6 Preschool Games to Buck up your dream state Beach Outing in the Cold

Kid on the beach by lju photo

I am not very fond of cold weather. I like the sun and sand and thoroughly enjoy playing games on the beach with my kids. I think I slipped into a dream state while writing this blog post.

I recall starting off writing something serious about preschool games. Then my dream state happened and at the end of it, voila, my article was about an imaginary seaside adventure which included 5 games for preschool kids.

I did contemplate saving it for the summer, but then decided if the heart willed it written, I had to publish it. So, a dash of summer in the cold holiday season - ring in the warmth, folks!

Dunk, dash, drop

Here’s an easy no-cost race to keep a bunch of energetic kids busy. Hand out plastic cups or glasses to everyone and place several empty buckets in a row. At the word “Go!” everyone dashes to the sea, fills up their cups and dashes back to their bucket and empty their cups into it. The first child to fill the bucket wins this madcap preschool game.

Beach Golf

Toddlers can play golf too and this preschool game is proof! Dig a small, a medium-sized and a large hole in the sand and line up the kids some distance away. Let them take turns rolling a ball towards the holes, with points awarded for each bullseye. Getting a ball into the small hole fetches more points. Use a heavier ball like a rubber or a tennis ball that won’t blow away in the wind.

Numbers Game

Your beach trip just got more educational with this fun preschool game. Invite your toddlers to draw circles in the sand and write a number from 1 to 5 in each. The challenge is to toss stones so they land inside the circles. Players with the most points win the numbers game!

Shell Scavenger

This preschool game is no ordinary shell hunt – it’s a challenge to find the biggest, smallest, prettiest, weirdest, pink, white, blue, gray or rainbow colored shell you can find, with prizes awarded for each category. All finds go to a future arts-and-crafts project.

Balloon Toss

Since the little tykes are going to get drenched anyway, you might as well go the whole hog and have fun with water balloons. Pair up the kids and have them stand facing each other. Players must toss a balloon back and forth without letting it drop or burst. With each successful catch, partners must move one step away from each other.

Balancing Act

This simple preschool game is a great way to boost your child’s motor skills. Just scoop some dry sand with a spoon, place a small shell on top and challenge the kids to walk, run or hop from Point A to Point B without dropping it. The first player to reach Point B with an intact spoon wins the game.

All in all it was a great beach trip, however imaginary!

4 Animals Popularized by Movies and Games

Animals have always blended in well as characters in movies and games. While some animals get their fair share of attention and are born stars, others fall into the shadows. Here are a few animals that have had more than their 15 minutes of fame because of movies and games that celebrate the awesomeness that comes to them naturally.

Penguins

Penguins are adorable, unique and live in the Antarctica, which is not the most accessible place on earth. Lest they are forgotten, we have seen quite a few penguins game and movies in the last few years. From the tap-dancing Mumble in Happy Feet to Kowalski, Skipper, Rico and Private in the Madagascar series, penguins have never had it this good!

“Madagascar Penguins, Universal” by kfcatles is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Dragons

Dragons have captured the imagination of cultures across the world. These mythical beasts have been bequeathed with many qualities. They are seen as both protectors and destroyers, making them ideal characters to feature in games and movies. A few of the famous dragon-themed movies and games include Spyro, Dragon Nest, Dragon Eternity, How to Train your Dragon, Dragonheart and Reign of Fire.

“Spyro wallpaper” by Leonardo Monteiro is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Rats & Mice

From their widely entertaining cartoon avatars, as the cute and mischievous Jerry in Tom & Jerry, and as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, it was not surprising when the mouse made its way up the big screen. There is nothing mousy (or ratty) about their celebrity personas in Stuart Little, Ratatouille and Ben.

“Tom&Jerry” by Gláucia Góes is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Lions

The lions have had no dearth of publicity being naturally charismatic and uncontested kings of forests. But what sealed the deal on their might was the memorable scene in The Lion King when Rafiki holds the newborn Simba up to cheers. Other movies where lions have roared include Madagascar and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

“Lion King” by zoe toseland is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Animals have nothing to complain about as they continue to be popular with kids whether in the wild or on a mobile app! 

From Froebel Gifts to Educational Games

What's the word for this definition?
Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather that a serious or practical purpose.

The answer is simple - 'Play'.

Play can be simple and yet bring immense happiness. The innate nature of play is wonderful - it engages, it's an activity with no pressure, brings joy, relaxes, and best of all, has no purpose. The young of all creatures play and their first playmates are from the family.

What's hidden in play?

Nature is a smart cookie. She realized that creatures learn best when they are not learning. Strange but true. When the young play, they learn the ways of their kind and to deal with others. It's innocuous and becomes a part of growing up. 

Froebel's gifts

Friedrich Fröbel was a german who set up a play and activity centre he called the kindergarten in the late 1800s. He designed toys for kids to play with which he gifted kids and those got the name Froebel's Gifts. They ranged in simplicity from a 1-20. The youngest got a set of six colorful crocheted balls. His idea was for kids to be involved in a self directed activity. 

Frank Lloyd Wright remembers playing with smooth blocks at age 9 and internalizing geometry, without even knowing it was geometry. 

Today's self directed play

We have a come a long way by ways of technology and toy building. But play has retained its importance. As have Froebel's Gifts. Many of the educational games kids play today do involve kids in self directed play. 

Along with the physical world, they also play in the virtual world. With educational gaming moving forward in leaps and bounds, kids get on to computers and other e-devices early on in life. Many of the early education games involve the same things that were used for kids before the computer took the world by storm. 

What is not to be done is to expose the child to just one world. They must play in both the physical and the virtual world. The emphasis should be on play, which will stand kids in good stead their entire life. 

Using Online Games to Get Kids Interested in Sports!

One of the things most parents would like is to get their children interested in sports. Playing sports comes with a whole lot of benefits - sports keep kids fit, and can help build their social skills and confidence levels. However, it is not always easy to get kids excited about sports. Each child may have his own as-yet-undiscovered preference, and there might be some initial anxiety to overcome. The lack of space to play and the right equipment could also deter kids from getting started on sports.

There are many ways to ease kids into sports. These days, with kids being more adept at technology than ever before, mobile and online games are the way to go. Some children may not be ready physically to tackle a sport like football. In such cases, a game like Heroes & Rivals is a safer bet. With this app, kids can enjoy mini games, create their own team, and understand the game without physically playing the game.

“Getting Crazy…” by blake is licensed under CC BY 2.0

An excellent way to understand the types of games that excite your child is by exposing them to a variety of sports. These could be team sports or individual sports. It may not always be possible to have access to diverse sports. This is yet another instance where online games can be the right tool to introduce kids to a variety of sports.

Parents can join in and talk about sports, listening to the child to understand what interests them in a game. Online games can be used to explain the fundamentals of sports. This way, you can narrow down the list of sports your child wants to explore. You can then encourage your child to play because sports, after all is said and done, are about being physically active.

Things can get rough on the field if there is excessive competitiveness. Online games can help here by building your child’s confidence. It allows them to have fun without the stress of performing weighing them down. As parents we know that the best way to get a child interested in anything – be it food or homework – is to make the activities fun. The same goes for sports.

“Cornhole” by blake is licensed under CC BY 2.0

While online games can have their advantages when you are trying to get kids to explore the sports, they cannot replace the actual experience or offer the numerous benefits of sports.

Once you have them hooked, it is important to get kids out to the field for a ball game. What an online game cannot do is strengthen the child, and improve their co-ordination, flexibility and balance. These are benefits one can gain only when they are out playing the sport. If your child refuses to budge from the computer or mobile app, it will have an adverse effect on their health. A sedentary lifestyle can make them obese and can weaken their arm and grip strength. Remember, therefore, that while mobile and online games can be a great introduction to many kinds of sports and ca get kids excited about playing them, they also need to graduate to playing these sports physically.

By encouraging your child to balance the time between playing sports online and out on the field, you can help them enjoy the benefits of technology and good old sports.

Why Family Trees are Important

“Family History. 43/365” by francescarter is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Weekends often leave me wondering how to keep my kids busy. I try to come up with new ways to keep them engaged, be it with activities, games and occasionally a day out. Last weekend I was looking through worksheets for kids and came across a worksheet that dealt with family trees. This excited me as much as it excited the kids.

Family trees are a wonderful way to guide kids back to their roots, and give them a sense of personal history and identity. So we got working on it. The experience was fantastic and it felt like we were opening a treasure box full of stories and memories. As with most activities we share with kids, it got my children and me to communicate better, and created – I would like to hope – a deeper bond as the emphasis of this particular activity was on family.

Our genetic history leaves its imprint on us; they could be personality traits or more than a passing resemblance to an ancestor. By delving into the family history, kids learn a great deal about the family, cultures and traditions, adversities and fortunes, and more.

                            “Four Generations” by 7156988@N04 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 

When kids work on family trees they come to realize where they fit in. It teaches them about continuity and belonging. They learn to take pride in their past, their culture that is the coming together of two distinct family groups, each with their own peculiarities.

A family tree begins to answer some of the questions that dog us through our lives – Who am I? Where do I come from? It could pave the way to deeper realizations.

This activity is especially beneficial for children who are from small families, which is becoming the norm these days. If relatives are not living nearby, it can further create distance and weak ties.  We cannot thrive in isolation. In fact, family trees have across cultures held a place of honor in homes and are a celebration of history.

By encouraging kids to go out and talk to their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles to find out more about the family, you can get them to develop a deeper understanding of other people and to appreciate the importance of preserving connections with the family. Inadvertently, such interactions not only deepen the bond but also bring forth a multitude of stories. These stories can be hilarious and saddening or these stories can be of hope and courage. In their fortitude, we find ours.

Some discoveries can also be surprising – imagine stumbling upon an ancestor who was a hunter in the deep forests of Asia or even royalty!

There are many ways to go about with a family tree. You could start with worksheets for kids. The family tree can be a simple one with names and birthdays or you can use video snippets and old photographs. A visit to the cemetery or family get together can get things rolling. But be warned, once you get things rolling, it is not easy to put on the brakes. So, buckle your seatbelts and prepare to be surprised! 

The death and rebirth of Bilingualism

Being an educationist, I have come across kids in the system, who struggle to learn the mainstream language, because the exposure to the language spoken at home is stronger. But once they learn the mainstream language, many kids forget their earlier fluency in the language spoken at home. Many a time this creates an unbridgeable gulf between within families, like when gradparents and grandkids have no common language to communicate.

"f035" by John Tobe is licensed under CC BY 2.0

In many households learning the mainstream language is emphasized as it helps in the quicker assimilation into the mainstream culture. Communication is a necessity and this is correct from a family's point of view. But the fact of the matter is this: kids can pick up multiple languages without realizing that they are doing so. From childhood to puberty kids have a knack or a natural ability to learn languages. Once the critical period is over, people find it difficult to pick up languages.

In certain European and Asian countries, the language spoken at home and on the street are different. If parents speak different languages, the kids can speak the language on the streets and the two languages at home. They do it effortlessly: papa speaks this, mama speaks that and the shopkeeper speaks yet another!

In a country like Singapore, train announcements are in four languages - English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil - for the country has four official languages. In Europe, people in many countries routinely speak 3-4 languages.

When America was being built, the immigrants who poured in brought their language, ways and food. Speaking languages other than the mainstream English, became unfashionable. Schools encouraged a single language to emphasize cohesive education. It was believed that speaking the same language both at home and at school helped the kid pick up the language quicker. It was correct and was the norm then.

Now over time, scientists have realized the amazing capacity kids have in picking up languages. Noam Chomsky, a professor of linguistics at MIT, speaks of cases where for children from bimodal homes(one parents speaks a language and the other uses sign language) pick up both languages just like they would pick up say two spoken languages.

With all this information pouring out, bilingual teaching has picked up. Kids picture books are bilingual. E.g. a page will have the text in English and Spanish. Even the forever-a-favorite Very Hungry Caterpillar is now sold in the English+Spanish bilingual format. 

In such bilingual teaching, parents who know the non-mainstream language can also participate. A report by UNESCO highlights how a Mother Tongue is the key to learning. Here in America with our immigrant population, multiple languages can be heard, especially in a city like New York. This does make handling kids in a classroom difficult for a teacher comfortable in just English, but the idea is to be broadminded enough to make room for a child to speak more than one language.

With apps being created in the hundreds, it is heartening to see that many are non-English. I guess it's getting cool to be bilingual! 

Learning Language via Games

Learning a language can certainly be a challenging task. Thanks to the advent of the internet and online games, however, learning a language has become fun, exciting, and even more interactive! Reading games that make learning languages fun employ meaningful language in real contexts to help learners pick up the language with ease. They are a welcome break form the monotony of daily life and provide language practice skills in speaking, writing, listening and reading. The few reading games that I have listed below are great language learning tools for kids in the contemporary world. Irrespective of which language it is that your little one is trying to master, these games will help her strengthen her grasp over it.

Image Credit: John Morgan

Noun, verb, adjective, and …

The very popular Far Eastern game of “Name, place, animal, things” has been tweaked to bring to you - “Noun, Verb, and Adjective”. Draw three columns on a sheet of paper and name them Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives. Keep cut out letter cards from A-Z in a bowl and shuffle them well! A player chooses a random alphabet and displays it to the other players. She then turns down a sand clock while the players will have to write a noun, verb, and adjective each starting with the chosen letter. Keep a dictionary handy for the players to go through to clear any confusion. And you never know when kids may stumble upon a new word that they can learn and write! For every correct answer, the player gets 10 points. Play 10 rounds of the game before you decide the winner! This game will be a wonderful language tool for the kids to ‘reading’ and ‘executing’ parts of language learning.

Passing the parcel

When you are done with ‘Noun, Verb, and Adjective’, remove the papers and pens and start playing this game. This reading game requires more effort from the organizer so that the players can just reap the benefits once the game starts! Get a few dozens of index cards and write down several topics on them, like –

·         Noun starting with z

·         Things found in an igloo that begins with l

·         A science topic that begins with f

·         An American President whose name begins with g

·         An adjective that begins with p

·         Nouns starting with s

Give a little parcel to pass around among the kids to a player. As soon as the timer starts ticking, the player with the parcel picks up a card and solves it before passing the parcel to her neighbor. The parcel moves around till a player fails to reply within 5 seconds and is disqualified as a result. Then, the game resumes with the next player. It goes on till all the students are disqualified barring one.

As I am a homeschooling mom, and not a teacher, I always play these language and reading games with my daughter’s friends. Speaking from personal experiences, the kids accept my daughter’s pajama party invitations knowing they’ll get to play these games! If it’s a day party, I replace these games with cooking games that the girls equally love!

Why Are Fairytale 1st Grade Worksheets Great to Introduce 6 Year Olds to Reading?

Fairytales and reading – the two are very closely associated with a child’s life. While fairytales are an integral part of growing up, reading is an essential life skill. Fairytales are memories that are cherished while reading is a life skill that’s utilized. Age 6-7 is that time when kids begin to gain a good grasp over reading and can be encouraged to develop a love for it. They need to be introduced to reading with great, exciting, educational resources that will help them enjoy reading and get better at it. So, what is the right way to get children to read and which are the right resources that must be used? Read on to know more.

Image Credit: Gabi Jguma

How can 1^st grade worksheets based on fairytales inspire children to read?

Story

Fairytales have always managed to captivate our minds. Their larger-than-life portrayal, of even the most mundane incidents such as a day in the kitchen or work in the fields, has mesmerized children across different ages. The element of magic is unarguably the crowd puller in fairytales. A pumpkin transforming into a beautiful carriage, a pair of rats turning into carriage pullers, a princess’s braid cascading down a tall castle for the prince to use as a ladder to climb up, a beast being relieved of an evil spell after he’s kissed by a beautiful princess, a mirror predicting who’s the most beautiful woman in the world, or a grandma and her grandchild being removed from a sleeping wolf’s stomach and later filling it up with stones so that the beast dies when he wakes up, are some of the ‘bizarre’ incidents that have enthralled kids across years. So, it’s but natural that 1^st grade worksheets based on fairytales are a great way to get kids to start reading. Some fairytale worksheets feature excerpts from the tales (examples: comprehension worksheets) and therefore ignite an interest in children to ‘find out more’, while others can be 1^st grade coloring worksheets with fairytale characters finding diehard fans in little children!

Artwork

Image Credit: aussiegall

Have you ever tried to compare a 1^st grade math or science worksheet to a worksheet that’s fairytale themed or features fairytales? Don’t you agree that they more attractive with pastel shades and heavier artwork? Artwork on fairytale worksheets are generally created by specialized artists to make them look more exciting and interesting to little kids. Teachers put in extra effort on these 1^st grade worksheets because they want the printables to be inspirational, motivating students to take up a great hobby such as reading. Other than comprehension and coloring pages for 1^st grade kids, fairytale worksheets can also feature craft activities, educational activities, reading and grammar lessons, original poems, and more. Such worksheets are not perfect only for 1st graders; they suit made students from kindergarten to primary school. It’s never too late to take to a great habit. And there’s nothing better than reading!

How to Rate A Virtual Game for Kids

With more and more kids playing games online for entertainment, the market for online kids’ games has grown drastically in the last few years. The number and quality of kids’ online games has also increased accordingly. Kids as young as three years of age are playing virtual games targeted at their age group. Yes, that’s right. Games modelled on virtual worlds like Second Life are now being developed exclusively for kids. Naturally, parents have cause to be worried. If kids are allowed to meet and chat with strangers through these virtual games, how can parents protect them from predators, mature content and cyber bullying? The answer is not to ban them from playing virtual world games, but to make informed decisions about which virtual games are good for them to play. Here are the parameters parents must keep in mind when rating virtual games for kids.

                                                              Photo by IvanWalsh.com

          

Online safety – Naturally, safety tops the list when you’re evaluating a virtual world game targeted at young kids. Many virtual games for kids offer parental control settings where the game can be set to single player mode or multi player with canned chat mode according to the age of the child. Free chat modes usually have safety features like filters and moderators that remove sensitive information and inappropriate language from online conversations. This allows kids to familiarize themselves with the model of virtual world games without being exposed to the dangers of unrestricted chat. Other virtual games targeted at kids have full-time adult moderators who monitor the online activity of players and take immediate action against members who violate the safety rules of the game. Check what kind of safety features the game has to protect your child from online dangers. If your child is in preschool or younger, you should navigate the game with your child and not leave him playing the game unattended.

Updates for parents – Some virtual games for kids provide parents with information on what their kids are doing online. This is good for kids who are new to virtual worlds and aren’t yet adept at practicing online safety. Parents can use these updates to talk to their kids about their online activities and start conversations about staying safe on the internet. The updates also let parents know how much progress their child is making in various aspects of the game.

Activities in the game – You don’t want to okay a virtual game that your child has no interest in playing. Check to see what kind of activities players can engage in in the game. Age-appropriate online games, puzzles and virtual world activities like virtual shopping, avatar customization and in-game exploration are all activities that kids enjoy on virtual worlds. For older kids, pay attention to social elements like safe chat and safe social networking, without which a virtual world game will fail to hold their interest.

Virtual game theme– Each virtual game is usually built around a specific theme, like zoo animals, fairies, monsters, dolls, etc. See whether you can find a good virtual game with a theme that your child is sure to enjoy. The activities and virtual environment in the game revolves around the theme of the game, so if your child likes the theme, you can be pretty confident that he will have a great time playing in the virtual world.

Educational content – Some games offer educational content like learning games and other activities that teach important scholastic skills. Finding a great virtual game with educational content ensures a win-win situation for you and your child.

When evaluating a virtual world game for your child, all you need to do is visit the game’s official website and you will be able to find information about each of these parameters on there. If you still have unanswered questions, you can check online reviews from other parents or from trusted websites like Common Sense Media to make sure you are making the best decision for your child.