Your toddler is old enough to start school. But, is he ready? To make learning effective, it is essential that your toddler is physically, mentally, emotionally and socially prepared. Getting your toddler kindergarten ready can be done by doing small things. As always, consistency will help him adjust and adapt easily to this new exciting stage in his life.

Starting school is one of the most imperative transitions in your little one’s life. Since school is a new environment for your toddler, he might still feel wary and anxious. Hence, it is your responsibility to ease his worries. Here are some easy tips you can apply to help your toddler get ready for kindergarten.

Preparing Your Toddler For Kindergarten

Boost Basic Skills

Your toddler must be physically prepared for kindergarten. Now that he knows basic skills, you need to exercise them to help improve his abilities. During his playtime, hold educational activities. Encourage him to draw, paint, write and read. Give him blocks and puzzles to help boost his problem solving skill. Incorporate physical activities during his playtime. Perform activities that let him practice how to climb the stairs, hop, jump, run, and walk with control.

Assign him to do simple household errands like putting his dirty clothes in the hamper, opening the mailbox, putting his toys back in the chest or setting the table. Make the most out of craft materials. Use clay dough, crayons, coloring books, paper, scissors and so on. This will build hand-eye coordination and increase his motor and fine motor skills. To make it extra fun for your toddler, do these exercises together. With your assistance, he will be able to learn more efficiently.

Exercise Basic Lessons

By now, your little one knows how to count, read the alphabet and distinguish shapes. Expand his mind by doing fun indoor and outdoor exercises. Each time you go to the grocery store, let him assist you in putting the items in the counter. Tally the items together. When outdoors, go to the park and let him enumerate the things he see. Hold a car counting contest. At home, use his blocks to identify colors or let him arrange it in size order.

Practice Independence

Your toddler needs to be aware by this time. Train him to memorize his basic information (e.g. his full name, age, address, name of parents and contact number) in case of any emergency. If he finds it difficult to remember all these information, leave your calling card in his bag or pocket. Teach him to clean up on his own. Train your toddler to do simple things without any assistance like reading his own name, dressing himself, tying his shoes, going to the bathroom, washing his hands and blowing his nose.

Improve Social Interaction

Your toddler will interact with a lot of children his age in kindergarten. Hence, introducing him to different people will prepare him to socialize well with his peers. Encourage your toddler to play outdoors. Invite his playmates over. Have an afternoon of movie marathon. Round up your neighbors’ kids and do fun-filled activities such as a puppet show or an arts and crafts workshop. Divide them into teams. Or, you may enroll him in a sports class or summer camp. This will train him to be comfortable working with a team. Plus, he learns how to socialize and deal with different personalities. He learns the value of giving, sharing and listening.

Visit The School

To ease out the fear of your toddler, take a tour of his soon-to-be school. Visit a couple of weeks before his school starts so he is able to get a good feel of this new environment. Introduce him to his teachers. Attend the orientation seminar together. Let him play in the school’s playground so he gets to socialize with other toddlers. Stop over classrooms, libraries and other parts of the school building.

Have a Heart to Heart Conversation

While yes you are also anxious for his first day in kindergarten, never express your anxiety to your toddler. This will only scare him and increase his panic. Share your own happy kindergarten memories. Explain to him why he needs to go to kindergarten. Tell him about all the fun activities he can do every day, the friendly teachers, the friends he will make, his Justice League school bag and the supplies he will be using and finally, the food he wants to eat for lunch and snack time.