January 19th, 2012 31 days to a more Playful Tot {Day Nineteen} Choosing (appropriate) activities Posted by Melitsa in 31 days, Memes, play activities

Yesterday we were looking at how we need to get out of our playrut and be inspired. Now you have found a whole bunch of places and you’re overflowing with ideas and activities to try.

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From famine to feast.

How do you know which activities are best for your little one other than going by gut instinct? Is that preschool activity okay for my toddler to do? What about my baby who’s not moving that much how much do I do and should she be doing?

Play for the under 5s is all about engaging them and encouraging them to try things out. We do have to be careful that we are age appropriate in our expectations.

It’s hard to tell what’s best for our little ones.

Today I have a free printable to help guide you in choosing the right type of activities for your under 5 child.

So now you have that big list of sites, magazines, shows to listen to and books. Your plate is full to overflowing. Now you can wade through that list and find more appropriate activities using this filter.

 

Download checklist-playactivities

Enjoy!

Click here to read the rest of the posts in the series, 31 Days to a more Playful Tot.

January 17th, 2012 31 days to a more Playful Tot {Day Seventeen} Critical thinking Posted by Melitsa in 31 days, Memes, play activities

You have to get out of the bath.

Why?

Because it’s time to get out. 

Water go down.

Yes the water goes down the plughole. Glug glug……glug.

Water go down. Why?

It’s time to get out the bath.

……..

Where does the water go?

Water gone.

Is it in your room then?

No ( in the silly mummy voice) Water all gone ( in the do you understand English voice- if I speak louder will you hear me)

I don’t think the water is all gone. I think it’s in there. Look!

…….Water’s hiding

Shall we catch it? Where are you water?

No ( laughing) Time to get out.

It took a bit of encouraging( on my side)  but this was a real conversation we had this weekend.  It took all my will to stop and be present there. I really did need to hurry.

Critical thinking and the toddler is like PB & J- they love the why?  I’m trying to embrace the why and help him think a little more deeply. Not all the time but there are plenty  of opportunities. I just have to grasp them.

There’s so much to critical thinking see these resources below

• How can we teach critical thinking? 
• Jenni Clarke offers some practical suggestions on how to encourage young children to think
• Company: The critical thinking Co.

 

Have you had moments like this when you’ve had to abandon your plans then enjoyed the moment?

Click here to read the rest of the posts in the series, 31 Days to a more Playful Tot.

January 16th, 2012 31 days to a more Playful Tot {Day Sixteen} Time for a visit Posted by Melitsa in 31 days, Education, Memes, play activities

Your child goes to a setting. What’s it like there? You enjoyed your first visit to see the place at work. So much so you sent your child there. When was the last time you visited to stay and play?

If only to see how your little one interacts with others. I loved seeing the routines he can do that I didn’t give him. ( See I knew he could take direction really.)  Visiting a setting was were I first learnt the tidy up song, Clean up! Clean up! Everybody everywhere!

Workers and standards come and go. New initiatives and practise that are easily transferred to home. You get to see your child interact with others.How they are there provides more of a picture of who they are.

When was the last time you were able to visit your child’s setting?

Click here to read the rest of the posts in the series, 31 Days to a more Playful Tot.
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January 15th, 2012 31 days to a more Playful Tot {Day Fifteen} Let’s get social Posted by Melitsa in 31 days, Memes, play activities, Thought of the week

We all want our children to be social and truth be told, we probably feel we do a lot already to keep them social. Today I wanted to look at a bit more critically at what we do and if there’s room for improvement; refocus and a little patting on the back.

Let’s look at some positive things we can do in 2012 to get our children ready for play in the 21st Century world.Look at the questions below and take a quick survey of your family.

who do they mix with?

Is there a diversity of race?

Do you mix with homeschoolers?

Have you met with unschoolers?

How would they ( and you) react to playing with children from a diverse class background? ( Often we don’t know until we try!)

Do they meet with meaningful adults like family or close friends regularly?

Are their opportunities for a group of same-sex children to meet together and play collaboratively? ( side by side or totally independently?)

Especially if you have same-sex children, do they mix on playdates and group settings with children of the opposite sex?

what do they see?

Can they learn tolerance and perseverance from older children?

Can they focus on restraint, patience and empathy with younger children?

Will they ever get to experience the fun of playing with twins?

Do they see children with disabilities and have opportunities to see them play and experience play with them?

Would they be able to identify a group of children as their best buddies?

Can you be sure at how they might react in unfamiliar settings with unfamiliar children? ( Have you tested it recently?)

Will our children have access to adults in various work situations earning various pay?

How do we share with our children how different children play around the world? and show them that what we do here probably isn’t what  they do elsewhere. That’s not necessarily a bad thing or good thing but it’s something they should start appreciating in our global world.

how do you offer opportunities?

Not sure where to go try directories from parent forums and websites

Notice church groups as you drive around

Noticeboards and Craigslist

Word of mouth opportunities ask at libraries, Youth clubs, Education buildings, Doctors office
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Ask on your social networks.

Things to watch….

Are we doing too much?

One on one play with our child ( Too much of anything isn’t good. Not enough isn’t good either. Letting them experience your presence and other people’s presence is essential for you both)

Socializing via shopping with them in their buggy (We need to go shopping. It’s not usually a good outlet for socialization, for them. We have to call it what it is shopping)

Food and play areas associating play with fast food ( It’s not whether it’s acceptable just if it’s the default or primary place for socialization. We all need variety!)

Consistently avoiding all playgroups due to a bad experience ( Not minimizing your experience. There are likely to be other playgroups. Try another one this week)

Worry that your child will grab, push,punch, kick another child or that these things will happen to them ( There’s lots of advice about solutions to these problems. Avoidance is only one way to deal with it. There are many others)

Fancy some more reading?

Socialization of homeschool children debated on Simple Homeschool Facebook page

Gender-Role Development – The Development of Sex and Gender

The Myth of Socialization

Playing is Socializing

Scientific American: The Serious Need for Play

How much do you socialize your old year old?

Now you’ve identified an area….what are your first steps in getting your toddler 21 Century socialized?

 

Click here to read the rest of the posts in the series, 31 Days to a more Playful Tot.

 

 

 

 

January 14th, 2012 31 days to a more Playful Tot {Day Fourteen} Gratitude, Actions and Words Posted by Melitsa in 31 days, Memes, play activities

The atmosphere of our homes impact the way our children behave in it. That’s not to say that a perfect and calm home will produce children exactly the same. It’s hard to play when we are or they are cross. There are simple ways we derail our home atmosphere that we can change.
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Show gratitude in your words and actions

When they’ve done something right, there’s a behaviour you want to encourage, they’ve finally put away their toys without our response. Apart from the inward sigh of relief and warm joy let them feel your happiness.

Tell them ( Being careful of how we use praise and avoiding quick easy statements)

Hug them

Invent a signal that says, I Love You and you are great! ( This is perfect when they are a long way off and you can signal to them up on stage at the Christmas performance, leaving them at Nursery or daycare etc.)

Touch them

Notice.

I saw you pour cereal for your brother. He was struggling and you asked to help him. That was really a good thing.

I saw how you helped your brother by holding his tower as he put on that last block! It was huge.

I saw how you were getting frustrated with your reading and put the book down; calmed down and went back to it. You were trying out a new way to react. You made a good choice.

Change your voice when they ask questions

Kids can ask a lot of questions. We can often tell the  motivation behind them; stalling, annoying, inquisitive, interested, learning.

We all do firmness and sternness but is it our default reaction. Try a little lightness, smile before we answer, take a deep breath, give the benefit of the doubt. The frustrations of our day or situations need not come through in our reaction and  interactions with our children.

 

Click here to read the rest of the posts in the series, 31 Days to a more Playful Tot.