Parenting on Purpose

I have been on a campaign to reduce the number of times in a day when I resort to putting on a DVD because I need the kids to self-entertain. This usually happens during meal preparation time or when I am trying to get ready for homeschool lessons. I think (or at least I tell myself) that even a simple activity like doodling or play dough will benefit them in the long run. At least they are developing their fine motor skills, creativity, and other age-appropriate skills which will help in learning readiness, instead of sitting passively on the sofa, eyes glued to the goggle box! So... As simple as these activities might sound, I am going to share them anyway, with the firm belief that even a simple time of play is better than an iPad game. Developing fine motor skills by rolling fine play dough balls. Start with some play dough. We make ours at home and it takes no more than 15 minutes. I like doing our own as I find the commercial brands tend to be sticky in our warm...

We have been a little concerned about our second son's tendency to ask for electronic devices. Mark and I discussed this and realised he asks to watch TV because he is bored, and because he picks things up so quickly, we need to have a whole range of activities to keep him meaningfully engaged throughout the day. This afternoon, his brother was out and I had him all to myself, so it was the perfect time to stretch his attention span and build his fine motor skills. We took out his favourite pom poms and I decided to add some tongs and a muffin pan to the picture. Here's what we did. Materials needed: - Pom poms - Tongs (I used the kind we had from our sterilising bottle days) - Tray/ shallow container - Muffin pan - Water bottle with drinking spout - Whatever else that would catch your toddler's imagination! Steps:  Show your toddler how to use the tongs to pick the pom poms from the tray and release them into the compartments of the muffin p...

We are starting a new section of our blog called "Five-Minute Fillers", because we have realised that a lot of our readers are busy parents who wish to spend quality time with their children but are tired after a long day at work. Or you may be looking for ideas as to how to keep your little "preschooler hurricanes" occupied before they destroy the house!  Anyway, these are either our own ideas or modified from other blogs; they are completely easy to execute in terms of materials and time needed, but hopefully high in returns in terms of the amount of play and learning your children will get out of these simple activities. Five minutes of prep but hours of fun!  This one is self-explanatory.  Materials needed: - Electrical duct tape/ masking tape - Scissors - An assortment of toy cars Steps: Arrange the tape in a car park design.  Demonstrate the idea once. Let the kids take it from there!  Possible Learning Explorations: - Fine motor skills:...