Kids activity with multiple benefits...

Hello all you beautiful people.

The summer vacation is upon us and that means it’s not just the heat but also the children’s free time that will take its toll on us. Of course we all are by now looking for summer classes, play dates and outing to keep the little brats busy. But well guess what we have like almost 90 days of vacation and phew that’s quite a bit! I have not yet found any activity or sets of activities to span this period.

A lot has been written and read about educational activities, activities to develop fine motor skills, gross motor skills, sensory play etc… but don’t we all know that when the child puts up a tantrum she just creates a scene no matter what. And all those readings go down the drain. Keeping up the child’s mood and in turn outs is one hell of a task. No two days are identical and well we have to fend for ourselves every single day. Which also means that if you have planned for a particular activity for the day there is no assurance that your child will be
in a mood to do it. Why? Well because they have a mind of their own that constantly seems to be running in the directions that cause us inconvenience. Hmn you think I am unreasonable? Not really its plain experience [about 4.5 yrs now].

So on those days when nothing seems to work sit back, take a deep breath and just go for the basics. Here’s something I did on a day he refused to draw/paint/write etc..

Little chef cleaning pudina

I got my son to clean Pudina for me :) yup that simple!! Of course it was messy but guess what; not the gooey, mucky mess. I showed him how to pluck each leaf at a time. It was like a challenge and I kept on telling him to stop if he got tired, and he wanted to keep at it. So besides being a great help, I realised it turned out to have multiple benefits. Here’s how:

•          Concentration: He had to pull out one leaf at a time, no stems allowed also each leaf he choose had to be clean and nice. Now that surely required concentration
•          Fine motor skill development: Using of just two fingers to pluck the leaves help in development of fine motor skills
•          Sensory play: I got him to feel the texture of the pudina leaf and other leaves. The pudina leaf has a textured surface. I got him to feel it on his palms, hands and cheeks. He enjoyed the game and said it tickled him. I also got him to smell the leaves several times and taste it.
•          Learning science: This was a good science revision, he named the parts of the plant. He identified the leaves, stem and also indicated where the roots could be and clearly mentioned they go deep into the soil.
•         Last but not the least it helps in hand and eye coordination.

All in all it was fun and afternoon well spent. Then he wanted to know what I will do with the cleant pudina and its uses in cooking etc.. will pick that up on another day :) . 

This time it was pudina, sometimes I get him to help me with cleaning of Methi, and sometimes with shelling of peas. You could get creative with the kinds of activity. 

Do visit my other posts related to kids here, here and here.

Do write in with you experience if you do get a chance to try any of the above activities.http://aartirathodartandmore.blogspot.in/p/kids-activity.html