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Charts for preschoolers

Emma's charts

Emma loves it when I make her charts to help her track goals and the passage of time. I originally made printable charts, but for some reason she prefers to have her charts drawn on the whiteboard I use to make shopping lists and other notes in the kitchen. She especially loves it when her charts are drawn in shapes. My artistically-challenged glass slippers on the top row represent the number of nights she had to sleep by herself through the night without fussing in order to get a small prize of her choosing. The bottom row of houses was a “Daddy coming home” chart to track the days until Mike got home from a business trip. Besides helping to motivate Emma to reach her goals, these charts help her practice simple addition and subtraction as well as helping her understand the passage of time. I talk with Emma about which goals she wants charts for, and I help her work out what types of prizes we can provide.

Since I am not artistically gifted, my efforts to draw the requested shapes sometimes fall short. The current “sleeping through the night” chart is four snowballs – Emma’s solution after my attempts at drawing her previously requested fairies and wicked witches failed to measure up. She said, “Mama, just draw circles.” And then, once I drew them, “Look, it’s snowballs!”

Emma has already informed me that she wants dinosaurs for her next chart, adding: “Can you draw dinosaurs? Them have big teeth!”

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

10 thoughts on “Charts for preschoolers”

  1. Charts are great for so many reasons, I think it really helps little ones see the passage of time and understand the concept of waiting. Your shoes look pretty good, I noted right away they are heels and pretty high ones at that!
    .-= Katie´s last blog ..Snowball Counting Activity =-.

  2. Elisa | blissfulE

    Emma sounds like such a sweetie. Snowballs for circles – yea!!
    .-= Elisa | blissfulE´s last blog ..Sunday sunshine :: photo shoot =-.

  3. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog

    Awww… I love her requests! What a great idea to make charts like that! Emily has her own calendar, and she loves it, but I know she would love a chart of her own too!
    .-= Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog´s last blog ..Indoor Snow Picnic =-.

  4. LOL on the artistic abilities – I am in the same boat. The poop chart worked really well for us when we were potty training. Since then we only used the countdown to Christmas, but I am contemplating “play by yourself” chart – something that my daughter is notoriously bad about when I am home :)
    .-= Natalie´s last blog ..The First Time in the Theater =-.

  5. We have some success with charts to track goals, too. I think it’s a great way for preschoolers to understand the consequences of your actions (or lack of action if you don’t earn a sticker on the chart!)
    .-= Quadmama´s last blog ..I Need a Vacation =-.

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