Young children love to talk about, and hear about, when they were “little”. Here’s a series of activities I like to do with young ones to talk about how they’ve grown.
Archives for October 2009
See How We've Grown!
Young children love to talk about, and hear about, when they were “little”. Here’s a series of activities I like to do with young ones to talk about how they’ve grown.
Positive Guidance: A Well-Stocked Toolbox
Imagine we’re all going into business together. You, me, and those other cyberfriends out there. We’re starting a fix-it shop and we’re about to open our doors. We will handle all kinds of problems: broken windows, leaky pipes, squeaky doors….You name it, we can fix it! We’re about to start fielding phone calls from frantic home owners with all kinds of problems, and we need to make sure everyone has their tools ready. So we all check out our toolboxes. In each toolbox is one, solitary hammer. It’s shiny and new, and handy in many different situations, but is it really enough to get us through every situation?
Pom-Pom Grab
My posts have been very wordy and heavy lately, so I thought I’d break it up a bit with an activity post. A while back I mentioned these fine motor activities, and I wanted to show one of my own adaptations here. I’m all about saving money, so instead of buying the cool ice cube tray, I used an empty Ferrero Rocher container I had on hand. You know, those delicious hazelnut chocolates. Their container is just the right size for medium sized pom-poms. Go ahead and buy yourself some. Do it for the children. If you’re morally opposed to self-indulgence, you could also use an egg carton, ice cube tray, or mini muffin tin. Just try to match the container as closely to your pom-pom size as possible.
Positive Guidance: Preventative Actions and Positive Reactions
As I mentioned before, we have to let go of the notion that we as adults need to control children’s behavior, and instead put the focus on helping them build their own self-control. There are some things we can control within each situation however. Among them, are the preventative actions we can take before a negative situation arises, as well as the positive reactions we can have to that behavior.
