Interactive whiteboards have already proven to be a massive hit in preschools, nurseries and primary schools, and with good reason – they make learning fun, they cover every type of learning style, and they get pupils involved.
Why add interactive whiteboard activities to preschool classes?
With the rate at which smart whiteboard activities and games have made preschool learning more effective, it’s easier to ask why not to add them to your classroom. Anyone who has interacted with a preschooler will know that it is impossible to capture a child’s attention by just delivering a presentation at the front of a classroom. Preschoolers learn through play, interaction, and shape manipulation – which is why interactive whiteboard activities are the perfect way to get them learning. Below are just some of the core skills that can be developed through interactive whiteboard activities for preschool:
- Speech, phonics and comprehension: Preschoolers will quickly learn how to talk, form words and pronounce vowels with audio concentration games like Clifford Interactive Audio Concentration. Kids are tasked with matching words based on their vowel sounds, repeating words with letters that make different phonic sounds, and learning the nuances of pronunciation.
- Observational skills: With the range of Spot-The-Difference games out there, preschoolers will have fun spotting similarities and differences in side-by-side pictures. While they play, they will build an eye for detail – along with a keen awareness of the world around them.
- Motor function: Many of us will fondly remember playing board games like ‘Operation’ from our younger years – but what many of us were not aware of is that activities like this would help us with our fine motor skills. Luckily, there are plenty of interactive whiteboard activities for preschool that cater towards this – including Drag the Car, Too Many Frogs, and Virtual Dog. By developing this skill, preschoolers will have an easier time drawing, writing, painting, and playing with objects.
- Counting and adding: With number and counting games, you can equip preschoolers with a strong set of basic mathematics skills that will help them later on down the line. With interactive whiteboard games like Teddy Numbers, KS1 Jungle Maths, and Numberblocks, kids will be mesmerised by the bright colours and fun characters they get to play with on the screen.
- Digital literacy: This particular skill may well be the most underrated one on the list. By engaging in interactive whiteboard activities for preschoolers, kids will very quickly learn actions like how to draw on a screen, drag and drop elements on a screen, and move shapes around. With the increasingly strong presence technology has in our day-to-day lives, it is good to get children used to using touchscreen interfaces from a young age.
Where to find the best interactive whiteboard activities for preschool
It’s all well and good to highlight the benefits of smart whiteboard activities for preschoolers, but the next important step is knowing where to find these games and activities. Luckily, the internet is rich in both free and paid resources that are tailored to specific age-groups and skill-sets.
Websites like twinkl.co.uk and topmarks.co.uk are particularly good sources of interactive whiteboard activities – you can also see how well each game is reviewed by users, and pick the ones with the best feedback.
Some are even featured on kids’ TV channels, like CBeebies. With the ability to filter by age-group, school year, and game genre, you’ll be sure to find activities your preschoolers will love.