Practical Life in the Preschool Classroom

Setting up the practical life area of our classroom has always been so much fun for me.  The prepared environment includes activities which will enable the child to gain independence, a sense of order, coordination and concentration.  These activities are available daily and give the child a chance to repeat and perfect needed skills.  Each exercise should be beautiful, real, attractive, functional, proportional, purposeful and relate to the classroom environment.  It is important to keep this area interesting.  I tend to change things up a least once a week by removing and adding a few new activities.  The practical life exercises extend beyond the few shelves devoted to them in the classroom.  At the beginning of the school year we focus heavily on grace and courtesy exercises. These include greetings, saying please and thank you, washing hands, waiting for a turn, taking care of cleaning the classroom, and taking care of plants and animals in the classroom.