Category: Daily Life
Five benefits of Yoga for toddlers
If you think Yoga is for grown ups, think again. Children love the challenge of Yoga exercises. But fun apart, there are immense benefits to introducing Yoga to children at an early age. Here are some clear benefits of Yoga for kids:
- Children develop body awareness
- They learn to manage stress through breathing, awareness, meditation and healthy movement
- Yoga is known to build concentration
- Yoga increases their confidence and positive self-image
- Yoga also has strong health benefits for kids.
Because children learn the right technique of breathing, they overcome breathing ailments such as wheezing, allergic sneezes etc. Yoga helps children with the right posture, setting the fundamentals for a lifetime of healthy living.
Introduce your child to Yoga. It is a great exercise for your child, and helps them better their health as well. We have exciting Yoga classes as part of our summer camp. Call 90030 88331 for more information.
Book of the Week – The Magic Paintbrush
Julia Donaldson has mastered rhythmic storytelling for children. This book is yet another reading delight from her stable.
The Magic Paintbrush a rhyming version of the traditional Chinese story in which a child (in this case a girl called Shen) is given a magic paintbrush which will bring to life everything that she paints – provided she only paints things for the poor and needy. When the greedy Emperor hears of the magic brush he demands that Shen paint him a tree of golden coins, and when she refuses he flings her into prison. How Shen escapes the prison and continues to use the magic paintbrush for the needy forms the plot of the story.
As a die-hard fan of Julia Donaldson, I found the narrative to be a deviation from her regular style, which is usually infused with humor. Inspite of this, the plot is gripping, written in simple, captivating verse and the illustrations are very charming.
It is a great read-aloud book for children, and chances are, after a few reads, your child will start narrating it all on his own, thanks to the rhyme.
So pick up this book and make this the night-time read for your child today. It’s a journey to a world you’ll both love.
Angry at your toddler? Ask yourself this
I know better. But I still have those moments with my 5-year old. For instance, she sometimes plays with her food and resists eating what is on her plate. I am usually very patient but there are days when I lose it.
And immediately after, I feel a huge sense of remorse and guilt. So I make it up to her, and explain to her why I got upset, and what I really meant, and after an additional 10 minutes spent undoing that moment’s damage, we move on.
I have often wondered why I get angry at all and here is what I have learnt.
When I see my daughter resisting her food, I subconsciously extrapolate this act of hers far into her future. So while my daughter is playing with her food, I am creating an image of her as a fussy eater through school and college. I am already worrying about her future calorific intake and how I will be judged as a parent. While she is innocently playing with her fork, I am shifting blame and guilt in my mind and making up a set of strategies to “fix this forever”. And all my imagined failures as a parent and anxieties of the future make me explode. All this while my child is desultorily flicking the peas on her plate.
This was a startling revelation, and as I spoke about this with other moms, I realised that this is exactly the reason that most of us moms get angry with our children.
- We predict (and worse, assign) characteristics for our children based on their momentary behaviours. Eg: Child disliking parathas at dinner is interpreted as her being a very fussy eater.
- We subconsciously judge the “predicted behaviour” of the child and react to that behaviour now. For example, when our children say rude things to us, we immediately worry that our children will become brusque and arrogant teenagers and feel the need to set that right immediately.
Our children live in the NOW. But we don’t. We constantly think and worry about the future in ways that we don’t even realise.
So the next time your child’s behaviour gets your back up, ask yourself this:
Am I most worried that this behaviour will become a habit in the future?
If the answer is yes, drink some water, calm down and tell yourself to forget about the future. Get back to the moment and look at that gorgeous child of yours who is reveling in the NOW. And then, you can calmly deal with what is in front of you. In that moment.
Book of the week – When I Grow Up
The best books for early readers are the ones that allow us to engage in the conversation from the book long after we’re done reading. Such books allow us to take off from the core idea of the book and drift into realms of imagination with our children. When I Grow Up is one such book.
The writing is simple and conversational, exactly the way you would overhear two kids speaking with each other. The illustrations are simple, colourful but highly evocative. Appu and Lola discuss what they want to be when they grow up. Lola, the older one, is the know-it-all and critiques the vivid imagination of Appu and his ambitions. But through the conversations, adults reading the story to children can question stereotypes and break those initial prejudices children just begin to form.
But through the conversations, adults reading the story to children can question stereotypes and break those initial prejudices children just begin to form about gender. It is also a lot of fun to indulge in some interesting dual career combinations – my daughter went on for days about becoming a “spycher” (a teacher who is also a spy) and a “momook” (a mom who is also a cook)!
A great book and most valuable when parents really continue the conversation beyond the book. Happy reading, and do share with us if you had any interesting observations from reading this book out to your child.
Five Parent-Saving Weekend Activities
Why does every weekend activity with our children conclude with a big hole in your pocket? Don’t you wish there were something fun to do with kids that didn’t cost money? Well, there is hope. Here are some fun weekend activities to do with your child that’s a lot of fun, and involve no spends! Read on, there are no catches!
- Adopt a tree
Go for a walk with your child (preferably early in the morning) and look for trees that are beginning to flower and bear fruit. Some examples are cotton trees, neem trees or mango trees. Have your child give that tree a name and identity, and observe the leaves, flowers, and birds. Take pictures and keep visiting that tree every few days. Your child will find it fascinating to watch how they change and flower. A sure-shot winner of an activity!
- Create a bird bath and bird feeder
All you need to do is take two plates – leave some grains on one and fill up some water on the other. Leave them in your garden or balcony and watch as the feathered friends flock up to your doorstep to enjoy the party. And oh yeah, your kids will be glued to the place anticipating their arrival.
- Plan a treasure hunt
A good friend showed me this super hit activity. Take a few small squares of paper, and draw the rough images of things around your house on each of the paper squares. Some examples are a chair, a painting, a lamp etc. Keep the first clue with you. Go to the place you have indicated on your first clue and hide the paper square with the second clue. Go to the place indicated on your second clue and hide the third. Keep doing this till you exhaust all the paper squares. On the last place, hide a small gift. Kids feel like little detectives and have such an exciting time playing this game. If they are older, you can even write the clues out. Warning, this activity may be a bit too much fun!
- A letter to themselves
Have your children draw something or write something, and put it in an envelope. Take them to the post office and have them post the letter to themselves. They love looking for the mail and expecting the letter to come back to them.
- Quench some thirst
Involve your child in preparing some fresh buttermilk. Allow your little one to add in the ingredients and do the stirring. Take the buttermilk in a jug, take some disposable cups, and head outside. Have your child offer a glass of buttermilk to thirsty passers-by. This is such a useful thing to do for our community in the summer, and makes your child feel so proud of himself!
And if you have any fun things that you have tried and works, share them with us so we can share them with everyone. After all, we’re a “parent-ship” and we look out for each other!