Sunday, March 30, 2008

Kitchen Kindness

Most household injuries involving small children occur in the bathroom and kitchen.

By never allowing my toddlers into the kitchen we avoided any kitchen incidents.
As they began to crawl, I would calmly and consistently turn then away from the entrance to the kitchen with a quiet but firm"That's a no". I would simply pick them up and return them to the other side of the lounge room that contained their toys. One child needed three reminders, another three days worth, and another about three weeks of patient training before they understood that the kitchen was off limits.

As they grew, they enjoyed special baking, mixing and creating times with mum in the kitchen, never alone.

As they grew a little more, they enjoyed learning how to put simple meals together and how to manage basic chores.

Now every week they each cook a whole family meal - and clean up!!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Games Games

What can I do with my toddler all day?

One of the most enjoyable times of my day with my toddler was our special one-on-one time.
My toddler enjoyed having mummy play with him, and I enjoyed all the teaching opportunintes I could incorporate into this time, as well as all the hugs, tickles and kissess!

Puzzles were a daily event. Starting with the wooden ones, and moving to the cardboard framed type which we would do line by line. I would take out the bottom row for a week, the the bottom two rows the next, and so on, until my 18 month old could manage 48 or 64 piece puzzles.

Memory games were another favourite. We would start with 4 cards, then 6, then 8 and by age 3 they could manage the full set. Flash cards were fun for lining up, repeating and sorting. Blocks were great for tunnels and towers, as well as teaching colours and counting. Cars and trains were just for fun, although focusing and concentrating skills were developed as we would put together the train set, or move all the cars into the parking station.

Hide-n-seek, chasings, races, musical marching band, dancing, tunnel (made from sheets and blankets) play, play wrestling were all active games greatly enjoyed by us both, especially on rainy indoor days!!