“Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he started.”
– Coleman Cox
Peck, Peck, Peck by Lucy Cousins
In Peck, Peck, Peck we learn from our friend the little woodpecker how repetition and sticking with it can help us develop persistence. Repetition is not only critical for persistence but also for children’s brain and cognitive development.
Check out this article from Tinkergarten founder Meghan Fitzgerald to learn more about why repetition is so powerful for children’s brains.
Kids often repeat actions and play without our guidance -- their brains know they need to for important neurological development. We see this show up in so many ways such as a child going down the slide over and over, asking to play the same game again and again, or participating in one action repetitively (such as pecking golf tees into different objects like we will in class this week). We can support our kiddos development by staying patient, understanding what is developing in their brain, and creating environments that support repetitive play.
What are we learning?
🔹Persistence through Repetition → Not only powerful for brain development, repetition has the added benefit of being a calming and centering experiences.
🔹Creativity → When kids get the chance to repeat something, they get a bit better at it, and they free up the capacity to try and discover new things as they play.
🔹Problem Solving → Trying out different approaches for pecking into various objects develops flexible thinking and problem solving skills.
🔹Focus → Repetition requires focus and attention to the task at hand. Remember, focus can look different for different children and at different ages.
Early Literacy Connections - Rhyme
This book is full of lyrical rhymes that are fun to read and can help children develop their phonological awareness skills. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of sentences and words (such as through rhyme, alliteration, segmenting sentences into words, identifying syllables and blending words). This involves a continuum of skills that develop over time and that are crucial for reading and spelling success. Keep in mind that phonological awareness is about the oral language (not the print/reading of the words, but hearing and manipulating the parts of words and sentences).
What repetitive play is your child participating in this week? Are they dropping their cup from the table over and over? OR maybe spending all of their time driving a toy car on the same line again and again? Are they asking for the same book to be read every single night? I’d love to hear from you! Comment below or tag me in your play on Instagram @magnoliaoutoor.
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