Practical life exercises allow children to work and practice with real-world, purposeful tasks and tools, helping them see themselves, correctly, as capable and competent. Activities such as shoe polishing, pouring, sieving, needling, braiding and gardening are just few examples of what children work on.
These activities are complex, often involving many steps that must be performed sequentially to achieve the goal, helping your child strengthen key executive functioning skills. These indirectly prepare children for writing eventually by strengthening their hand motions and muscles necessary for writing.
Most importantly, they allow a child to absorb the core, methodical problem-solving approach which is the foundation for all thought or creative expression. The necessary skills developed through the practical life activities will form the basis for all further learning as the child grows.