Video transcript

Narrator: Preschoolers love to play and have fun. It’s amazing how they can turn the most ordinary experiences and everyday objects into play. Play is natural. It’s how pre-schoolers learn, and they’re learning all the time.

Play gives children the chance to express their imagination and feelings, and also to practice all the skills they’ve learned since birth. Even though your preschooler is getting good at playing by himself, he still needs interactions and experiences with you and others to continue learning new skills and refining old ones, and the great thing is that you can create and share these experiences through the things you do with your preschooler every day, like getting dressed, cooking together and telling stories.

Getting dressed is about more than just putting on and taking off clothes. It helps your child develop many skills, like using his hands, arms and legs, balancing, thinking and communicating. He will also become more aware of time, and how to do things in a particular order. Learning to dress himself will take quite a while for your child, but mastering this skill gives your preschooler confidence and a sense of achievement.

Your child can learn so much by helping you cook or prepare meals. She learns new words and numbers and amounts, how to follow instructions, and maybe even some patience. Cooking together gives you the chance to introduce your preschooler to a range of fresh, healthy foods. It’s also a great way for your child to discover new smells, tastes, and textures, and to broaden what your children eat.