Imagination

I found it difficult to imagine what gifts I should buy for my grandson for his birthday and for Christmas. Buying for a four year old is difficult if you have been away from young children for a long time. I was thinking of what I could do to help him stimulate his imagination. Imagination is for me one of the keys for creativity and the world needs creative and imaginative people who have confidence and the ability to follow through with their dreams.

Imagination, is the ability to form new images and sensations that are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other senses and small children have this ability more than some adults, and rather than discourage we need to encourage this form of play.

Most experts agree on one point about early child development. In the first three years, the most important things parents can do is to establish a strong, nurturing relationship with their baby. This primary attachment creates the groundwork for self-confidence, the ability to learn new things, and the capacity for getting along with other people. Building a healthy relationship means picking your baby up, cuddling, responding to his or her cries. It means playing games, singing nursery rhymes, and reading aloud at bedtime. These seemingly innocuous activities, which many parents do without prompting, provide sensory input (sights, sounds, touch) that stimulates the young neurons and connections in your baby’s brain. This is an important form of learning.

Children start their imagination phase by the age of two. During this phase, they invent stories and cannot differentiate reality from fantasy.

Pretend play becomes more complex and interactive at three. It is no accident that preschools have plenty of props (plastic tools, kitchen gear, blocks, and dress-up clothes) for kids to pretend with.

Children learn by doing and imagining. When they pretend they are a police officer or parent, they have the freedom to explore at their own pace a world they are learning to navigate. They hold the power. They can express their emotions, punishing their pretend children as they've been punished. They learn to negotiate and solve problems (how to stop the bad guy or what to cook for dinner). They learn to walk in others' shoes, helping to develop empathy.

Creating stories about pretend characters encourages language development and abstract thinking. In addition, being able to see that a belt could be a lasso or a block could be an iPod is a precursor to realizing that those symbols on the page are actually letters and words.

To encourage imaginary play, have a stash of props handy for your children to explore boxes, clothes, shoes, household utensils, blocks, stuffed animals, and writing materials. Then step back and have fun watching what the props become.

Blowing bubbles

Every kid, no matter what age and expecially my grandson, loves blowing bubbles. So on a lazy September Friday the 13th afternoon, spend some time blowing bubbles and enjoying the simple pleasures of life. We defy you to find an exception. On a sunny day, it's a wonderful activity, whether it's just you and your grandchild or a whole gang of little ones. We have assembled our favourite bubble tricks, tips, and activities to help you make bigger, more colourful  more exciting bubbles together. Don't forget your camera! Bubbles make for great photo ops, too. Here are some ideas for playing with bubbles from  grandparents.com

Make Your Own Super Bubbles
Follow this recipe to make super strong bubbles. Add food colouring for extra fun. You will need:
1 package unflavoured gelatine
1 cup just-boiled water
1 1/2 to 2 ounces glycerine (available in the skin care aisle or at health food stores)
8 1/2 ounces Johnson’s Baby Shampoo
Stir the gelatine into the hot water until it’s dissolved. Mix in the glycerine and shampoo, gently stirring. The solution will gel as it cools.

Create Bubble Art Together

This project is messy, so do it outside or in a room prepared with newspaper or a tarp. You will need:

• Bowls for bubble solution
• Bubble solution
• Tempera paints in multiple colors
• Paper for your art

Set out one bowl for each color of paint you will use. Pour one cup of solution into each bowl, then add a teaspoon of tempera paint to each. Stir. Have your grandchild select a color and blow a bubble toward you. Your job is to "catch" the bubble, so it pops on the paper. The bursting bubble creates a unique splatter. Layer colors to make cool patterns. Switch roles and have fun seeing what designs you can create.

Make Your Own Bubble Wands

Wire hangers: Use pliers to stretch the hanger into a circle or oval. Be sure to cover any sharp edges with duct tape to prevent scrapes. For better bubbles, wrap the wand in cotton string or pipe cleaners, which will absorb liquid and allow you to blow bigger bubbles. Six-pack holders and produce baskets: Shapes like these make for amazing compound bubbles because they have multiple holes. Your fingers: This is a fun trick you and the kids can practice. Make an "OK" sign with your hand and dunk your finger-thumb circle into the solution. Blow through your hand wand. Use your imagination: Look around the house for plastic items with holes that you can try.

Blow Bubbles Within Bubbles

It's neat to show kids how you can blow bubbles inside bubbles (and even bubbles inside those bubbles). It's easy: Pour bubble solution into a shallow dish. Dip one end of a straw into the mixture, slowly blow a bubble, and rest it on the surface of the solution. Wet the straw end again in the solution and gently penetrate the bubble with it (a dry straw will pop the bubble). Repeat the first step to create a bubble inside the bubble. How many layers can you make?

Lava Lamp Experiment

This bubble science experiment is fun to do and watch. Make your own variations together. You will need:

• Clear pint glass or similar-size glass
• Water
• Vegetable oil
• Salt

Pour water into the glass until it is three quarters full. Add about 1/2 inch of oil to the water. It will float because it is less dense than water. Sprinkle salt into the glass and see what happens. Cool, right? Think of other powdery substances you can substitute for salt in the experiment — dirt, flour, sugar, etc. Is the effect the same, or does something different happen?

32 Ways to Keep the Kids Occupied

Great Ideas for Travelling Activities  

29. Car Colours:

Give each child a pen and piece of paper and tell them to choose a colour. From then on they have to mark down every time they see a car of the colour they have chosen.  The first person to spot say 15, or 30 cars of their chosen colour is the winner.

30. Alphabet Soup:

This is a game where everybody takes it in turns to come up with words beginning with the various letters of the alphabet. First person comes up with something for the letter “A” (apples), next person finds something with the letter “B” (boat) and so on.

X, U and Z are the most difficult, so it might be an idea to drop those letters. You can make the game harder by choosing categories such as famous people, or places or even animals and fruit.

31. Personal Bags

Let each child pack a small bag of their favourite toys and games to take with them. Make a rule that they are only allowed to take out one thing at a time, and they can only play with it for a certain amount of time, depending on the length of your journey.

Also encourage the kids to swap their toys/games if the journey is a long one so that they get a bit of variation in what they’re doing.

32. Travel Diary:

This one is extremely good for longer journeys, especially when you stop off at various places on the way. Each child will need a notepad and pen. The older ones can have disposable cameras and the younger ones can have art books and crayons.

Let them document the trip by taking pictures (or drawing) and writing notes about where they are, what they’ve seen and what they have done on the journey.

Not only will this keep them occupied, but it will also give YOU something to read on reflect on in time for the next journey.

No matter what the weather may be, rain, snow or shine, there’s something here for kids of just about all ages. 32 great activities and ideas to help you keep the kids occupied AND keep your sanity intact.

Finally a special happy birthday wish

Great Ideas for Travelling Activities for children

32 Ways to Keep the Kids Occupied

25. 20 Questions:

Everyone writes down a secret word which must be a noun (the name of an object). The others try to guess your word by asking questions about it.

Take turns until everyone has tried their word. You could have playoffs between the ones that stumped the lot, until only one was left.

26. Word Play:

This one is really good for older kids who are learning to read, write and spell.

Take it in turns to say a word. Any old word will do, the next person then has to take the last letter of the first word and think up another word and so on.

So say person one said “engine” person 2 would need to find a word beginning with the letter “e”, let’s say “elephant” next person in line would then have to find a word beginning with the letter “t”, such as “toys”.  The winner is the last person to be able to think up a word.

27. I Went To Market:

This is another memory game which is really popular with my kids. Everybody takes it in turn to say “I went to market and I bought….” and add what they bought. Next person has to say “I went to market and I bought…. And…”

This carries on until nobody can remember the list of things that got bought at market. Again, the last person to remember the whole list is the winner.

28. Find the Place:

Make a map of where you are going, but make it simple for the kids to understand. Write down names of cities, towns and villages that you will pass through on the way to your destination. Give the kids a pen/marker so that they can check off each place as you reach it. It’ll make the journey seem a lot shorter for them.

 

Summer is just started and you hear I'm Bored

Some thoughts on getting through the summer from Granparents.com for harried parents as well as grandparents

1. Play silly charades, says Penny Warner, author of Kids’ Party Games & Activities (Meadowbrook, 1993). Fill out cards with offbeat suggestions, such as Santa Claus on a tropical vacation or a monkey trick-or-treating. Take turns writing or drawing a card and acting out the phrase.

2. Put on a play. Kids can make up their own dramas or reenact favorite movies and TV shows. Use old cast-off clothes to make costumes.

3. Hold a talent show. All the kids can show off their skills, whether it’s doing a cartwheel, telling a joke, or singing a song. This also can be an opportunity to get to know your grandchildren better

4. Turn your names into a game. Warner suggests drawing a grid of five boxes down and five across; put the first five letters of the child’s name across in the top five boxes and one category down the five side boxes. Set a timer and have the kids write down an object in each category that starts with the letter at the top of the column. For example, if the child’s name is Rebecca, and the category is “Animals,” she could write "Rhino" and then "Elephant." The winner is the person with the most boxes filled when time expires.

5. Make papier mache figures. Dip paper strips in a mix of white glue and water (or make your own paste from flour and water) and layer them to cover a balloon. "Any balloon with newspaper, flour and water can become a pig, butterfly, or family bust!" says San Francisco educator Lonna Corder

6. Make soap sculptures. Mix powdered Ivory laundry soap and water until it takes on a clay-like consistency. Mold it into fun shapes. The best part: Any spills clean up easily.

7. Make gross goo and slippery slime. Warner’s slime recipe is simple: one cup cornstarch mixed with one cup water. To make goo, mix one cup cold water and eight ounces of white glue in one bowl. Also mix one tablespoon liquid starch and one-half cup hot water in another bowl. Add a few drops of your favorite food coloring to the starch and combine the two mixtures. The fun thing about goo and slime is that they are messy! Save yourself from a big cleanup and play outside.

8. Turn your kitchen into a sculpture studio. Make your own clay: Mix four cups flour, one cup salt, and one-and-one-half cups water. Mold figures and bake them in a 250-degree oven for two to three hours until firm. Even easier, use a can of ready-to-bake rolls from the fridge, says Lisa Kothari, a party planner and author of Dear Peppers and Pollywogs ... What Parents Want To Know About Planning Their Kids' Parties (Peppers and Pollywogs, 2007).

9. Have a scavenger hunt. Sue Johnson, coauthor of Grandloving: Making Memories With Your Grandchildren (Heartstrings, 2007), suggests looking around the house for objects in different categories, such as something squishy or something green. Or hide wrapped candies for a treasure hunt, says Kothari.

10. Have a spa day at home with your granddaughters. Kothari says bring out all your nail polishes and give one another manicures and pedicures.

11. Cook happy-face pancakes together. Have the kids use blueberries or raisins for eyes, melon for mouths, and bananas for hats, says Johnson.

12. Let the kids make outrageous cookie creations. Start with a plain cookie dough and help the little ones mix in condiments and decorations found in your cupboards, says Kothari. Some of the cookies may not taste great, but that is all part of the fun. You may discover a future chef in your family.

13. Make a time capsule. Use any old plastic container with a lid. Put in a copy of the day’s front page and notes or drawings from the kids. Bury it and dig it up together for their next birthday or school graduation.

14. Introduce your grandchildren to old-school games. Find a piece of chalk and teach them hopscotch or use cocktail stirrers and show them how to play pickup sticks.

15. Entertain younger kids by blowing bubbles yourself. Mix one cup of water, two tablespoons of glycerin, and 4 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid for hours of playtime fun. Use a drinking straw as a blower, or twist a paper clip into a loop or even loop some florist wire into a hoop.

16. Make memory movies, says Johnson. Let the kids use a video camera to interview you and other members of the older generation about your lives. Turn the camera around and let them tell you stories about their often funny lives.

17. Create a superhero. Use paper, pencils, crayons, and markers to help kids make their own comic books.

18. Have make-your-own story time. Start a story and pass it on to one of the grandchildren to continue. That grandchild passes it on to someone else and so on. You never know where the stories will go.

19. Decorate pickle and mason jars. Make designs out of scraps of colored tissue paper to decorate the jars. The transparency of the tissue paper makes a nice effect. Paint on your creations with white glue to finish off this crafty keepsake