General Overview:  Ask Dr. Universe is an interactive website based out of Washington State Universtiy.  It is designed for curious elementary and middle school students, but any parent can tell you that preschoolers are prolific questioners.  One survey even found that most questions are asked by 4-year-old girls! (Daily Mail, 2013)  This site is full of questions asked by kids and answers from professors, researchers, and experts.   I really love one question about whether a shadow can make a shadow.  Anya Rasmussen, a physics professor at Washington State University describes an easy experiment that you can try out.   

Authentic Learning Experience: The site answers real-world and timely questions, including those about COVID-19, and encourages children to learn more beyond the classroom.  With their parents, kids can watch videos, listen to podcasts, and try out all sorts of fun activities while engaging with a community of learners (the link I include sends children and parents directly to a page where they can submit their questions). 

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate): 

Kids of all ages ask Dr. Universe questions, including questions from four and five-year-olds.  Some of the answers are a little complicated for this age, but with a little help from an adult, preschoolers can learn a lot!  The majority of questions are asked by kids in Washington state, but it is fun to see questions from different countries around the world.  Asking questions is important in every culture!

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: In order to ask a question, a child needs to be paying attention to the world around them, a key indicator of Goals P-SCI 1, 2 & 3.  Children demonstrate their mastery of this goal as they observe and describe the world around them.  Ask Dr. Universe also meets Reason and Problem-Solving Goals P-SCI 4, 5, and 6 as children ask their questions and then try out recommended experiments to get answers on their own.  

​

​

​

General Overview:  Chompers is a podcast designed to make brushing your teeth enjoyable for young kids.  Every morning and evening, Chompers shares jokes, riddles, silly songs, and more for kids to listen to while brushing their teeth for the full two minutes recommended by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (n.d.).

Authentic Learning Experience:  Everyone brushes their teeth, but the experience is not always pleasurable with preschool-aged children.  This podcast encourages children to brush their teeth by making the experience special.  Each podcast begins with tooth-brushing instructions to make sure that children are properly brushing every tooth and then proceeds to entertain kids for two whole minutes.  Children learn important skills to build healthy habits while enjoying this podcast.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate): 

Three to five-year-old children are just beginning to understand the importance of personal hygiene and self-care skills and they may need a little help.  Combining a fun podcast with self-care helps make tooth brushing fun for kids and their parents.  Chompers responds to the values and expectations of all cultures of good mental hygiene and can make a difference in the lives of children all over the world.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: As children brush their teeth while listening to Chompers, they demonstrate Health, Safety, and Nutrition Goal P-PMP 4.  By five-years-old, they should show an "increasing ability to take responsibility for participating in personal self-care skills, such as brushing teeth" (NAEYC).

General Overview: Cosmic Kids is a YouTube channel that makes mindfulness and yoga fun!  Using stories, roleplaying, and a lot of silliness, Jamie Amor gets children moving, stretching, breathing, and relaxing.  I chose Cosmic Kids because it was so much fun to watch.  The first video I watched was a visit to Old Mac Donald's great great great great great grandaughter's farm.  I loved watching Jamie answer the phone by lifting her foot up to her ear.  Each video is a delight and will get kids moving.

Authentic Learning Experience: Cosmic Kids connects with the real world as children are encouraged to move along with stories and characters that they already know and love.  The videos even sneak in emotional tools and helpful lessons, while taking children on fun adventures.  Cosmic Kid's Yoga Quest takes children on an adventure around the world as they mark off their travels on a downloadable map and even receive a certificate upon completion of the quest. 

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate): Children love stories and they love to move. This program combines both while teaching children yoga skills and giving children emotional tools like mindfulness.  The stories are geared toward young children ages 2-8, but can be enjoyed by all ages. The simple yoga poses challenge children to try new things and push beyond their abilities.  The helpful lessons focus on treating others with kindness and respect, and other important skills.  Popular characters from movies, television, nursery rhymes, and even video games are incorporated to catch the attention of young children.  Children can follow along with the poses even if they do not speak English, and Jamie speaks slowly and carefully, giving English learners a chance to follow along.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: These activities promote Perceptual Motor and Physical Development goals P-PMP 1 and P-PMP 2 as children focus on body and space awareness in ways that allow for more coordinated movements and actions.  It also teaches skills related to the Social and Emotional Sub-Domains of relationship building, emotional functioning, and a sense of identity and belonging.

General Overview:  Children can go on a virtual playdate with Sesame Street characters, Elmo and Rosita.  During the playdate, children can respond to stories and jokes that Elmo and Rosita share by clicking the emoji button.  They can even choose games to play with the characters, like Freeze Dance and the Counting Game, which are designed to get kids moving.

Authentic Learning Experience: The current pandemic is limiting the time our children have to interact and play with each other.  Many children no longer visit each other's homes.  They are missing out on learning many skills that are fundamental to knowing how to act in school.  Elmo and Rosita's Virtual Playdate gives kids a chance to practice playing with each other virtually, and the skills they learn can help them in real life virtual playdates, as well as when things open up and they can get together again.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate):

Kids will enjoy playing with two familiar friends in this fun interactive game.  Rosita is bilingual and uses many Spanish words and phrases.  Both Elmo and Rosita invite children to play fun games that encourage them to play and cooperate with the Sesame Stree characters.  This is good practice for preschoolers who need time with other children to learn prosocial and communication skills.  The skills taught in the virtual playdate will also help children know what to do and how to act in a real-life playdate.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Although the game is an imaginary virtual playdate, Elmo and Rosita interact in a very real way with the children playing the game.  These interactions enoucarge young children to respond to the characters.  Practicing with fictional players can help a child learn skills like sharing and taking turns (Goal P-SE 3).  Some of the games, like "The Board Game" teach young children how to take turns and cooperate to reach a goal (Goal P-SE 4).   Other games that children can play on the virtual playdate help children focus on memory, fine and gross motor, math, and problem-solving skills. (Goal P-SCI 4, Goal P-SCI 6, Goal P-MATH 1, Goal P-PMP 2, Goal P-PMP 3, Goal P-ATL 9)

​

General Overview:  If you are looking for a fun song to sing with your preschooler, Kiboomers is the place to look! The Emotions Hokey Pokey is just one of many songs that help kids think about emotions.  It combines a familiar song with new actions to get kids moving and thinking.

Authentic Learning Experience:  Children need to understand emotions in order to interact with others.  My singing and dancing with this video, they can practice different emotions and think about what those emotions look like on other people.  The song can be extended to include different and new emotions.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate):

Three to five-year-olds love to sing and dance, and the Hokey Pokey is a fun way to do both.  They are also learning to recognize different emotions and how to respond to those emotions.  This video uses cartoon animals to show what happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised, and silly look like.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Children express a broad range of emotions and recognize these emotions in themselves and others as they sing and dance along with the Emotions Hokey Pokey (Goal P-SE 6).  With further discussion, they can explore these emotions and the behaviors that come along with them (Goal P-SE 9).  Children can also learn how to manage these emotions appropriately (Goal P-ATL 1). Children are also practicing their fine and gross motor skills as they move their bodies and facial expressions along with the song instructions. (Goal P-PMP 2, Goal P-PMP 3)

 

​

General Overview:  In the Fair Shares game, young children help Curious George share treats fairly (equally) with a group of dogs by using a mouse to click on the treat and move a treat to each dog.  Once the dogs all have the same number of treats, the child then uses the computer mouse to click on the whistle.  If a child makes a mistake, the narrator explains that it is not fair that one dog has too many treats, and the child is given a chance to try again.  The game gets trickier as children are challenged to share out more and more treats.

Authentic Learning Experience:  Sharing fairly is a real-world problem that children face frequently.  This game helps them practice counting and sharing.  It teaches children skills to help them share objects fairly and gives them a chance to try again if they make mistakes.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate):

Young children love to pretend that they have pets.  This game is a wonderful way to combine pretend-play with learning like math and prosocial behaviors.  The game can be played in English or Spanish

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: By following directions from the game narrator (Goal P-ATL 8), children practice Goal P-MATH 10 as they move the dog treats from the table to the nose of each dog.  The skills that children learn sharing treats with fictional dogs can help them learn how to share in real-life situations, which moves them toward Goal P-SE 5.

 

​

General Overview:  Young children can explore how music feels as they play around with different instruments, beats, and melodies. Feel the Music demonstrates how different music makes you feel different emotions.  It is also really easy to make great-sounding songs.

Authentic Learning Experience:  Music is an everyday part of life.  Children can have fun making their own music with this music game.  As they choose different moods and instruments they will notice that the way the music feels changes.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate):

Young children can use their creativity to make beautiful music with Daniel Tiger.  This game is easy to play and the music children make sound great.  As they are playing they are also learning about emotions.  It is also a wonderful way to explore different types of instruments.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Children show curiosity in the world around them as they explore different instruments and sounds while playing Feel the Music (Goal P-ATL 11, Goal P-ATL 11).  Children are also introduced to how music makes them feel different emotions (Goal P-SE 6).

​

General Overview: Grandma's Purse is a picture book read by its author and illustrator, Vanessa Brantley-Newton.  This wonderful story follows a little girl as she explores her grandmother's purse with Grandma Mimi.  The little girl pulls each item out of the purse and Grandma Mimi explains to her what each item is for.  The video adds engaging music and popup words to emphasize the emotional feel of the story.  Vanessa Brantly-Newton uses a cheerful, engaging voice.  It is a joyful experience to share this story with its creator.

Authentic Learning Experience: Grandma's Purse is best watched with your child to encourage conversation before, during, and the story.  The story lends itself easily to a discussion about family relationships, how objects have a story, and what you would put in your purse.  It can be followed by real-world interactions with the grandmas in a child's life.  Children can be challenged to talk to a grandma about what she carries in her purse.  Children can even talk to a grandpa about what he carries in his pocket or wallet.  Children can also think about and collect objects that they would carry in their own personal purse.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate): The author begins the video by describing its cultural connection to the Gullah Geechee people from low-country South Carolina.  It is important to learn about different cultures from around the world, and the experiences in this story are relatable in every culture.  Grandmas all over the world have purses and exploring those purses is interesting to young children and can be a pleasurable experience.  Spending time in conversation with grandmas and grandpas helps children learn about themselves and the grandparents in their lives.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Listening to Grandma's Purse can naturally lead to questions and activities related to grandmas and purses, and with a little planning these questions and activities can lead to authentic learning experiences.  Children learn conversational skills by listening to the little girl talking with her grandma, which corresponds with Goal P-LC 1.  Further activities can lead to conversations about the book (Goal P-LC 2).  New vocabulary like "accessories" can be introduced, as connected with Goal P-LC 6.  Other Early Learning Outcomes include Social-Emotional goals such as having relationships with adults as seen in Goal P-SE 2 and having a sense of identity and belonging (Goal P-SE 11).

​

General Overview:  I always loved looking for the jokes in the Highlights magazine.  Now we can find these same jokes all together on YouTube with Laugh Attack.  Highlights Kids has five different joke videos for kids.  You can also find other interesting videos with activities, science experiments, and more for kids to try out.

Authentic Learning Experience:  Telling and understanding jokes is an important skill for anyone.  Jokes are a fun way to communicate with others, and a well-told joke can brighten any conversation.  Children can learn jokes from these videos and use those jokes to help them figure out new jokes to share.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate):

Three to five-year-olds are notorious jokers. This is the age when they are just beginning to understand language and laughter.  They are also pretty terrible at making jokes!  These fun videos will have young children belly laughing as they recognize puns and see young kids just like them joking around.  The jokes are culturally sensitive and not unkind and the children telling the jokes appear to be diverse. These jokes can be a starting point for young children as they begin to experiment with their own jokes.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Joke-telling uses all of the skills for the language and literacy early learning outcomes.  Children must pay attention to and understand the joke to find it funny (Goal P-LC 1) and respond appropriately (Goal P-LC 2).  Children experiment with the different purposes of communication as they practice telling jokes (Goal P-LC 3) and they learn to take conversational turns (Goal P-LC 4).  Even a child's vocabulary can be expanded as they begin to recognize that words can have more than one meaning (Goal P-LC 6)

 

​

General Overview:  In the Nature Art Box game young children use items commonly found in nature to create a work of art.  Art supplies include paint, leaves, feathers, seeds, sticks, and other items that children can use to create.  My favorite art tool is the snail, which leaves a snail trail behind it as it walks across the canvas.  Children can save up to six pieces of art too!

Authentic Learning Experience:  Children can practice creating artwork using items found in nature virtually before going out to find art supplies in the real world.  This art-game provides examples of things that kids may want to look for as they explore their neighborhood or backyard.  Children can direct their own learning and project work as they experiment with the different art supplies provided in the game.  

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate):

This art game is an appropriate way for young children to try out digital art-making.  The game combines familiar PBS Kids characters with art and technology.  Children will be excited to play a game on the computer with the fun characters and will be inspired to try art with natural materials in real life.  The game is culturally appropriate and can be played whether you speak English or not.   Children are taught to appreciate nature and to be creative as they make art.

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Young children show interest in and curiosity about the world around them (Goal P-ATL 11) as they create artwork using natural materials.  Although a virtual game, children are able to experience the way different materials produce different looks when dipped into paint.  As children experiment they approach tasks, activities, and play in ways that show creative problem solving (Goal P-ATL 12).  Children also practice fine motor skills as they use the computer mouse to choose art materials and to create their work of art (Goal P-PMP 3).

 

​

General Overview:  Move to Learn is a YouTube channel full of fun learning videos that help kids shake out energy and regain focus during the school day.  The Shape Shifting video is part of their videos for preschoolers and is a fun way to learn shapes through movement.  In the video, children use big actions to make different shapes.  The music is fun with a catchy beat and tune.

Authentic Learning Experience:  After a long time sitting down, kids need to get up and move.  Rather than tracing shapes on a worksheet, they can trace those shapes with their arms while dancing to a fun song.  Children can think of other shapes that they can make with their arms as an extension to their learning from the song.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (child development, interest-based, culturally appropriate):

Three to five-year-olds love to sing and dance, and Shape Shifting fits the bill.  The video shows a diverse group of preschoolers dancing to the music and following the instructions to make different shapes with their arms.  Children will be interested in getting up and moving, and will practice their shapes at the same time!

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Children begin to understand spatial vocabulary as they follow the instructions of the song (Goal P-MATH 10).  They learn familiar shapes like circles but are also introduced to less familiar shapes like cones and hexagons (Goal P-MATH 9).  The whole time they are moving their bodies and working on Goal P-PMP 1 and Goal P-PMP 2.

 

​