June 27th, 2008 18 ways to develop a sense of place for the under 5s Posted by Melitsa in Articles, play activities, Education, Roundups, Thought of the week

Following on from the previous part on Where we live.

Developing your child’s sense of place is something that develops over time with a little input here and there.

Here are some fun play activities to try with your under 5 child.

1. When you go on your travels this summer, don’t forget to use a paper map to show where you are and where you are going.
2. Collect a postcard or two- there’s usually one with a map of the area.
3. Find a variety of wall maps, regional maps and your local town maps. Pin them up at home.
4. Find a kid’s atlas and let them flick through. Some kids like the satellite maps.
5. Collect bus maps, tube maps, cycle routes they make interesting reading for kids especially the colours and symbols.
6. Add the postcards to the map with string or be able to find and identify the place on the map.
7. Use map pins- colour coded if the children are older for family, holiday,where we’ve been, where I’d like to go etc.
8. Computer maps like Mapquest and incar navigation shouldn’t be an excuse to not know where we are but let the kids help program in directions and see too.
9. Using their favourite movies and books find where they are based on the map.
10. Map using fingers for the little ones where relatives live
11. Discuss how they get from one country to another when there’s the sea in the way.
12. map using masking tape
13. Allow your children to direct you in the car to familiar places ( school, bank, shops etc)
14. Try alternate routes so see new areas.
15. Make up names of places when pretend playing and include characteristics( on a hill,by a beach, in a city, on a farm, in a village)
16. Set up areas ( Malls, parks etc) on the Thomas the tank engine track.
17. Add people, trees, water etc to the sand pit and make up a place for the pretend play area.
18. Print photographs of different places, locally or holiday snaps compare windows, vegetation ( green, brown, concrete, lack of trees, lots of sand etc) doors, cars, roads, what you can see in the distance, to what they can see around where they live now.

What other practical ways do you use to start developing a sense of place in your little ones?

Would love to hear your suggestions.

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May 23rd, 2008 Toddler play activity 4 Posted by Melitsa in play activities, Education, Good reads, Thought of the week

Welcome back to the 4th part in the series of Toddler play activities.

We are big Usborne fans here and we bought this book for car journeys as there are so many pages. We have some smaller versions in the house. This is one we keep in the car. If we’re stuck somewhere one of us will come back to the car to get it. The kids have been known to add it to the bottom of the stroller themselves.

Both kids are fascinated with the pictures with so much going on . Now the Big guy will talk about what he sees to the little guy and they play a version of I Spy together.

Why he likes it?

• Looking at the pictures.
• He can point endlessly at pictures.
• He hears and learns new words.
• He can play with adults, older brother or even by himself.
• He loves to look for objects.

Why we like it?

• Chance to talk about what’s going on in the picture.
• Chance to experience vocabulary in context.
• Each time you look at the picture there seems to be something else to talk about.
• Lovely calming activity and encourages concentration and discrimination skills.
• Open ended activity that is portable.
• Pictures provoke discussions, stories and questions on a wide range of topics.

What are your favourite books for play activities?

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May 20th, 2008 Fun language memory game Posted by Melitsa in play activities, Education, Homemade

Fun language game to try, especially when you are going shopping and have a list. But it’s good for anytime. We play this game together as a group of 3 or 4. If you have a group of kids in the car or on a playdate it’s a quick bit of fun.

Game

You: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste.

Little One: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste AND a Cookie.

You: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste, a Cookie AND a bag of apples.

LO: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste, a Cookie, bag of apples AND a…….etc

• This memory game is fun and easy to keep them thinking and guessing. You can buy ridiculous things like Elephants and unusual things like happy smiles or Hot summer days .
• Change the rhyme to a different shop ( Electronics or Toy shop) or try ” I went for a walk and I saw a unicorn, a green frog, a puddle etc”
• With a smaller child you can change the game to be a call and response rhyme between them depending on how many words to remember. E.g.

BG:…… a toothbrush

LG: a cookie

BG: , a bag of apples, a fish.

• Add in adjectives and make the rhyme shorter
• E.g. Smelly fish, green apples, etc
• Change the rhyme to ..” I planned my dinner and in it I put a…” We tried this for fun at the dinner table last night with the food that was in front of us and it worked well. The Big guy added some silly foods in and it was funny all of us collapsing into laughter. Great way to get conversations started at dinner and discuss the food we’re eating.

• My LG is using sign language alongside his ‘words’ He gets to sign and say and we get to say or we learn a few signs and play the game using sign language. We only use 3 or 4 signs and stop when we forget or it’s not fun anymore.

• Actions: Similar to signing try imitating the action.. “I went to the shops and bought a …football, a brush, an ice cream, a Kangaroo etc.” Let the children find a good way of showing the action.

Keep the activity light and varied according to your kids. It’s an effective and fun way to learn new vocabulary, practice what they know, perhaps learn sign and improve their memory skills.

What other fun play activities do you do with your little ones using language?

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May 2nd, 2008 Toddler play activity 3 Posted by Melitsa in play activities, Education

This is part 3 of a series looking at everyday play activities and toys for toddlers.

Echo Microphone

Why he likes it?

• He can shout- legitimately, into the microphone.
• He can hear his voice.
• He loves to try to make different sounds, talk, vary the pitch and imitate what he can hear.
• He can take it anywhere, including his favourite place the bath ( extra echo effects).

• Dances about infront of the mirror singing a song.
• He can get ‘crowd’ participation and interaction by pushing the microphone into everyones unsuspecting face and demanding they sing or say something…. No luck with the dog yet though

Why we like it?

• Inexpensive.
• He sings nursery rhymes and VeggieTale songs.
• He likes to sing to the music so wants to put on a cd.
• He’s always in a good mood when he takes up the microphone. It’s one thing that doesn’t get thrown but put down.
• Encourages confidence to try words in a fun situation.
• It’s a toy he revisits time and again spontaneously.
• He controls the sounds instead of passively pushing buttons with an electronic toy that he doesn’t/won’t imitate.

This was a toy I walked by many times before I thought to get it. I would especially recommend it for the toddler age where they are experimenting so much with language and getting their mouth around words. It’s a fun way to play with language and communication. Even more so for those toddlers struggling with language.

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