Introduction
A learning center is a space that makes early childhood learning easy and exciting. The primary objective of setting up a learning center is to enhance the learning experience and explore talent amongst learners. Learning centers also help children to learn the qualities of social life and improve communication skills.
Zoo Animal-Motor Activity
It is a hand activity that enables early childhood learners to improve their counting skills. In this learning center, children are provided with a zoo card and a paper with square spaces. In this case, a learner will pretend to feed the animals in the cage by placing beans or other food gems by placing them in the squares. It is a phenomenal hand activity that helps children master counting concepts (Haslip & Gullo, 2018). Moreover, since the activity uses a tweezer, it enhances grip strength, which helps children hold writing materials. This particular zoo center focuses on correspondence activity, whereby children are required to count the feeding gems on a one-to-one basis. It is an effective procedure since children like changing and manipulating the shapes of different objects.
Requirements and Directions
The zoo learning center will require gems (for example, beans or other types of gems available), tweezers (preferably kid tweezers), a print table, and a zoo card with printed squares. To set the learning center, cut the print cards, and set aside a container for gems and tweezers. Notably, each item should be in its container to avoid confusion. Let the child count the number of squares in the print squares, then let them feed animals with gems using tweezers.
Zoo book- Learning Activity
“My heart is like a zoo” is the book that children will be reading in this learning center. The zoo book learning center provides a lot of benefits to the children. For example, it helps children have a good grasp of their reading skills and literacy in book activities (The New York State Education Department, n.d.). Secondly, “my heart is like a zoo” entails identifying animals and the character in the play. Through this process, children learn how to count and separate different themes in every zoo anima provided in the book. The reading center will help children to sort and compare different animals in the zoo.
Requirements and Directions
To set the zoo learning center, a teacher will require a “my heart is like a zoo” book, construction papers (they should be black and white), a marker pen (preferably black), a bottle of glue, and sorting containers. Cut the pairs into circles, and every pair will present animal eyes and then use a marker pen to draw a pupil in each circle. Ask each child in the center to sort the eyes by size and let them match and compare them. Provide every child with glue, marker, pen, and paper and let them do the activity alone (The New York State Education Department, n.d.). After reading, let every child identify the kind of animals presented. Let them label the animals and glue them on the paper.
Zoo Puzzles- Learning Center
Zoo puzzles are typically art activities, and in this learning center, children will use zoo camp puzzles. It is a good book containing different packs of the zoo and helps children improve their counting abilities. Additionally, it also helps children to be creative since it entails drawing and painting (Haslip & Gullo, 2018). In this learning center, children will be required to go to the zoo book puzzle, identify animals, paint them, and cut them out. It will enable them to assort, arrange and count them appropriately.
Requirements and Directions
To set the learning center, a teacher will be required to provide every child with scrapbook paper (4 pieces), four different types of paints, a brush, fork, and spoon (plastic). The brush will be used for painting, fork, and spoon to place the pictures on the scrapbook. Let children choose and paint different animals from the book. Ask the children to wait for the paintings to dry and then cut them out to present the book’s animals. Let every child rearrange the animals in a puzzle-like manner and then give stories about the animals they cut out from the zoo book. The goal of this learning center is to enhance creativity, counting, and learning.
Zoo- Zebra Learning Center
It is a fine motor skills activity center, and under this center, a teacher will help children in learning, counting, and word recognition. This center focuses on the letter Z, which presents zebra in the zoo. It is an art that entails drawing and identifying different sounds in the alphabet. Word recognition will not be difficult for the children with the use of the proposed approaches; thus, having a word recognition center helps children grasp words quickly. It also enables fast reading amongst early childhood learners.
Requirements and Directions
Every child should be provided with white paper, a blue marker pen, a pair of scissors, and black tape. Let children draw stripes on the white paper provided, then use the black tape to stick the stripes. The goal of drawing these stripes is to strengthen their writing grip and challenge them to be organized (Harmon, 2017). Let them cut out the paintings and let them add eye pupils with the black marker pen. The objective of undertaking this activity is to enhance creativity. Moreover, children should not be tied to cutting one letter alone; they should be given an opportunity to paint other letters in the alphabet. After they cut out the shapes, let them arrange and read the letters aloud. It is an activity that enhances reading and counting.
Zoo Tech Learning Center
Technology is changing the way of life; therefore, it is crucial to incorporate it in learning centers. The best technology to add or implement is letter pronunciation devices. The goal of this is to help children get engaged and familiarize themselves with technology in the process of learning. In this activity, children will be required to draw different shapes and count them. They will use generic tablets to draw square and circle objects and other animal shapes from the zoo puzzle book. The tech center helps children to enhance their counting and reading skills. Furthermore, it also encourages them to be interactive and social.
Directions and Requirements
Every child will require a generic tablet, white paper, and marker pen. The generic tablet will be used in the final work; children will use white paper to practice drawing the book’s objects and animals. Let every child draw the objects and animals on the paper, then transfer the knowledge to the tablet. It will help them be creative and productive. Moreover, the final step requires teachers to bring children together and test their abilities through projectors. Teachers will cast different shapes and let every child match their drawings on the projector. Through this process, children will explore different aspects of technology hence improving their creativity.
References
Harmon, L. K. (2017). Nature play and learning places: Creating and managing places where children engage with nature. Children, Youth and Environments, 27(2), 125-128. Web.
Haslip, M. J., & Gullo, D. F. (2018). The changing landscape of early childhood education: Implications for policy and practice. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(3), 249-264. Web.
The New York State Education Department (n.d.). New York State PreK common core. Web.