Training Family Responsibilities

Helping With Chores Develops Skills 

Your young children will be developing language skills, muscle control, and organizational skills, as well as, the 

positive self- image that comes from helping others. They may not be able to do much at first, but they can help with added responsibility as they grow older. Young children enjoy being included in many household chores and learn important skills at the same time. In addition, young children begin to understand that everyone helps in a family.

Around the House

  Washing Up-- Young children love to use water and soap bubbles to clean silverware, plastic dishes and cups.  Set your little dishwasher up on a sturdy stool at the sink or on the floor.  Show the kids how to wipe off the table and chairs, too.

   Sorting Clothes—This is an extremely important skill. Your children can help you sort the dirty clothes into 

Lot's To Do Around the House

piles of dark and light colors.  Later, when the clothes 

are washed and dried, they can help fold and sort again into piles for each person. Matching socks is an especially good activity for learning about pairs, as well as, the concepts of same and different.

   Dusting, Vacuuming and Sweeping—If you plug in the vacuum, provide a broom and dustpan or Swifter- type sweeper, your preschooler will love to push it around to gather up crumbs and dirt, especially in their own room under the bed. You can work together or make it a game to find little bits and dust bunnies. They can also dust surfaces with a damp cloth.

Cleaning the Car

 Washing the Car— This fun job is a big favorite.  

Train Children To Be Helpful!

Set your young children up with a hose, a bucket full of soapy water and a sponge or rag.  Let them play in the water while they wet and clean and rinse the lower parts of the car with adult supervision. Teach young children the proper steps and washing with a circular motion.

  Children can also clean up crumbs in the seats and dust the inside. Use a damp cloth and avoid harmful cleaners and sprays.

   Give work children can handle depending on their age and understanding. Be ready to finish up or redo later, if they get tired. Let children know you appreciate efforts.  Keep it fun and talk together as you go. Sing or play some music as you work and keep activities positive and short.

   There are many other jobs to train children to be helpful: Raking, sweeping, shoveling, setting the table, providing pet care, stacking magazines, getting the mail, watering plants, separating materials for recycling, working in the garden, and taking out the garbage.
Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

For more science and math STEM adventures go to -  grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live Tuesdays at 4:30pm and Saturdays at 8:30 am and pod casts archived on the site.

Adequate Sleep Affects Child Development

Studies Are In: Children NEED Sleep

How much sleep do children need? How do you get the kids to sleep enough? Experts and and families have grappled with those questions for decades. Now the studies are in and here are recommendations as reported in the Journal of Pediatrics, articles from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

  Enough sleep is critical for the body to heal, brain development, attention and alertness, and emotional regulation like avoiding mood swings, anger acting out behavior, and coping with stress.

  According to Dr. Sumit Bhargava of Stanford, humans sleep to conserve energy and function during the day, and to restore and rejuvenate.  During sleep hormones are secreted and byproducts of the brain’s daytime activities

Sleep for: Healing, Brain & Social Development

 are cleared. Sleep helps the brain develop and organize.

   Preschool-aged children with early weekday bedtimes are one-half as likely as children with late bedtimes to be obese as adolescents.  Lack of sleep affects hormones controlling appetite and metabolism. (Journal of Pediatrics September 2016)

How Much Sleep?

  Many studies recommend these amounts of quality continuous sleep: Babies 4-12 months need 12-16 hours; children 1-2 years need 11-14 hours; children 3-5 years need 10-13 hours; children 6-12 need 9-12 hours; teens 13-18 need 8-10 hours.

  Recommended times for children to start sleeping, not just in their bed, are infants about 7pm, toddlers about 7:30pm, children by 8pm and teen’s 9-10:30pm.

Set Time and Routine

  

Bedtime Routines Are Crucial 

The studies suggest families choose an age appropriate bedtime that allows children to get the consistent number of hours they need seven days a week, healthy for adults, too.

  Install light blocking shades in bedrooms and remove all electronics from the bedroom like TV, phone, computer, and electronic game devices. Designate a deposit spot in the kitchen to keep track of the devises.

  Establish a pleasant and calm routine and stick to it. This is easier said than done and may take several weeks to run smoothly.

  First, children can take an evening bath or shower to relax and clean off sweat and dirt from daytime play. Provide snacks that have nutrients to encourage sleep. Here are a few: water and whole grain graham crackers with cottage cheese and kiwi on top; warm rice with a little milk (dairy or nondairy); ham and cheese roll up; popcorn; 

Bedtime Routines Can Be Creative

whole grain toast with nut butter (if not allergic); banana and milk smoothie; cup of broth based soup like chicken noodle and crackers.

  Move on to brushing and checking teeth, bathroom time, and reading time. Add a little “I love you so much” time, tuck in, and then turn out the lights in this quiet part of the house.
Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Shetches: Mark Nowicki

For more science and math STEM adventures go to -  grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live Tuesdays at 4:30pm and Saturdays at 8:30 am and pod casts archived on the site.

Arachnids Fascinate Young Children

What's Your Favorite Spider Story? 

Spiders are often over feared and misunderstood. When a spider web and huge “Charlotte” appear in the yard you might turn them into family STEAM activities at home (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math).

Observe Spiders

 Adults and children can observe a spider with a magnifying glass for several days while it adds to its web, collects insects, and encases them. Check on spiders working at night with your flashlights. How much progress do they make by morning?  Observe spiders around the neighborhood to compare spider webs. Warn children to look and not  touch because they will bite.
   Check out some other nonfiction spider books from the library like “I Love Spiders” by John Parker and “Anansi the Spider” by Gerald McDermott. Search for “Spiders: children videos” on You tube. Here's one find: 

https://www.pinterest.com/snowangel7781/theme-spiders/ 

"Isty Bitsy Spider” song and many other finger plays are also found on the Internet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLi_tCSJyAA

 Children can discuss how spiders help the ecosystem by catching harmful insects like mosquitoes and flies.

Anansi the Spider - McDermott

 Are there female spiders carrying white sacs of eggs? Research if Daddy Long Legs are really spiders.

   Adults and children may discuss what facts they learn and use different geometric shapes to illustrate a few pages about spiders. Children may dictate sentences for captions under the pictures and help staple the pages together.

Making Spiders

  With adult help, children may create their own spiders.  Children can cut out two circles (head and body), eight long 

FINGER-PLAYS Online!! 

skinny rectangles for legs. Circles for eyes, and tape them together to make a spider. Hang a string and thread it through a short straw taped on the back so the spider can climb and drop down from the string.

  With help children may make edible spiders.  Cut two circles from bread, spread peanut butter, add eight pretzel legs and eight raisins for eyes.

   Children can also go outside to make spider web mazes in sand or on the sidewalk. Spread out stones in the sand to make points for a pentagon, hexagon, and octagon. With a stick or chalk make lines like spokes in a wheel to connect each stone with the center of the shape

  To catch an intricate web, spray one with a

I Love Spiders - Parker

 light coating of white paint and carefully swish a large black piece of construction paper made by taping several pieces together. What geometric shapes are in the web? How do spiders store their meals? Which web has captured the most insects? How strong is a web?

Family STEAM activities help young children observe, form questions, increase vocabulary, do quick sketches and writ stories of what they see for science journals.

For more science and math STEM adventures go to -  grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live Tuesdays at 4:30pm and Saturdays at 8:30 am and pod casts archived on the site.