…purchase a great illustrated children’s dictionary and leave it sitting out where your 3 year old can reach it.
My 3 year old, Nicholas, picked ours up today and actually SAT STILL for more than half an hour. If you’ve met Nicholas, you know what a feat this was for him. (Entertaining. That’s what one of my friends called him. Yes. That’s a good word.) I’d show you a picture but my camera is frozen at the moment.
Anyway, he went page by page through hundreds of entries in the DK Merriam Webster Illustrated Children’s Dictionary and shouted out to anyone who would listen things like, “Guys! Come see this crane fly!” or “Look at the ferryboat with 100 people on it!” or “That’s a cool volcano with lava!” I tried to sit with him for part of the time telling him about things he needed help with until this conversation happened:
Nicholas: “What are all those fish things, Mama?”
Mom: “Well, that’s an egg being fertilized with . . . hey, what’s on the next page?”
The dictionary was actually a Christmas gift for his 8 year old sister, but today he claimed it as his own. I guess I know what Nicholas is getting for Christmas this year!
Just wait ’til he can actually read the words to himself!
For more preschool ideas, read Preschool Activities and Easy Preschool Science.
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