Pre-schoolers Activities
Your child starts to make decisions abut work when he or she is very young. So it’s important to start planting seeds very early. Early childhood is a time when children’s play helps them to learn and grow. By joining in, you can extend their exploration of possible futures.
Activity 1: Dressing Up
Gather together your and other family members’ old clothes or visit the second hand shop to find pieces of clothing so that your child can play dress-ups. Encourage your child to put on different clothes for different occupational roles. It’s also fun to use the play tools that children often have today.
For example:
- a gardener might use a lawn mower, a wheel barrow, shovels, watering can and a hat
- a teacher might use pens, paper, files, felt markers and a computer
- a shop assistant might work with a cash register and money
Talk to your child about what a gardener/teacher/shop assistant does, as you join them in play. Through this simple activity, you’re supporting their early career development.
Activity 2: Watching TV Shows and Reading Books
Watching educational children’s TV shows offers opportunities for occupational exploration. Watching shows like these or reading books together, will create opportunities to talk about other interesting occupational choices.
Activity 3: Talking about Likes and Dislikes
To help your child to understand what has influenced your life, learning and work choices, you could play a game of I Like: You Like. Simply take turns to talk about activities that you really enjoy, for example:
Dad: I like cooking dinner
Your child: I like planting flowers
Mum: I like learning to use the computer
Talking in positive ways about the work that you enjoy doing around the house or elsewhere will help your child to develop positive skills about working, learning and living.
