Ideas Contributed by Parents and Friends

Best with two or more children.  Use brown paper or newsprint - you can buy this at any Popular Bookstore.  

Lay this out on the floor. 

Get your young child to lie down on the paper. 

A 2nd child can trace the child's outline on the paper. 

The child can then colour this outline in or draw all his favourite items/toys into the outlined area.

Nature Walk

One of the best things we can do with our children is to take a walk with them.  This can be at the park or within your neighbourhood estate.

Bring a basket or a small bag.  Collect leaves along the way.  Discuss the differences in leave shapes.  Children are always fascinated to know  that needle-shaped leaves are needle-shaped to conserve water evaporation or that red leaves also have something called chlorophyll in them to make food for the plants.  Take the opportunity to talk about plants and their role in making oxygen for the earth!

Explore and learn!

Have your child draw a tree trunk and empty branches.

Then, have him take the leaves collected on your walk and glue them to the branches, making a colorful tree.

Make a scarecrow

This is a fun way to spend an afternoon with the family!

Gather old clothing, like jeans and a flannel shirt,and stuff them to make the body of your scarecrow. You can use crumbled newspaper for stuffing. 

For the hay-effect, use raffia string or newspapers that you tear at the edges.  The hay-effect should stick out from around the neck, hands, and feet.  Use either a plastic jack-o-lantern for the scarecrow’s head, and finish with a hat.

Be creative – scarecrows can be displayed in a wide variety of poses, from sitting down to standing on their heads!

Have your child glue several different leaves on a light-colored piece of construction paper.

Help her to apply transparent Contact paper onto first the leaf side and then the backside of the construction paper.

Trim excess contact paper from the ends, and seal all the way around the outer edges with colored tape.

Grow a Taugeh!

Remember those days when we grew taugeh in school?  Well, children love growing things.

You can buy the green beans from any supermarket.  Cold Storage carries this under the First Choice packaging.  Buy a pack.

Use cotton wool as a base for the taugeh.  Lay it on a bowl.  Add water.  Put the green beans on the cotton wool.

Your taugeh should start sprouting within a day or two.

Your child can learn from you that taugeh comes from beans, and that the sprouts do grow leaves at a later point.  You can point out the leaf, stem and root to the child.

Blowing bubbles

All children and most adults (given a chance) love blowing bubbles.  I remember blowing my first bubble after 20 years when I was 38 years old!  It made me laugh and giggle like a teenager.

You can purchase bubble mixture anywhere.  But if you want to make your own to make super gigantic bubbles, here is a recipe:

 Materials Needed:

• 2/3 cup - 160 ml dish detergent (Mama Lemon can be used)
• 1 tablespoon - 15 ml glycerin (available at food or drug stores)
• 1 gallon 3.8L of water

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in bowl, pail or container. Allowing the solution to sit or age for 24 hours will increase the life of the bubbles.

You are now ready to make some awesome bubbles. All you need are a few tools to help shape and size the bubbles.

Standard bubble blowing wands can usually be purchased with commercial bubble mixture but again you can create your own tools.  Some examples are:

• Shape metal coat hangers make larger circular bubbles
• Floral wire can be shaped into circles of any size
• The end of a funnel can be dipped into solution and blown out

Impressions of Your Neighbourhood

Encourage your child to draw his/her impressions of your neighbourhood.  If you live in a HDB estate, draw high rise homes, windows and corridors.  If you live near the market, draw the market or items from the market.  

This is an excellent way to communicate with your child what he/she sees from day to day, from his/her standpoint.  Remember, do not judge the drawing or its merit.  Use it as a medium to communicate with your child and understand his/her perspective.

Draw a Map of Your Neighbourhood

For the older child, ask him/her to draw a map of your neighbourhood or the route the school bus takes to school.  This requires the child to focus on details and encourages the development of a schematic mind from early days.  

It also gets the child to notice details. 

Read a Book Together

Take turns to read paragraphs of the book.  If your child is little, circle or highlight words he/she can read that are repeated in the book.  For example, you can highlight the word, 'Cinderella' in the book and each time the sentence gets to the word, your child reads that word.

This is a good way to start a child reading.

Children love making their parents proud.  Remember to praise!