Synopsis
Book by Tom McMahon
Extrait
Chapter 1: PLAY TIME
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
-- Albert Einstein
In a child's world, a doll comes to life, wooden blocks are transformed into cities, and a pail of water becomes an ocean of fun. These types of activities -- creative play -- seem to be the most enjoyable for children and certainly keep their attention the longest. For example, I sometimes pause at my daughters' bedroom door to sneak a peek into their imaginative world. I recently watched my three-year-old put her "babies" to bed. Catching my eye, she held her index finger to her lips and whispered, "Shhh, babies night-night." My six-year-old, only a few feet away, was building a skyscraper with her blocks and Legos. Concentrating with the intensity of an architect, she paused briefly before placing each new piece on the structure. These creative moments stimulate a child's intellectual development, say the child-care experts. And some adults actually credit these early experiences with influencing their career paths many years later.
After repeatedly seeing my children abandon an expensive new toy for the box it came in, I finally learned that simple props found around the house could inspire the best creative play. The abandoned toy could be only one thing, but that simple brown box became their hideout, a crib for their babies, and a "car" to push each other around in. Many store-bought toys, especially the fad toys hyped by the media, can't hold my daughters' attention the same way creative play can. For example, my six-year-old and her friend recently complained of being bored; they had exhausted their toy supply in a matter of minutes. Looking around for something to occupy their time, I yanked the bedspread off my daughter's bed and draped it over three chairs, creating a tent. They shrieked with anticipation, disappeared under the bedspread, and played heartily for two hours. On another occasion, I lined up four chairs and yelled, "All aboard." As they boarded the "train," both girls were shouting out destinations they wanted to travel to. They took turns being the conductor, whose primary job was to take care of a stubborn passenger, our three-year-old.
Arts and crafts are fun and stimulating for young children, and the possibilities of projects are endless. Books, puzzles, games, and television (although, in my opinion, it needs to be used judiciously) are other favorite activities for most young children. Books provide one of the most important activities a child can engage in, from enjoying the pictures to learning how to read (see Chapter 4). Puzzles are another activity that young children are drawn to, from a simple four-piece puzzle for toddlers to a one-hundred-piece jigsaw for older children. Not only are they fun and challenging, but they help children learn sizes, shapes, and colors. Parlor games are fun and have a tendency to bring the whole family together.
To help bring order to the wonderful world of playtime, I have arranged the following activity tips into ten separate sections: Indoor Activities, Pretend Play, Outdoor Fun, Quitting a Favorite Activity, Arts and Crafts, Recycling "Masterpieces," Toys, Coping with Toy Clutter, Storing Toys, and Quick Cleanup. These innovative activities offer hours of fun and adventure for you and your children.
INDOOR ACTIVITIES
RAINY DAY/SICK DAY BOX: For a rainy-day activity or when a child is sick in bed, bring out a special box of toys and games to which your child does not usually have access. Karin Poe, Fremont, California
PICK AN ACTIVITY: Decorate a shoe box with your child and place in it strips of paper, each suggesting an activity which you and your child can do together. When your child is bored or you want to share some quality time, pull out a piece of paper and have fun. D.L., Tarsa, Michigan
A LIST OF THINGS I CAN DO BY MYSELF: Ask your children to list twenty or more things they can do all by themselves (reading, drawing, etc.). Save this list and present it to them the next time they say, "I don't have anything to do." It reminds them of fun projects they can accomplish all by themselves. Rebecca Robinson, San Jose, California
TREASURE HUNT: Make up three-by-five cards with a drawing of easily recognizable places in the house and/or yard -- such as crib, refrigerator, mailbox, etc. Help the child find the place pictured on the first card, where she will find the picture card leading to the next hidden card and the next, etc.; and on to the last place, where the "treasure" is to be found. Mr. and Mrs. Roland Giduz, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
A GUESS BOX: A small container such as an empty tissue box or round oatmeal container makes a great guess or touch box. Take turns with your children placing a surprise item in the box. The other person has to guess what's inside just by touching it. It's a fun game and great for language development. Janice Fonteno, Union City, California
JUNK MAIL FOR KIDS: Place unopened junk mail in a colorful shoe box, and save it for a "rainy day" or a "rainy hour"! When your child announces that he is bored, hand him his shoe box. He will spend considerable time opening, examining, and playing with junk mail. Junk mail often contains colorful stickers as well as interesting response envelopes which can be filled and licked -- the best part. Almost all junk mail contains forms for filling in your name, address, and telephone number. This is great practice for an older child. Make certain that none of this mail gets posted or you will triple or quadruple your volume of junk mail! Barbara Allen, Palo Alto, California
GARAGE FUN ON A RAINY DAY: During a recent rainy day, I moved the car out of the garage and brought in all my children's large plastic outdoor toys (small slide, seesaw, basketball hoop, etc.). Our garage turned into an outdoor-play area where the children spent the entire afternoon. Elaine Minamide, San Diego, California
"POOL" PARTY DURING THE SNOWY WINTER: We live in a snowy climate where winters can be long. Sometimes, I fill the bathtub, let the girls put their bathing suits on and get out the Popsicles, and let them play in the bathtub. I sit in the bathroom and read the newspaper or a magazine while they are splashing away. Emily Allen Martinez, Park City, Utah
$$ INEXPENSIVE BUILDING BLOCKS: At many lumber yards, cabinet shops, or construction sites, end cuts of wood in various sizes and shapes are available at little or no cost. When properly sanded to avoid cuts and slivers, a box of these pieces of wood will provide creative play materials for children to construct towers, bridges, cities, vehicles, figures, or whatever comes into their minds. Neil McCallum, Santa Cruz, California
$$ MARBLES ROLL THROUGH PIPE STRUCTURES: Children love to play and create with pieces of regular PVC pipe and an assortment of connectors. They enjoy connecting the pieces together to make engineering marvels. My children especially enjoyed making curving tubes to roll their marbles through. The pipe and connectors are inexpensive and available at most hardware stores. Buy one or more long sections of pipe and an assortment of connectors (elbows, T's, etc.). Cut the pipe in various sizes that will store easily in a box. Jim Stuka, Escondido, California
Let only older children play with marbles. They can be choking hazards for younger children
MOVABLE LEGO STRUCTURES: Our children construct their Lego sets on various-sized particle boards. Then, if we need to move the structure or clean under it, all we have to do is lift the particle board. The Lego structure always stays intact, and our children don't fuss about having to rebuild. Lorrie Rubio, Fremont, California
$$ CLOTHESPINS ARE ENTERTAINING: For an inexpensive game on a rainy day, try clothespins (not the spring type) and a plastic gallon milk jug. Babies can shake the jug and toddlers can empty it. Preschoolers can count the pins and fill and empty the jug. School-age children can make a game out of standing up straight, holding the clothespins close to their noses, and trying to drop the pins inside the jug. Kim VanGorder, Cary, North Carolina
HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES -- OUT OF SEASON: Holiday activities can be even more fun to do on nonholidays. For example, I always purchase an extra egg-dyeing kit during Easter. Then, on a rainy day I'll pull out the kit and my children will decorate eggs. My son and I recently decorated the house for Halloween -- in February. Terry LeMonchbck, Pasadena, California
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, TRY A HOME VIDEO: One of the fastest ways of quieting children down is to turn on a home video that contains pictures of themselves or people they know. They will often stop what they are doing and just stand or sit in front of the TV and relive that moment. Scott Hill, Newark, California
Hook your video camera to your TV set so the children can see themselves "live" on TV. Watch them entertain themselves.
MAGAZINES ARE FUN: Toddlers love to play with old magazines. When my daughter was a year old, I put her on the floor with about ten old magazines and showed her how she could tear out a page and then tear it into pieces or crumple it into a ball. She had a ball! Cathy Jones, Cold Spring, New York
OLD TEXTBOOKS BECOME FUN ACTIVITIES: I let my children play with the old textbooks I had stored in the garage. They can scribble in them, cut out pictures, or just browse through them. Offering books they are allowed to play with cuts down the number of new books that get damaged. Khush Lodhia, Fremont, California
TOY CATALOGUES: My children love to look at toy catalogs from stores like Sears or Penney's. Denise Fulford, Southlake, Texas
Be sure your child doesn't put the magazines in his mouth. Some use lead in their ink.
DOMINOES FOR KIDS: After hearing my children tell me how bored they were the other day, I got out my domino set. I showed them how to line up the dominoes in creative ways, then how to knock them over by pushing the last one against the next one in line. They squealed with delight as they watched the dominoes fall in progression. They played with the dominoes almost all afternoon and always asked me to come watch the next "knock down." S.D., Tacoma, Washington
PHOTO ALBUM FOR CHURCH: We belong to a small county church that does not have a nursery. My three-year-old has quite a time sitting still through an hour long service. Books and coloring books weren't working long enough, so I purchased an inexpensive pocket-size photo album and filled it with pictures of siblings, grandparents, pets, animals, and neighborhood friends. I change the pictures frequently and only bring it out in church. My son loves to sit and look at "his book." (I also take snacks.) Sheryl Saxton, Tekamah, Nebraska
INDOOR WATER FUN: Children love to transfer water from one container to another using eyedroppers. Using food coloring, I make each container of water a different color. Children love this activity and it's also good for their eye-hand coordination and color recognition. Janice Fonteno, Union City, California
HIGH-FLYING POPCORN: An exciting adventure in cooking for young children is to pop corn without a lid! I would put a sheet on the floor of the garage where there was plenty of space, set the electric frying pan in the center of the sheet, add a tiny bit of oil and popcorn, and watch the action! Our safety rules required that children could not go on or touch the sheet and the popcorn could not pop off the sheet. Verbal explanations were given to both the children and the popcorn, complete with shaking finger. When all the popping stops, along with delighted screams, the frying pan is removed and the children eat the corn from the outside of the sheet in. A great rainy-day activity. Fran Thole, Santa Clara, California
An air popper also works.
Make sure that an adult supervises the process at all times and keep children at a safe distance. Not recommended for children under three years old.
WINNER PICKS UP THE GAME: One of the best ideas I have come up with (and one my husband and I still follow every day) is "the winner picks up the game!" In my house, the winner of any game played is responsible for picking up and putting the game away. The winner, still flushed with victory, cheerfully accepts the price of winning. The loser saves face by leaving the room or saying something like, "At least I don't have to put the game away!" This rule has been strictly followed for years in our house. It has eliminated hard feelings after the loss of a game and identified very easily who was in charge of cleanup. Sue Crockett, Charlton, Massachusetts
"I CAN'T HOLD ALL THESE PLAYING CARDS IN MY HAND": My children loved to play cards, but their hands were too small to hold the cards dealt to them. To solve this problem, I turned a shoe-box lid under the shoe box. The children placed the cards between the lip of the lid and the box to make a good card holder. Kelly Robson, York, Nebraska
PRETEND PLAY
AN INDOOR TENT: Once or twice a year, I set up my small backpacking tent in the living room for my children to play in. They love to sleep in the tent at night and play "camp" during the day. It keeps them occupied for hours at a time and encourages creative play. If you don't have a real tent, drape a large blanket or sheet over a table. Thomas Leslie, San Diego, California
LARGE BOXES CREATE A-MAZE-ING THINGS: I kept five children and the entire neighborhood fascinated with a room full of large boxes from an appliance store. I tied the boxes together and made a circle out of them, and I cut holes from one box to the other and made a tunnel. I also put in little windows. I put some of the boxes on one side of the main tunnel and made little trapdoors for the kids to crawl through. The boxes were heavy enough that toddlers could crawl on top of them without the boxes falling in. Dr. W.W. Walker, Gastonia, North Carolina
STAR IN YOUR OWN MOVIE: If you have a camcorder, ask your children if they want to star in their own homemade movie. It can be a small family production, or you can invite the neighborhood children over. Older children can write and direct their own script; younger children will enjoy acting out a favorite story or fairy tale. Save the video for posterity; your children will enjoy it even more as adults. Anonymous, Mi-Wuk Village, California
PICNIC WITHOUT ANTS: To break up the monotony of having to stay indoors due to bad weather or illness, we have indoor picnics -- sometimes with a theme. We spread a blanket on the floor, bring sandwiches, chips, fruit, etc. Sometimes I'll pack it up and we will "hike" around the house to find the perfect spot. We have had teddy-bear picnics, doll picnics, and Disney Day picnics. To encourage imagination on these outings, we imagine trees, creeks, fish, birds, even deer. This can also be done in the back or front yard. Stacey Ann Morgan, Oakland, California
OUTDOOR FUN
FUN IN NUMBERS: Plan a two-month calendar of fun activities with three to five other moms (or dads). Each parent selects one or two activities that they plan and organize. Field trips and activities are more fun when shared with friends. Kathleen Waters, Fremont, California
SUMMER FRIENDS: Before your youngster says goodbye to his classmates for the summer, make sure you have the phone numbers and summer schedules of all his friends. If he gets...
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