Learning at Home: Activities & Tips to keep your Child Busy and Engaged.
Handing a child the mobile phone or tablet is certainly a sure way to keep most children quiet, but is it the wisest course of action? It’s proven that excessive screen time is harmful for young children and at the extreme end of the scale can result in what is known as ‘Virtual Autism’. However, there are many beneficial ways of keeping your child engaged and we have listed few unique and fun activities which can easily be done at home.
Helping with chores – If you, like most parents, have refrained from giving your children any jobs to do at home, you are on route to spoiling them and robbing them of some valuable learning opportunities. Asking them to help with simple chores such as tiding up toys, cleaning their room, laying the table, or helping you in the kitchen will go a long way to develop hand – eye coordination and motor control plus make your child more responsible and able to cope better when they grow up. Funnily enough, young children love to help out and enjoy the independence these tasks give them.
At Oakfield ELC, we place a high level of importance on life skills and learning to be independent, and urge our parents and nanny’s to ‘let them do it by themselves’, and ‘you will thank us later!’ Here are a few examples of simple household activities which are fun too:
Cleaning Shoes
What You’ll Need:
- sheet of newspaper or plastic
- pair of shoes
- cloth & soft shoe brush
- small tablet of polish or bowl of water
Activity:
- Set the shoes on the protected surface, on the floor or at the child’s height
- Show the child how to dip the cloth into the polish or water and wipe over the shoes
- Show the child how to polish & buff the shoes with the dry brush
- Encourage the child to clear away and place the shoes in their place
Feeding Pets or Animals
Feeding the birds, ducks and horses is great fun while out on a nature trip to places such as X Park Junior in Dubai. At Oakfield ELC we make sure this venue is included into our Field Trip Calendar every year.
If kids are lucky enough to have pets at home, make sure they help out with feeding and watering a few times per week at least.
Polishing & Sweeping
Polishing and sweeping is highly beneficial for young children and is recognised as part of the Montessori curriculum around the world. Although Oakfield Nursery and Foundation is an EYFS setting, we like other settings in the UK and in the UAE, often include the best practices of other approaches such as the Montessori Method or Reggio Emilia into our practice.
We recognise that these simple household tasks such as sweeping and polishing help develop hand – eye coordination, motor control, self – esteem and independence. In class here at Oakfield ELC, children are sometimes encouraged to sweep shredded paper into a chalked circle, or polish the tables after snack or art.
Pairing Socks
Although it is common in many parts of the world for maids and nannies to do most of the household tasks, this often means that young children miss out on learning important life skills such as folding clothes, making their bed, filling the dishwasher or washing machine and more. It’s a sad day that sees a growing number of teens and adults unable to even sew on a button or cook a meal from scratch. We don’t want you to change your life and turn your world upside down, but, we do recommend from time to time letting your child do odd jobs and help out. Pairing socks is an easy and beneficial household task which helps develop early math skills, colour and pattern awareness, promotes fine motor control and hand dexterity.
Preparing a Meal and Setting the Table
Family meals when everyone sits down together to eat, are less frequent these days in this busy world where both parents often have long working hours. We suggest at least once per week to make an effort to prepare a meal with your child (maybe they can chop the cucumbers for the salad, or spread butter or cheese on the bread) and sit down to eat together. This family quality time gives enormous benefits to kids, such as physical and emotional development and building vocabulary. As children grow, it gives them an opportunity to talk one on one with their parents and share their glories or woes.
Get Creative!
Giving children freedom to colour and ‘make art’ is the best way to keep them away from the television or device, while letting their inner Picasso loose. Children can let their emotions run free on paper; giving them an incentive (surprise card for grandparents) would make them busy for hours without complaint. All it takes is a packet of crayons and an assortment of paper.
Newspaper Collage
Let your child tear newspaper into strips then glue them down onto plain coloured paper. Once dry, they can paint over with 2 – 3 watery paint colours.
Let’s Get Messy
There are several fun ways where children can engage in messy play. These include playdough, slime, and gloop. Many recipes and method are easily available online and ingredients can be purchased at a reasonable cost. Even playing in sand or mud outdoors has a multitude of sensory benefits which help promote cognitive development. Here at Oakfield Early Learning Centre we make sure children have messy play and sensory stimulation every day.
Construction
Using empty shoe – boxes and cereal cartons, tubes and paper plates are a great way to incorporate recycling into the creative process of construction. Your child will spend hours building and balancing. Older children can take the process even further by sticking things together using a roll of masking tape, to build creations that are even more exciting.
Story Time
Imbibe the reading habit and love of books! Reading stories increases the vocabulary and broadens the mind. Did you know, it’s a fact that children who have a story read to them 4 – 5 times a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to, a new study found. So it stands to reason that the best way to encourage your child and broaden their vocabulary is to read is to read together! Set apart 20 – 30 minutes of your busy day to sit back and read a story or two to your child. The best time is at the end of the day just before bedtime if possible – a good way to wind down and establish a bedroom routine and spend some quality time with your child. At Oakfield ELC we make sure to read to children every day and ensure they have a variety of books at hand as part of the EYFS continuous provision.
Promote outdoor play
The harsh climate in Dubai can often mean that for a good part of the year the weather is unsuitable for long outdoor play periods. However, keeping your child indoors can be more harmful than you may realize. Outdoor activities improve the immune system and promotes physical development and overall health. If you are lacking a garden space, take advantage of the many beautiful beaches and parks here in Dubai as well as walk ways. Here below are some of our favourites:
Mamza Beach
Al Barari Park
Al Sufouh Park
Al Barsha Park
https://www.dubaitravelplanner.com/best-parks-in-dubai/#0-al-barari-playground
Part of Oakfield ELC’s programme is to take children outside every day. In the summer months we enjoy water play at the start of the day while it’s still relatively cool.
Treasure hunt
Design a treasure hunt where you hide an object and give them clues or hints to search for the hidden item. Hide interesting objects in parks or gardens – or even around the house. This activity will have them wearing their thinking caps and be on their toes for quite some time.
Gardening
This is an excellent way not only to keep your child busy but also to teach them to how to care for the environment. Let them plant seeds and see them grow into a sapling. Caring for the plant will make them busy and help them connect with nature.
So you see, it’s not only at Day-care, kindergarten or nursery where children learn – they can also spend valuable learning time at home with the most important people in their lives, YOU!
