Category: Development

Tuesday Tip: Learning can be messy, let your child get dirty!

7/25/2016

Welcome to my Tuesday Tip. Each week over the summer I will post a Tip on how to encourage learning through play. Read my recent blog post to learn more about how free play supports deep learning. Today's tip is about letting your child get dirty so they can learn through sensory exploration:

Last week I wrote about baking something real that you can eat and enjoy: Baking to Learn. This week I want to write about allowing your children to get outside, get messy and stimulate their senses.

Sensory play has numerous benefits including fine motor skill development, emotional regulation and learning about sensory characteristics (what is hot, cold, smooth, rough, etc) which helps with classification and sorting skills. But, sensory play can be messy so many caregivers are reluctant to allow children to dive into sensory play.

Some examples of sensory play are:
* play doh
* finger painting
* shaving cream play
* dirt play
* sand play
* bubbles
* water play.

Through sensory play children can experiment with their sense of touch, learn to manipulate materials, create things, write or draw with different materials and self soothe.

Today’s tip is to embrace the mess (as I described in my blog about creek swimming) and let your child get dirty, play in the dirt and the mud and make mud pies. They might not be edible, but I guarantee your children will enjoy the freedom to get messy and let their imaginations go in their outdoor pretend kitchen.

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Eat Your Veggies!!

4/4/2013

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Picky eating is a common concern among parents of toddlers and sometimes older children. Parents worry that their children are not eating enough or getting the proper nutrition for optimal development, sleep and behavior.

Parents also can become frustrated that their child refuses to eat food they have spent time preparing or wastes food.

In acts of desperation parents often resort to catering to their picky eater, preparing them special meals, sometimes multiple meals at one sitting.

Mealtimes can become a battle, a place of anxiety, and frustration.
This can often worsen the problem making the picky eater more resistant to new foods.

If you struggle with a picky eater, stay tuned. This month I will be writing about picky eating and will help you to learn more about:

1. Why kids are picky eaters.

2. The benefits and disadvantages of becoming the sneaky chef (tricking your child into eating veggies hidden in his favorite foods) hiding veggies in your child's food)

3. Techniques for encouraging your child to develop healthy eating habits

4. Teaching your child table manners: what is age appropriate.

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Taming Tantrums

3/5/2013

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Whether you call them the terrible twos or the terrific twos, two-year-olds usually have tantrums. And, unfortunately, tantruming doesn't always stop when children turn two!

It is one of the most common reasons parents contact me. Tantrums are embarrassing, hard to ignore and can be frustrating.

Tantrums are the result of a toddler's emotional immaturity, inability to regulate their feelings and lack of impulse control. A perfect storm.

Most parents have experienced their child screaming, crying, flailing and making a scene. So what can you do about tantrums?

1. Understand them - what is a child saying by their behavior (Is she hungry, tired, or just want something they can't have?)

2. Prevent them - a well-fed, well-rested child with lots of positive parental attention is less likely to throw tantrums. And, if you notice your child becoming irritable, try and figure out what he might need to prevent it from escalating into a tantrum.

3. "Accept them" - it happens to everyone, don't worry about what others think and try and stay calm. It is much easier to manage them if you are calm, and your child needs you to be calm in order for her to calm down.

4. Manage them - there are different techniques which I list below. Which one you use depends on your child's temperament, the intensity of the tantrum and the environment you are in when the tantrum is occurring.

Ignore it if there are not safety concerns.
Read a book out loud while sitting near your child or redirect him and try and engage him in a different activity.
Acknowledge your child's feelings.
When your child is calm, teach her calming techniques such as deep breathing, counting, or asking for a hug and remind her when she is tantruming.
Remove your child from the triggering situation.
Be Consistent. Do not give in.

What are your tantrum taming tricks?

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For the love of reading

1/14/2013

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The library is a wonderful place for children for all the obvious
reason. They have free books,
they promote reading and
they foster learning.

Libraries are a great resource for other reasons as well. The library is a great place to go on a rainy day. There are of course the countless books to take you on endless adventures with your child. Most libraries also have a children's section with a cozy reading area, toys, and puzzles. You can spend hours there without having to spend a dime.

The library is an opportunity to teach your child the skills of sharing and responsibility. Your child will learn the concept of borrowing; caring for something that is not his and the responsibility of returning the book in good condition and on time.

For the love of reading, visit your local library and enjoy all it has to offer!

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The Power of Storytelling

1/3/2013

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One of the highlights of the holidays is being with family. One of my favorite moments from the holidays was watching the interaction between a nephew and his uncle. The uncle was telling the nephew a story. And the nephew was captivated. The uncle's tone of voice, facial expressions and creative storyline engaged the nephew who responded with his own facial expressions of surprise, excitement and anticipation. But, most of all I enjoyed witnessing the connection forming between the two of them as they shared this special moment.

In addition to being entertaining, storytelling positively impacts a
child's development in the following ways:

* Fosters positive connections and improves relationships
* Builds language skills
* Develops concentration and listening skills
* Increases emotional vocabulary
* Improves feeling identification

The best part of storytelling is that all you need is your imagination! You can tell stories anywhere - in the car, at dinner, while on a walk or when you are at home and looking for something fun to do. So start telling stories and
encourage your child to come up with their own stories. The whole family will
benefit from those special moments!

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Learning can be messy

11/29/2012

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Learning can be messy

Before becoming parents, many people have visions of those blissful moments of the baby's first steps, the child learning to ride a bike and the teenager's smile as she drives the car by herself for the first time.

In imagination, these are movie-like moments. The sun is shining, music is playing in the background and it is all happening in slow motion so the parent can savor the moment.

Unfortunately, it does not always happen this way. Not that these moments are not happy or exciting, but they may not go as smoothly as hoped. Your baby may stumble after taking her first step, your child may have endured tears of frustration before mastering the bike without training wheels and you may be
avoiding the neighbors looks as your teen drives off blasting loud music and honking her horn.

Learning is messy (literally and figuratively). Literally, learning can create a mess that needs to be cleaned up from the messy faces and floors while children learn to eat their first foods to the spilled milk as a toddler learns to drink from a cup, to mismatched outfits and potty training (need I say more).

Figuratively, learning can be a messy process. Watching your child get frustrated and struggle to tie his own shoe, witnessing your child's disappointment when she did not receive the grade she wanted on her homework and feeling the anxiety (and bumps) as your teen learns to parralel park.

There is a way to avoid these messes: take over and do it yourself. But then your child will not learn for themselves how to do these things (and you will end up working harder than you need to).

Everyday there are moments when a parent can take the opportunity to help their child learn. You have a choice to step out of the way, let them struggle, stay calm, and tolerate their mistakes and messes. By doing this you can build confidence, encourage self reliance and foster autonomy in your child.

Please share your child's messiest learning experience!

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Tuesday Tip: Learning can be messy, let your child get dirty!

Eat Your Veggies!!

Taming Tantrums

For the love of reading

The Power of Storytelling

Learning can be messy

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