Children do not need structured plays and preprepared activites. They create their own games. They are natural creators and imaginators. Children love to play with recyclables and pots & pans in the kitchen. The more structure we provide them in a game, the more it hinders their creativity. Expose every child to nature, touch, feel & smell nature. Take a magnifying glass and observe colors, patterns & textures.
As a naturalistic mother of four children my aim is to let my children feel connected with nature. Feel its beauty. Nature can teach us many lessons which books cannot. I am a big advocate of Flashcards. Reading is a visual activity. Children reading skills improve via flashcards. I have practiced 'Doman Method' with my children. And it works!
Parents buy alot of toys and games for children but never play with them. Our tradegy is that we do not have time to play with our children.
The more we interfere in their games, the more children feel intimidated. This prevents their thought process and they think 'all good ideas come from adults.' This is not true. Children create games and learn from this process.I remember in my childhood, my summer homework was to sit and write a page of every number, ‘one, two, three…’ I could never understand why I am writing the names of these numbers. ‘Eleven’ & ‘twelve’ were the odd ones out because all others ended in ‘teen.’
When I teach numbers to my children, I bring two dozen of banana and 1kg of Oranges. We sit and count them, play throw in the bin 5 oranges, which team can collect more bananas in 40 seconds. My children play these games in their playgroups with other children. At times I put up the flashcards (6 by 6 inches) with the number 5 or 7 on it and children have to collect that number of different fruits.
Recyclables; kitchen play
Window paints
Paint with your child
Play Dominos with them
Bird Watching
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