Conference moira::parenting_v3

    
    Mystery Box
    
    	Take an empty diaper box and cut a circular hole in one end.
        Select objects from around the house and place them inside,
        and label the box "Mystery Box" and "What is it?" in various
    	places (you might want to take off the labels, etc. too, since
    	they can be distracting).
    
    	Have the child place a hand through the hole and identify the
    	object by feel.
    
    	This is a great game for associating characteristics with objects,
    	e.g. "it's an animal", "it's green", etc., and to help children
    	classify and organize their thinking.
    
    	It's also great for tactile learners and for vocabulary
        development.
    
    /Jim
    

    
    Treasure Hunt
    
    	Take a fig newton, oreo, etc. and chop it up into relatively small
    	chunks.  Hide them around the room when the child isn't looking,
    	and then announce "Treasure Hunt!".
    
    	Giving verbal directions only, direct them to the locations of the
    	treasures, and make a big fuss when they follow directions
    	correctly.  Of course, you never let them fail, so you give them
    	physical prompting if necessary to be able to find the treasures.
    
    	This is great for developing listening skills, understanding
    	spatial relationships, and vocabulary.
    
    /Jim
    

    
    Mickey Mouse {flies, walks, sits, ...} {on the, under the, ...} {tv,..}
    
    	To the tune of "Here we go 'round the mulberry bush", take a
    	favorite doll (e.g. a Mickey Mouse doll), and sing:
    
    		Mickey Mouse flies through the air,
    		through the air, through the air,
    		Mickey Mouse flies through the air,
    		all day long;
    
    		Mickey Mouse sits under the couch, 
    		under the couch, under the couch,
    		Mickey Mouse sits under the couch,
    		all day long;
    
    	and animate the actions as you do them, e.g. by flying Mickey
    	through the air, sitting on/under/over, etc.
    
    	This is a great game for learning about spatial relationships,
    	opposites, and improving eye-contact (if necessary).
    
    /Jim
    

    
    Shell Game 1
    
    	Get several nesting plastic cups, the brightly colored kind with
    	numbers printed on them.  Place them face down on a table with
    	some kind of reward (such as a piece of an oreo) inside one of
    	the cups.
    
    	Using a verbal description of the cups, have the child identify
    	the location of the reward, e.g.:
    
    		There's an oreo under the BIG cup, or
    
    		There's a fig newton under the YELLOW cup, etc.
    
    	This is good for working on opposites and colors.
    
    /Jim
    

    
    Shell Game 2
    
    	Take a small object that the child is interested in, and enclose
    	it in one hand or the other.  Present it to the child and have
    	them guess which hand it's in.
    
    	For very young children, make the clues obvious, and make sure
    	they get a chance to get it "right" on the second guess, if
    	necessary.
    
    	This is good for question asking/answering, and helps them look
    	for increasingly subtle perceptual clues.  The goal is not for
    	you to trick them, so don't get too carried away and lose sight
    	of the objectives.
    
    /Jim
    

    
    I'm Gonna Get You
    
    	Everybody probably does this one already, but in this game you
    	get down to their eye level, spy them with a mischievous look,
    	and exclaim "I'm gonna GET you!".  You then crawl along the floor
    	at whatever pace allows them to stay ahead of you until they want
    	to be caught, when you exclaim "I GOT you!" and give them tickles
    	all over.
    
    	I'm not sure if this is more for them or for us, but it's great
    	fun and probably teaches anticipation and reciprocal social
    	interaction, on which language is built.
    
    /Jim
    

                                                
    It's MY turn
    
    	Put a drink of juice in a glass, and get the child to sit on your
    	lap in a chair.  Take turns drinking from the glass saying in an
    	exaggerated fashion: "It's MY turn" or "It's YOUR turn".  Try to
    	get them to join in with "It's MY turn".
    
    	Very good for developing turn taking, which is necessary for
    	developing language as well as learning to share things.
    
    /Jim

    
    Face Painting
    
    	Paint various designs on their faces, e.g. lions, tigers, etc., and
    	have them act out the animals in a mirror.
    
    	This is good for building up a concept of self vs others, which is
    	essential before language can develop.   It's a lot of fun, but
    	be cautious to keep paint (and paintbrushes!) away from eyes.
    
    /Jim
    

There are many songs which stimulate use of the hands:

	The Itsy-Bitsy Spider
	Where is Thumpkin?  (song covers all five fingers)
	The Wheels of the Bus Go Round, round, round

And many songs you can easily "act" out what's happening.

Juli's Learning Center uses play-dough to the tune "Patty-Cake" ...
Roll me a cake (roll the dough)...
Pat it  (flatten the dough) ...
Mark it with "B" (make markings in the dough)
 ....
I thought that was a very clever, fun idea!

Building blocks (and lots of them!) can provide lots of challenge and
fun to both child AND PARENT!

Juli just loves her "toddler"-sized Mr. Potato Head ... and she identifies
the part(s) (ears, nose, hand ...) as she inserts them.  Keeping in mind,
Mr. Potato Head is REAL lucky if just one component is properly placed!
But it's all part of the learning curve!  (We bring this along to the
restaurants!)

Juli also loved moving her "toddler"-sized magnetic numbers/alphabets 
around the refrigerator.  They also manufacture magnetics like:
	.  a Noah's ark with three animals (animals fit in the ark and
		can also be individual magnets outside the ark)
	.  a string bean with three (individual) peas
	.  a bed with three (individual) bears
(I found these in the kitchen section of Country Candle, Northboro).  ($3/each)

An old pocketbook filed with an old keychain of keys, large comb ... and
anything else you want (blocks, etc.).  Juli loves pictures ... especially
one of herself with Daddy ... Mommy ... the dog ... (one you're willing 
to trash -- out-of-focus, etc.) -- she'll try to identify the things in
the pix.

Just some suggestions.

Dottie 

    Thanks to Jim and Dottie for all the fine ideas.
    
    Laura
    for everybody

You're welcome!!

I get most of my ideas (not just "games" either!) from OTHER parents!  Just 
about every kid at some point in their life has played with a Mr. Potato
Head (if, in fact, they haven't owned one! -- remember when Mr. Potato Head
didn't have a plastic body, but rather a REAL POTATO body!) ... not to
mention Lincoln Logs, Lego's (now they have toddler-sized ones!), the pull
telephone, etc.

And daycare centers!  Check out the "art work" on your neighbor's office wall.
All those funny brown lunch bags with faces, paperweights, "handmade" picture
frames, "handmade" kites ... some real neat artwork AND IDEAS!

My family is BIG into crafts and some of things "little people" can make are:
.  magnet caterpillars (cut out "spriggly-shaped" felt and glue on pom-poms
   and moving eyes), a magnet - wa-la! a caterpillar!
.  take a small plastic peeter cup (the kind that comes with liquid Tylenol),
   glue a large white pompom in the base, glue a large brown  (for chocolate)
   or pink (for strawberry) pompom on top fo the white one, followed by a
   tiny red pompon (the cherry) ... add a stir-straw and ... wa-la! a
   miniature sundae!  And don't forget the magnet, too.
.  macrame is an easy craft to learn and kids do great with making belts,
   wristbands, keychains and small planters.

The libraries have some very interesting "project" books, too (if you're
into "patterns").

Golly, I could go on and on for hours and hours ...

But most of MY ideas come from OTHER kids, parents and/or daycare ... and
my own childhood!

Now you can FINALLY play with play-dough AGAIN  (but, of course, you're 
doing this and enjoying youself BECAUSE YOUR KID wants to ... right??!!).

Dottie

PS:  as I say, "Juli, please, please, can I HAVE THE RED crayon? ... 
     please ..."

    I'm sure I'm not the only parent who has had their share of hohum,
    scribble papers, or the ones that have *obviously* been assembled by a
    teacher, but here's one that has had a fond place in our heart, and
    home for some time now...
    
    The daycare provider boiled a pound or something more of thin spagetti
    the night or morning before for the kids.  Then she took 4 cups and put
    an amount of Elmer's White glue and food coloring enough to make it a
    vivid color.  Each child put some spagetti in each cup, pulled it out
    and let the excess glue run off, then you mix all the colored spagetti
    together, leaving a loop or two shaped as a hanging handle, and lay it
    flat on a styrofoam tray, like a meat tray, until it dries (usually the
    next day)  Then you remove the colored spagetti from the tray and hang
    it up.  Your child has now made his very own, quite colorful
    suncatcher!
    
    It's a VERY messy project, but it's just so pretty to look at.
    
    Secondly, my sister took an old vinyl window shade and laid it on the
    newspaper covered floor, had each child put their feet into water based
    paint and "walk accross" the shade, then she had them do the same with
    their hands, kind of like part of your child being frozen in time.
    
    Lyn

     
    re: -.1 painting with hands and feet
    
    yes, we did something similar, too:  we got a long roll of paper about
    3 ft wide by about 10-12 feet long, and some finger paint.  We covered
    the soles of JB's feet with one color at a time and had him walk up
    and down the paper (with supervision!)
    
    we've had our mural hanging on our wall for about 3 months now.
    
    another similar thing was to get a glossy sheet of paper about 2 ft on
    each side and put feet and hands from everyone in the family there,
    with labels of whose foot, whose hand, etc.
    
    messy, but fun.
    
       /Jim
    

    One thing I've seen done is to get a long piece of paper, have your
    child lie down, and trace her outline. They get a kick out of having
    a life-size picture of themselves. Kids can do each other's outlines.
    
    Lucy

    re .14 - They did that at Alex's first daycare center, and the kids
    really loved adding the anatomy - internal and external!  <:-}  I seem
    to remember that in the 4-year-olds' room, the favorite "parts" were
    heart, stomach and toes....
    
    Leslie