I’m categorising Simple.Easy.Cheap posts.  Look out for the symbol below on the right side column.  If you’re looking for an easy activity to do with your child, click on the Simple.Easy.Cheap logo for ideas with materials you will have around the house.

Tongs are great for developing strong hands. I gave plastic tongs to my son and a box of small cars.  He then proceeded to pick them all out of the box (and of course he had to try and fit it in his mouth).  It was a great exercise.

While reading a children’s book, do you pause to ask your child their opinion on what the character is feeling?  Are they sad or happy?  Surprised or frightened? Angry or confused? 

Do you ever allow your child to interpret the pictures into a story? A wordless story is a wonderful way to introduce story telling and empathy to your child, as well as a way to encourage them to interpret the world around them. 

Please feel free to print the illustrations.  Just click here for the PDF file.

Allow your child to tell you this story. Here are some questions you may like to ask:

* What do you think is happening?

* How is the boy feeling?

* Is the boy inside or outside?

* What is his name?

* What is the boy doing?

* What do you think is going to happen next?

* Is the boy far or near?

* Is the boy sitting or standing?

* Is the boy sad? (try this when the boy is looking happy)

* Is the boy happy? (try asking this when the boy is looking sad)

* Is the boy walking quickly or slowly?

For more great tips on reading to children and current book reviews visit The Book Chook.  I’m a huge fan.

My four-year-old’s interpretation:

Image 1: He’s walking. / Image 2: He’s at some stairs.  What is he doing?

Image 3: *laughs* He’s running down the stairs. / Image 4: He’s thinking about telling the truth.

Image 5: He’s thinking about his attitude. / Image 6: He is putting his money on the ground.

Image 7: *laughs* He’s surprised. / Image 8: He’s holding some monies.

Image 9: He’s walking slowly. / Image 10: He wants to buy a lollipop.

Image 11: *giggles* He’s a pirate.

Further reading:

The Book Whisperer

Jen Robinson’s Book Page

The Reading Zone

Scrub-a-Dub-Tub

Share a Story- Shape a Future

Nicole is a privately practicing Occupational Therapist (OT) in Brisbane, Queensland.   She is mother to 2 beautiful girls aged two and one. She’s written a guest post for Be a Fun Mum about encouraging your child/ren to write. Read on; it’s fabulous.  More information about Nicole can be found:

www.nicolegrant.net
www.brissieot.blogspot.com

Foreword by Kelly

Two years ago, I only had a vague idea what an OT did. Since then, I’ve come to fully appreciate the wonderful job they do and want to highlight the role they can have in a child’s life.  

As parents we have goals for our children: we want them to able to read and write; we want them to be able to function in society; we want them to develop physically, mentally and emotionally.  It’s easy to focus on goals and forget to give a child the skills they need to obtain them. I know because I’ve done it myself.

Since coming into contact with OTs during treatment for my child with special needs, I’ve strived to break goals down into steps for my children so they can gain skills and work their way up  from there. While OTs often help children with special needs, any child struggling in a developmental area can be assisted; from gross motor to social skills.

Handwriting by Nicole Grant

With the increased use of electronic communication devices by children from a very young age, there are less opportunities to practice the age old art of handwriting. Rather than draw and colour, children are preferring to play video games and scroll through music on their iPods. School age children are taught to use a computer for most tasks requiring a written response, and handwriting is limited to practice for only a limited time each day. There are no surprises then, that an increasing number of children are struggling with this skill.

Handwriting is a complex task. Take a piece of paper and write your name across it. With this one seemingly simple action, you have recruited your eyes to see the page, your hand and your pen, and guaged the distance between them. You have used both hands to hold the pen and stabilise the paper. You have activated your memory to recall your name and the formation of each letter. You have used higher neurological functions that enabled you to write each letter at precisely the right spot on the page, and form the letters to ensure they are the correct height, direction and spaced evenly apart. There is a lot more involved, but this starts to paint the picture for you.

From an early age, children show an interest in making marks with things they find around the house. Who has experienced lipstick on the walls? Finger smudges on mirrors? Or mashed potato painted across a highchair tray? This form of play is an example of how children first begin to learn the skills that later become more refined and allow the emergence of handwriting. Children should not be discouraged from ‘practicing’ with a variety of media – within reason of course! A smiley face drawn on the carpet in boot polish may not be acceptable, but why not give your kids some chalk and let them draw away on the driveway? If they are old enough, get them to write their name in chalk under their lifesize chalk outline. There are many ways that children can begin to learn handwriting before they first set their eyes on a blue-lined exercise book.

Most children first learn to draw using crayons, pencils or felt pens. It is important to encourage the correct, age-appropriate pencil grasp. The tripod grasp used for handwriting will usually emerge before the age of 7. Prior to this, a cylindrical grip and then a modified tripod grasp will be seen. Show your child the correct grasp by demonstrating on your own pencil. Move their fingers into the correct position and continue to correct their grasp if their fingers move. Pencil grips are helpful later down the track if the tripod grasp is not established, however these should be used as a last resort.

Upon commencing school, children will need to learn handwriting on lined paper using a pencil. As they progress through each year, they will be required to write for longer periods of time, and eventually fill page upon page of neat, correctly formed letters, words and sentences. By this stage, children often start to dislike writing, which is such a shame. It is an important life skill – necessary for filling out forms, writing lists, and how wonderful is it to receive a beautifully written personal letter or note!?

If your child professes to dislike writing, find out why. Does their hand get sore? Do they struggle with spelling? Are they constantly in trouble for being messy writers? Or is it boring? Here are some tips to help with some of these issues:

1. Start with a warm-up.I often use the analogy of footy players warming up before running onto the field to play. Do some hand stretches or play with playdough or lego to warm up the small muscles in the fingers, hand and wrist.

2. Strengthen the hands. Stronger hands may mean a greater tolerance to prolonged writing. Play with toys that offer some resistance e.g playdough or putty. Swing off monkey bars or climb.

3. Practice. There is a saying that ‘practice makes perfect’. Practice using a pencil on lined paper, but also practice in a variety of other ways e.g writing on a vertically placed whiteboard, or draw letters in flour on the bench or sand on the beach. And practice every day.

4. Make it meaningful. Of course writing a story about Kate’s trip to the Zoo is going to be boring if you’re not Kate, and you’ve never been to a zoo. Write a ‘wish list’ of Christmas presents, or write a letter to Grandma on the prettiest paper you can find. If the subject matter is of interest to the child, they are more likely to persist at the task.

5. Get help. Children all develop differently and at their own pace, but if you have concerns, an Occupational Therapist can help identify why your child may be having difficulty with handwriting, and offer strategies to help.

Intrigued? Yes, I have band-aid rules.  I’d have no energy if I was to panic every time one of my children fell over. I tend to say, “Up-a-day; you’re alright.” Or to my older children, “Get over it.” 

My children are not wimps so I know when they’ve really hurt themselves (well mostly).  My eldest daughter is as tough as nails.  One day, she was over at her cousins house swimming.  Someone smashed her head against the bottom of the pool.  She didn’t say anything at the time.  After I picked her up and she got in the car, I looked back in the rear-vision mirror and saw blood dripping off her chin onto her towel. She had split her chin open on the pool bottom.  We ended up in emergency. 

I don’t know if my children’s resilience is because of my parenting attitude or a genetic predisposition.  A bit of both I would guess.

So, do you want to know my band-aid rules?

Band-aid Rules

No Blood = No Band-aid

Blood = Band-aid

Simple huh? I can appreciate the placebo effect a band-aid can produce; however, I didn’t want to go down that path.  I find kisses work just as well.

Scab-grab

Have you had issues with your child pulling the scab off?  This is what my mother used to say to me:

“It’s God’s band-aid (our bodies are wonderfully made with the ability to heal) and so you have to wait until it falls off; until God takes it off.”

I surely didn’t want to mess with God’s band-aid so I left it well alone.

Hawaiian Ham Steaks

This is an easy, child-friendly dinner.

Just fry the ham steaks on each side until just gold.  Place a pineapple slice followed by a cheese slice on top.  Cook until cheese has melted.  Serve with vegetables and mashed potato or chips.

This story / endearment is inspired by my sister: a brilliant FunAunty.  I’m blessed to have a beautiful sister to love my children.  When I was writing and thinking about this conversation my sister has with my daughter, I remembered my own mother; what she used to call my three sisters and I.  We all had different sausage names (maybe not so charming as pumpkin, but we loved it!)  But why did we love it?  It made us feel unique and special.  My sister is now doing the same for her children.    Now, I have to think of something for my children.  Thinking… thinking.

Munchkin Pumpkin Book 

(click the title above to read the story)

Materials required

Paddle pop sticks

New Life Egg Template (click here, New Life Egg Template, for printable template)

Sticky tape

Drawing materials

Feathers (optional)

Instructions

1. Print out the New Life Egg Template. 

2. Allow child to colour (or glue feathers) over egg and chick. 

3. Cut out top cracked egg.

4. Sticky tape two paddle pop sticks together to make a long stick.

5. Cut along dotted line. Tip: to avoid ripping, place sticky tape over line on the front and back before cutting.

6. Sticky tape the long paddle pop stick at the back of the top cracked egg. Tip: I’ve placed a dot on the template as a guide.

7. Insert the long paddle pop stick into the cut section.

8. Done!

New Life

Around Easter time, Jesus’ death and resurrection is remembered.  I love the symbol of the egg.  It represents the new life we can have through Christ.

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6

Click here for a simple lesson you can do with your own children to enrich this craft and put it into context.

I often need to put my hair up but, alas, I  haven’t a hairband.  Here is a video tutorial of how you can put your hair up with no hairband. This will only work if your hair is long.

A Mother’s Instinct

Critically ill and barely conscious; drugged and hallucinating; yet when this mother was roused, the first thing she did was frantically hold her stomach, where her unborn child should’ve been.  The attending nurse said the horror on her face sent a chill down her spine.  Even in a barely conscious state, this mother was thinking about her child. What a wonderful example of a mother’s instinct.

Meeya is one of the most beautiful people I’ve met.  Her skin is perfect (thanks to her Thai genes), her eyebrows are never out of place and she has a stunning smile. Not only is she physically beautiful, Meeya also has a sparkly effervescence to her personality that is felt by anyone who comes into contact with her.

In 2009, Meeya was looking forward to the birth of her third child.  With already two children at home under 3 years of age, she was tired, but happy about meeting her new baby in 8 weeks.  After a week of feeling unwell, a Doctor’s visit and a morning in hospital being treated for asthma, she ended up back in emergency, unable to breathe.  It was then she was finally treated properly.

An x-ray showed Meeya’s entire left lung had collapsed from pneumonia.  Her state was so severe, was placed in an induced coma so a machine could breathe for her.  A tube pierced her left lung enabling the fluid to drain. All these complications were a result of the virus Swine Flu.  The Doctors warned her husband Sam that she was ‘very, very sick’.

The Doctors tried to keep Meeya alive; however, because she was pregnant, they couldn’t give her the drugs she needed and her baby was pressing on her infected lungs. The only option the Doctors had was to take the baby – early; too early.

A little girl was ripped from her mother’s womb, small, but strong and fighting.  This little girl, named Jada, didn’t get to meet her mother; in fact, her mother didn’t even know she’d been born.  The little girl’s mother was fighting for her own life.  (Imagine giving birth while in a coma).  Sam and Meeya’s daughter was placed in a special care nursery, isolated, in case she too, was infected by the deadly virus. 

There was good news and bad news; the good news: little Jada escaped the swine flu virus; the bad news: Meeya was not stablising or responding to medication.  Sam knew that he might lose his dear wife and be left with three children under 3 years of age.

A week passed and Jada grew stronger as Meeya grew weaker.  There was still no response from her and the Doctors feared the worst.  Then, a miracle happened.  At 9am, a prayer group was established and people all over Australia prayed for this Mother; that she would live.  Many prayed she would meet her sweet new daughter; that she would have the opportunity to mother her children and be a wife to her husband; and that her sweet smile would be seen again.

Miraculously, just after 9 am, Meeya woke up, the breathing tube was removed and she was able to breathe on her own (through an oxygen mask at first).  Even though Meeya was now out of danger, the Doctors said her recovery would take 6 months to a year.  While it took a while for Meeya to regain her strength, after only a month she was well again and home with her family. 

“Praise God!” Meeya says.

What an amazing story.  What an amazing woman.

Interview

What’s your best FunMum tip?

To be laid back as much as I can and do all I can to be pro-active (read Kelly’s article here) rather than reactive.  I always have to remind myself daily that my children are not mine, they’re the Lord’s and so therefore, how does He want me parent them and interact and play with them?

What is your favourite fashion accessory?

Belts. Definitely belts.  Even if you’re having a flabby, bloated day, a loose top with a belt emphasizes (and hides) all the right places! 

What’s your most embarrassing moment as a mother?

When Levi was only 2 weeks old I went to a friend’s baby shower and took him with me.  He has been the most laid back and chilled baby I’ve ever met, so when I arrived, there was dead silence in the car… I had completely forgotten I had brought him and I walked inside without him!  I only remembered because everyone started asking about him!!  Needless to say, I’ve never forgotten anyone ever since!!!  Shame… 

Name a proud Mother-moment?

When your child calls out for ‘Mummy!’  But most recently, when Sienna was asked about the meaning of life (she’s 3 and a half!), and she says ‘Jesus’.  Ahh  

What do you love most about being a graphic designer?

It’s a profession I can work to fit around my children.  I can work from home, I can be my own boss and therefore choose when I don’t work.  

What do you hope to achieve this year?

To get my range of invitations up and running online smoothly, with orders coming in.  I’d also love to get fit again. 

How do you find the work/family balance?

I work at night, after the children are in bed at 7.30pm.  This often means jobs I like to do without the kids around (eg. folding washing) gets pushed to the wayside and I’m fishing everyone’s clothes out of the baskets everyday until they’ve all been worn and the next lot is due to be washed, and so the cycle continues haha! 

Has your life changed after your near-death experience?

I have well & truly accepted Phil 1:21, ‘for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.’

Follow Meeya

Website: http://www.madebymeeya.com.au/ 

(Online store to be released mid-March)

Facebook: Made by Meeya– Graphic & Creative Design & Invitations

Launching new range of invitations: 1 March 2010

If you have a daughter, you will be familiar with the battles of hair brushing. My January FunMum, Wendy, gave me this wonderful tip.

Rules:

When it hurts, the child must say, ‘Now,’ instead of, ‘Ow!’

Once the child says, ‘Now,’ the adult must say, ‘Ow!’

Aim of the game:

Both players end up laughing.

A fabulous tip from a real .