So I am helping to teach a little class (Parenting 101) at our local home for unwed mothers. My friend who works there says that the moms think that sitting with the kids and watching TV is interacting with them. We're having a meeting tomorrow to discuss what we'll teach. My idea is to give the moms a huge list of fun things to do with their kids, so if they have time they can look at the list and get some ideas. Here is my list so far:
read a book
eat a meal together
go outside and play catch or swing
play a game like Chutes and Ladders or Candyland
do a puzzle together
draw a picture
paint
go to a bookstore or library and read some new books
go on a picnic, even if it's in the backyard
turn on some music and dance and play instruments
tell a story from your childhood
make up a story - and let the kid make up parts
Thumb wrestle
play rock, paper scissors
draw a letter on your child's back and see if they can guess
try on your jewelry together
play I spy
pick a number between 1 and 10
count by 1s, 2s, 3s, 5s 10s
do some nursery rhymes, with or without hand motions
say, "tell me 3 things you did today"
hide something in a hand and have them guess the hand
ask for favorites, tv show, animal, color, movie, thing to do outside
go for a walk together
go get ice cream together
play Simon says
take a class together
go to the nature center at Cool Creek
go on a hike together
stickers
playdoh
get a book at the library on simple crafts for little kids
play hide and seek
let them help you make something in the kitchen
make a paper airplane
find a large cardboard box and make a fort or house
blow bubbles
play in the sprinkler
catch fireflies
color a picture
go to a park
find some ducks and feed them
free movies at Regal in the summer - Tuesdays and Wednesdays
go play at a toy store
bake cookies
make a scrapbook
play freeze tag
write a letter to a family member or friend
create a treasure hunt - leaving things around the house or yard
make and eat a popsicle
fly a kite
create an obstacle course
paint each other's faces
play with water balloons
look for bugs in the yard
play school
play house
do shadow puppets
take turns saying tongue twisters
build stuff with legos or blocks
So what else do you have for me? I know you all have wonderful ideas! Also any other ideas about what to teach at the Parenting 101 class? Most of the moms have infants and young toddlers.
Thanks in advance!
7 comments:
FABULOUS IDEAS!!!!
The best thing you can teach/model is how to TALK to your kids. Research shows that children who have been "talked to" have significantly higher vocabulary skills. And I mean significant! If they can involve talking this is the best thing the moms can do for their kiddos. They will be better readers, problem solvers, communicators.
So, if you can model for them what it means to comment on what your daughter is doing, explicitly teach (give examples... a video of you and M) how to have a "running dialogue" of what you're doing at all times (oh, look you're rolling the playdough and I'm cutting my playdough, this is so fun!), expanding what M says (so if she says, Oh! that's a dog, you might say, OH, yes, that's a big, furry brown dog... look at his tail wagging.
Kids need exposure to language to be ready for school. A lot of moms just don't know how to talk to their kids and in many cultures the norm is that kids shouldn't talk. Just a cultural difference, but we need to teach that TALKING is important for educational success. READING is also the best! Pointing to pictures, describing them, etc.
Ok, I'm off my speech therapy horse now!
You'll be FABULOUS!
email me if you want me to dig up some literature on this....
I skimmed the list....but-
put pictures into a photo album or scrapbook
look through photoalbums
paint nails (older toddlers)
body paint with pudding or shaving cream!
do chores together like letting the toddler "fold" clothes or dust with you or pull things out of the dishwasher.
blow bubbles (babies love this)
play "beauty shop" and comb/brush each others hair and put in bows and ribbons
do a picture treasure hunt or scavenger hunt. place clues through the house or outside with pics of the next clue on them. maggie loves this.
make homemade popsicles with kool aid or juice
That's all I got. I just let my kid sit in front of the t.v. all day:) Ha!
Wow! I'm amazed by all these ideas!
Maybe music of some sort. Learn a song or teach them one you knew as a child (my mother did this with me & I still remember it), dance to a favorite kid's song.
Wow that is quite a list!
-Finger paint
-draw in shving cream on a table
-playdoh
-make jewelry with beads
-fuse beads (I dont think the kits are too expensive)
As for what to teach them: Positive comments are much more important than negative. So everytime they say something negative they need to say 10 positive things. This will help the children want to be praised. This works really well with preschool age.
Good Luck!!!
Great list everyone... the class should be great! Shannon that literature would be great... many of our moms (I work at the shelter) do not 'talk' to their children well. Anything to get them to interact with them will be wonderful. You guys should all come and be guest teachers!!! See you this morning Beth!
Have a great time! :) I have no ideas! :)
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