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(Planning Playtime) Back to the Basics in Preschool – with Amy Nielson

    If you’re tired of spending your nights planning new lessons and your paycheck on materials your preschoolers don’t even play with, then join us today to go back to the basics and know with full peace of mind that your students are getting exactly what they need.

    My guest today is the amazing Amy Nielson, creator of Planning Playtime. Her mission is to make sure that NO child has to cry over learning ever again. She turns learning topics into games so kids are excited and look forward to school time.

    In this episode, she talks about her favorite ways to inspire kids to learn through playing. Amy also shares her background and approach to teaching, learning, and playing. Make sure to tune in!

    What Inspired Amy to Create Her Business

    Amy traces her love of teaching back to her mom. She was a retired teacher who stayed at home with Amy and her siblings and she had a knack for making learning come alive. She made every lesson super fun by singing songs and playing with concepts such as the alphabet. 

    This is where Amy’s love for play-based learning was born, but it developed further when she was in college. Amy was working in an elementary school teaching reading and there was this curious little five-year-old boy there. There was a curriculum Amy was supposed to follow but this boy hated the setup. Amy remembers his eyes filled up with tears and he told her: “I thought you were my friend.”

    Amy was devastated and she kept thinking learning and reading shouldn’t be something that makes kids cry. She went home for the weekend and set out to find a way to make these lessons fun. This is when she realized she shared her mom’s gift for making learning exciting and engaging for kids.

    Amy’s Favorite Strategies to Make Learning Fun

    Amy’s a big fan of mnemonic devices. She thinks that music in particular is a powerful way to teach kids anything. She also advises that you include movement into whatever you’re doing, whether that’s by gesturing and describing a story with your hands, or drawing out alphabet letters in the air.  

    Amy believes that the kids retain and remember the most when you combine play and repetition. Sometimes repetition can be boring for kids, and that’s where music and movement come in. 

    She also likes taking kids’ beloved games and turning the experience into a learning one. For example, when they play with dominos, they also do a little math!

    Here Are Some Fun and Simple Things to Bring Into Your Classroom

    Amy’s favorite tool in her arsenal is definitely play dough. It’s sensory, so kids can learn their fine motor skills, and it’s also super fun, inviting, and creative. You can use play dough to make letters, numbers, different shapes – you can use them to teach kids science and math and make it fun. 

    She also likes bringing in unexpected things. Amy believes that when you can surprise a child, their brain automatically tunes in and they immediately start paying attention. She often goes to Dollar Tree to get some colored spoons and cups. She turns the cups upside down and uses them to create fun memory games. 

    Not only is it fun (and cheap!) to turn ordinary items into toys, but it teaches kids to think outside the box. 

    How Amy’s Lesson Generator Works for Parents and Teachers

    Amy has so many amazing ideas! She’s bundled them into cool resources for teachers and parents and shares them all on her website. Recently, she’s taken her game a step further and created a Lesson Generator.

    Before, teachers could get a play sheet that comes alive as a play mat for kids to explore different toys, games, and experiences. But, teachers were craving for a lesson plan!

    Amy and her team then put together thousands of ideas, sorted them by theme, and broke it all down by age, play or learning space, sensory play, all kinds of categories. 

    Now, all that teachers have to do is copy and paste these ideas into an editable lesson plan builder and be done with their plan in five minutes! Of course, there are printables that can be used along with the ideas. 

    Amy made play-based learning a fun, joyous, and easy thing for both teachers and parents. She loves giving back and saving time for everyone – after all, you need so much energy to work with kids! Her mission is to make lives easier for everyone and bring fun learning experiences into the classroom! 

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