Your Playbook for Ages 3 - 4

A curated roadmap by developmental age for navigating the most essential skills and common hurdles of raising children. Evidence-based insights paired with practical tools from early childhood experts.

Social Skills Challenging Behavior Life Readiness Emotional Intelligence Pre-Academics At-Home Learning
Social Skills
If Your Child Has an Imaginary Friend

Getting to know your child’s imaginary friends is a fun perk of parenting and teaching. Those characters – whether invisible,...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
If Your Child Has an Imaginary Friend
Ages
3-4,
4-5
What to Say and Do When Your Child Interrupts

Learn why children interrupt, what to say in the moment, and strategies for modeling patterns of communication. (It is hard...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
What to Say and Do When Your Child Interrupts
Ages
3-4,
4-5
FAQs When Your Child Interrupts

Your questions, our answers. Learn how to handle common scenarios when a child interrupts. From raising hands, to when to...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
FAQs When Your Child Interrupts
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Challenging Behavior
How to Handle Challenging Behavior

“The way we talk to children becomes their inner voice.” -Peggy O’Mara

Ages
3-4,
4-5
How to Handle Challenging Behavior
Ages
3-4,
4-5
How to Encourage Listening – A Simple Sequence to Follow

One of the most frequent questions we get from parents is, “How do I get my child to listen?” It’s...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
How to Encourage Listening – A Simple Sequence to Follow
Ages
3-4,
4-5
How to Encourage Listening – FAQs

Encouraging your child to listen can sometimes be very hard (even when you have our trusty checklist of things to...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
How to Encourage Listening – FAQs
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Life Readiness
Common Manners by Age

We teachers have the good fortune of learning and playing with a wide range of children in class and are...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Common Manners by Age
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Why Children Should Play Outside

Taking time to connect with nature has a long-lasting impact on our health, learning and emotional well-being. Here is what...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Fine Motor + Gross Motor
Creativity + Imagination
Why Children Should Play Outside
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Fine Motor + Gross Motor
Creativity + Imagination
Emotional Intelligence
How to Teach Empathy

“Empathy is when you’re able to understand and care about how someone else is feeling.” -Mark Ruffalo, Sesame Street

Ages
3-4,
4-5
How to Teach Empathy
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Reward Empathy – Be a Real Superhero!

A classroom favorite for cultivating empathy, kindness, community membership and awareness of others. What’s a real superhero? Someone who helps...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Reward Empathy – Be a Real Superhero!
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Reinforce (vs. Reward) Positive Behavior

Imagine a magical world where children are internally motivated to be kind and generous. It’s doable!

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Reinforce (vs. Reward) Positive Behavior
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Reinforce Positive Behavior – Make a Marble Jar

Acknowledge and promote positive behavior….*Plinkit* with a Marble Jar! You’ll be amazed at the twinkle in your child’s eye each...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Reinforce Positive Behavior – Make a Marble Jar
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Pre-Academics
What is a Good Resource for Developmental Milestones?

“What is a good resource to understand milestones for my child? At what age should they learn colors? Learn numbers?...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
What is a Good Resource for Developmental Milestones?
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
What’s Developmentally “Normal”?

How do you know if your child is experiencing a developmental “bump”? How do you know if it is time...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
What’s Developmentally “Normal”?
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
How to Teach Your Child to Write

Many of us are eager for our children to learn to write. It takes practice but it also needs to...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Fine Motor + Gross Motor
How to Teach Your Child to Write
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Fine Motor + Gross Motor
Practice Reading and Writing with a Salt / Sand Tray

Whether a young child practices prewriting skills or an older child works on sight words, salt / sand trays are...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Fine Motor + Gross Motor
Practice Reading and Writing with a Salt / Sand Tray
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Fine Motor + Gross Motor
How to Teach Math Basics: Part 2 – Counting

Learning to count may seem simple, but it is critical to learning well. Here’s how to do it playfully. The...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
How to Teach Math Basics: Part 2 – Counting
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
How to Teach Reading – Part 1: Develop Oral Language

Learning to read is incredibly empowering for a child, but it’s also very complex. There is no quick-fix or shortcut....

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Creativity + Imagination
Language + Literacy
How to Teach Reading – Part 1: Develop Oral Language
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Creativity + Imagination
Language + Literacy
How to Teach Reading – Part 2: Read *With* Your Child

Book selection is key in helping your child learn to read. Parents of emergent and early readers are often tempted...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Creativity + Imagination
Language + Literacy
How to Teach Reading – Part 2: Read *With* Your Child
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Creativity + Imagination
Language + Literacy
At-Home Learning
Easy/No-Prep, Self-Directed Activities Your Child Can Do at Home

Ready-made cards with easy / no-prep, self-directed activities to entertain your toddler, preschooler and early learner. Excellent for when you...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
Easy/No-Prep, Self-Directed Activities Your Child Can Do at Home
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
Activities + Games You Can Do at Home to Support Your Child’s Learning

Your go-to list of curated learning projects, activities and games that you can do at home to support your child’s...

Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
Activities + Games You Can Do at Home to Support Your Child’s Learning
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Language + Literacy
Critical Thinking
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