “round” things.
 The children who fail to name objects at the clicking of
fingers have to start again
 Develops ability to recognize different shapes
 Develop attention skills too
Pre-number Concept-
Activity Identification of Size
Material Leaves of different size, tablet
Method  Make children sit in a semi circle
 Call children one by one. Ask the child to sort out and
name the biggest and smallest leaf.
 Then give each child 3 leaves and ask him/her to seriate
them in order i.e. biggest to smallest.
 When the child is able to seriate 3 leaves gradually
increase the number of leaves.
 Develops ability for serration
 Stimulates thinking

Activity Big and Small

Material Pen, Pencil, Pebbles and wooden sticks
Method  Make children stand in a circle holding hands. The teacher should also
join the circle.
 The teacher gives instruction to the children according to which they
would increase the size of the circle for example when she says form a
small circle.
 Children move inwards and when she says from a big circle, the
children spread out.

Help children to learn concept of big and small in concerted way

Develops ability to follow instructions.

Activity Tall and Short

Material Dhapli, Leaves, Flowers, sketch pens etc.
Method  Drive children into groups of 5
 Ask children to keep running around, while the teacher claps or plays

66
 the dhapli.
 When the teacher stops clapping the children have to stand in a line in
order of their heights.

- Helps children to learn concept of tall and short

- Develops ability to serrate.

 Such activity can be organized without any teaching aids too.

Activity High and Low

Material NIL
Method  Make children stand in a circle. The teacher should join the circle.
 The teacher instructs children to stand on their and raise their arms
above their heads if she says “high” and to been down with hands a
little above the ground if she says “Low”.

Activity Seriations Cards

Material Cards of different size (3X3”)
Method  Make children sit in a semi-circle
 Call children one by one.
 Place 3 cards at a time in front of them. Ask them to arrange the
cards in order. Children may arrange either in ascending or
descending order

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  Gradually add more cards and ask the children to place these in order.
(big to small or vise-versa)


Activity IN-Out

Material NIL

Method  Make all children stand around the circle

 The teacher calls out “in/out” and the children should accordingly jump
in the circle or out of the circle. The child who fails to follow
instructions correctly is considered out.

Activity Moving in a circle – Game (Direction) (Concept of Direction)

Material NIL

Method Teacher sings the song with children doing actions accordingly.
Let us go in, in, in
Let us go out, out, out
Then we turn around

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 Let us go up, up, up
Let us come down, down, down
Then we turn around
Let us go right, right, right
Let us go left, left, left
Then we turn around

Activity Lets Become Seeds (Creative Movements)

Material Nil

Now, Ask children to join for an action song using the following song.
Children will be thrilled to perform action and they will grasp the concept
of Direction we are seeds,
So So small
Then we are big trees,
See how tall
Bend your body
Touch your toes
Standup straight and
Lift your nose.
Sideways bending sideways
Bending, arms so wide
Bending low from side
To side bending low,
From side to side, Helps to differentiate between” big and small”, “up and
down”,
Etc

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One to One Correspondence (Method of Concept Teaching)

 Make children sit in a semi-circle

 Call children one by one. Place five leaves in a row in front of the
children. Now give some pebbles and ask the child to place one pebble
one leaf again to make it a pattern of one to one.
 Develops understanding of one to one correspondence

Activity Puzzles
Material 1 Fruit/Vegetable/Animal Pictures
2. Mount Board (1)
3 Gum
4. Scissors
Method Make children sit in a semicircle
Shuffle the card and spread them in front of children
Call one child to put the puzzle together. As the puzzles are self, corrective
the child will be able to join only those two cardboard pieces, which
interlock with each other.
Develops concept of number

Activity We will go to the Market (Hum Bazar Jayenge)

Material Nil
Method Make all children stand in a big circle with the teacher in the centre.
Children are explained the game clearly

70
 The teacher stands in the centre of the circle and says “we will go to the
market and bring lots of sweets”. The children run around the circle. The
teacher then says. “We’ll bring four sweets”. Then the children have to
form a group of four. The teacher may call out any number and children
have to form groups of that number. It is better if the small circles are
drawn on the flour. Children will enter into the circle in groups as per the
command of the teacher.
 Children who fail to join any group are out.
 So, Children have to rush to enter in that group
Activity Number Game
Material Nil
Method  Make children sit in a Semicircle
 Invite one child to start counting from number 1 (one) and the child
sitting next to him/her continues with number 2 and the one next to
him/her with number 3 and so on. The child who has to say the
numbers 5 instead of number 5 he has to say chup and the next
child again start with number one. If a child forgets to say chhup
he/she is out.
 You can break the counting number at 3 or 4.
 Make all children stand in a semi-circle and practice this exercise
again to make themselves aware of numbers and have fun.

Activity Number rhymes – action song

Material Nil
Method  Ask children to stand in a semicircle
 Teacher sings and the children to sing along the teacher and
perform actions accordingly
 Two little hands to clap, clap clap
Two little legs to tap, tap, tap
Two little eyes to open wide
One little head goes side to side

Activity Picture Puzzle

Material Animal Picture card
Method  Make children sit in a semi-circle. Get ready with the picture
cut outs.
 Call children one by one and give them the cut piece. Ask
each child to join the puzzle pieces to form a whole picture of
an Animal

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Activity Picture card Classification Exercise
Material Picture cards( Actions/Still)
Method  Make children sit in a Semi-Circle. Show them the action
picture cards and cards without actions in it.
 Call children one by one and let them classify the cards by
putting them in two separate categories i.e. Action and still
 Enables children to differentiate between animals and birds
and classily them accordingly. Animals cannot fly and birds
only fly.

Activity Odd Man Out (Memory skills)

Material Picture strips of animals/ fruits / vegetables etc
Method  Call children one by one. Show them the strips and ask to
point out the one that is different. Ex: (Which picture looks
different)

 Enables children to differentiate between fruits and

vegetables, Birds and Animals transport and flowers etc.

72
Activity Playing cards (Classification and Concept Development)
Material Cards of fruit, Vegetables Flowers, animals etc
Method  Make children sit in a semi-circle

 Distribute at least 5 to 6 cards to each child. Ask one child

to throw a card in the centre. The next child would see
whether the card is of fruit or vegetables and accordingly
throw his card, let’s assume it to be a fruit card; if he/she has
a vegetable card them he/she would throw a fruit card. The
next child would also see his/her card and if he/she has a
vegetable card then he would throw if a vegetable card and
take all the cards (Note: The same activity can be done
using animals, birds and other concept cards)

Activity Water Game (Science Experience)

Material Plastic items/mug /glasses small stones, Thermocol, dry leaves etc.
Method Make children sit in a small group in semicircle. Keep a mug filled
with water
 The teacher will demonstrate the activity by dropping some
objects into the water one by one and asking the children to
observe which object floats/sinks. Later children can do this
activity independently on their own to experience the skill
similarly, teacher can demonstration dropping the objects
into water which can be dissolved in water. Children will
observe and experience the objects like salt, sugar and mud

73
 etc.
 Develop concept of floating and sinking objects
 Develop concept of heavy and light
 Increase observation skill

Activity Candle Game

Material Candle, glass, Match box
Method  Divide children in two groups. Arrange the seating
arrangement i.e. one group will sit at a slightly higher level
and other group at lower level. It will help both the groups to
observe the experience at their eye level.
 Take two big size candles

 Light both candles and fix them firmly on a smooth surface in

such a way that children can see them. Ask one child to
cover one candle with a glass to see the results. Light will be
off.
 Let you take out the glass and light the candle. Show the
result to children

 Develops understanding that air is a necessary for burning

 Children becomes aware of air around us and its and impact
on environment. Continue interaction in this aspect

Activity Magic time

Material Glass of water, blotting paper or post card or thick paper
Method  Divide children into two groups, make one group of children
sit close to the teacher while the other group is engaged in
another activity.
 The teacher can demonstrate the activity and then children

74
 can do it independently.
 Take a glass of water. Cover it with a old post card or thick
paper.
 Then invert the glass. The water will not flow down ward.
Guide children carefully how to invert the glass of water
 Explain children that due to air pressure the water stops
flowing down ward.

Sequential thinking (Knowledge about stages)

Material/Pebbles, Buds, Flowers, leaves

Method  Make children sit in small groups of 4 to 5 children

each.

 Distribute buds, leaves and flower among children. Ask

them to complete the sequence. Example; keep a leave
first, than bud; and a flower. Explain them the stage.
First comes seed, seedlings, bud and than flower.

Activity Word building game

Material NIL
Method  Make children sit in circle
 Let one child start the game by saying – “I went to the
market and bought an apple”.
 The next child should say. –“I went to the market and
bought an apple a toffee and a banana”.
 The third child says, “I went to the market and a
bought a toffee, a banana and mango.”
 Note: children can do only up to about five objects at a
time. This activity can be organized concept wise like,
fruits, animals, birds etc.

Activity What is Missing /Who is missing (Memory

Development)

Material Available items (familiar) e.g. leaves, pebbles, flowers etc.

75
Method  Make children sit in a semicircle
 Keep a chart paper or card board or a plastic tray
 Call children one by one.
 Keep the tray in front of the children. Ask them to
name each object.
 Then ask the child to close his eyes and remove any
one object.
 Ask the child to open his eyes and name the missing
object. E.g. Keep leaves, flowers, and pebbles and hide
pebble.
Ask the child name “What missing?” Similarly send a child to go
out from the group and ask “Who is missing”?

Activity Problem solving game -What will You do?

(Creative Thinking)
Material NIL
Method  Make children sit in a semicircle. Do free conversation
with them. Establish your rapport with them
 Ask children simple questions, for example-
 What will you do If your finger is cut
 What will happen if there is rain
 What will happen if you fall down on the floors

Activities for Concept Development

Learning and using early math’s skills help children to make sense of the world around them
and to develop their ability to reason and problem solve.

Using math’s concepts is a natural part of young children's play and daily activities. Through
play, children explore mathematical concepts such as counting, sorting, measuring,
classifying, comparing quantities, and recognizing shapes and patterns. Our preschool activities
includes learning more about geometrical shapes and objects, measurement of length, weight,
capacity, time, and temperature, use of money, graphs and charts used for data analysis and
prediction, and patterns.

Our resources contain fun activities, folder games, and lessons for teaching math with
manipulation. Activities given in the guidebook will provide children with the opportunity to
learn & practice their skills: Numbers, Shapes, Measurement, Patterns, Counting, etc.

Basic Principles of Teaching Colors and Shapes / Numbers

i) Matching

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 ii) Identification
iii) Naming & Classification

A. Development of color Concept

i. Matching of colors
Material Methods

Leaves  Make all children sit in a semicircle

 Distribute one color domino card to each child. Place

one color domino (card) in the centre of the circle. Ask
children with the identical color card to come forward
and place their cards along side to form a pattern of
same color. Children will also come forward and match
Color cards their dominoes in the same manner to understand the
color pattern.

 Ask children keep one color card together in a group

 Provide leaves (green) flowers (red, yellow & white) to

Flowers match and group identical colors together

Dominoes

ii. Identification of colors

Material Bell/Dhapli

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Method  Ask children to stand in a circle and keep moving to the
beat of dhapli.
 While or playing dhapli, the teacher calls out the name of
the any color children, have to show that concern color
where that color is kept or run to touch that color.
 Helps children to identify the color and Improves
observation power
 Teacher can also ask children to point out the color by
showing the dress of children in the class.
 Through question answer method, teacher can develop
the skill of identification, for example show a red color
domino and ask children to identify and tell about a fruit
or vegetable looks like this dominoes
iii. Naming the colors
Material Objects of regular use/locally available

Method  Make children sit a circle.

 Call children wearing red color, for example to stand
together. Ask children to name the color of children
standing together. Children should be encouraged to
name the color.
 Teacher can also organize games with children to
arrange red color items in one row and clap twice;
arrange yellow color objects and produce and animal
sound etc.
 Collect locally available material of different colors e.g.
Red, Yellow, Green, Black & Blue, vegetables, fruits,
bangles and pebbles are good for such activity. Ask
children to group the material/objects as per their color.
Ask them to identify. You can use the color of dress
children wear.
 Enables children to name different colors.
Helps children to identify objects of different colors

Activity Matching Shape

Material  Cards of different shapes (Triangle, circle, square)

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Method  Make children sit in the semi circle.
 Distribute one dominoes card to each child. Place one in
the centre of the circle. The shape dominoes should be
clearly visible to all
 The child who has a card with the identical shape as in
the card placed in the centre will come forward and
place his card to match the previous one.
 One by one the rest of the children will match their card
in the same manner to form a pattern.

Numbers and Operations

i. Counts through and beyond 10.
ii. Identifies the number of objects in a set.
iii. Recognizes, writes, and uses whole numbers through 10.
iv. Identifies and creates sets of objects with more, less, or equal amounts.
V. Identifies the position of an object using the numbers first through fifth.
Vi. Estimate quantities less than 20.
vii. Models addition and subtraction using concrete objects.
viii. Identifies more/than and less/than.
ix. Children need to develop their basic skills and these sensory experiences form the

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 basis for development of concepts in future.

Color Glove

Paint the fingers of a pair of white gloves the following colors: red, yellow, blue, green, and
orange, so that you have two of each color. Then, sing this song:

(Tune: Freres Jacques)

Where is red? (Bring one hand up with all fingers showing.)
Where is red? (Repeat with other hand.)
Here I am, (Wave one hand.)
Here I am. (Wave other hand.)
Show me if you can, (Hold hands up.)
Show me if you can.
Where is red?
Where is red?

Repeat this with all the colors allowing the toddlers to show you the colors.

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81
 CHAPTER 4

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

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LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Although the first year is really important for language development in children, major
learning continues throughout a child’s early years. In their first 12 months, babies develop
many of the foundations that underpin speech and language development. For the first three
years or so, children understand a lot more than they can say.

ESSENTIALS FOR LANGUAGE

DEVELOPMENT

1. LISTENING 4. WRITING SKILLS

SKILLS  Fine muscle coordination
 Sound Discrimination  Eye and hand
coordination

2. SPEAKING SKILLS 3. READING SKILLS

 Free Conversation  Sound discrimination
 Creative expression  Visual discrimination
 Association between sound and
visual discrimination

Children learn language through

Imitating others
 Repetition
 Encouragement
 Opportunities to listen and speak

 Acquisition of proper language skills is only possible if children are given:

- Healthy Stimulation
- Opportunity for speaking and listening to good quality conversations.
- Opportunities by parents, caregivers, and adults and other children
- Freedom to play and interact with environment – Through Nature walk

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  Games & Exercises for Language Development

 Story making
 World Building Games (through passing Ball)
 Searching key (sounds through clapping)
 Sound Pattern
 Ludo game for letter perception
 Who am I? (Game)
 Language Game
 Riddles based on plants, anomaly and familiar objects of child)
 Rhyming (using rhyming words)

Activities to Help Your Child Learn About Language

Here are some activities to help your child learn about language. Do them for as long as
your child enjoys them. Then add new activities as your child grows older.

3 to 4 Provide books in English and in your family’s home language.

years Let your child see him- or herself in books. Choose some books
about families like yours and people from your cultural and ethnic
group.
Have a special place for books, magazines, and other reading
materials in the home. Your child should be able to reach books without
help in a reading corner and in other places around the home.
Help your child to create his or her own "This Is Me" album.
Together with your child look at and talk about the family album,
photographs, or special memorabilia.

4 to 5 Show your child how reading and writing are important in daily life.
years Point out the print around you and show how it serves a purpose.
Watch TV together and talk about books that relate to topics seen on
TV.
Let your child see you enjoying a book or magazine often.
Encourage reading in different places. When you go out with your
child, take books for the child to read in the car or on the bus.

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5 to 6 Make sure that your child has writing materials and places to write.
years Let your child see you write every day.
Put writing materials for your child -- paper, pencils, crayons,
markers, and chalk -- in an open box on a low shelf so that the child
can reach them easily.
Talk with your child about his or her writing.
If you cannot read the words your child has written, ask your child to
read the writing to you. Over time, your child will learn how to write
words that others can read.

Development of Listening Skills

i. Sound Discrimination/Auditory

Material Picture Cards of familiar animal/birds

Method  Ask the children to sit in a circle
 Give the picture cards of child and ask them not to show
each other
 Then ask the children to create the sound of the animal they
are having on the picture care and make a group

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Activity Jungle main Mungle
Material Pictures Cards of familiar animals and birds
Method  Ask the children to sit in a circle
 Then give the picture card of familiar animals/birds to each
child and instruct them not to show it to other children
 Then ask each child one by one to create the sound of the
animal/birds they are having on the picture card
 Ask rest of the children to identify the animal/bird
 When the children are able to identify the animal/birds/they
can be asked to create the sound along with action. Children
can also be asked to create sound in rhythm too. i.e. koo, koo
and beat of Dhapli Dap, Dap

Activity Chinese whisper

Material Nil
Method  Ask the children to sit in a circle
 The teacher should ask the children to listen carefully
 The teacher will whisper e.g. Meri Mummy Aachchhi hai
 Thus, the children will also whisper the same if they can feel

Material Stick puppet flash card etc related to

Method  Narrate simple short stories to children.
 The themes of the stories should be familiar and of interest to
children, (for example, animals, circus, fair, etc.) to motivate
them to listen.
 Use appropriate gestures, facial expression, voice modulation,
sounds etc. to hold the interest of the children

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Material As per local availability (Ball, flower, leaves, seeds etc)
Method  Get the children sit in a semi circle. Give each child some
simple instruction, for example. “Bring me the ball”. “Clap
your hands”, etc.
 Once the child has done the action ask all the children what
the instruction was and whether the child did it as required or
not.
 It will encourage all the children to listen attentively to the
instruction and do the action
 Tell all the children to clap for the child who does it
correctly.

Activity Riddles
Material Nil
Method  For each theme some simple one line riddles can be made
which the children should be asked to answer, for example,
theme on Animals and Birds could have rhymes like “I say
Quack, Quack, Quack, Who am I?”
 I am an animal with a long long trunk. Who am I?”
The riddle should include some significant clues, for example,
“quack” and “trunk”.
 For each theme two to four line riddles can be prepared, for
example,

a) I am green, green, green

I have a red, red, beak
I go “tai, tai, tai
Guess who am I?”
(Parrot).

b) I am an animal who eats grass & carrot lives in a burrow,

guess who am I (Rabbit)

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Activity Captain says

Material Nil
Method  Group games can be played with children to develop alertness
and critical listening, for example, “captain says”.
 Let children stand in a circle.
 The teacher asks the children to do what she instructs only if
she prefixes the instruction with “captain Says” for example,
 She may say “captain says, touch your head” or “Captain
says, close your eyes”.
 If she says, close your eyes or “touch your head” only,
children should not do anything. Those who still do it are
considered “out”. Children need to do what is said to do not
anything else.

Activity Completing the sentence

Material Nil
Method  For critical listening, activities like listening to clues to
complete a thought are also useful, for example, “We take the
tooth brush, put tooth paste on it and then”. Let the children
complete the sentence. What we do after it.

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Activity Spotting the odd verbally
Material Local material
Method  Classification and memory skill activities at the verbal level
also develop critical listening, for example. Spot the odd man
out: “tiger, dog, apple, cat.”
“Car, house, bus, scooter”.
 Activities can be given for the 4 – 5 years olds by making the
activity a little complex.

Material Picture cards, charts etc.

Method  Let all children sit in a circle. One child is asked to go out.
 When he comes in he tells the seated children to guess what
he saw outside.
 The children have to offer clues, for examples, “Is it black
thing? Is it a bird? Is it big? Is it sun? etc. The child will
answer “Yes” or “No”.
 Once the children are able to guess correctly the next child
goes out and the game continues. It encourages item to
improve vocabulary and observation skills

Material Picture of animal/birds/fruits etc.

Method  Let children sit in a circle.
 The teacher should pin a picture of an animal/bird or any
other object on the back of any one child in such a way that
the child does not get to know what the picture is.
 Let him go round the circle showing his back towards
children so that they can see the picture.
 The child with the picture has to now guess what could be the
picture about by asking other children for clues, for example,
Is it an animal? Is it a bird? Does it cry? if the child gets the
correct answer all the children should clap & game continue.

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 ii. Free Conversation (Without Chart)
 Free conversation should, as far as possible, be the first activity of the day
after “welcome’ and ‘prayer’.
 Children have a lot to tell as soon as they come in the morning. They like
to share with everyone what happened at home, what they did the
previous evening or what they may have seen on the way. This activity
provides opportunity to every child to express himself and share his
experiences. Once satisfied, the child can settle down to other activities.

 The teacher should only encourage each child to gets a chance to speak.
Under no conditions should the teacher dominate the conversation. Allow
children to speak only.

 While on some days the activity can be left totally “free” on other days the
teachers can instruct the children to observe something on their way to
the school/centre and talk about that, for example, “observe carefully all
that you saw on the way and then tell us”.
 Encourage children to use complete sentences and grammatically correct
speech by repeating their phrase/sentences in correct form and not by
correcting them directly. That will tend to discourage them.

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 iii. Nature walk
Nature walk provides key experiences to children to improve observational & imaginative
skills. They get direct learning experience from the field which they do not get in classroom.
Material Required Identify tag of children
Method 1) Go on nature walk
2) Find many things from nature (must be semi flat)
3) Talk about things found in the area.
4) Hang up and enjoy
 Steps in conducting Nature Walk

Selection of Place
- Prepare children before hand by conversing with them
about where they are going and what they should
observe
-
Tasks to be done/things to be observed
- Try to give a specific assignments, for example, look out
for and collect leaves/twigs/dry leaves/fallen petals/
caterpillars etc. They should be given tiny baskets/plastic
bags/small match boxes for collecting.

Items to be carry

- Carry a magnifying glass with you if available and let

them see leaves, ant hills, etc. through it, in small groups.

Things to be collected

- Encourage them to talk about what they are seeing

around them. Let them bring back the collected things
which can be used for sorting, matching, calcification,
creative activities etc.

 Nature walk is an excellent activity for stimulating

language through first hand observation of natural
phenomena, for example, changes due to seasons, plant
growth, the physical environment, activity of birds and
insects, etc.

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 iv. Story Telling

 Story telling should, as far as possible, be a daily activity in the preschool programme.
(Daily story telling session)
 Stories can be told in a variety of ways: (Methods and material)
- With picture books/ With puppets (finger, glove, stick puppets, etc.)
- With story folders /Hangers/Flash Cards/Flannel Board etc
a. Selections of Story
It is important to choose stories which have themes of interest to children,
for example, animals, birds, day to day family events, festivals, etc. Stories
should be short and in simple language.
a. Seating Arrangements
Seating Arrangement must be appropriate for story telling
- Children should sit close to the AWW in a group in a semi-circle.
- The AWW should sit at a higher level than the children so that they can
have good eye contact. (Proper eye contact between AWW and children)
- The teacher must ensure that every child is able to see and hear AWW
clearly.

b. How to read to the children effectively?

Get excited Be enthusiastic. Use varying tones in your voice. Let your facial
expressions tell the kids the emotions of the story. The children’s attention span will be
restored if keep them interested.

Let the kids in on the action By stopping at points in the story that “take a turn” and
asking the children what they think will happen, you involve them.

Talk about the story: Let them use their imaginations and finish the story on their own.

Discuss how the characters feel or why they do what they do. Have the children express
their opinions.
 Take feedback from children in the end. Use simple questions to say
different characters.
 Best would be if AWW can dramatize the story.
Let children play a game based on the story and the AWW can dramatize the story too.
Give a scene or a situation to the children, for example, railway station or market scene a
and let them assume different characters and act out the scene.
Puppet play: Let children dramatize a story using finer or red puppet by them.
Using masks: Let teacher guide children to dramatize the same story using masks of
different characters of the story

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 CREATIVE DRAM

Creative drama means dramatizing a story or event in an informal way with the players
(children) creating their own dialogues, as far as possible.Creative Drama is a valuable
activity for children because it
 Develops imagination
 Develops independent thinking
 Develops one’s own ideas
 Provides an opportunity for cooperation
 Builds special awareness
 Releases emotions
 Develops verbal expression
 Provides a form of recreation

Name of activity Read Together

Age 3-6 years
Materials How to organize

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 Read to the children. Discuss the illustrations when you’re looking at
books together. Ask the children to tell you what she sees. Ask her to point
out specific items on the page.

Name of activity Define me

Age 5-6 years

Materials How to organize

None Name an object and ask children to tell any one thing about that object one
by one. Example. AWW says top, children will reply “it’s a toy”, “it is
made up of wood”, we tie a string around it, etc.

Name of activity Name the room

Age 3-5 years
Materials How to organize
None Ask the children to name all the objects and things that they can see in the
room.

Name of activity Call me up

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
Cardboard sheets Cut out a cardboard box to make some strips of 3”*6” and with help of
color pens draw a phone on it. Provide these to two children at a time and
ask the children to converse with each other.

Color pens

Toy phones

Important Notes for AWWs – Keep in Mind

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Reading readiness for children does not mean teaching them the alphabet.

 Motor Control and Coordination: Children need to get their fine motor and their
gross (or large) motor coordination up to par. Fine motor is usually much more
connected to reading and writing than large motor, as a child with poor motor
coordination will have a very hard time holding a pencil correctly and even following
the words on the page.

 Auditory Discrimination: If a child cannot tell the difference between the sound
of a b or a p he/she will have a hard time when learning to distinguish these letters
when reading.

 Visual Discrimination: Kids need to be able to see the differences in objects to

be able to discern differences in letters.

 Differentiating sound of words: Children need to be able to differentiate the

differences between words like motors and matching or children and chickens. If
there is an awareness that children often get these mixed up then we can work on
these skills in a natural setting.

 Hearing first sounds of anything in words: If the kids can relate actual
objects to the first sound it makes than that will make reading more concrete for
them.

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 Recognizing shapes and sizes: Always best to do this during and throughout the
day as opposed to making a unit out if. Shapes and sizes are all around us and we
can find them all.

 Attention span/ visual activities games: Even though attention span usually
increases with age.

 Seeing Relationships and Seeing Likenesses and differences: Helps them

even more when actually learning the letters and sounds that go together.

 Exposure to Reading and the written word: It is very important to write a lot
with children in clear legible way . You can write many things the children tell you.
Their names, stories, store lists etc. Children learn that reading is talk written down
and the more exposure to the written word the more they want to read it on their
own.

 Look at Pictures and Tell a Story: Look at picture books with your child and
encourage them to tell you (make up) a story based on the pictures. Every picture

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 tells a story. Cut out pictures from magazines, newspapers, or junk mail and put
them together to tell a story. Ask your child what each picture says to him/her and
write a caption using your child's words.
 Help Child Identifies Other Children by Name
 Repeats A Sentence Of 6 - 8 Words
 Tell The Meaning Of Simple Words

While reading a story, stop once in a while and talk about what's happening. As you
drive in the car, point to street signs or billboards and ask your child if they know
what it means. If they don't know - tell them. Have your child act out or talk about
words.

Show Objects & its Functional Use: Talk about tools with your child. Show
your child how to use kitchen appliances correctly, and let them use under your
guidance. Let your child help with household chores. Show your child the phone,
television, camera, computer, remote control and other electronic wonders. Show
him/her how they work and let them use it as well with your supervision.

 Take the First Name of the Child

 Pronounces Last Name of Child

Say your child's name often and have him/her repeat it. Play "The Door Game" -You
and your child stand on opposite sides of the door. One person knocks and the
other person asks, "Who is there?" Use first and last name when responding to the
question. Have your child introduce him/her using their whole name when they
meet people.

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 Identify Farm and Zoo Animals- Show pictures to Read

 Identify Parts of the Body: Sing: "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"- Hindi
Rhyme. Talk about body parts. Tell your child what everything on his body is called;
use proper names. Using proper names for body parts will help the child let you and
others know when something is wrong with them. Ask your child what his/her body
parts are called.

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 Development of Reading Skills (School Readiness Activity)

Readiness is a stage when children are maturate enough to learn

something new without intellectual or emotional stress

Reading Writing

It is important to remember that each child is an individual that grows and

develops at his or her own pace and in his or her own way. We believe children at
this age learn best if the subject is presented in a natural, informal manner, so that
they do not feel forced into an activity. You can teach many of these academic skills
through daily conversations, activities, and games.

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics
 Identifies and recognizes words beginning with the same sounds. (e.g., balloon, bike, and
butterfly all have /b/ at the beginning).
 Blends sounds together to make words. Begins to hear, identify, and make rhyming
words (e.g., the cat sits on the mat.). Begins to identify and use initial consonant sounds
to read words (e.g.,
 The first sound in sun is /s/.) Begins to use word patterns to read words (_at, _all).

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Oral Language/Vocabulary
 Speaks to inform or relates experiences
 Expands word choices to communicate effectively

Comprehension

 Reads emergent reader level text and repeats and understands

information from the text and picture

Writing
 Expresses a thought or idea using drawings, letters, or words
 Writes simple sentences
 Spells high frequency words (sight words) correctly
 Writes independently using age appropriate spelling

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A. Sound Discrimination : Let the children sit in semi-circle. Ask them to close their
eyes for a short
While and listen to the different sounds in the environment via using different
instruments or sound books. After a while ask them to open their eyes and
describe the sounds that they had heard.
 Similarly, the teacher can play a game with the children in which the children
have to think of object within the class with a particular beginning sound, for
example, with alphabet B they can say ball, bar etc.

 Towards the final term the children can be given worksheets with pictures of
objects starting with different alphabets. Let them color the ones with the same
beginning sound in identical colors. E.g. b for blue or black color.
Play a game of “rhyming with the children. Let them sit in a semi-circle.

 The AWW can start the game by giving a simple two letters word, for example,
Laya. Each child by turn has to give a word that rhymes with this word. For 4
to 5 years old children it is not necessary that the word they give is meaningful
since they do not yet have a large enough vocabulary. The important
consideration should be that the child should develop sensitivity to sounds of
words.

 Children can be asked to play the game of “Antakshari”. Let them sit in a semi-
circle. One child can start the game by saying a word, for example, “Kal”. The
next child has to make a word with the last sound of the given word i.e., “I” and
so on.

 Two teams can be formed. One team can think of a word and indicate its
beginning and end sounds only. The other team can ask for clues and guess
the word. If they guess it correctly they get a point and then they get their turn.

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 B. Activities for Visual Discrimination
 Ask children to match blocks or cards according to shape picture like of name
color or shapes picture like D D D C A 3 Square 1 Triangle
 Ask them to sort beads of different colors
 Prepare some strips as follows:-
- Make one separate card for each strip. Let the children find the picture
matching the card in each strip.
- Make two otherwise identical pictures with only one prominent difference in
them. Let the children spot the difference. Take Discrimination strip for this
- Use dominoes (Pictures, colors, dots) and ask children to arrange these by
matching. E.g. Color matching, shape matching and number matching.
- For 5 to 6 years olds the same activities may be given with an increase in
complexity.

C. Activities for Auditory & Visual Association

 Give the children a collection of familiar pictures collected cut from old
magazines. Call out any letter, for example. B and let them find pictures of
objects beginning with B by listening the sounds of “B”.
 Call out a letter in Hindi, for example “DA” children will tell a word based on it
and find a picture or object or eatable beginning with the letter “D”.

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 Development of Writing Skills
JOINING DOTS

FORMAL WRITING IN PRESCHOOL

 At the preprimary level, it is not advisable to introduce formal writing since

children are at a developmental level when their finger and eye muscles still
need strengthening and coordination. They also have specific perceptual
difficulties, for example, in:
- Noticing differences in figures that have transformation from line to curve
(e.g. V and U).
- Noticing differences in letters that are reversed (e.g. M and W).
- Noticing differences in letters that are rotated (e.g. M and W).
 By primary grades, this problem is much less common.


 Child will be able to develop skills of making vertical, horizontal, diagonal lines
and copying shapes.
Activity
 Put dots on paper, slate or sand in different shapes or designs and ask
children to join them with a crayon, chalk or stick e.g.

ACTIVITY: JOINING DOTS WORKSHEET

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ACTIVITY: JOINING DOTS WORKSHEET

104
ACTIVITY: JOINING DOTS WORKSHEET

105
 ACTIVITY: JOINING DOTS WORKSHEET

TRACING ACTIVITY

106
  Should be able to develop skills of making controlled visual motor movements by
tracing given shapes.
Suggested Activity
 Draw large sized forms such as squares, triangles, circles, alphabets, etc. Ask
children to draw over them or trace them.
 Draw incomplete outlines of different forms or shapes and ask the children to
complete them. (Continue at least for two weeks).

ACTIVITY: TRACING

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ACTIVITY: TRACING

108
ACTIVITY: TRACING

109
ACTIVITY: TRACING

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COPYING FORMS

 Should be able to develop skills of controlled visual motor movements.

Activity
 Draw some shapes like triangle, square, circle on the blackboard or paper and
ask the children to copy it in their slate or paper.
 Let children trace imaginary shapes and letters in the air to get familiar with
the required movement.
 If available, collect stencil paper/carbon paper from the CDPO’s office and
give children for copying various forms of objects. Children enjoy and get
fun.

ACTIVITY: COPYING

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ACTIVITY: COPYING

112
ACTIVITY: COPYING

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Pattern Making

 Should be able to develop skills of making patterns which are similar to

alphabets.
 Draw parallel straight lines on the slate or paper and let children make
different pattern.
 Give flowers, pebbles and sticks to make pattern.

ACTIVITY: PATTERN MAKING

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ACTIVITY: PATTERN MAKING

115
ACTIVITY: PATTERN MAKING

116
 Some Games for of Listening Skills

Name of the activity Birds Fly, Who else Fly? (Chdiya Ud)
Material Nil
Method Ask the children to stand in semicircle. Explain children that
the child who listens carefully can only answer correctly.
- Children will identify and answer “who are flying
object/things and non-flying objects
- When the teacher, “Says “Dog, Cat” etc. children
respond. If teacher says, a parrot, “eagle” or pigeon”
them children should respond “yes” in louder noise.
- Let the activity continues and all children get chance
to be involved.

Name of the activity Body orchestra

Material Nil
Method  Ask children to do action while singing a song. Collect
songs from the local environment and use.
 Ask children to play table with claps in a rhythmic
manner.

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A. Use Riddles
Two to four line riddles can be prepared, for example,
I look green
I have a red beak
I go “tai, tai, tai
Guess who am I?” Ans : (Parrot) more games of riddles

Also, games like:

 Let all children sit in a circle. One child is asked to go out. When he comes in
he tells the seated children to guess what the saw outside. The children have to
offer clues, for examples, “Is it black thing? Is it a bird? It it big?, etc. The
child answers in “Yes” and “No”. Once the children are able to guess correctly
the next child goes out and the game continues.

 Let children sit in a circle. The teacher should pin a picture of an animal/bird or
any other object on the back of any one child in such a way that the child does
not get to know what the picture is. Let him go round the circle with his back
towards the children so that they can see the picture. The child with the picture
has to now guess what is in the picture by asking the other children for clues,
for example,. Is it an animal? Does the child get the correct answer all the
children should clap.

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 CHAPTER 5
DEVELOPMENT OF
SCIENCE EXPERIENCE &
CREATIVE EXPRESSION

119
 Development of Science Experience& Creative Expression

What is creative
development?

Creative development is the development

of the ability to make new things,
encouraging imaginative thought and
familiarizing the child with artistic
medium/media of self-expression.

Development of Creative and Aesthetic Appreciation:

 Representing objects, events and ideas in the form of drawing, clay modeling and other art
forms
 Develop expression, enjoyment and disposition for music and movement
 Demonstrate creativity and inventiveness with materials

Following points may be kept in mind while dealing with creativity and aesthetic appreciation.

 All children have potential for creativity but in different degree

 Creativity is not identical with intelligence
 Environment is important for nurturing creativity
 Opportunities and facilities for free play particularly dramatic and constructive play foster creativity in children
 Freedom to children is the main medium to promote creative expression.
 Acceptance and appreciation are the main tools to expect creative expression and aesthetic values in children
 Encouraging children for exploration, imagination and curiosity proves vital

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 MAJOR AREAS OF CREATIVE
EXPRESSION

Creative art Creative Creative Aesthetic

 Drawing movement thinking appreciation
 Painting  Action rhymes  Free play  Decorating
 Printing  Creative body  Asking open doll house ,
 Paper tearing, movement ended AWC
pasting &  Creative question  Nature walk
cutting drama  Creating new and
 Paper folding stories/ appreciating
 Clay modeling rhymes nature

SCIENCE EXPERIENCE
Science helps answer all those questions that kids ask like “why the sky is blue?”, and
how come the bird flies.science when introduced to to children provide them with a
new curiosity and outlook for the world around them.

Importance of Science At a glance

 Science involves a lot of communication with other people.

 Science develops patience and perseverance in kids.

 It can help kids form a healthy dose of skepticism.

 Science teaches kids about the world around them.

 Science can spark in kids' minds that they, too, can help solve the world's big
problems.

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 Science Activities for Children
Science Activities with Water
Materials A tub full of water, pieces of paper, wood, cork, stones, leaves,
cloth empty and filled tins, tumblers, bottle salt, sugar, sand,
chalk, poster colors etc.
Method  Make children sit in two semi circles
 Keep a tub of water in the centre. Put pieces of stone,
cork, wood, leaves cloth, empty and filled tins to show
that light things float while heavy things sinks paper and
cloth absorb water while stone and tins do not
 Take two glasses of water. Dissolve salt/sugar in one and
sand in other to show that some things dissolve in
water and some do not
 Dissolve ink/poster color in a glass of water to show that
color of water can be changed
 Pour water over a slanting wooden piece to show that
water always flows downwards
 Pour water from glass to bottle and vice verse to show
that water takes the shape of vessel in which it is poured.
 If possible show ice, how if into water and when water is
boiled it changes into vapor
 Children can make paper boats and float in water

Activities with Plants

Materials Three tins or pots filled with soil and seeds of mustard or
paddy or wheat
Method o Plants seeds in three tins and pots
o When seedlings sports and start growing, show its
different parts to children and explain how a plant
grows.
o Cover one tin with cardboard box and go watering the
plant
o Do not water the plant in second tin
o Water the plant in the third tin as well as light by not
covering it.
 Through tins experiment the children can learn that a
plant needs air, light, and water to grow.

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 Activities with Light
Materials A candle, tin box, a cardboard with hole in the centre, prism
Method  Make children sit in semicircles
 Light a candle and cover it with a tin box. The candle
will extinguish
 Explain that air is needed to light candle/fire
 Place a cardboard with a hole in front of the flame of
candle
 Place another cardboard in front of the first cardboard
at a little distance
 Light from the candle will pass through the hole and
reflect on the cardboard.
 Place some object in front of the hole. Its shadow will
be cast on the other cardboard
 Explain to children that light travels in straight line and
casts shadows.
 Ask children about different Sources of light as sun,
moon stars and artificial sources like bulbs, tube lights
etc.

Activities with Air

Material Required Paper
Method o Make children sit in a semicircle
o Give each child a piece of papers
o Ask them to tear the paper into small pieces and place
them on their palm
o Fist ask them to keep their hand away from their face
o Children will take deep breath and blow it out. The paper
will not blow
o Then ask them to bring then hand near their mouth
o Ask them the to take deep breath and low it out. All the
bits of papers will blow away.

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 Candle Game Science
Material Candle, glass
Method o Divide children into 2 groups. Make children of one sit
close to the teacher who sits at slightly higher level. Let
other children do some other creative activity.

o Light both candles and fix them firmly on a smooth

surface in such a way that children can see them. Ask
one child to cover one candle with a glass. Results with
children.
o Develops understanding that air is a necessary for
burning
o Children becomes aware of air around us and its and
impact on Discuss environment

Magic time: Science Exp

o Divide children into two groups; make one group of
children sit close to the teacher while the other group is
engaged in another activity.
o The teacher should first demonstrate the activity and
then children can do it independently. Take a glass of
water and cover it with post card or thick paper. Then
invert the glass. The water will not flow for some time.
o Helps to understand simple properties of air like “air
exerts pressure”.

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 Learning days of the week : How do we (celebrate) Activities each day
Each day talk about what day it is and what you will do today. Read the book today is
Monday together. Plan the lunch/snack menu together and ask the children to name
his/her favorite Monday foods or Tuesday foods, etc. Talk about which day they to day
care and which days they stay home.

Discover while walking

Include walks, park visits and field trips. Anytime you go on a walk, to a park, or on a
field trip as a preschool activity, give the children a purpose. Have them look for
everything of a certain color or have them find a particular shape along the way. Having
a purpose does not mean that anything else they stop to look at is a distraction. May be
when you see that they are picking up every rock or touching every bug, You will want to
change your focus. Don’t criticize from for being children. Allow them some room, but
having a purpose gives a little more meaning to your outings.

Comb magic
Divide children in four groups.
Give a big size comb and arrange cut pieces of waste paper, color paper, wood powder
etc. Ask Children to comb their hair and touch the comb with the wood powder or paper

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pieces. Children will see the articles clinging comb and enjoy magic.

Blocks
Intellectually, block help children learn across many academic subject. Young children
develop their vocabularies as they learn to describe sizes, shapes and positing.
Preschoolers and kindergarten children develop math skills by grouping, adding,
subtracting and eventually multiplying with block. Older children make early experiments
with gravity, balance, and geometry.

Name of activity My family

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
Empty thread roll Use empty toilet rolls or small plastic juice bottles to make a
family. Draw on faces, stick on paper clothes, and use cotton wool
for hair. When you’ve finished making the family, child could use

126
 these new toys to describe a scene at his/her house.

Crayons

Tape

Name of activity Jewel shop

Age 4-6 years
Materials How to organize
Bottle caps Collect small plastic lids, patty pan cases and other ‘threadables’
with children. Provide them with plaatic or jute string and ask them
to make jewellery.

Name of activity Building houses

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
Cardboard box Get a large cardboard. Seal it from all sides. Cut out some
windows and doors on the sides of the box. Give children some
crayons and let them draw on bricks, window frames to make a
house.

Crayons

Name of activity Home-made binoculars

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize

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Elastic band Tape two empty thread rolls together. Make two holes at the end
of both rolls. Tie an elastic band or thread from both the holes.
Head out to the park or back yard and look for birds!

Empty thread roll

Tape

Name of activity Dumb charade

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
None Ask one child to copy and act like any animal or person. All
other children should guess who or which animal that child is.

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 CHAPTER 6
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

129
 Social and Emotional Development
Why should I
develop Development of those
socially & qualities and behavior will
emotionally? help you in your
adjustment in the society.

Safe & secure

environment

ESSENTIALS
FOR SOCIAL &
EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

Praise & Trust and age

appropriate
encouragement independence

Social and Emotional Development:

 Development of self concept; self control; life skills/ self help skills;
 Develop initiative and curiosity in new experiences and learning
 Developing a sense of independence and autonomy;
 Display awareness of abilities and preferences, appreciates similarities and differences in
people and awareness of behaviour and its actions
 Displays relevant and appropriate habit formation, increased attention span, engagement
and persistence in daily activities
 Develop interpersonal skills with respect to peers, family, teachers and community
 Display behaviours of cooperation; compassion; social relationships; group interaction;
pro- social behaviour; expressing feelings, accepting others feelings.
 Develop the ability to adapt and control emotions

130
Developmentally “Social skills”, sometimes referred to as “play skills” are just that behaviors
used when involved in social and play situation.

I. Each child is different from other in her/his behaviour, motivation and characteristics.
 Some children are very active, outgoing, independent, explorative, and curious;
others may seem shy, passive, dependent and withdrawn.
 Hence, social development is the development of those characteristics or
behaviours that help the Emotional development in a way, provides the base for
social development as it has implications for the child’s social behaviour and
interactions.
 Since a child’s socio-emotional development influences the child’s social
adjustment and emotional status, it plays a very significant role in child’s overall
performances and achievements.
 A preschool child is generally ego-centric i.e. can only see and feel things from
his point of view. He is attention seeking too and not capable of pro-social
behaviour like cooperation, sharing, helping etc. It is therefore necessary to
help the child progress from egocentrism to socio-centrism i.e. towards planing
with others, sharing with others, being with others, communicating in group and
getting, gradually socialized.

Children learn by
- Observation
- Imitation
- Repetition
- Love, praise, encouragement
- Enjoyment
 Examples of good habits and behavior are:
a) In health and hygiene
- Washing hands before/after eating food
- Clean all parts of the body, nails, and fingers feet
- Keep cloths clean

- Regular toilet habits

- Taking clean drinking water
- Combing hair daily

b) In nutrition
- Eating balanced foods
- Taking food in hygienic condition
- Eating at regular intervals
- Avoiding staple foods and foods kept out side/with flies

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 c) In social behaviour

- Speaking politely
- Keeping patience to listen
- waiting for one’s turn
- sharing things with other
- Taking part in groups

d) Healthy and desirable attitudes and values

- being kind to others
- lacking to all
- helping each other
- respecting one’s feelings and emotions
- Self-confidence building activities
- inculcate values of your own culture
- developing discipline through activities
- avoiding physical punishment to a child

Activities for Social-emotional development

S. Social Development Emotional Development

No.
1. Social Awareness Activities Dressing up
Puppet show
Safety
Family
Self

2. Drama/Role Plays Creative movements

3. Celebration of Birthday, festivals, picnics Action songs

and national holidays

4. Group Games Water play

5. Group Feeding Sand Play

6. Group Dance Doll Play

7. Group Play Dramatization too

8. Use of Humour Home Decoration

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9. Buildings Blocks Creative Activities

10. Sharing wait for the Turn Poojas/Rituals

1.1 Keeping a Sense of Humor/Jokes

Being silly is a great laughing buster! After all having fun is what play is all about. When
you find the pressure building during the day do something silly and teach the children how
to have a sense of humour.

1.2 Community Helpers

Trips to a farm, bank, post office and the store. Make them understand the way the people
in your community interact with each other and help each other. Take this opportunity to
discuss with the children what everyone he is doing and how they help each other. Take
children to a carpenter, Blacksmith, chowkidar and barber in the village and explain now
these people help us.

1.3 Role Play

To help develop social skills such as taking turns and getting along with others, you can
organize activities such as playing house (role-playing) or playing games (taking turns).
Role playing activities such as mailman or grocery store will help them learn their
relationship to their community

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1.4 Foster Independence

To foster independence and interest about learning, you can set up activity areas
throughout the room and give the children choices throughout the day to follow their own
interests get them work with whatever toys or crafts interest them. Activity areas can
include art supplies, books, musical instruments, and building blocks, paintings, drawings,
puzzle play, Ludo, etc.

1.5 Resolve conflicts

You should turn to encourage children to talk about their feelings and to resolve conflicts by
suing their words. Expressing their feelings by declaring, “I’ m mad” Or “I’m sad,” is an
excellent way to start. When they begin to “tattle” on another child, be sure to include both
children while you model to them how to “talk it out”. Soon they will begin to recognize
other children’s feeling which is an excellent step towards teaching empathy.

1.6 Staking cups/Blocks play

Blocks help children learn Socially – Blocks encourage children to make friends and
cooperate. Large block play may be a young child’s first experience playing in a group.
While small block play may encourage an older child to work with others in solving
problems. Children get good opportunity to be social and understand their own group.

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1.7 Food Preparation (In AWC) Group Eating
Preparing meals and snacks together provides an opportunity to model positive interaction
with the children. Even helping to clear the table together gives them the chance to “share”
a task and presents them with an example of fairness. There is something for everyone to
do when meals and provide water to drink. Some children can spread Durries/mat. Some
may bring plates/bowls and glasses. In this way, children learn positive relationship.

Tooth brushing song

Demonstrate basic brushing to children. Remember to slowly demonstrate brushing on the outside,
the inside, and the chewing surfaces of the top and bottom teeth, using short vibrating strokes. After
children have a basic understanding of the technique, you can teach the children the following song
to the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush." Have them practice the tooth brushing
motions holding their toothbrushes out in front of them while singing. Repeat this activity several
times prior to having children brush their own teeth.

This is the way we brush our teeth

Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth,
Cleaning top and bottom.
This is the way we brush our teeth
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth,
Cleaning in and out.
This is the way we brush our teeth
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth,
Cleaning where we chew.
This is the way we brush our teeth
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth,
Now we smile all day.

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 Name of activity Friendship Scrapbook
Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
Create a friendship scrapbook with children and fill it with pictures
and lists of favorite toys games, festivals and group activities.

Glue

Name of activity My emoticon

Age 4-6 years
Materials How to organize
Crayons Provide children with some papers cut as circles and crayons and ask them
to draw different emotions using only the facial parts.

Papers

Name of activity Role-play

Age 5-6 years
Materials How to organize
None One child is asked to play the role of the AWW/AWH while rest of the
children and AWW/AWH act as children.

Games for Socio-emotional Development

 Find your partner (Cat & Dogs)

 Find your home (Rabbits & Squirrels)
 Traffic game
 Where do you go Mamaji?
 Wolf & Cats

136
 CHAPTER 7

TEACHING LEARNING MATERIAL

137
 Teaching Learning Material

The use of computers, mobile phones, tabs and other digital technologies continues to rise in
early childhood programs, and technology is being used as a tool for improving program
quality in many interesting ways. Similarly, mobile phone or a tab can act as one of the
important teaching tool. It can be used for various purposes in following ways.

1. The AWW or Supervisor can download various audios and videos for children coming
to the AWC and make them listen whenever the time permits. One can download
different poems, rhymes, prayers, moral stories and show it to the children. This will
not only be interesting but children will also enjoy different graphics and voice
modulations. The mobile can be connected to different computers and big screen
boards for wider display.
2. She can record or make video of good and innovative ECCE activities at her AWC and
can send to her counterparts for their use.
3. These days many activity and learning based apps are available in the play store.
These can be downloaded which can enhance the listening and writing skills of the
kids.
4. Phones or tabs can be used to capture the children in action, their development
milestone, play new songs, email or whatsapp photos of children to their families,
and more.

Characteristics of the learning environment

 Is welcoming to children
 Provides enough materials for all the children
 Allows children to find, use, and return materials independently
 Encourages different types of play
 Allows the children to see and easily move through all the areas of the classroom or
center.
 Is flexible so children can extend their play by bringing materials from one area to
another. Provides materials that reflect the diversity of children’s family lives

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A: GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

S. Activities Teaching Qty. Raw Material Quantity

No Aids
.
1. Throw and Catch Paper Ball 1 each 1. Old News Paper 5 Pcs. Each
a Ball 2. Gum Tube 1
3. Glaze Paper or Old 5 Pcs.
Magazines of
sports/film fare
2. Relay Race -- -- 1. Spoon (Plastic) 6
3. Rhymes & Rattler 1 each 1. Caps of Cold 100 Pcs.
Movements with Drinks Bottles
Musical Chairs 2. Iron Strings 100 each
3. Sticks (thick) 1 Pc.
4. Walking on Rope Skipping 1 each 1. Rope (thick) 1 Pc.
Rope 2. Jute

B. FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

S. Activities Teaching Qty. Raw Material Quantity

No. Aids
1. Threading/ Lacing 1 each 1. Old File Boards 1 Pc.
Lacing Board 2. Shoes Lace 1 Pair each
2. Stringing Beads/ Beads from 15 beads 1. Plastic beads (Big 15 Pcs.
Buds clay/buds/ each size of different
flowers colors
2. Clay 1 Pkt.
3. Cotton/plastic 1 Mtr.
string

139
3. Tearing and Drawing 1 each 1. Card board ½ Pc.
Pasting Card Board 2. Old magazines 1 Pc.
3. Gum Tube
4. Small scissors 5 Pcs.
(objects collecting
from local
environment)
Chart Paper 2 Pcs.
4. Drawing and Color Chart 1 each 1. Chart Paper 1
Coloring 2. Sketch Pen 5 Pcs.
3. Gum
5. Buttoning Buttons 1 each 1. Old Cloths ½ Mtr.
2. Stitch Button/ 5 Pcs.
Buttons
3. Needle 1 Pkt. (big)
4. Thread 1 Roll
6. Clay Modelling Clay Tray 1 each 1. Plastic Tray 1 Pc.
2. Old News paper 2 Pkt.
3. Clay 3. Pkt.
7. Toy Making Stuff toys 1 each 1. Old Sari/cloth ½ Mtr.
2. Cotton 100 Gm.
3. Glaze Paper 3 Pcs.
(red, black)
4. Old News paper 5 Pcs.
5. Thread
6. Needle
8. Painting Paint board 1 each 1. Mount Board ½ Mtr.
2. Water color
3. Crayons 1 Pkt.
4. Brush (No.10) 5 Pcs.
9. Printing Printing 1 each 1. Vegetables 2 (Potatoes,
File/Folder lady finger)
2. Dry leaves 1 Bundle
3. Thread
4. White paper 6 Pcs. Each
5. Water color 1 Pkt. (6 Pcs.)
6. Block/thumb
7. Finger
10. Paper Folding Craft work 5 each 1. Old magazines 5 Pcs.
and Paper 2. Glaze paper 3 (red, yellow,
Cutting green)
3. Gum

140
 II. Teaching Aids for Social Development

S. Activities Teaching Aids Quan- Raw Material Quan-

No tity tity
1. My Family Finger 5 each Bukram Cloth ½ mit
- Puppet show Puppets (5) Mount Board 1 pc.
Rod Puppets Wooden Sticks
(5) Water Color
Gum 5 pcs.
2. My body parts 1. Body chart 1 each Card Board 1
(self) Gum 1
Sketch Pen 1
White Papers 6
3. Know our friends 1. Community 1 each Chart Paper 2
Helper Chart Picture Charts, 4
Community Helpers
(Doctors, Teachers,
Farmers, Carpenters)
Gum

4. Traffic 1. Light Post Board 1 each Chart Papers 1

using Card Board 2. Card Board
or Mount Board 3. Picture Chart 1
(Transport) 2
4. Gum
5. Sketch Pens 1
1Pckt.

Domain : Emotional Development

1. Dolls Play/Doll’s 1. Doll’s 1 set Card Board 4
Marriage Paper/Cloth etc. Chart Paper 2
Sketch Pens 1 pckt

141
 Fevicol 1
2. Creative 1. Craft Board 1 set Mount Board 1
Activities Chart Paper
Design’s Glaze Papers 2
Pattern making (Red,Green, Black) 2 each
Painting Gum
Local Material

142
Suggestive Low Cost /No Cost
Multifunctional Teaching
Learning Material

143
Prepare PSE Aids

 Teaching aids provide a stimulus for exploration and thinking with added input of
verbal, personal communication with an adult, interaction and discussion arise and
these are crucial to real activity based learning.

 Preparing teaching aids is an emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically as the tacitly and

professionally rewarding experience. It is act of love and freedom. Appropriate learning
materials help children to develop their innate abilities and inner feelings.

 Teaching aids can be prepared out of locally available low cost/no cost indigenous
waste material, natural resources and man made items. In order to make the learning
interesting the teacher/AWW needs to use proper teaching aids for promoting skills and
abilities of children to foster physical, mental and emotional growth of children of
preschool education classes and pay more attention to the activities being supported
by the use of various learning material (teaching aids, play material and pictures) in the
class.

 Activities can be interesting, entertaining, memorable and rich through teaching aid

 AWW uses selected/commonly used multipurpose teaching aids which can be handled
by children easily. AWW needs to concentrate those aids to propose which are less
time consuming and useful in daily activities in the AWC.

Item. 1 Conversation Chart

Objectives
To Foster in children
- Language skills
- Concept Development
- Cognitive skills
- Personal Social habits
- Emotional Expression
- Creative Expression
- Imagination
In order to have a good rapport with children AWW can use this chart initially. Also this chart
is useful while AWW receives new children in the AWC for initiating interaction. This chart is
more useful to the children of shy and aggressive nature.
What You Need
¼ Mount Board / Old File Covers
¼ Card Board / Old File Boards
¼ White Chart Paper
- Picture Charts like Animals, Plants, Transports, Market Place, and Village Scene
Ponds/Rivers etc. Collected from old magazines and news papers
- Gum
- Water
- Paint Brush

144
What You Do (Process)
Take a Mount Board or Card Board and white/colored chart. Cut them as per the size
indicated. Paste the chart paper on the Card Board. Paste the pictures collected from
magazines old news papers on the Card Board. Do not use human figure/pictures on Card
Board. Children do not get much excitement by looking at with human figures (“Uncle, Aunty,
Girl, Ladka, Ladki.) It is always useful to use Pictures of Animals, Birds, Forest Scene Plants,
Fruits and Vegetables etc. It will encourage child to speak out freely and openly.

Alternative: Mount Board Conversation Chart

AWW can make drawing of village scene, town, market place, forest scene, zoo or post office
and color it with water color or crayons. AWW should keep in mind the following while
preparing the conversation chart.
- Picture should be familiar
- Drawing of objects/pictures/figures should be clear and easily readable by the children
- Conversation chart may be shown to children and then kept in a corner to allow all
children to see.
- AWW need not point at any object, figure or picture
- Chart needs to be shown at eye level of children

Item. 2 Flannel Board

Objectives
To Promote Language skills, creative thinking, imagination, awareness of concepts,
acquaintance with environment and confidence

What You Need

1. Collect raw materials as
- 1/2 Card Board (16”X25)
- Flannel Cloth or Jute Cloth (19”X27”)
- Bukram/Cloth Strips (1mt.x2”)
- Fevicol (25 gm)
- Chart Papers (3)
- Picture Chart(2)
- Cut-outs from the Moral Story/ Picture charts from the market

What You Do
1 Keep two Mount Boards / Old File Covers stretched as per the specifications given above.
Cover one side of the board with Jute cloth or flannel cloth or old shawl piece as required
with adhesive (Fevicol) and fold the board in the middle when opened becomes one piece
like a book. You can use 1 ½ mt. Flannel cloth for the activity.
2. Selection of Cut outs/ Flannel Figures : The cut outs or flannel figures need to be
collected from story charts, old magazines / books on the basis of your selected Story

145
 For example, monkey, crocodile, tree are called the characters. When these characters are
cut and stored called cut outs. Collect other cut out like birds, animals, human figures or
houses. Paste cotton or sand paper bits on the back of each cut outs/flannel figures with
adhesive. Now keep these cut outs in a folder in a sequence as per the sequence of the
story
3. Demonstration & Use
Flannel Board can be used for the following activities:
1. Story Telling
4. Picture Reading/Conversation
5. Matching and Classification games
6. Finding the pair or partner

Item. 3 Feely Bag (1)

Objectives
To Foster in children
- Sensory skills
- Language Vocabulary & interaction skills
- Imagination
- Self expression
- Concept formation
- Awareness of environments objectives and concepts

What You Need

- Old printed cloth (12”x15”) one set

- Thread
- Needle

146
What you need to do

 Collect a piece of old printed Sari and cut as per the given specification

 Collect a few familiar objects of different shapes and size like leaves, seeds, pen, pencil,
coins, chalks, rubber. AWW call one child at a time to initiate the activities. She needs
to explain the child about the steps to follow. Allow the child to insert her hand in the
bag and make him familiar by touching those objects already lying in the feely bag.
AWW may ask the child to speak about the objects one by one about its texture, size
and shape.

Use: One child will touch one object inside the feely bag and narrate about the same like its

texture, size, shape, AWW needs to probe the child to express more abut the object. Finally,

the AWW will ask the child to name the object. Then, AWW will take out the object from the

feely bag and show to all children whether the child has named correctly or not. If the child

fails to name correctly, the AWW may ask others to describe the same. The feely bag can be

used in the following way too.

Activities

Freely bag is very interesting and effective teaching aid for the following activities:

1. Free conversation: Child can speak more words, vocabularies, 2-3 line
sentences
2. Learning new words and vocabularies
3. Concept Development activities
4. Identification of objects
5. Exploring and imagination
6. Monotony Breaking Activity

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Item. 4 Masks – one set

Objectives

To foster in children;

- Emotional and social skills

- Development of verbal expression
- Independent thinking skills
- Leadership and team building
- Imagination
- Concept formation skills

Description

Items to be procured

- Bukram (10” x 12”) = 5 pcs

- Chart paper = 2 pcs
- Old Newspaper/Paper = 5
Envelops
- Adhesive (fevicol) = 100 gm
- Water color/ = 1 pckt
Crayon pencil
- Elastic band = ½ mitre
- Paint brush = 4-5 pcs (0-5 numbers)

Preparation

Buy ½ meter Buckram and cut into 5 pieces of 10X12 cm size along with chart paper too.

- Take old mask of animals or collect Xerox copy of any animal face masks or
draw/trace the face of the animals on the buckram with pencil

- Bring a tea soccer and a g lass of water. Mix a little amount of water with water
colors you select/choose to your choice.

- You can also prepare local colors adding brick powder, leaves milk and black
from ashes.

- Colors the buckram with paint brush or homemade cotton brush. Choose the
colors mixture of your own to paint the mask.

- Tie the mask with elastic band or woolen thread on both sides so that it cannot
be loosen.

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 - Collect old paper envelop and draw eyes, nose, mouth, head, teeth with the
scrach color pen and tie with elastic band (1.2cm width) use it as a mask for
dramatization

Notes:

Normally masks are prepared on Animal faces or fruits and vegetables which become
easy for an AWW or helper to prepare. Plastic Masks are also available in the market can be
used.

Activities

1. Masks can be used to organise action, songs, dramatize stories, organise group
language games and personal hygiene.
2. Masks can be used to creat awareness about environmental object – its merits,
demerits etc.

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Item. 5 (a) Puppets (4)

Puppets (4)

1. Glove Puppets (4)

2. Stick/Red Puppets (4)
3. Finger puppets (5)

Objectives

To foster in children

- Emotional expression
- Oral expression
- Eye hand coordination
- Development of attention span
- Group building
- Fun, humor and recreation
- Creative thinking
- Concept formation
- Aesthetic development

Descriptions

1. Glove puppets
- 12 X 9 cm printed cloth for one puppet body
- 4”x4 Plain cloth for one puppet head
- Thread, color, cotton & needle

2. Finger Puppets:
- 2.5” x 4.5” cm Bukram for each puppet (5) (use cut pices/left outs of the
bukram used for masks)
- color

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 - Needle, thread
- fevicol
- Wooden stick/twigs

How to make

1. Glove puppet:
- Collect 1.2 mitre old printed cloths
- Cut the cloth as per the measurement given i.e.
- 12x9 (12 cm length plus 9 cm. Width)
- Each piece of bukram should be made as per the size of five different fingers
- Color the finger puppet like face of a father, mother, brothers and sisters e.g.
my family

Rod puppet:

1. Take a card board and cut it in equal half (1.2)

2. Paste the chart paper with fevicol on the cut card board or mount board
3. Decide the theme, Cut the figures s accordingly
4. Fix the stick in the middle of card board so that it can be held straight like a “pla
card”
5. The stick or the rod may be ofwooden or old newspaper roll which can be used
as stick
6. Now the stick puppet is ready for use.

Activities
These puppets are used mainly for story telling dramatization, action, song, drama or role play
or socio-drama

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Item. 5 (b) Puppet with matchbox head and body

Objectives

1. Vocabulary Development to develop

2. Story telling
3. Dramatization
4. Socialization

Material Required

- Two matchbox lids and one tray

- A broomstick
- Four small shirt buttons
- A small handkerchief or a piece of cloth
- Narrow satin or nylon ribbon
- A face drawn on a card and colored chart paper
- Fevicol, needle and thread

Preparation

- Apply fevicol on the back and long sides of the matchbox tray (Two match boxes)
- Push lid 1 and lid 2 half way over each end of the tray.
Press gently till dry
- Attach the broomstick to the back of the boxes. Use a big needle and strong thread
- Tie of stick or stitch a piece of cloth around the bottom of lid 1. Cut a small opening on
each side; so that the ribbon ends come out.
- Attach the ribbon ends to the top of lid 2 to make the arms. Attach the 2 other ribbon
pieces to bottom of lid 2 to form the legs.
- Sew buttons at the ends for hands and feet. Paste the face on lid 1.

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Item. 6 Jute Story Hanger (1)

Objectives
- To promote children’s
- Language & cognitive skills
- Emotional skills and expression
- Creative thinking
- Imagination
- Aesthetic values
- Healthy habits
- Listening and speaking skills
- Healthy attitude
- Empathy

Descriptions
- Collect Jute cloth (10 “ x full width)
Jute Gunny Bag from the local vendor
- Fevicol – 50 g or Home made maida paste
- Moral story chart (1.2)
- Thread & Needle (one each)

Preparation
AWW has to collect the material from local sources to prepare the the story hanger

1. Take jute cloth from the vegetable vendor cut with scissors (Tailor) 10 Inch width and
around 25 inch long (strip)
2. Take half moral story chart and select 4 pictures of animals or human figures.
3. Apply adhesive (festival) on the entire body of the Jute cloth cut earlier (10 x 25 inch)
4. Paste the pictures/figures in a sequence as per the story made e.g. The clever
monkey”. The arrangement of pictures/figures will be.
1. Monkey’s picture (Top)
2. Two cats with cake
3. Weighing scale (TARAJU)

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 4. Monkey climbing up the tree
Caution: The figures have to be pasted in proper order/in sequence. Missing
anyone stage in the order, will creat confusion during presentation of the story
before children
5. Fold the hanger in equal four folders as per the order i.e. top to bottom. The folding
should be carefully made so that no figure is folded in the middle or
damaged/scratched.
6. Stitch the handle of hanger now on the top. Hang it in the AWC, use when needed.
7. Story hanger can be made on chart paper also in the same way as in case of Jute Story
Hanger. Flannel cloth is expensive but durable.

Activities

AWW can use story hanger for story telling and dramatization of stor
Item. 7 A set of dominoes (28) (one set)

Objectives
To promote children’s

- Sensory skills
- Vocabulary
- Concept of shapes size, color, number and objects
- By hand coordination

Material Required
Mount Board (1/4)
Glaze Paper
Sketch/color pencils
Office gum or Fevicol

Preparation
1. Collect a mount board (one side is white and another side is color) cut 1/4 of the
board. Make 28 small pieces of 4 x 2 cm size.
2. Choose Primary colors from glaze color papers cut and paste on the cards.
3. Sketch the cards with crayons or color pencil
4. Use one side of the card as color domino and other side as number domino
5. Paste color of different size/ shapes like triangle, circle, square, half square etc.
15 cards for colors and numbers and 13 cards for shapes.

Activities
Organise activities with these dominoes such as

1. Matching colors/shapes/numbers/ojbects
2. Number concept-counting numbers
3. Concept of shape and size- through play
4. Concept of Direction
5. Making patterns like 1-1, 2-1-2, etc.

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Item. 8 Puzzles

1 Picture puzzle
Objective - To foster children through fun & free play

- Exploring skills
- Imagination & creativity
- Language and cognitive skills
- Concept formation
- Social skills
- Manual skills
- Coordination of eye and hand
- Problem solving skills

Description
1. Picture Puzzle
- 1/5 of a card/mount board
- Chart paper
- Picture chart
- Colors
- Old Registers Cover/file cover/greeting cards/gift boxes match boxes etc

Method of preparation
1. Prepare a picture puzzle of “an elephant”
2. Collect a mount board and draw a complete picture of elephant and cut into 3-4 pieces
as Head, Body, Leg & Trail
3. One-to-one Correspondence
4. Sequencing of different shapes
5. Play & game with dominoes

How to use
This picture puzzle can be used by individual child or 2-4 children in a group
-Child to may see the picture puzzle carefully initially helps the child to combine two pieces of
the pictures Head & body. The child will be able to understand how to make the puzzles play.
Child will move from simple to complex and easy to difficult. This is way child’s learning takes
place.

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- Provide child the cut pieces of a picture of a fruit e.g. Apple the child to arrange the pieces
to complete it. Do not let the child go without completing the puzzles

Item. 9 Match Stick Pattern Cards

Objectives - To develop
- Pre- writing skills
- Eye hand coordination

Material Required
 Pieces of card board strips
 Used match sticks for pasting on the cards
 Collect used matches & boxes wrap the box tops with glaze paper so that they may not
get mixed with ‘real’ match boxes

Preparation
 Cut the cards to a desired size
 Arrange the patterns on the cards with used matches as shown in the picture
 Paste with Fevicol
 Put each in a separate, clear plastic bag, if possible, staple or seal the opening. This set of
cards can last four years.

How to use
A child picks up a pattern card of his/her choice and also a decorated matchbox. He/she
makes a matching pattern on the table/floor next to be card. Children should also be
encouraged to create their own designs and pictures.

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Item. 10 Dolls

Objectives to develop

1. Imagination
2. Role play
3. Verbal expression
4. Sense of security and contentment

Preparation

 Cut off the toe part of an old sock

 Turn the sock around and cut it about half way up the centre
 Turn the sock inside out and back stitch along the bottom and centre cut to form the legs.
Turn right side out.
 Embroider or paint a face
 Stuff the legs and body with cotton or sponge or rage (sponge is best, because it is more
cuddly and washable). Sew up the opening behind the face
 Tightly tie a string around the neck to form the head
 To make the arms, cut the toe of the sock in half
 Turn the two pieces inside-out and do a back-stitch along the long sides. Leaves the end
open for stuffing. Turn each piece right side out and stuff them.
 Dew the arms on to the back of the body, just below the head.
 Stitch or paste black wood on the head for the half and make some clothes for the doll to
wear

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Item. 11 Classification Cards

Objective
- To foster in children
- Concept of color
- Development of observational skills
- Interest in learning

Material Required
- One card board
- Cut the cards of 3”X3” size of 20 pcs.
- Picture charts of fruits, vegetables, transport, animals etc.
- Alphapet charts/shapes etc
Preparation
Prepare a set of classification cards (20) on Card Board of 3”X3” size each. Collect picture
charts of animals, birds, fruits, followers, vegetables on one side and texture, shape,
alphabets on the other, Keep in mind cards should be bigger in size and should be familiar
picture for the child to understand when use.

Activities
Show the classification cards to children and allow then to get familiar with each card. Tell
then to arrange in order like, flowers, birds and animal
- Children should be encouraged to name the object, color, shape and alphabets.
- AWW may explain them by showing these cards about various concept children may be
allowed to played learn the concept with fun.

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Item. 12 Flash Cards

Objectives
To foster in children

- Concept formation
- Language vocabularies
- Awareness of environment
- Interest in learning

Material Required
1. Old file covers
2. Tag or plastic string
3. Fevicol or office gum
4. Picture chart (Big size)
5. Sketch pen/color pen
6. Theme or topic (select as per need)
7. Scissors

Preparation
Cut ten old file covers in “9X12” size
Draw margin of Y2 in on each sides of the cover. File covers are cut in rectangular shape is
appreciated
Select picutres or figures of bigger size as per the story or theme

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Select a theme or topic e.g. story telling on monkey & crocodile. Pictures of monkey, crocodile,
Trae, Pond/River etc needs to be selected or arranged monkey climbing the tree, crocodile
swimming in the water, crocodile eating blackberries, monkey setting on the back of the
crocodile, water in the river are the scenes illustrated in the picture needs to be arranged to
paste on the one side covers.
The pictures have to be pasted on one side of the file cover and the other side with the stories
written. The story may be written in brief and precisely of 4-5 lines. These could be used as
talking points for the narrator or AWW.

Tie all the ten covers or flash cards with a big tag a plastic string to bind it spirally. Flash cards
can be indexed as 1-10 in order and kept in a separate folder for use.

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