12 EYFS Activities For Children

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a framework aimed at the welfare and development of children from birth to the age of five years. Teachers of daycare centers or nurseries, the children are admitted to, will maintain a profile for each child, recording their activities until they are five years old. This will help in assessing the development of the child, his/her positives and weak points and prepare them to enter school.

The best way for a child to start learning is not through books, but through activities they involve in. These activities help children to develop skills, think and to make decisions.

Here are few EYFS activities for children, which can contribute to their development:

1. Painting

Kids love colours. Therefore, painting is one of the best activities suitable for them. Painting gives children ideas about colour and shapes. Also, painting enhances creativity in a child. By painting, children learn to think with an open mind. It also helps them to decide on what works and what does not. Also, the appreciation children get for the work they do, boosts their self-confidence. This is one activity that really helps in the development of kids.

2. Maths Activities

Since mathematics is one of the main subjects in school, this activity would help children have a strong base with numbers. With maths activities, children get introduced to numbers. They’ll have a basic understanding of numbers, what they are and how they are used. Through these activities,teachers can help children learn to count, identify patterns and compare objects. This activity can also increase the confidence of children as they prepare to start school.

3. Letters and sounds

Introduce children into the world of alphabets with these activities. Children, in their early years, tend to be faster learners than adults. They have the ability to mimic pronunciations without any difficulty. You can use letter blocks or alphabet charts to help the children understand and recognize the alphabets better. Recognition of alphabets by a child can be advantageous once he/she starts school.

4. Language development activities

Speech and language abilities of children help them to communicate their needs, build relationships and to express their feelings. The early years tend to be the best time for a child to start learning a language. Language development activities can also include learning words, building sentences etc.

5. Story telling activity

Which child does not like stories? They love listening to stories, which we narrate to them. It is a fact that kids are more imaginative than adults. So, they will definitely love this activity. Unlike the usual routine of adults narrating stories to children, encourage the kids to develop their own stories through these activities. This would help in developing language and creative skills of children.They would also learn to frame sentences.

6. Drama/role play activities

You can use some famous stories or the stories children themselves narrate for drama/role play activities. Assign children to play characters of the story (you can even help them to dress up according to the characters) and help them with the dialogue delivery. Apart from having fun, these activities help children to improve their communicative skills and interaction with other children.

7. Music and dance activities

It is a known fact that children, even before they learn to speak, react to music. Almost all children start moving as they hear music. Therefore, children would surely enjoy this activity. It would also help in improving their skills in terms of extra curricular activities. Children can also get exposed to different types of music through these activities.

8. Outdoor activities

Let the children get out of their nurseries or day care centres and mingle with nature. Nature offers far more things to learn than books or indoors do. Outdoor activities influence a child’s physical, social and emotional development. Outdoor activities give space and freedom to children. They will be able to explore and experiment without limitations. Also, physical activities of children increase once they are outdoors. They would run, play, shout, which help in their physical development.

9. Science activities

Children are always curious about things, especially those in their early years, who question about each and everything they see. Therefore, they will surely find science activities interesting. You can help the child collect things that interest them and sort them or later discuss about it, thus improving their ability to think and their communication skills.

10. Physical activities

A child’s physical development is as important as his/ her mental and emotional development. Physical activities help a child boost his/her concentration, motivation and well-being. This can be done through warm up exercises, games or through action songs.

11. Craft activities

Children love being creative. Therefore, craft activities would be perfect for them. With these activities, children get a basic idea of shapes, size and measurement, thus improving their maths skills as well. Also, they’ll learn to analyse things and make decisions. These activities can also add to the social and emotional development of children as they learn to socialise and share things.

12. Gardening activities

Children love being outdoors and getting dirty. Therefore, they’ll surely enjoy this activity. Gardening instills a sense of responsibility and love towards nature in children. They’ll learn to tender and grow their own plants. Gardening involves teamwork. Therefore, children learn to socialize and have fun.

EYFS activities help children grow and develop themselves, physically, emotionally and socially. Each and everything they encounter in the process would influence their behavior and personality at later stages of life. Also, these activities enable them to recognize and use their skills to the fullest, making them confident and good human beings.