Importance of Stem Learning for preschools

Stem learning starts with blocks, not ipads. 

The meaning of STEM education STEM education is Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics used to group academic disciplines. This term is typically used as an education policy or the entire curriculum choices that are used in schools.

What are stem skills? 

Ask a simple question as to what are the key skills needed in today's world in our day to day life. They are problem solving, analytical thinking, and the ability to work on your own or independently. What is the common factor between them ? They're all related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

We need to teach STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). But we really can't do that by giving them access to technology. That's not how it's learnt. 

The basis of STEM learning is the ability to problem solve and think critically on their own. This is how kids learn these “soft” skills. THROUGH PLAY. 

When To Introduce STEM Learning For Kids?

STEM based learning for kids can start as early as two years of age. In the early years the childs brain to knowledge is like a sponge is to water. The pace of learning of a child in the initial 5 years is rapid and cannot be the same ever in life again.

Since they are curious learners and have their own reasoning skills. Strengthening these inborn abilities should begin at the earliest level rather than reserving and trying them for later years.

STEM education is an enquiry-based approach where children learn through simple experiments and STEM activities. They are motivated to ask multiple questions to understand the concept deeply, thus making the session more communicative and meaningful. A simple activity of objects that sink and float is a stepping stone to raise their curiosity and interest in science. 

Starting early at home with building blocks and knowing the various advantages. 

Building blocks teaches kids 

🧁Size 

❣️Color

🧁Patience

💕Symmetry

🧁 Counting - Early Math 

💕Patterns

🧁Scientific method

💞 Problem solving

🧁Creativity

Find interesting blocks and stem learning activities on first cry first cry

Instead of giving iPads to elementary classrooms we need to give them wooden blocks, magnetic tiles, LEGO, loose parts, string, tape, and loads of time to let their imagination flow and learn through play.

If you can't make a mistake, you can't make anything - Marva Collins

#valueeducation 

#stemeducation #stemforkids  #childdevelopment #stemactivities

Calming down your active toddler

Calming down your active toddler

Pausing and counting till 5 helps us moms to realize what has just happened and take control of a situation in a positive way. Don't rush into getting angry , shouting, yelling and lastly hitting your child for tantrums thrown. Stay calm, take a deep breath and divert their attention to calm them down. 

I have an extremely active toddler and he needs to be busy and kept occupied all the time. It's challenging and tiring as well. But we need to keep up to their endless demands and deal with them in a positive way. 

These are a few tried and tested ways to calm him down when he is too active or before bedtime. It works miracles and calms him down and settles his thoughts. 

Sand play - Sand play is a sensory play that calms down the child in multiple ways. 

🏖Enhances fine and gross motor skills.

⛱️Improves the language and level to express what they are doing. 

🏖It enhances emotional awareness and 

Introduces concepts of early math in a play way. 

🏖It sparks the creativity in children, they think what they want to make and use their imagination as there is no right or wrong involved.

Toddlers are exploring all the time and learning through their experiences. They do this in many different ways for example, by talking, using  noises and playing with everything other than their toys.

Building blocks - This play offers  open ended and creative play to children. It offers them freedom to explore, take apart and put back together any block-based creation they can think of. There are multiple benefits to be gained from this simple activity.

Blocks offer Problem-solving skills and is a great platform to develop reasoning  and working to develop a solution.

Painting - Painting allows a child to pour their thoughts and emotions on paper. Allow them to paint and play soft music, this have immense calming effect on the child. Follow this activity by a warm water bath before bedtime. 

Hugging their favorite soft toy🧸 It's important to support your child while they calm down. 

Hugging their favorite soft toy 🧸 Children love soft toys and its a way they can show affection and love. He enjoys taking his favorite soft toy to bed, hugs and cuddles it and this has a soothing and calming effect on my child. 

Reading to your child- Why is it so important.

Reading to children - Why is it so important. 

The correct age to start reading to your child is right from conception. That's when they understand every word their mother speaks to them. Let books be your child's best friend and make reading interesting and fun right the very start. 

Young children are like a sponges that soak in practically everything from their environment. What they see, hear and observe around them. Specially during story time, their minds are at work, taking in the language they hear and learn words and lessons the characters in the story teach. A wonderful way to make your child learn in an interesting way is reading books. 

Reading to your child at any age boosts their brain development and the bond. And all it takes is few books, self motivation, time and happy mind to get started with the story session.

We are currently reading - The Great Timbuktu Rescue 

Written by Neha Jain and beautifully illustrated by Rajyasree Sarkar 

The personalized name of my child on the first page just stole my heart ❤

Also his name appears as a character in the book so that kept his interest throughout. He enjoyed the situations where the problem solving was involved and learnt a lot through that. 

Reading helps children and toddlers 

📕build and improve their conversation skill

📕improve their knowledge 

📚 build interest in gaining information

📚 improve their problem solving skills

📕 most important builds a special bond between the parents and the child

Books are our children's best friend, it's best to expose them to a variety of different books and let them explore 

Head over to their website www.merlinwand.com to grab a book from their collection.

6 Simple fun activities your preschooler will enjoy outdoors.

6 Simple fun activities your preschooler will really enjoy  outdoors. 

Here are six simple outdoor activities my kid really enjoys while we are out in the garden or outdoors playing. Hence wanted to share it with you'll to help benefit your kids too. We take our kids to the garden and a little bit of planning and fun makes it more enjoyable and enhances learning too. 

🌲Run barefoot on grass - Running barefoot on grass has multiple health benefits for preschoolers and it also improves the vision of the child. It improves their balance and direct contact with earth provides natural earthing to the child. 

🌳Climb small trees - He enjoys exploring small trees and climbing trees help kids improve their balance and learn about different textures of the tree trunk and insects that live in them. It's a great exercise for gross motor skills and improves their cognitive development since they are feeling, touching, analysing and trying to climb the branches of the tree. 

🌴catching kook - catching each other . Just plain fun to run around catching each other. Taking turns to catch each other in the garden is great for gross motor skills and a great exercise for parents too. 

🌲Sandplay - Our garden has a sandpit and I always carry my kids spade and bucket. Sand is great for sensory play and has multiple learning benefits. It's the stepping stone to early math. They fill their bucket with sand and learn the concept of more, more sand is required to fill their bucket, hence they learn the concept of more and less in a fun play way method of trial and error. 

🌴Ball play - Always remember to take a ball with you in the garden. Kids enjoy to bounce it, throw it and play around in the open with a ball. I take a different ball everytime since each ball has a different learning experience for your child. It's great to build your childs reflex action and improve their hand and eye coordination. 

🌲Jumping on dry leaves 🍂🍂There were loads of dry leaves stacked up in huge piles. My baby just jumped in and enjoyed the sound of dry leaves, the feel of the dry leaves and the jumping activity. It's fun to try out new things and he looks out for piles of dry leaves to jump in. 

Keep it simple, kids love being outdoors and simple activities are enjoyed the most. 

#letthemexplore #outdooractivities #funoutdoors clothing

8 Things to do with your kids on Valentine's Day

8 Things to do with your kids on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a day of love ❤ and what better way to celebrate it with your kids and showering them with love , love and loads of love. 

I've planned so much with my toddler and he really enjoys all the love and attention. There's love in the air and something magical about this month since it's the birthday month of my mother, sister and son. Three special people's birthday along with Valentine's Day. So much love and happiness to celebrate. 

Valentine's Day Dance party - Play your favorite love songs and enjoy a dance party together. This way I get to play my favorite Bryan Adams and enjoy these moments with my toddler. He can't dance but enjoys jumping and clapping. This is developing their gross motor skills. 

Decorate the house with paper hearts and heart shaped balloons - Blow up some balloons and get your kids to make hearts with coloured paper, decorate the house and make your kids feel special. We have made loads of hearts ❤💞 and stuck them on the doors with double sided tapes. 

Make a meal with hearts - Cook something together, make it feel special. I cut toast in heart shapes and he was so happy with his decorated place. Use your imagination and cook a meal for family members too. 

For older children introduce them to a special candlelight dinner with the family. Let them help in arranging the table, bring out your special dishes that you rarely use and enjoy your meal with lit candles at night. 

Post some post it's and surprise your kids with love notes. Kids love little surprises and I posted heart shaped post it's with little hearts saying LOVE YOU ❤ he enjoyed finding these post it's and every post it that he finds he shows it to me and gives me a broad smile . This smile is priceless and sometimes things that are really small makes our kids so happy. 

Watch a love movie together - make it special with a movie that's age appropriate at home. Darken the room, make popcorn🍿 get cozy and watch a movie at home. Make it feel like a cinema hall. 

These are our favourites that we are watching every afternoon. 

Alladin, Frozen,  Dumbo, Ice Age,  Tangled.

Find ways to hide love notes for your child throughout the day by placing notes on your child’s homework, lunch plate, or anything else you know they will see during the day.  Feel free to hide them around the house or you can also send your child on a scavenger hunt to find the hidden hearts. I put these hearts on the couch, under his pillow, near his glass of water and the smile I see when he finds them is absolutely priceless.

Rose bubble bath 

Set up a warm bubble bath with roses- He enjoyed being pampered so much and started plucking the rose petals. This is a good sensory play and plucking the petals also helps improve the pincer grip. 

Make Valentine's Day cards - Creativity at ots best with card making. I cut out some hearts and gave a few blank cards. He used his imagination to stick hearts, color and put stickers. Let them direct their thoughts in the cards the make. I avoid showing him what to do since this breaks the imagination from flowing. I give him the material and let him decide what he needs to do. 

Remember... Only Children believe they are capable of everything.... And this is so true. 

Keep it simple, keep it filled with love ❤ have a fun filled Valentine's week and Valentine's Day. Love lasts forever.

Republic Day 2022 - India themed activities and crafts for kids

Republic Day 2022 -  India themed activities and crafts for kids. 

Tri-color dress code or traditional wear - 

This allows children to  imbibe the different cultures of our country and brings in a feeling of unity. Dress up and learn the colors of the flag in a fun way. 

Draw / Color / Paint our national flag.

No matter what you have planned for this day. Allow your child / children to start the day by making our Indian flag. Give them colors/ paints / pom poms / colored paper and let them use their imagination and recreate the Indian flag. Show a demo of the colors of our flag and teach them the significance of each color.

saffron colour indicates the strength and courage of the country. 

White indicates peace and truth. 

Green represents the fertility, growth, and auspiciousness of our land. 

Sing the national anthem together after making the Indian flag 🇮🇳

Once they complete making their flag, remember to click their picture with them holding their flag.

Watching the Republic Day parade on television and having a pretend play the same way at home with family members. 

Eg - Doing the march past, learning to salute, playing toy drums, etc

Republic Day speech - For older kids let them allow a speech and present it in front of the entire family.

Learning the states and capitals of our country. To start with the basics we can teach that our country is divided into different that's ruled by capitals and teach the state we live in with the capital.

Eg- We live in the state of Maharashtra and the capital is Mumbai. 

Children are quick at grasping and can learn names faster than we think. 

Tricolour Food and Party at Home. kids will be overexcited to prepare  delicious tricoloured foods. Tricolor sandwiches with an orange chutney, green chutney and green cucumber, orange grated carrots. 

Make a tricolor salad,

Tricolor rice with green spinach. 

Children enjoy decorating the plate with food , so prepare the basic and allow them to decorate it in a plate. 

Learning regional dances 

Play some music and learn some basic dance steps of any region of our country, like Bharatnatyam , Kathakali . You can get the basic steps from utube when you search the internet.

Reading the Indian constitution and understanding it.

Being a teacher , I know the children have learnt to say the Constitution very well, however when I ask them what they understand from it, they are blank. Hence it's important to let them understand a few pointers from it. 

We also made a few basic rules for our classroom for better understanding.

You can make your child make a few basic rules to be followed at home. 

Eg- We made a few rules too. Eating our meals on the dining table, no television while eating. 

Making our bed in the morning when we wake up. Keeping our toys in place once we finish playing. 

Three simple rules. Keep it simple and let your child decide the rules this way they will be motivated to follow them. 

As said by Benjamin Franklin – “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” So there is no better way to teach our kids but to involve them.

Have a fun filled day.

Stay home , stay safe

New Year's Resolution - Parenting edition 🐰

New Year's Resolution 2022

Parenting edition

We all make resolutions for ourselves, but it's equally important to make resolutions for our children too. These little resolutions help us to be better parents and learn from the mistakes we made last year. So here is a list of my resolutions which I intend to keep and share with all my mommy friends to help them understand the importance of gentle, effective and understanding parenting. 

It's simple and easy, however patience and time is the key factor here. 

🐤Respecting their decision - Let them decide what they want and what they don't. 

Eg - Taking their opinion what they want to eat and not forcing them to eat what we want them to eat. Keeping in mind the healthy food options. 

🐰No shouting / No hitting

This is most important since our children need love, love and loads of love to be nurtured into good human beings. Refrain from punishments, beating n scolding. It's really not required. 

🍉Very little junk food - All our kids love junk food and it's difficult to keep them away from junk food specially being at home. So I take my bunny shopping and allow him to select his health food options. I avoid bringing home junk so he doesn't get to eat any junk food. It's okay to treat them once in a way. 

🍒Spending quality time together -  You can buy thousands of toys for your child and they will never play with them. Buy them one toy and play together and see the difference. I do that with books and we love reading together. 

🐣Answering their questions / If you don't know the answer,  park them for later. But remember they need an answer. I try to answer his questions, since every answer is a new learning for my child and me too. 

Eg - He asked me why does it rain? So I knew he is ready to understand the concept of the rain cycle and over the next few days I explained the rain cycle to him, we drew it, talked about rain, saw rhe dark clouds in the sky, saw the lightening, heard the thunder, went out in the rain with our rain equipment and learnt about the different foods available in the rain, made pakoras and tea at home and explored so much together about the rain. Till he popped the next question. 

🦄Reasoning instead of saying the harsh word NO - A child doesn't understand the harsh word NO and hates it, since everytime No is said, he has been denied something he wants, needs or wants to explore on his own. without knowing the reason why he is denied an opportunity to explore on his own, if the reason is given to him or an alternative is provided, he can and will understand better. 

Eg- Instead of saying No for an adult pair of scissors, he is given a safe, child friendly pair of scissors. It's a win- win situation for both. Let the learning continue in a healthy and positive way. 

Less screen time, more WE time -Yes, like all parents, I give him screen time everyday but that's restricted to a short span of time. A child learns better with activities and games and puzzles. 

🎀Storytelling before bedtimebedtime - The advantages of this simple activity. 

Builds a healthy relationship

Improves and increases the vocabulary

Gives your child sound and peaceful sleep

I remember my grandfather telling us the same bedtime story every night and we enjoyed listening to him. Remember children enjoy repeatition and it's okay to repeat stories.

🌈Saying I LOVE YOU daily and meaning it. We love our children and its absolutely necessary to show and feel our emotions. Saying these words when they need it the most does wonders. When they accidentally drop something or get hurt, all they need is a warm hug and the golden words, I Love you. 

Happy 2022 mommies, follow my blog 👣 for more parenting blogs.  Together we can make a huge difference for our children. 

What's your new year's resolution? What's your new year's resolution for your children? Mention in the comments below.