Parent Involvement Activities for Preschool

Most parents do want to be engaged in their preschooler’s learning and development, however they aren’t sure how to get involved. Early childhood educators can undertake a number of measures to increase parent participation.

Establishing partnerships with parents is an important step for educators in offering the best possible learning experiences and opportunities within their preschool.

Parent involvement activities ideas for preschool

In order to develop and enhance the skills of young children, teachers must make an effort to ensure that they are in constant communication with families as well as seek out parent involvement activities to integrate them into their child’s learning process.

Let Parents Get to Know You

When a new child is enrolled in your preschool, your first parent involvement activity should be getting to know the family, and letting them get to know a bit more about you. Provide them with a short biography about yourself, your educational background and your interests. By offering parents deeper insights into your life and educational philosophy, you can help lessen the anxiety they may feel about leaving their child with a “stranger”.

Get to Know Parents

You should also try to learn more about each parent by inviting them to complete a short questionnaire when their child enrols. Not only is this a great way to get information about their children, but the parents themselves, too. Beyond sourcing the basic contact information, asking questions about the parents’ interests, professions and talents can present opportunities for them to encourage parents to share these with the wider preschool community.

Invite Parents Into the Classroom

Involve parents by asking them to be guests in your preschool classroom to encourage parental involvement. Invite them to share information about their career, and bring items they use on the job to show the class and other parents. Or, have them lead an activity that relates to one of their unique interests or talents.

You could also ask them to prepare a traditional dish from their culture and explain the traditions of their country of origin. There are endless possibilities when it comes to these types of parent involvement activities, and preschoolers love giving their attention to a brand new face in the classroom!

Delegate to Parents

Make parent volunteers feel like part of the team by assigning specific duties to them where possible.

Parent involvement activities in your preschool don’t have to be all educational or entertaining – they can be practical as well. Maybe you need help during an outing, or during the evening pick-up hour. Or perhaps you need assistance in preparing a classroom craft activity ahead of time. These are all great ways to engage parents and get parents involved in the day to day operations of your preschool or child care centers.

Getting parents involved in your preschool classroom doesn’t have to be difficult.  By involving parents through communicating regularly, asking questions, and inviting them to become part of the preschool community, and encouraging parent feedback, you, your students and their parents can all benefit!

To learn more about why parent involvement is so important, check out our article on Why Parent Involvement is So Important in Early Childhood Education.

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