With the understanding that play is children's work, Teaching Young Children gives parents a book full of ideas for making learning happen in the midst of everyday life. Designed for ages one through six, the first few pages are a summary of each age including safety reminders and developmental reminders of language, listening, and motivators. More than 300 activities are organized into the following areas: indoor playtime, art time, mealtime, story time, outdoor playtime, while-you-wait time, and travel time. Each page shows the skill areas that are developed by each activity. Those skill areas are large-motor development, coordination and dexterity, language development, creativity, problem solving, and memory and concentration.

An example of an indoor playtime activity is Muffin Pan Sorting. Using an ordinary muffin pan and a pile of familiar items (such as buttons, paper clips, and coins), you teach the child to sort using different categories (item, color, size, shape). This can be parent-directed or the child can determine the categories as long as they explain to you their choices. For many of us, it is the while-you-wait time that is most stressful with our young ones. One idea offered is Just Count - counting whatever you can find (fingers, coins in the wallet, chairs, pockets in the room). Since this doesn't require any specific item, you can use this whenever needed. For My Notebook all you need is a small notebook with a pencil attached. Using these, you can draw several lines on a page and ask the child to make something out of the lines. The child can then draw lines from which you can create a drawing. Having a few ideas up our sleeves can make waiting not only less stressful, but a great time to learn and interact with our family.

For more information on Evan-Moor's products, contact them at www.evan-moor.com or at 1-800-777-4362. Every page of this 304-page book has a fun idea. With inspiration for the six and under crowd, Teaching Young Children can make every day a learning day.