One thing that is so fun about having a child this age is their perception of time. They don’t really have much perception of time at all! They hear phrases from us like, “give me two minutes” or “Just a minute” and they don’t really know what that means. Trying to explain to your preschooler about an event in the future is equally as hard. We are taking a trip next week, and I’ve been trying to explain to my daughter that the trip is still a week away. Every time we get in the car, she asks me if we are on our trip. I keep saying, “No, it’s not until next week”, but to her, that could mean anything!!
One of the big things that kids learn at this age is the concept of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. It is a learning process. Many times you might hear a child say, “Yesterday, we went to the aquarium”, when in fact that trip was months before. Or, “Tomorrow, I will be in Kindergarten”, when in reality, they won’t be until the following year. So, how can you teach your child about the concept of time?
One way to do this is by hanging a calendar in your home where it is visible to your child. You can explain that each square represents a day. Show them how many days it is until the event that they might be anticipating. Letting them mark X’s on the calendar at the end of each day will help them visualize how long it is going to take for the big day of whatever they might be anticipating to arrive!
Also, if your child knows numbers, start helping them learn how to tell time with digital clocks. My daughter will already say to me, “Mommy, it’s 12, 4, 5. Meaning, 12:45. I try to teach her how to group the numbers together to actually help her say the time correctly.
Last, You can make magnets to put on your fridge that say Today is…, Yesterday was… and Tomorrow will be… Then, make up additional word strip magnets that have the days of the week. Have your child practice putting the sentences together each day so that they can visualize in their minds where they are in the week.
Helping your child grasp the concept of time is very appropriate at this age, and can be a great learning adventure!
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