Busy Kids are Happy Kids

Our children are used to seeing us throw things in the bin. Wrappers, bottles, boxes, all sorts of things that should ideally be reused because that is a greener, more eco-friendly option. Often we don’t have the patience to reuse these and we don’t want to horde things we won’t use. So we bin them. It is the easier option, but not the best option. We can tell our children about saving the planet all we want, but if we are not doing it ourselves, there is no chance our children will do it either. So we don’t need to buy any more pots for little plants, vases, pen/pencil holders, toothbrush holders, hair-brush holders, jewelry boxes, spice jars, and containers for knick-knacks like safety-pins, paper pins, hair clips etc. We just repurpose the glass jars we keep getting every time we buy coffee, pickles and jams. It’s a small step in the right direction. The easiest way to make used glass jars presentable is to paint them. Painting jars teaches three key skills: 1. Motor Sk...

Are you tired of finding pencil shavings all over the floor, the bed, under the bed, inside school bags, stuck to sofas … and any other places? Start some pencil shaving art projects at home. You will find that your child now saves up the pencil shavings carefully for use in such projects. Presto! No more pencil shavings all over the place. Materials required: Pencil shavings Colour paper Glue Scissors Activity: 1. Cut out a shape for the child to stick the pencil shavings on. This could be a tree shape as shown in the image. Alternatively, you could cut out the body of a butterfly and stick the pencil shavings for the wings, or you could draw leaves and have the pencil shavings as the petals of flowers. Or draw the stick figure of a girl and use the pencil shavings to make her dress. 2. Spread glue over the area where the pencil shavings should be, and leave the child to stick the shavings. You could stick a couple of them on, as an example for them to follow. ...

When kids start dictating what they will and won’t eat, there is bound to be some drama at the dinner table. Rather than just telling them to eat whatever I ask them to, I try to tell them why some foods should be eaten more than others. But you and I know it’s not easy to get them to agree. So we do a little task to reinforce this learning in a not-so-preachy way. Materials required: 2 large paper plates a piece of cardboard large enough to fit both paper plates paper cut-outs of different kinds of foods from newspapers, magazines or printed off the internet glue stick (non-messy) Sketch pen Activity: 1. You will need about 20 or 25 pictures of different kinds of foods, including fruits, salads, soups, roti, rice, curd, burgers, French fries, candies etc. You can look at the picture for what kids of foods I used. 2. Paste the two paper plates on the piece of cardboard and write ‘healthy food’ under one, and ‘junk food’ under the other. 3. Tak...

Yes, kids must learn to fold laundry, not just their own but the family’s laundry as well. Here is why: 1. It is a life skill. It takes them one step closer to learning how to take care of themselves, and others. 2. They need to know that chores are for everybody, not just mummy and daddy. This will teach them to value what their parents do for them and not take their comforts for granted. 3. Folded clothes last longer and contribute to the cleanliness of the home. Children need to learn the importance of both. This does not have to be a boring activity. Make it all about how neatly and how quickly they can complete this task. You can also make it competitive by challenging them to fold within a given time limit.  Watch the video of my four year old showing how to fold certain types of clothes. If you want more ideas on how to fold some difficult pieces of clothing, or how to arrange clothes inside a cupboard, you can check Marie Condo on the Internet. ...

Most of the time, a drawing activity is as much about technique as it is about confidence building. That’s why I prefer to pick simple patterns that the child can complete successfully. It will not only give them a sense of achievement but will motivate them to draw more. The spiral shape is found in plenty in nature; in the shells of snails, in seashells, formed by the tails of certain lizards, a coiled snake, the formation made by the petals of a rose … if you think about it, the universe is moving away from its center in a spiral formation. Drawing spirals improves motor skills as the child must control the gap between the curves and continue drawing without taking their hand away from the paper. So it is concentration, patience and judgment all rolled into one simple pattern. Materials Required: 1. crayons / colour pencils 2. papers to draw on Procedure: 1. First, demonstrate the drawing of a spiral to the child. Draw their attention to these aspects: ·...

There are entire professions that require a keen sense of smell, like aromatherapy and perfumery. But even for the rest of us, a good sense of smell is helpful. Not just because we can detect a gas leak faster, but because smells are also connected to memory and vocabulary. So here is an activity that I call ‘Nose Knows’ to help children learn to use their sense of smell. Materials required: 1. Select four or five spices that can be sniffed closely without running the risk of irritating the respiratory system. I selected these four spices: dry bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Choose the whole spice rather than the powdered form. 2. You can use a blindfold if your child is comfortable wearing one. Alternatively, you can just ask the child to close their eyes for the second half of the activity. Steps: 1. Place the spices on a tray or plate and allow the child to explore them. This includes touching, smelling and licking the spices. Ensure that they do not ...

Children who live in noisy cities hardly get to hear the cooing of the bulbul or the cackling of the geese. But listening for and identifying bird calls is very beneficial for our children. Here is why: 1. Like any other faculty, our ability to hear improves when exercised. Bird calls are of varying frequencies and listening to them exercises our sense of hearing. 2. Differentiating among different bird calls teaches the child to compare, while also sharpening their memory. 3. Talking about sounds requires the child to understand related vocabulary, including words like ‘high’, ‘low’ and ‘shrill’. These words not just improve their language skills but also helps them understand pitch and rhythm, laying the foundation for an understanding of music. Materials required: 1. If you live in a busy town or a city, like I do, visiting a farm or a forest cannot be a regular activity. We do have many lakes around us and there are many birds that visit these areas. Yet, catc...

Do you walk around in a park with your child? Children do enjoy open spaces where they can run around, touch things, point and say “Mummy, what is that?” Often, you don’t know what that thing they are pointing at is called. For example, you may know it’s a tree but not which tree it is. Thankfully, with google, you can simple point and search and tell them the common name of that tree and also something more about it. That way you are not just giving them information, but showing them where to get the information from. Materials required: 1. a park, or garden 2. access to google image search 3. a notebook and pencil (one set for the child and one for the adult) Process: 1. Walk around drawing the child’s attention to the plants and trees that they can see. Try initiating conversations around these. For example, you may say, “Look at how big these leaves are! Can you find a plant here with leaves bigger than these?” 2. Allow the child to collect a few specimens of...

When a child manages to draw an object on her own, she feels a sense of accomplishment. Her ability to create something on her own, makes her confident, creating an aura of positivity. Think of a simple object like a cup. It is just a combination of straight and curved lines. Anyone can draw it. Therefore, it is the best subject for an art class conducted by a non-artist (that’s us). Age: 3 – 6 years Materials required: 1. a sheet of paper 2. a square object to trace squares (example: building blocks) 3. pencil Steps: 1. Draw squares on the sheet of paper, three in a row. 2. In the first square of each row, draw an object of your choice.  Here are some ideas for objects you can draw:       ·          everyday objects, like a fork, a pencil, a window       ·          objects from our surroundings, like a boat, a car, a hut     ...