Posts Tagged ‘Self-esteem’

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Fun with Fitness

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Yoga BAn effective fitness program includes activities that promote physical activity in ways that are creative and fun, is clear and easy to implement, incorporates fun materials, includes opportunities to enhance personal and social skills, and integrates into other life experiences.

At the preschool level, there are a number of fun and exciting ways to introduce health and fitness at home. There are basic motor skill development areas to concentrate on such as running, jumping, hopping, galloping, side sliding, and leaping. There are also basic object control skills, which commonly use a ball such as rolling, throwing, catching, dribbling, kicking, and striking. Experiences with music and movement can enhance spatial awareness, basic body identification, loco-motor and non loco-motor skills, rhythm skills, motor memory, creativity, problem solving, language and listening skills, role-playing, social interactions, and self esteem.

Try these fun music and movement activities at home with your child:

The Freeze

Dance to the beat of your favorite music.  When you hear FREEZE, stop and pose like a status.  Then start the music again.

Shake My Sillies Out

I’ve got to shake, shake shake my sillies out…

I’ve got to wiggle, wiggle, wiggly my waggles out…

I’ve got to clap, clap, clap my crazies out…

I’ve got to jump, jump, jump my jiggles out…

I’ve got to yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out…

I’ve got to stretch, stretch, stretch my stretchies out…

Body Talk

To music of your choice:

Move your eyebrows up and down, move your nose like a bunny, move your cheeks like a frog, move your mouth like a fish, move your tongue like a lizard, move your arms like a gorilla!

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Cooking with Children: Make it Fun, Safe & Memorable!

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Sharing the kitchen with your child can not only create a lifetime of happy memories, but can also instill valuable life lessons from a young age. Through baking, cooking and even cleaning up, children can develop and express their creativity and independence; explore new foods; learn about nutrition; enhance their math, reading and science skills; and, most importantly, spend valuable quality time with mom, dad and siblings.

Below are a few tips to help make kitchen time with your little one fun, safe and memorable:

Always stress cleanliness and safety in the kitchen.

  • Wash hands before, after and as-needed during the process.
  • Provide your child with a sturdy, non-slip step stool to stand on so they are at your level.
  • Use kid-friendly wood or plastic utensils.
  • Let them choose their own apron or buy a plain one that they can personalize with fabric markers. Covering up will help cut down on the cleanup afterward.
  • Keep sharp knives, graters and other dangerous tools/appliances away from small hands.
  • Explain that only mom and dad can use the stove, oven and other electrical appliances.
  • Supervise your child closely. Stay in the room until the cooking is complete. If you need to leave for some reason, take them with you.

Include your child in the preparation.

  • Decide together what to make.
  • Read the recipe together thoroughly and gather all ingredients before beginning.  Take them shopping with you for the ingredients and/or have them help select what you need from the cupboard.

Start out easy.

  • When first introducing your child to the joy of baking, use simple recipes with basic ingredients and uncomplicated instructions.
  • Box mixes are a great way to get started. They usually ask for only two or three added ingredients and provide easy-to-follow, detailed instructions right on the box.
  • As your child learns more about the cooking and baking process, feel free to introduce more complex recipes.

Let them do it.

  • This is a great learning opportunity for your little one, so let them measure and pour ingredients into the bowl. It’s not only a good math lesson, but also bolsters their confidence.

Taste and praise!

  • Learning to cook and bake should be a fun experience for your child, so always be enthusiastic about tasting their masterpiece and praise the effort and the outcome, no matter what. They’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment and be excited for their next cooking adventure!

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Posted in Activities, Nutrition, Tips | 2 Comments »

What is Positive Discipline?

Friday, January 8th, 2010

The Difference between Discipline and Punishment

Mom-daughter2Contrary to popular belief, discipline and punishment are not equal.  Discipline is positive and should prevent the need for punishment.  In fact, the word “discipline” is derived from the Latin “disciplina” which means teaching or education.  Discipline helps to guide children toward positive behavior, promotes self-control, encourages children to think before acting and is not damaging to their self-esteem.  Punishment, on the other hand, is negative – whether physical, verbal, withholding rewards or penalizing.

Positive discipline teaches children rules and behaviors in a respectful, loving and considerate way.  It requires thought, planning and patience from parents and caretakers, such as:

  • “No, don’t run inside!” becomes, “What happened to our walking feet?  Where do we use our running feet?”  or “We will go outside soon and you can show me how fast you can run.”
  • “No, don’t throw the blocks!” becomes, “When did our blocks grow wings?” or “Let’s try building a castle and see what happens!”

Use positive discipline to redirect your child’s behavior, and you validate the legitimacy of your child’s desires and shows you care and understand.  Redirecting endorses your child’s right to choose and begins to teach that others have rights, too.

Children also respond to reasoning – it just needs to be put into their language.

  • ‘Inside feet’ versus ‘outside feet’
  • ‘Soft hands’ versus ‘hard hands’
  • ‘Inside voices’ versus ‘outside voices’

Create a Positive Environment

  • Show the love; smile, touch, hold, caress, kiss, cuddle, rock and hug your child!  This will not only make your child feel secure and happy, but is essential for normal social development.
  • Listen and answer as an equal – not as an instructor.  This will help build your child’s self-esteem and foster respect.
  • Spend time with your child every day.  Make time every day to drop everything and play with your child – even if it’s only for a couple of minutes.  Your child will realize they don’t need to have a temper tantrum to gain your attention.
  • Catch your child doing something good – praise and compliment!  “You’re doing a great job feeding yourself and keeping your food on your plate!”
  • Provide simple rules and state them in positive terms.
  • Demonstrate the behavior you want your child to adopt – actions speak louder than words.

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Fun and Learning with Your “Little Chef” in the Kitchen

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

veggies

Cooking with children requires time, patience, and some extra cleanup, especially when the children are younger. But it is well worth the effort.

Cooking can provide a great outlet for bonding with your child. Some of the lessons children learn in the kitchen reinforce what they’ve been learning in school, like basic math (counting eggs, pouring water into measuring cups), science (exploring with senses: listening to a mixer, pounding dough and watching it rise, smelling it bake in the oven, then tasting it) and language skills (reading a recipe together and introducing new vocabulary, listening skills developed when following steps in a recipe).

Start off with tasks that can be easily executed. This will encourage your child to keep on trying, and they’ll feel very good about themselves when the task is complete. Here are some examples of simple tasks to get your “little chef” started in the kitchen:

  • Stirring and adding ingredients
  • Tearing lettuce
  • Helping to read a cookbook by turning pages
  • Sprinkling cheese
  • Using cookie cutters
  • Pouring ingredients that are cool/cold
  • Setting the table

When cooking with children, always stress safety. You must establish all the rules before getting started:

  • What is OK to touch and what will hurt them
  • What is strictly for adults
  • Proper hand washing

Including your child in the kitchen can encourage a more adventurous palate and healthy eating patterns. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce healthy eating choices into a child’s life. More importantly, cooking with your “little chef” can boost their self-esteem once the task at hand is complete. Children are usually proud of their cooking accomplishments!

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