Social Studies Activities for Preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today!
Domain: Social Studies
Strand: Economics
Topic: Scarcity
This standard is all about understanding that supplies are limited, and sometimes you have to make choices. When you think about it, this standard is covered in nearly everything that a preschooler does throughout the day, but here are a few activities that specifically target the idea of scarcity.
A very smart scarcity coloring experiment from Alina’s Adventures in Homemaking
Make a “Wants and Needs” collage, from I Can Teach My Child
Some other ideas for meeting this standard include:
- limit the number of students allowed in each activity center at a time (for a day). Talk to the children about how they may have to choose another center while they wait for space to open up in the one that they would really like to play in. At the end of the day have a discussion about the experience.
- Do an art project with a specific amount of supplies available. Remind students that others will only be able to use what is left for them, see if your entire class is able to participate, and how many supplies the last group has to use. Discuss the experience as a large group.
- Get out one highly sought after toy, encourage the students to figure out a way to share it or take turns without your help.
This is a difficult standard to plan for because it is such a regular part of our everyday conversations. I would love to hear about any other activities that you have used to help your students learn about scarcity!