Guess who ? #BlogchatterA2Z

Guess Who is one of the most interesting and enjoyable family games. You can sit together as a family, play this game with your kids and make a lot of memories together.

A traditional Guess Who game is board game which can be played by two players. There are a set of same cards for both the players . One person has to give some clues and the other person has to guess who the person is talking about. There are various men and women cards. You can give clues ,like  the colour of eyes, hair, if the person has a mustache or not. This game is easily available online or at any toy store.

You can also make your own DIY Guess Who  game. You can make your own Animal theme cards or different object cards. Give your child some clues game that kids love is We clues , It jumps on trees, loves to eat bananas, has a long tail. The child has to guess what animal is it .

Another DIY game that you can play with your child is “ What’s in the Box “.  Take any cardboard box with a lid, decorate it with your child and then secretly put a few things in the box. The child can shake it , turn it but is not allowed to open it. You can give a clue at a time. For eg. It is round and is blue in colour. The child has to guess that it is a blue ball.

“ I spy with my little eye “ is a another wonderful game which the kids love to play. You can play this game for guessing colours, words, objects. This keeps kids occupied when you are travelling or even when you are in the kitchen, along with doing your work, you can play this game .

Importance of guessing games for kids :

• Builds a bond with your kids :

When you sit together as a family and play a game with your child, it actually bonds you with your child. These special moments become wonderful memories.

• Improves Creativity :

By playing “ I Spy “ game or DIY Guess who game, your child gets to think and it will give him more ideas which will help him in improving his creativity and cognitive skills.

• Wonderful alternative to screen time :

Kids love to watch TV. Playing games like Guess who are a good way to keep kids screen free ,utilize their time and energy in a more productive manner where they are using their cognitive skills and are also learning at the same time.

• Helps in developing  Reasoning skills :

Guessing games helps in improving a child’s logical and reasoning skills. They use their skills to think and guess the correct answer. Also think of different clues to give you which helps in developing their over all reasoning and logical skills.

• Enhances challenging spirits :

In a guessing game, the player who guesses the maximum correct answers wins. So this game builds a challenging spirit in kids to win and do better.

• Improves  Memory :

When the kids play the guessing game, they have to remember the clues, think and then answer the question. This helps in boosting their memory.

• Improves social skills :

You can play guessing game with kids when you have a play date at home too. This way the kids learn how to play together and improves their team building skills.

• Improves Vocabulary :

When a child plays a guessing game, he learns a lot of new words, which help to improve his overall vocabulary.

You can start playing guessing games with you child from the age of 2.5 years.

Do share in comments, if your child likes to play Guessing games ?

Why is Finger Painting important for babies and toddlers ? #blogchatterA2Z

I love to paint and explore different mediums of colour. I have used water colour, fabric colour , poster colour and oil paints on canvas. Painting gives expression to my thoughts.

I want my son to learn painting too.I started doing a lot of painting activities with T when he was a baby. Finger painting is our favourite activity.

Young children love messy play. This gives them  opportunity to use their hands and finger freely to create whatever they want. There are a lot of sensory experiences going on during this time which are very important for your little one to experience.

You do not have to create a big fancy painting set up for your child. All you need is a sheet of paper and some paints. You can start finger painting with babies who are as young as 9-10 months old. These days the paints which are available in the market are also non toxic. even if they put their fingers in their mouth, it won't harm them

Benefits of Finger Painting :

• Stimulates your child's senses :

When kids or babies do finger paintng, it stimulates their all their senses, i.e sense of sight -they see beautiful paints of different colours, sense of touch - they can touch the paints and feel the texture, smell - kids can smell the paint and can tell whether it smells nice or yucky! sense of taste - these days you get edible paints which if kids  put in their mouth is not harmful.

• Excellent for fine motor skills :

Babies and toddlers do not have a proper grip in their fingers to hold a pencil. Finger painting is a wonderful way to improve their fine motor skills because the kids move their fingers to paint which improves their fine motor skills.It strengthens their fingers and hand muscles. It is also easy for little babies to to paint with their fingers as their fingers are not yet ready to hold the brush.

• Helps child's Intellectual Development :

While painting, a child uses a variety of colours, so it is helpful in colour recognition. It is pure joy to see when they mix two colours to form a third colour. It is like magic for a child.

• Improves Creativity :

Finger Painting give kids a platform to show their creativity. They use colours and use their imagination to paint with their fingers. They can imagine extensively and make beautiful paintings.

• Hand eye co-ordination:

One of the most essential benefit of finger painting is that it promotes hand eye co-ordination and control.

• Spatial Awareness :

It helps to create spatial awareness and muscle control, if the painting is done on the floor.

• Communication and social skills :

Develops communication skills when finger painting is done as a group activity. The child gets to talk and interact with his peers. Also, it promotes social skills, like sharing pots, working together as a team.

•  Calms the child:

Studies have proved that painting is a relaxing, therapeutic way to express feelings.

• A lot of fun :

Finger painting is messy which means it is a lot of fun and the kids love it. 

Have you ever tried Finger Painting with your child ?

Experiments and Early Childhood Education #BlogchatterA2Z

As a child, I hated Science. Maybe because my fundamentals were not clear. Now , as a mom, I try my best to explain all concepts practically to my son. I want him to understand each concept what he is studies in school.  I feel it is always best to start early. I can say from my experience , from a very young age I never liked Science and then never put in any extra effort in that subject. 

But as a mom, you can change that for your child. Kindergarten is a magical phase for kids. Everything  is a surprise for them. Take this opportunity and make the most of it. Introduce simple topics in a fun manner. This can be done from the very basics, simple things like shapes, forms of water.Perform as many experiments as you can with your child. Some people might think that it is too early to start with experiments at this stage. But actually it is not early. By doing this you will create a strong base for your child.

Simple experiments that you can perform with you child are :

Germination of a seed and parts of a plant :

Involve you child from the beginning of the experiment. Get some seeds from the market and sow them with your child. Tell him that it is his plant and he has to water it everyday. Gradually the seed with germinate and a small plat will begin to grow. Then it will have leaves, buds and flowers.

Life cycle of a Butterfly :

You can make finger print butterfly and pupa, eggs with rice and caterpillars with pompoms on a sheet of paper. Explain to the child that butterflies lays effs on a leaf, eggs become caterpillars, caterpillars turn into a pupa and pupa becomes a butterfly.

Forms of Water :

Freeze water to form ice, melt the water to form liquid and then boil the water to form steam.

These are a few examples of experiments which you can easily do with a child who is three years old.

Importance of Experiments for Kindergarten Kids :

•  The skill of observation:

The experiments teach small kids to observe and be aware of what is going around them. 

• Builds Problem Solving skills :

Kids from an early age get into the habit of putting their best efforts to solve any problem which is in front of them.

• Improves Concentration:

Science demands concentration. Starting with experiments at an early age and understanding the concepts helps in improving kids concentration levels.

• Improves Intellectual Curiosity :

It helps children in becoming inquisitive about a lot if processes and improves overall understanding of the world.

Kids learn about the properties of certain materials and discover that those properties can be observed, measured and predicted.

• Improves Retention:

By doing various science experiments, observing the outcome,kids memory and the retention power improves.

Do you also perform experiments with your child ? If you doplease share in comments which is your child's favourite experiment.

Why is drawing important for kids ? #Blogchattera2z

From the time a child is a toddler, we teach him how to draw. But what does drawing mean ? In simple terms, a drawing is a picture made with a pencil, pen or crayons rather than paint.

Science has proved that drawing helps in a child's emotional growth. It is true that a child's grip is not firm but some toddlers are able to scribble early. Mostly kids who are above two and half years old start drawing . With time you will notice how much he enjoys and how vast his imagination grows.

Importance of Drawing for kids :

Improves their Fine Motor Skills :

Fine Motor skills includes any specialized movements of hands, wrists and fingers. When a child draws, he uses his fine motor skills, which are very helpful to develop a firm grip.

Improves hand eye co-ordination:

When a child draws he is uses his finger muscles and it helps in improving the hand movements along with his co-ordination. This hand eye co-ordination is very helpful for a lot of other areas, like sports and other areas of child development as well.

Improves Creativity :

When you give a paper and a pencil to a child and ask him to scribble, over time you will notice that his creativity improves a lot. A child's imagination has no boundaries. Whatever he imagines, he tries to express on a paper. This is very helpful at later stages in a child's life too. Being creative can help him choose his career too.

Boosts Confidence:

You should notice a child's expressions when you tell a three or a four year old , how well he has drawn something. When you display his masterpiece on the fridge or in your room, his level of confidence has no limits!  He is happy and wants to do even better. This confidence helps him in other areas of his life too. Once he is confident, he will always want to do better in life.

Helps in Early Childhood Education:

Science has proved that drawing stimulates both sides of the brain. It is a form of expression. When a child draws, his brain is relaxed. it helps in the growth of emotional and physical aspects of brain. This further helps in increasing the capacity of child's memory, attention and  concentration. Also it helps in developing a child's reading skills, children do better in math and science.

Encourages Visual Analysis :

Children do not understand the basic science behind so many things. Drawing becomes the perfect opportunity for learning of so many things. Having a child draw specific items, helps him perform a visual analysis of so many things which he sees in everyday life. To support this kind of drawing, prompt your child at home to draw examples of big and small, far and near, rough and smooth.

Builds Concentration :

You will notice as your child starts to enjoy drawing, his concentration levels will increase. He will learn how to observe small details, concentrate on achieving  specific results and practice till he becomes perfect. This will also help him do better academically.

Teaches Creative Problem Solving :

Along with visual analysis and concentration, drawing encourages your child to solve problems creatively. As he draws, he finds out he best way to depict emotions or connect body parts or describe various textures.

Tips to encourage a child to draw who doesn't like drawing :

Being a mom myself, I understand that we want our kids to draw but there are some kids who do  not have an interest in drawing. To help those kids to draw, one could use below tips and methods of encouragement :

Give him something interesting to draw with :

Sometimes pencils becomes very boring for the child to draw with. Give him other options like soft pastels, pencil colours, sketch pens, wet chalk and coloured liners.

Other interesting things to draw on :

Sometimes the regular drawing book becomes very boring to draw. Give him other interesting options, like get a clipboard and take the drawing outside, draw on a big cardboard box, draw on a really long piece of paper or a very small piece of paper.

Do not force him to draw :

Some kids shy away from drawing because they feel that they cannot draw properly. Give him lots of options to draw, do not force him to draw and let him be alone when he is  drawing. By doing this he will not be conscious that someone is watching him.

Make it interesting :

Show him a flower or blocks or his favourite toy. Ask him to draw what he sees.

Give him interesting reasons to draw , like someone's birthday card, a thank you note to his teacher, a Diwali card or a Christmas card.

Help your child see objects :

If you are sitting with your child, show him different shapes around you. For eg, the bed is rectangle in shape, the cushion is a square. Show him the beautiful flowers around him.

Draw with your child :

This is a wonderful way to spend quality time with your child. Draw along with your child. This will encourage him to draw with you and he will definitely use his imagination to draw  better.

Be positive, not critical:

Your child will definitely make some distorted shapes and figures. Appreciate his efforts and praise him for what he has drawn. With time he will certainly draw better.

Keep the drawing supplies handy :

Keep all the drawing  books, sheets pencils , crayons at your child's reach. This will help him pick up the paper and pencil whenever he wants to and will definitely start drawing on his own.

Be patient, kids take time to build an interest in any activity. 

How did you inculcate an interest in drawing in your child ?Do share your experiences in comments.

Crafts for Kids #BlogchatterA2Z

According to Wikipedia,  " A craft is a pass time or a profession that requires a particular skill or knowledge of skilled work. " Did you know that engaging kids in craft activities help in improving a lot of skills. You can start doing small craft activities with your child when he is as young as fifteen  months old. 

For any craft activity, you do not need any expensive materials. The most common materials used for any craft activity are coloured paper, sketch pens, paints, scissors , glue. These are the basic materials with which you can make a lot of interesting crafts. For eg.  Toddlers love animals, you can make different animal faces and involve your child in the process. When kids see something practically, they learn faster. 

Importance of craft activities for kids are :

Builds Confidence :

When a child makes a craft, it gives him a sense of achievement that he has accomplished something. It boosts his morale and gives him confidence to do even better.

Builds Patience:

Each activity takes time and has steps to complete. Sitting through each activity and completing it requires a lot of patience.

Hand Eye Coordination:

To do any craft activity, it is very important to have  proper coordination. By doing various craft activities, the hand eye coordination of your child improves, which is very important when he starts school.

It teaches kids to follow instructions :

To make any craft involves a lot of steps. It teaches kids to follow instructions and complete each step. He understands the importance of listening to elders.

Improves  fine motor skills:

Each craft activity has involves cutting, gluing, sticking, drawing,colouring within lines,etc. which helps to improve his fine motor skills.

Improves Creativity :

Making crafts is a creative process. Once your child starts making crafts, he uses his imagination to make unique and different things.

Improves Vocabulary :

Some kids are shy and do not express themselves. By making crafts, they get confident and talk about what they have made.

Improves social skills:

Crafting is a great activity at any kids party. Set up a craft theme and let kids interact and make a craft together as a team.   This way they get to interact with others.

This is also a wonderful way for a parent and child to bond together :

Making crafts together gives you the time to spend some quality time with your child and make lots of memories together. You also get to talk and interact more with your child.

Some kids take time in building an interest in a craft activity. We should be patient and repeat the activity a number of times with him so that he is interested in it. From one craft activity you can make you child learn colours, shapes, patterns and even build a story  around it.

Do you like making crafts with your child ? Do share in comments .

#crafts #kidsactivities #activitiesforkids #preschoolactivities 

Building Blocks And Their Importance #BlogchatterA2Z

All kids love to play with blocks. But what are building blocks ? In simple language, building blocks are a set of cube shaped blocks used by children to make simple constructions. Toy blocks can be wooden, plastic or foam pieces of different shapes and colours. Sometimes they depict letters of the alphabets and numbers. They are also very powerful learning tools.

Small children feel accomplished and very happy when they make their block tower higher and higher. When it tips over, they laugh and do it all over again. It seems very easy to us to make one tower. But for small kids it takes a lot of skill !. Building blocks is one of the best educational toys for toddlers which develops multiple skills .

I got a set of stacking blocks and colourful rings for my son when he was about ten months old.Initially I sat with him and helped him stack up the blocks but gradually he was able to do it himself. After stacking the proud expression on his face that he has accomplished something is so precious!

The benefits of building blocks are :

• Better Motor Skills :Grasping blocks is not easy for small babies. The act of grasping blocks itself serves as a good practice for gripping objects and strengthens the fingers and hands of the child.
• Improves Creativity :Kids are very creative. You give them any toy or object and they can play with it, make a story out of it and can surprise you with their creativity . If they are exposed to building blocks at an early age, you will see that they start thinking creatively and create some wonderful structures.
• Hand Eye Co-ordination :The child learns to place the blocks in such a way that it doesn't topple over.
• Building Blocks help in promoting Mental Stimulation :Children learn to think logically while playing with building blocks. After failing a few times, the child realizes how to build the blocks properly. An older child realizes that he has to make a stronger base at the bottom and then construct upwards.
• Helps in improving mathematical and vocabulary skills : It has been proved that building blocks help in improving child's language and mathematical skills. While playing with blocks, they can learn the names of colours, different shapes and sizes of blocks. Mathematical skills are improved as they learn how to count, add up or subtract the number of blocks while making a structure.
• Toy blocks promote better spatial reasoning :Spatial reasoning means that a child can generate, retain , retrieve, and transform well structured visual images. Over a period of time, after putting blocks together, they become aware of their spatial intelligence.
• Toy blocks encourages positive social interaction :Building blocks are a great way for kids to play together as a team. They learn to work together, accomplish a task and work together as a team.. When this starts happening at an early age, they learn great communication and social skills.

Tips : Getting most from your toy blocks :

• Play along with your child and demonstrate how to build a structure. Challenge kids with specific building tasks. For eg., you can show them a pattern or a picture and ask them to make the same .
• Stimulate interest in toy blocks by providing them other accessories along with the blocks. For eg.You can give them a car or people or a cow, they might think of making a barn, this is also great for pretend play.
• Combine blocks with story time. This is a wonderful way of  making kids use their imagination. After reading the story, you can give them a set of blocks and ask them to make something related to the story.

Does your child like to play with blocks ? Do share in comments .

#buildingblocks #toyblocks #kidsactivities #preschoolactivities #kindergartenactivities #activitiesforkids

Why are Activities important for kids ? #blogchatterA2Z

All of  us talk about  making kids do activities. But what is an activity ? An activity is something that you spend time doing. As per Google , " An activity is something that you do or just the state of doing ."

Engaging kids in various activities from the time they are babies is very important. You can easily plan small activities at home for your baby and toddlers. It will not only keep him engaged but also are very important for his overall development.

You do  not need to buy expensive toys or materials to plan activities for babies and kids. You can make the most of what is available with you.

For small babies, you can try the following activities :

•  Regular tummy time and floor play is very important for babies. Tummy time helps in developing muscle strength and control. It also helps in letting your baby see the world from a different perspective.
• Peekaboo :This is great for your baby's social and emotional development.
• Gentle tickles or with objects like feather or with objects like cloth or foam. This helps in the sense of touch.
• You can place a lot of different objects around your child. This will help your child in recognition of colour, size and shape. Also it will encourage your child to reach and grasp it.
• Sturdy furniture, toys or boxes. These can get your child crawling, standing or walking.

You can engage the toddlers with following activities :

• Dress up games, pretend play or make a tent out of a bed sheet. Let him use his imagination and have fun.
• Give him bubble wrap, cardboard boxes , kitchen utensils. Let him explore different material and their sounds.
• Put on your kids favourite music and let him dance.
• Give a lot of different coloured objects to your child and ask him to sort each colour.

You can engage preschoolers in following activities:

• Start with various alphabet and number activities with preschoolers. For eg, alphabet matching , number matching, circle the correct alphabet and number respectively.
• Jigsaw puzzles are the best to keep him occupied.
• You can involve him in helping you with household chores.
• The kids love sensory activities. Make a sensory bin at home with whatever material is available at home .

Physical Activity :

Along with indoor activities, it is very important for kids to go out and play.  Regular physical activity helps in  building strong bones and muscles and controls weight 

Importance of activities for kids :

• If you do activities with your child from the time he is a baby, it becomes a routine for him. 
• It brings in a sense of discipline and time that he has to finish an activity in a given set of time.
• The child is busy and doesn't ask for screen time.
• It improves his cognitive, fine  motor , gross motor ,social and emotional skills.
• It build his imagination and he is able to think creatively.
• It improves his concentration and over all hand eye co-ordination.

Your child's early years are very important for his overall growth. Make the most of it and spend maximum time with him.