{"id":27729,"date":"2026-02-13T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/?p=27729"},"modified":"2026-02-18T17:14:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:14:56","slug":"preschool-age-3-and-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/preschool-age-3-and-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Preschool Age 3 and 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

At this age, children have a better understanding that their emotions are caused by something. Their emotions are more diverse and organized. It is not uncommon for children at this age to develop new fears. These fears are cause from a widening understanding of the world around them and increased independence.<\/span><\/p>

Preschool children are probably aware of the tragedy, even if they are not discussing it. It is important for them to have an opportunity to express their concerns; sometimes this can be done through pretend play and drawing. Preschool children probably have some real fears associated with what they have heard. When talking with them, try to first get an understanding of what they know, understand and fear. Then keep things simple; don\u2019t give more details than they ask for. Long explanations of the event will cause confusion and more fear. Reassure them that you are there for them and that God is watching over us all to keep us safe.<\/span><\/p>

Activities<\/span><\/h4>

  • Pray – Make a book of fears. This will help preschoolers better understand what their fears are. Once they know what they are, you can discuss how to overcome them and have them pray for help with them. To make the book, you can either have them draw things that scare them or cut pictures out of a magazine. Help them to pray to God for help with these fears, \u201cGod keep me safe from\u2026\u201d Have them sing, Grant this O Lord\u201d after each prayer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Draw Pictures – Have them draw a picture of their day, the tragedy or their fears. After they draw the picture, have them tell you about it. Write what they say at the bottom and make sure to put the date. This is a good way for them to express what is troubling them before they are able put it into words and can be a springboard for discussion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Make a Flag – Have them Paint a flag on a white sheet. You can outline the stars and stripes for them and have an example nearby of what it will look like when it is done. Find a book at your local library about the making of the flag. Begin to teach them the Pledge of Allegiance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Give Thanks – If they hear about the rescue efforts going on, have them make a thank you card for the rescue workers, volunteers, government leaders. Make sure you mail it to them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/li>

  • Pretend Play \u2013 Pretend Play gives children the opportunity to make sense of chaos. As a parent, you should be there to support their play and follow their lead. Have things that they may have heard about through the recent events available; fire trucks, blocks, dump trucks, ambulances and anything else you can think of. Don\u2019t use playtime to start a discussion; just play. Immediately afterwards, you can reflect back on their play, When we were playing, your doll seemed very scared of the fire truck. Do fire trucks scare you? What do you think is scary about them?\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>

    Suggested Reading<\/span><\/h4>

    • The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn This wonderful book helps children learn to deal with fears of separation from parent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss \u2013 This is a great way to begin talking with preschoolers about feelings and how they change. You can use this to discuss feelings on different days by asking your child, \u201cWhat color day are you having?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • How Do I Love You? by PK Hallinan An adaptation of Elizabeth Barrett-Browning\u2019s classic. Read through this and afterwards have them tell you, how God loves them and how they love God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/li>

    • Where Do Balloons Go When They Say Goodbye by Jamie Lee Curtis \u2013 This book is about saying goodbye and wondering where things go when they leave. It can be a springboard for discussing loss and learning how to say goodbye.<\/span><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

      \n\t\t\t\t
      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
      \n\t\t\t
      <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      At this age, children have a better understanding that their emotions are caused by something. Their emotions are more diverse and organized. It is not uncommon for children at this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[258],"class_list":["post-27729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-parent-pages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27729"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27736,"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27729\/revisions\/27736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htgocorlando.org\/stag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}