The importance of developing social skills during early childhood simply cannot be underestimated. But what are social skills? Social skills for children include an array of skills which will enable them to form positive relationships, improve their interpersonal skills, develop virtues like patience and resilience, and even learn how to share and play together in a group setting. Additionally, scientific evidence confirms that individuals with well-rounded social skills also experience enhanced mental capacity and cognitive prowess as well as holistic mental well-being. We, at Tickle Right, have curated a list of 5 simple and low-prep social skills games that your child will surely adore: 1. EMOTION CHARADES Emotion charades is one of the best social skills games. It involves writing different emotions on strips of paper. Your child picks one out of a hat or bucket. Then, they must try to act out that emotion. Emotion charades can help children learn to recognize emotions using facial and body cues. By depicting and acting out emotional expressions and reactions in social skills activities, children learn emotion management, which plays an important role in creating positive relationships and communicating feelings. 2. SIMON SAYS One of the other games to enhance social skills is children’s favorite Simon Says. This fun interactive games builds skills like self-control, listening, and impulse control as they copy their peers’ movements and follow instructions. Additionally, Simon Says helps keep the attention on the game and rewards good behavior for those who follow the rules throughout the game. 3. STARING CONTEST When it comes to social skill activities for toddlers, a staring contest is a total winner! Many children have trouble maintaining eye contact in conversation. A staring contest can help kids keep eye contact in a way that allows them to focus on that task, rather than trying to communicate simultaneously. If your child still feels uncomfortable, you can start smaller. Place a sticker on your forehead for them to look at and then build toward having a conversation. 4. TOPIC GAME You can play several variations of the topic game, but the most common one involves choosing a topic and naming things that fit into that category using each letter of the alphabet. For example, if you choose animals as the topic, you might come up with: • A: Aardvark • B: Baboon • C: Chicken. Games like the topic game teach kids to stick to one subject and follow directions until they complete the activity. It also helps them make connections and get creative with letters that have fewer options. 5. PLAY PRETEND Kids will typically create a scenario in which they pretend to be someone or something else. For example, they might play house and take on the roles of parents, become a doctor, veterinarian, teacher, or cashier. Each of these situations serve as wonderful social skills activities for toddlers because it encourages exploration and empathizing. For e.g. – As they pretend to parent another child, they must learn to recognize and respond to emotions, de-escalate situations, and adapt to new situations. Such social skills activities for toddlers are an innovative and exciting way to enhance social skills for children through a super fun play-based approach. ALL WORK WILL MAKE JACK DULL BOY We hope you and your little one have a wonderful time while trying out these social skills games. Happy learning!
There’s a general misconception that travel gets difficult once you have kids. But that’s not true. No matter if it’s your first trip with your first child, or your fifth with your fifth, traveling with your tiny tots will always be daunting. From what to carry to how to get there, it’s rife with potential worries and stress. Here are some of the best strategies we’ve found to save and survive while traveling with a your little one amid pandemic. 1. Educate your kids in detail before the journey: Take out a couple of hours prior to your journey to sit with your little ones and educate them on the necessity to take precautions. Especially with the current situation informing them about the basic measures against COVID-19. Make them aware of the harmful effects of the virus. If needed, write down in points the safety measures they need to take during the journey and assist them in remembering the points. 2.Carry a first-aid box: Include a lot of vitamins and other nutrients in our kids’ diet to improve their immune systems so that they do not catch infections while travelling. But for emergency purposes, you must carry a first-aid box containing cold and flu combating medicines, anti-allergens, sprain-relief gels, band-aids, etc. Last but not the least, carry a thermostat as well to monitor your or your kid’s temperature if required. 3. Avoid buying them outside food: While travelling, make sure to carry snacks and home-cooked food and try not to get carried away by your kids tantrums when they ask for outside food. Especially, keep them away from crowded shops. Also, make sure that you sanitize their hands before they eat. If you are feeding them, don’t forget to apply sanitizer on your hands. 4. Use only clean washrooms: Make sure that you and your kids use washrooms that are extremely clean. Also, use a spray sanitizer to disinfect surfaces with which you or your little one might come in contact. Clean your kids hands vigorously after they come out of the washrooms. It’s best to avoid using general washrooms at the time of a pandemic. 5. Keep extra masks and gloves in store: Keep some additional masks for you and your kids inside your bag before starting the journey. If you are on a long vacation, you might not get an opportunity to wash your masks. During those times, the additional masks will come to help. Also, don’t forget to carry additional hand sanitizers. Try to choose for the ones that are alcohol-based, since they are stronger and kill more germs. Apart from that, carry disposable gloves, as it won’t be always nearly possible to stop your children from touching surfaces. The biggest tip we can give you for traveling with your little one is to try and take those small trips. Everything might not go according to your idea, but your family will love seeing the world, and you’ll be planning your next vacation before you know it. Because vacations are no doubt a lovely break no matter how big or small it is. Kids are always excited about travelling, and it holds immense satisfaction for them in the long run. 6. Get ready to game One of the greatest things about travelling is that the whole family can get involved in ways to enjoy the time together. Card games or travel versions of popular favorites such as chess, scrabble or even Monopoly can keep everyone entertained. For smaller children puzzles or I-Spy can work well. It might even be a chance to play with them and learn a bit about their world. If you come up with additional ideas to share, please email us info@tickleright.com
Significance of Diwali and how to explain this to your child? Diwali is the season of joy, festivities, and fun. Here is how you can explain your tiny tots about this festival. Your older kids might know some of it but it’s always good to explain the relevance of the festival to your toddlers. The festival of Diwali symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil and wisdom over ignorance, according to the Hindu calendar Diwali is celebrated on the ‘Kartik Amavasya’ (no moon day) in the month of (October or November) The lights of Diwali signify a time to destroy all our dark desires and thoughts, and give us the strength and the zeal to carry on with our goodwill for the rest of the year. Isn’t it important to teach our kids the actual story behind the festivals? Diwali is celebrated across the country in the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom, Ayodhya, after an exile period of 14 years. People of Ayodhya welcomed Rama, Lakshman and Sita by lighting many clay lamps called “Diya’s”. Additionally, the festival of Diwali is believed to symbolize the visit of Goddess Lakshmi to our homes in order to bless us with prosperity and wisdom. Devotees ardently worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha on this day as they are believed to bring happiness, prosperity, wealth, and success. Thus, people celebrate this festival by lighting many Diya’s around their homes. Celebrate this Diwali with your kids in a unique way. Have you planned to make Diwali meaningful this year? However, these days people are choosing to opt-out of over the top, lavish celebrations, and doing something that they care about. This year, take a moment to make Diwali meaningful and unique for your kids. We at Tickle Right believe creativity has no boundaries or limitations and spending time together as a family motivates your child to be the best version of themselves. Decorating your house for Diwali, cleanliness is next to godliness. As Indians, it is a common practice to spend time cleaning and decorating our homes from top to bottom, often weeks prior to Diwali celebrations. Have you noticed your child pretending to sweep the floor, or wipe the table? Kids actually like being given tasks, as it makes them feel responsible and confident. Give your kids the opportunity to help you with little things. It could be dusting tables or cleaning their toys and arranging bookshelves . Your child’s innocent desire to help you is heartwarming and will recharge your batteries too. Once they have cleaned everything, you are ready to begin the fun of decorating your homes for Diwali. Traditionally, decorations consisted of oil lamps and beautiful lanterns. Make Diya’s out of clay for Diwali decorations and let your kids design it. One of the main elements of Diwali is the presence of light. It is believed that light, glitter and illumination is what welcomes the Goddess Lakshmi into people’s homes. It’s always interesting to plan DIY for your kids on Diwali. Here are a few one. Ask your kids to make a paper lantern and help you in drawing Rangoli with some simple decorations. Buy some plain Diya’s from the market, and ask your kids to decorate them with glitter gels, mirrors, and paints. And then light those Diya’s up at home when they’re ready, show your kids how much you appreciate their efforts. Make Indian sweets to celebrate Diwali with kids and share them with the people around you to spread some joy. Ask your kids to help you in making easy sweets and dessert. Because by offering sweets we express our love, respect and acknowledge their presence in our life. It is a method of conveying the message to people in our life that ‘they matter’. Teach your child about the importance of sharing with others. A small piece of sweet could light up another child’s face with a 1000-watt smile. Diwali is all about sharing what you have, with someone who will really appreciate it. Party-time with a traditional twist and stories. Choose some traditional garments and clothes for your kids. To give your kids and other family members a little more information about Diwali and how it is celebrated around the world, read books to explain the significance of the festival. It will also make them think beyond sweets and presents. Have them play scrabble or a word game with words related to the festival of Diwali to make it a fun party. Light-up a Diya, not a firecracker. Diwali is not all about the noisy firecrackers. The essence of the festival lies in having fun with friends and relatives, sharing beautiful moment, and delicious sweets recipes. Lighting up a firecracker is just a means of noise and air pollution! This can result in health problems related to hearing, breathing and many more eliminate the firecrackers because that can have adverse effects on you, your child and people around you. Getting away with firecrackers doesn’t mean getting away with fun. Try buying natural and recyclable materials as much as possible. Let your kids draw Rangoli, It’s an amazing way to develop skills, eye hand coordination, focus etc. Use flowers and natural colors such as turmeric and vermilion to draw Rangolis and decorations. Importance of Diwali celebration with family and kids. It is important for families to come together on a festive occasion like Diwali because it: It gives an identity to a family since each family has tradition and values of its own. Celebration creates a healthy environment of love, joy, laughter, humor, fun, excitement, reverence, and sharing. It shows kids’ celebrations are best shared with loved ones. Give an opportunity to your kids to introduce new members of the family . These festive seasons provide grandparents with an opportunity to share traditions, narrate stories, explain the family’s unique cultural beliefs and practices. This Diwali, teach your kids how they can make a difference by celebrating the festival
Right Brain Training: Flashcard’s Benefits For Toddlers & Kids Are you looking for another great method to train your child’s mind? Because quickly flashing a heap of colorful cards in front of your little one gets them rolling. This trick has proven to grab a child’s attention effectively with ever-lasting impact. As parents, you may often worry or your parental intuition may take over. In that case, take a moment to realize how can you effectively teach your child at home. And you will get your answer. Learning with flashcards is a fantastic tool that can be very effective for learning. By shuffling the deck of flashcards & presenting it to your child, you expose them to new information. This becomes an interesting way to introduce new concepts & share information to stimulate learning amongst toddlers. Flashcard learning has recently gained popularity as a great home-schooling technique. This is also a great opportunity to spend some time with your little one. You must help your child stimulate their visual perception as this activates their curiosity. Therefore, join in on the ride to create an interactive flashcard session for your child. We at Tickle Right make sure to contribute to a child’s overall development with fun right brain training sessions. What Are Flashcards For Kids? Flashcards for kids are colorful cards filled with limited information – images, concepts, ideas & words. It is an excellent way for in-depth learning. Its main purpose is to strengthen a child’s mind for a high attention span. These cards hold the potential to fasten a child’s ability to recall information from pictures quickly. It is more about an easy training style to help kids absorb & retain information. The intention with which these flashcards are prepared is to help your little one – grasp, learn, & master! Its self-assessment approach helps your toddler explore, assess & develop a love for learning. You’ll observe your child picking up information quickly & remembering it in long term. When Is The Good Age To Introduce Flashcards To Kids? You can introduce flashcards to your little one as early as 6 months of their age. This will be a step ahead toward their early childhood learning. You must think of it as a way to stimulate a child’s right brain & increase their awareness. In case your child is 3-4 months old, you must introduce them to infant stimulation flashcards. As they reach an age group of 12-13 months, you can keep on adding new information. Like numbers, phonics, pictures, & much more. As it’s said, the younger your little one is, the easier it will be to teach them. You must consider stimulating your baby’s visual senses early. Since a child’s visual communication pathway is developed within 3 months. They will be able to concentrate better. Benefits Of Using Flashcards For Toddlers & Kids Several benefits of flashcard learning help a child improve their knowledge & memory. As it is a quite popular method, it helps your child process information with ease. It indicates a child’s visual memory capability that helps identify patterns & grasp them. Therefore, the following are the benefits of using flashcards for toddlers & kids: 1. Improves Cognitive Development Flashcard learning is an in-depth method of improving a child’s cognitive & critical skills. Since it lays the foundation for quick recalling of information from pictures. This arrangement helps empowers both the brain hemispheres of a child’s mind. It is also associated with improving their learning potential by helping them process information in a fun interesting manner. 2. Develops Photographic Memory Photographic memory is the process of recalling information quickly from pictures. It’s common for children to sight a picture & remember the detailing in their minds. Flashcard learning helps trigger visual stimuli that increase your child’s brain capacity. This helps them retain information in great detail. This is helpful for both educational & non-educational data. 3. Improves Language Skills The objective of introducing flashcards to children is to primarily improve their knowledge. Not only does it focus on a child’s cognitive skills, but it helps create an interactive session at home & elsewhere. By constantly exposing them to the same information, they get familiar with the data. You can even teach a new language to your little one via flashcards. As parents, you must include different subjects to make it a fun time for your little munchkin. It creates a direct positive impact on their social & conversation skills. 4. Creates Visual Stimulation Flashcards have an astounding way to trigger a visual stimulation in your child’s mind. This helps them think hard & recall information easily. Even if you ask your little one after a long period, they would be in a position to answer it. Flashcard learning is a way to capture & stimulate a child’s mind to create curiosity & respond. This curiosity leads to effective learning. As parents, you must help your child quest their curiosity by putting up questions & answering the questions they raise. 5. Increases Self-Confidence Nowadays children need to get exposed to different bits of information every day. As they begin to grasp this data, you must reward their effort. This helps them gain self-confidence to interact & explore more. Learning with flashcards boosts a child’s mind to swiftly adapt to the information. It gives the right reasons to focus & strengthen their mind. As parents, your primary role is to make these sessions short, fun, & interactive for your child. This will help them gain interest. How To Make Flashcards For Kids? Making flashcards require you to put together a bundle of A5 size sheets. Yes, that is the ideal size. It’s important to display only one subject at a time on a single flashcard. The picture must be clear with a neat background. You can choose the flashcard’s subject as anything or as per the child’s interests. As it is an incredibly versatile tool to increase your
Explores the ABCs of empathy in child development along with an array of empathetic activities for kids.
Easy Science Experiments for Kids to Do at Home Science is a word that derives either absolute terror or absolute joy among all its students. Do you remember having an irrational fear of the subject? Even before it was introduced in class, we were made to believe it was a subject for the “geniuses.” With names like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and Marie Curie linked to it, no wonder science seemed like a tough nut to crack. Yet all science does is explain what goes on in our world, every day, all the time. It is essential knowledge, covering concepts that influence our normal lives. Luckily, children are born scientists with an innate curiosity for their surroundings. Wondering how to convert abstract topics into science experiments for kids to do at home? Here are some kid-friendly science experiments for kids to do at home using basic household materials. You never know, one of these cool experiments could prove to be the “Eureka” moment for your future Nobel Prize winner. Milk Magic An easy experiment to start with, this is guaranteed to become one of your go-to chemistry experiments in the kitchen. What You Need Bowl Milk Food coloring Liquid dish soap Toothpick/Q-tip Steps Pour milk in a shallow bowl and allow it to settle before the next step. Now put a few drops of food coloring in the bowl of milk. At this point, they’ll look like self-contained circles. Next, dip a toothpick or Q-tip into liquid dish soap and touch the soapy end to the food coloring, holding it there for 10-15 seconds. Watch the magic unfold as the colors swirl around on their own. What’s Happening Although milk is mostly water, it also contains fats, vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Fats and proteins are sensitive to changes. When the soap connects with the milk, the invisible soap molecules connect with the fat molecules. This causes fat molecules to twist and turn, which we see through food coloring. How? During this molecular aerobics demonstration, food coloring molecules are pushed and shoved everywhere, giving your kid the opportunity to observe all that previously invisible activity. As the soap and milk mix evenly, the action too slows down to an eventual stop. Stay active Lava Lamp Arguably one of the most famous science experiments for kids to do at home done by not just children but probably their parents too. This science fair favorite teaches kids about density. What You Need A clean plastic bottle (or several plastic bottles) Water Vegetable Oil Fizzing tablets (like Vitamin C effervescent tablets) Food Colouring Steps Fill up the bottle 1/4th full of water. Pour the vegetable oil into the bottle until it is almost full, using a funnel if you can. At this point, the oil and water as you watch. Add about 10 drops of food color of your choice. The color makes its way through the oil and only colors the water. Divide your fizzing tablet into 2 or 4 pieces, dropping one piece into the bottle. The next step is to break your fizzy tablet in half and drop part of it into the bottle. Watch what happens when the bubble blobs form. When the bubbling stops, add another piece of the tablet. If you have a flashlight, turn off the lights and shine the flashlight through the lava lamp while the blobs are bubbling! Once the entire tablet is used and the bubbling has stopped, cap the bottle, tipping it back and forth. Enjoy the waves of colorful blobs! What’s Happening Oil and water do not mix even if you shake the bottle because of a difference in their density. The oil floats on top of the water because it is lighter than water. The food coloring has the same density as the water so it sinks through the oil and mixes with the water, proving like dissolves. When the tablet is dropped in, it dissolves to create a gas called carbon dioxide. Gas is lighter than water so the bubbles float to the top bringing with them the color that the bubbles attach themselves to. When the air releases from the colored water blob, the water gets heavy again and sinks. When the chemical reaction between the tablet and water is over and the bubbling stops, you get an awesome-looking wave bottle. Travelling Light This easy science experiments for kids to do at home will teach your kids all about light refraction, using not just the most basic of materials but will not require any supervision either. What You Need Paper Marker Glass Water Steps Start by drawing two arrows on a paper, one at the top and another at the bottom. The arrows should point the same way. Now place that paper behind a glass of water. Next, pour water into the glass and watch as the arrow you can see through the glass changes. Replace that paper with another, this time with something written or drawn on it. You can write words that mean something even when inverted such as bud or now/won. What’s Happening Refraction is the bending of light that takes place when light travels from one medium to another, such as from air to water or water to air. In this experiment, light travels from the paper through the air, then into the glass, followed by water and back out through the glass, finally going through air one last time and into our eyes. Whew! The light reaching us is refracted as it travels at different speeds, fastest through the air, slower through water, and slower yet through the glass. The water glass becomes a convex lens, bending the light both times it goes through the glass. Thus, the crossing of these light paths makes the image appear flipped or inverted. Float or sink It’s a fun and basic science experiment to do at home for kids of all ages that will build a foundation to understand density and buoyancy. What
49 Vacation Activities For Students In Summer Summer vacation is around the corner (since may have started!), and kids are itching to be let out from their metaphorical cage to let loose and have fun. But as you very well know, those whole days of doing nothing will quickly land a bored kid in your hands. Now whether a work-from-home parent or a stay-at-home or even work outside, you need practical ideas to keep your kid occupied. Otherwise, there may be too much screen time which is not healthy for them. Therefore we have made a list of summer vacation activities for kids that will keep them busy during the break. Students of all ages can try many of the summer vacation activities listed below. The whole family can join in to have fun. Some of the activities require going out. Some vacation activities are for students at home. You can make a bucket list with your child of the things they want to try. You must help plan it accordingly for each week. At Tickle Right, make sure that your child gets to have the fun of summers while also getting the right environment for their nourishing growth. Check out our right brain development program for your little one. Fun Summer Vacation Activities For Kids Summer is the season of fun. There are a lot of outdoor and indoor activities that kids can take up during the summer to elevate their boredom. 1. Have Fun With Nature – Nature-Based Activities For Kids Nature activities for students are a great way to spend their vacation learning about and spending time with nature. Plant A Veggie Garden Gardening is beneficial for kids to know as it helps children come closer to nature. You can plant different types of vegetables or herbs in your garden if you have one or plant something in plastic jars, old boots, or anything available. Gardening will help students improve their locomotive skills. Watering plants will help them learn about plant growth. Find Shapes In Clouds An activity that requires nothing except staring at the sky. Nowadays, a lot of time of students is spent staring at various screens for studying or entertainment. So this is a good activity for students to participate in. They can relax, exercise their imagination, and just talk about what they see in the clouds. Make A Bird Feeder This is a good activity for kids to indulge in as they can learn about different birds while also helping them. There are several websites that show you how to make a cheap, do-it-yourself bird feeder. You can remind the kids to put out a bowl of water too for the birds and keep refilling it. Go Bird Watching This is a good way to learn about various local birds for kids. You can take a pair of binoculars and go bird spotting. Visit your local library or bookshop to pick up a book on the local birds. Students can learn to identify different birds, the differences between them, their calls, their habits, and their habitats. Go On A Leaf Hunt This activity is the same as going bird spotting except with leaves. Students can go and pick different leaves from trees. They could draw them in their notebooks, note down the lengths of leaves, draw their shape, spot the differences in color, and other such information. In this way, they could learn about the local plants and foliage. Gaze At The Stars Stargazing is one of the oldest ways to spend time. There are many telescopes available in the market that are specially designed for kids and might be in your budget range. You can pick up an astronomy book from the local library and look up the constellations in the sky. There are many stories also attached to each constellation, and kids could learn about them too. Plant A Butterfly Garden A butterfly garden is different from a regular garden. Butterflies need a specific type of habitat that would encourage their growth and lifecycle. There are specific steps that you would need to look up to create a wildlife habitat in your backyard. But this would be a good opportunity for kids to learn about beautiful butterflies. 2. Take A Day Trip! – Outdoor Activities For Kids Summer is a season of going out, exploring, and having fun. There are several activities with which you and your family can have a day of fun. Go On A Picnic There is nothing like packing a picnic and going outside to eat. You could look for picnic spots with good scenery to enjoy. Otherwise, you could even make a trip to a nearby park where the kids can play some games like frisbee or ball and eat too. Road Trip To A Nearby City Nothing is exciting like a road trip. Generally, we take long road trips of at least 2-3 days, but it doesn’t have to be so. You could go and explore a nearby city with your kids. There are usually lots of local attractions that can be explored in a day’s trip. Explore The Unknown Parts Of Your City Instead of going to another city, you could just explore your own city with your kids. Take a map and explore roads and areas that you have never visited before. Sometimes there are many hidden gems that we never see because we don’t explore the town we live in. Go To A Nearby Fair or Market There is always a fair or mela happening in the city that you can take your kids to explore. If nothing else, go to the market to explore different shops or try food that your kids haven’t tried before. It could be an activity that the family can do together. Plan A Biking Trip The whole family could go on a biking trip together. Plan out a route that you think that
List Of 15 Fun Indoor Games For Kids To Play At Home Better stay indoors & make the best of the time in poor weather conditions. Don’t let a rainy day take away all your fun by itself. Staying indoors can naturally make a kid restless at times. The clock ticks slower for them than usual. But the best indoor games will engage them duly & keep them entertained. It is meant to instill important cognitive skills & promote physical strengthening via play-based learning. Participating in these indoor games can be a complete stress-buster & is handy too. There is always going to be a great amount of laughter & happiness while engaging in a circle or with family playing them. But it is quite obvious that it vitalizes a child’s brain & enables it to work faster & smarter. So, if you as parents are constantly concerned about your child spending a lot of time on electronic gadgets, here’s a listed solution by Tickle Right for your immediate needs. Best Indoor Games For Kids To Play At Home The following indoor games for your kids will act as a boredom buster & engage them for long durations. These games are not simply a means to provide amusement but also offer great benefits to a child’s overall development. 1. Hide-&-Seek Hide-&-seek is an age-old classic game that even you must be fond of in your childhood. This tops the list with flying colors as this is the best indoor game to encourage physical development. Children love this game greatly but it’s important that you specify some of the areas that they must not go & hide ensuring their safety. Next, choose a seeker and ask them to count until the others hide & caught them thereafter. Let alone, the game is an excellent form of exercise & encourages group fun. 2. Scavenger Hunt Next on the list is the scavenger hunt. It is a very popular game amongst children that whirls and excites them way too much. All you have to do is create an interesting list of objects you want your children to look for in the house. Use different methods & clues to create the list like numbers, pictures, & alter the complexity as per their age. Give them the list & ask them to look for the objects within a time period. The team that gets the maximum objects, wins! 3. Hopscotch Hopscotch is a traditional game that goes by different names. The game improves a child’s balancing skills & motor skills. All you need to do is create the hopscotch grid with a piece of chalk. Get a flat stone & ask a child to toss it on square 1. Next, they have to jump over square 1 and complete the full grid. While returning, they have to pick up the chalk piece & finish their turn. On their next turn, they repeat the same pattern with square 2. 4. Dance Party Help your child put on their dance shoe & host a dance party. Invite all your child’s friends & speed up the fun at home. As there are several health benefits of dance in a child’s development. Their love for the dance acts as a great form of exercise that improves coordination & muscle strength. All you have to do is play their favorite music in a space to dance. Next, they’ll be leaving you in awe with their fun dance moves! 5. Pitching Pennies Pitching pennies is the oldest of all coin games! A highly popular game that is best to build your child’s hand-eye coordination. In this game, you place a plastic cup on a chair/table at a fair distance from the children. Give them 5 coins each & ask them to stand at a considerable distance as per their age. Now, they have to toss the coin aiming at the cup one-by-one as their turn comes up. The child that gets the maximum coins in the cup wins. 6. Tic-Tac-Toe Teaching kids how to play tic-tac-toe with their best friend promotes numerous benefits to them. It is well known to instill strategy skills, logical thinking, & most important social skills. Instead of playing simple tic-tac-toe, you can also make the game interesting by getting objects to play with instead of ‘X’ & ‘O’. If playing on a board, get magnetic objects. Else, you can also draw the grid squares on the floor with tape & get them shapes of two kinds to fill. 7. Obstacle Course The obstacle course has also successfully made to this list of extremely fun games. This game is a fun option for children in a child-proofed game setup. You can include obstacles like chairs, blankets, hula hoops, and tapes, to make the game more fascinating. The setup can be put together as per your area. You can place the obstacles in a brainy way that crosses each other. Make your own rules & give them points after completing each obstacle. 8. Body Tracing A fun body tracing game for kids is what they need to explore different shapes & diverse their imagination. The true benefits of the game are intangible but it acts as a form of therapy. Though the art can get messy it promotes motor development in children along with body awareness. You can help play this game by bringing off different ideas. Let them lie down on a long enough butcher paper that fits them. Trace their body & ask them to paint or decorate them. 9. Building A Fort What better way to engage your child & be creative at the same time than building a fort with objects. It is a terrific way to support growth through play-based learning. Collect pillows, chairs, cardboard boxes, blankets, & any other stuff. It’s very simple to make a cardboard fort, where you need multiple of them sticking together. Get a stick to balance
Sign Language for Babies New Parents often struggle with trying to understand what the baby needs when they are crying. Is the baby hungry? Or sleepy? Or needs to get their diaper changed? Initially, this leads to a lot of irritability and frustration with the parents. Trying to figure out what your baby needs in the middle of loud cries can be difficult. It would be easier for the parent and the baby if they were taught sign language pre-verbal development. This would help the baby communicate their needs better. As your child grows, they use their baby hands for certain baby sign language. They would wave goodbye, give a flying kiss, lift their hands to indicate they want to be lifted. We have oftentimes seen parents showing off their baby’s skills by asking them to identify their nose or objects and showing happiness at the right gestures. These are all baby sign language which the baby picks up while seeing the action repeated. This communication technique can be used to teach the baby important signs to communicate. Teaching your child baby sign language will help them communicate their needs to you better. Teaching your baby to use his/her hands and teaching them gestures can help ease the frustration that some new parents may feel while trying to figure out what it is that their baby needs. It is as easy as repeating the actions and reinforcing the behavior till the baby has learned them. When should the parent teach their baby sign language? – They should start by the 7/8 month when the child is able to identify and associate with objects. How does a baby sign benefit the child? – Teaching them sign language helps ease the pre-verbal communication period. Recent studies also show that teaching your baby sign language can help him/her do better, have a higher IQ, and may also stimulate a desire to learn more communication tools/techniques apart from gestures. These are few tips to help you teach your baby sign language – Keep it simple – Use gestures for things that the baby needs to express their everyday needs. The baby sign language should include a drink, eat, more, come, go, etc. Start with a few signs and then keep adding to the vocabulary. Repetition – You will have to constantly repeat the sign and follow through with the action to teach the child to associate the two. For instance, if the baby needs milk, you will have to use your hands to take the thumb next to the mouth and point to the milk in order to indicate that the sign is for milk. In time the baby will use their hands to indicate the same. Reinforce – If your baby learnt the sign and used it reinforce by giving a smile or clapping and encourage the baby to use their hand gestures and sign language to communicate Also Read: 10 Ways to keep your child motivated Patience is key – It will be some time before your child has picked up on the gestures. Therefore, you will need to be patient until they learn. This may not be possible until the 8th month when the child begins to associate signs. Be watchful – Your baby may already have signs that he/she may have become comfortable with. Try to look out for those and use them instead of trying to change them. For instance – the baby may use pouting as a way to indicate hunger instead of using the thumb action. Avoid changing the sign as it may lead to confusion for the baby. Research – You can also look online, read books or join classes that help teach baby sign languages in order to make yourself to familiarise yourself with the baby signs Baby sign language chart – You can also curate the list of gestures and actions and put it up to help other friends and relatives use the same communication tool for the child so as to not create any confusion Include verbal communication – Ensure that you include words and verbal communication as well. This will help the baby associate words with the baby signs and can pick up on the sound or words when the baby starts talking. Sign Language vocabulary – You can also teach the baby various other signs for animals, number and expand their non-verbal vocabulary. You can also combine signs to teach the baby small phrases. This type of a non-verbal communication makes your child independent to communicate and eases your difficulty of conversing with your baby. It also enhances social stimulation for the baby as using baby sign language can help the child communicate with more people. Using baby sign language can help you bond with your baby better and strengthen the emotional connection. You can now focus on teaching and bonding with your baby rather than getting irritable.
How To Handle A Toddler’s Temper Tantrum The Right Way? How many times have we as parents seen temper tantrums in our toddlers? Often times we fear saying no to our child because we feel it will set in motion a series of emotions leading to a temper tantrum. Imagine that you have gone to a store with your child and while walking through the store aisle, something catches your child’s eye and he/she wants you to buy it. On your refusal, your child will cry, stops his/her foot, and wail on the store floor for you to buy the item. Does this sound familiar? More often than not parents have been falling prey to temper tantrums of their children. But have we thought about what causes these temper tantrums? Most tantrums stem from an intense feeling of frustration and anger. In most situations, your child would not know how to deal with these strong emotions and may end up throwing a tantrum. How To Handle A Child’s Temper Tantrum? Here’s how you can teach our kids to start managing their anger and emotions from a young age. 1. Have a routine A tantrum may come up if the kids feel that something is not going as per plan. Kids love to have a set routine and a schedule. This helps them to envision what to expect and reduces the stress of not knowing. You can take this one step forward and involve them in making their own schedule, by doing this they will learn to manage their time as well as the tantrum when something does go wrong. 2. Consistency is key The way to handle a temper tantrum is to be consistent. Most often we hear parents say – “I almost always never give in.” But it is imperative that as parents you never give in to their tantrums. The message that will go across is that a tantrum will not help me get what I want and you will slowly see a decline in the number of times the child throws a tantrum. 3. Let your child make choices It is good to let your child choose from options that are suitable for you. This is a win-win situation in which you are giving options that are acceptable to you and your child feels that they had a choice. For instance – When your child is averse to eating vegetables, and you know that this conversation is usually followed by a tantrum, you can ask your child “Are you going to eat lady fingers or brinjal?” In either of the choice, the child will be eating a vegetable. 4. Plan Ahead Try and avoid situations that usually arouse a tantrum in your child. If the situation is unavoidable, take the time to prepare them for it beforehand. It is important to sit with them and calmly talk to them about the situation that they might face and what it is that they should expect in that situation. Thus, when the situation does arise, they are better prepared to deal with the situation. 5. Time-Out When your child is throwing a temper tantrum, give them a time-out! This simply means that you ask them to walk away from the situation at that moment. Either send them to their room or to a designated spot in the house and leave them alone until the tantrum has subsided. If the tantrum is of a high intensity you can sit with the child to ensure that they are not a danger to themselves. Do not indulge them but let the tantrum pass. 6. Use Distraction If the child is in the middle of a tantrum, sometimes the easiest and most effective way to deal with it is to try and distract the child and take their attention away from the issue. Do not coddle the child or yell at the child, simply try to take their mind off what upset them. For instance, if the child is throwing a tantrum at the dining table, try to talk to them about their day and the various activities that they were involved in. 7. Dealing with tantrums in public If the tantrum happens to occur in the store or somewhere outside then it is best to take your child and leave immediately. It is even more important to not give in to the tantrum in public for fear of embarrassment. Every single time that you take your child home after a tantrum, the child will make that association & you will see a reduction in the number of tantrums. 8. Open Communication When the tantrum has passed, talk to your child about what brought on the tantrum. Have an open conversation with them about what they felt? What upset them? And how they can better express themselves in the future. Openly communicating with your child help them feel the emotional bond, as well as to become more aware of their own emotions. This will help them when they feel extreme emotions and will be better able to manage themselves instead of throwing a tantrum. 9. Negative reinforcement In some circumstances, the child will have to face the consequences of their actions. Communicate to your child that their behavior was not acceptable and give them a consequence that you may see fit. This will bring about a reduction in the frequency of temper tantrums as the child will be more cognizant of his/her behavior to try and avoid the consequence of their actions. 10. Positive Reinforcement It is equally important to reward or praise the child if he/she successfully navigate through their feelings in a situation that would have usually caused a surge in emotions. This will boost your child’s morale and will help in sustaining the behavior which helps them manage their tantrums. It is important for you as parents to keep calm during the tantrum. Do not shout or scream at