As a kid my family moved around a lot. Not those quick moves across town where you can borrow your friend's truck but country to country move, across oceans. Thus I spent much of my childhood waiting for my toys to come by sea freight. Consequently, I have a number of memories of playing with boxes. Making a house, an airplane, or a tank, anything seemed to be possible. I actually cringe as I remember my five year old self running around with a serrated knife, plunging it in to the cardboard to make working doors and windows.
Still it was a lot of fun and my creations stretched my imagination and took me so many places farther than my own back yard.
As a parent, card board boxes are great tools for all kinds of play. And it's so simple. Anyone can cut a hole in a box for the door and a smaller one for the window. Give your kids some markers and they can decorate the walls of the house all by themselves. Put a few smaller boxes together and you have a network of tunnels. When your kids grow tired of them (or you do) just recycle. It's simple, easy, can entertain your kids for hours and it's free.
Showing posts with label developmental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label developmental. Show all posts
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sending an email.
If this sounds simple it's because it is. My four year old loves to send his dad emails at work. And he's not just hitting a bunch of random keys, he's actually typing stuff.
Most for year olds' know the alphabet. Some can even write their own names. My son has a hard time writing his name. His fine motor skills are just not that great. But he can type his name. A few days a go I was writing a blog post and left to go check on one of my other kids. When I came back my son was "writing a letter to dad" He had typed his name and a some other letters. I asked him if he wanted to send his dad a real email. He said yes and I opened up the composition page on my email account.
He typed the word dad and his name and then proceeded to ask me how to spell other words and the names of some of his favorite toys. I would spell them slowly so he could locate the letters. Occasionally he needed some prompting but for the more part he was able to find the letters by himself.
This is a great activity to develop those pre-academic skill's like letter recognition your child will need for kindergarten. It also encourages communication between child and parent at a young age and may payoff when your child hits those horrible teen years.
It's important that whomever received the email writes back and you read the reply to your child. Sending a picture will make it funner.
Just a tip hit the cap lock button to start since children usually learn to recognize capital letters first.
Most for year olds' know the alphabet. Some can even write their own names. My son has a hard time writing his name. His fine motor skills are just not that great. But he can type his name. A few days a go I was writing a blog post and left to go check on one of my other kids. When I came back my son was "writing a letter to dad" He had typed his name and a some other letters. I asked him if he wanted to send his dad a real email. He said yes and I opened up the composition page on my email account.
He typed the word dad and his name and then proceeded to ask me how to spell other words and the names of some of his favorite toys. I would spell them slowly so he could locate the letters. Occasionally he needed some prompting but for the more part he was able to find the letters by himself.
This is a great activity to develop those pre-academic skill's like letter recognition your child will need for kindergarten. It also encourages communication between child and parent at a young age and may payoff when your child hits those horrible teen years.
It's important that whomever received the email writes back and you read the reply to your child. Sending a picture will make it funner.
Just a tip hit the cap lock button to start since children usually learn to recognize capital letters first.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Counting, Potty training and Stickers!
Most kids are potty trained around age three. Around age three is also the time kids start getting an interest in numbers, in counting. Why not combine it? For my kids after that initial day where you take them every 20 minutes, I make them ladder charts. I start with charts that count to three. Each chart has 3 squares. Every time They go I place a sticker in a square. After three stickers they get a prize. I usually get dollar store prizes or make them friendship anklets. Some people use candy but i prefer not to. If my child needs a little more intensive then a sticker each time they go i'll give them a grape. (just make sure you don't give them grapes any other time) They can have other fruits for snack.
Once they start burning a whole through your pocket going three times in a row, make the ladder taller with more rungs. Five, seven, up to ten rungs.
Be sure to write the number in each square so they start to associate the oral number with the written form. They won't get it right away (unless you have a little genius) but it's good to provide them with lots of exposure so they can learn those pre-academic skills for before kindergarten.
Once they start burning a whole through your pocket going three times in a row, make the ladder taller with more rungs. Five, seven, up to ten rungs.
Be sure to write the number in each square so they start to associate the oral number with the written form. They won't get it right away (unless you have a little genius) but it's good to provide them with lots of exposure so they can learn those pre-academic skills for before kindergarten.