Family Memory Match

Personalising games like this memory match one is such a simple way to engage a child with a sense of belonging and it is a great way to get them interested in something they may not usually want to participate in. If its a game about them, featuring them and their loved ones, well it kind of makes them famous.

Memory match is a classic, we've all had a go or remember a memory match game. Flip two cards and try to get a match, if your unsuccessful turn them back over then try again but remember the place of those cards as you go in order to improve the likelihood a of matching a pair. Easy right?
Well, not really. It's estimate that your brain only uses a significantly small portion of neurotransmitters in every day memory, actually out of trillions of neurons your brain only uses a few thousand. However while the brain is still forming in the first 5 years neural pathways are rapidly connecting and being enforced, so this number can be increased dramatically through memory games such as this.

Using or "exercising" more pathways in the brain on a regular bases while it is at its most significant growth period = childhood, ensures their connections and stability, therefore increasing the brain power of the child overall.  By brain power, I am referring to concentration, focus, memory, overall functioning, cognitive and reasoning skills. "Exercise" for the brain has also been proven to ward the mind against Alzheimer's disease and improve ones quality of life by lowering stress levels.

Memory match games are aimed at children age 3-15 years usually.  Unfortunately for the brains sake they can be portrayed as utterly boring. Dimples hasn't really been fond of them. So when our business scanner/fax machine was on the blink I had extra ink canisters that needed to be used before we installed the new machine. I used the left over ink cartridges to print family photos and did a bunch of doubles. I had no idea what I was going to do with them initially because the quality wasn't very good but I knew I wasn't going to waste all that ink.

Viola- family memory match. I used the Doubles to surprise Dimples with a Memory match game featuring him, he hadn't yet seen what pictures I had printed out.
Dimples and I had turns of trying to match pairs. First he wanted to play by claiming the pictures as his own, so if he "won" a pair they were his and if you won a pair you then got a second turn to flip a set of cards.
We also played a full board by keeping them spread out until all pairs were turned up right. For a game he isn't too fond of he really enjoyed himself and he was keen to see which photos I had printed out of the family. Surprise- Children love the element of surprise!

 

The key to memory match games is to start small so the reward pays off and gradually increase the number of cards as their attention span and memory increases. The great thing about this game is that we can keep it and expand the collection as our family changes and grows over the years to come.

Quite possibly in 5 years we could be playing the same games with a mix of baby photos and childhood photos of both Dimples and Cherub.

 

Once our family had a few games of the family memory match featuring . . . US, we packed them away in an envelope to store in the games box. See the thing is 'exercise' doesn't pay off if you do it once a month, its got to be regular and used in intervals. Brain exercise is the same, we will play this again more often and add more photos as time goes by.

Happy adventures.
:-)

Letter & Shape Matching Puzzle

So simple and easy for any age. This DIY puzzle takes just 5 minutes to gather and draw, you could do a new puzzle every day and it would never be a bore.
All you need are some coloured, numbered or shaped objects a piece of paper and some markers.
This Easy DIY puzzle could be adapted depending on the age and ability of your child. Try it with numbered fridge magnets, of coloured blocks. You could try it with different shaped toys or similar shaped items of different sizes.

I used a variety of alphabet blocks, different size and shaped triangles and different coloured blocks.
I traced them onto a piece of paper and put them all in a small basket for Dimples to sort through.
This was a great quick floor activity that used letter recognition, colour matching and cognitive manipulation of objects.

The Triangles were a little difficult, they were all different sizes and different angles. Dimples had to put his thinking cap on to work out which way they faced, to the right? to the left?
No, it still wouldn't fit, he figured out that he needed to flip the block to make it fit.
I put in some small blocks and balanced them on their ends, trying to outwit Dimples but he worked it out straight away.
If you use your imagination and go with your child's interests to see what type of puzzles you can make from every day objects, it'll provide a new fun way to learn and keep your child's mind active.

Happy Adventures

The Scissor Box - Practise cutting with big boy scissors

The Scissor Box: For cutting practise using Big-boy scissors.

 

 

 The Scissor box is a little tin we have put together that is full of all different materials that can be cut easily.  Dimples has a special pair of 'big boy' scissors to practise with that are always kept in his cutting box.  This is a quick and easy activity that I keep tucked away for special time.  It is easy for me to grab out when we have a little time to calmly focus and pay attention on the task. For now, it remains a special mummy time activity that he can do when I am with him or keeping a close eye on him.  It is still a great incentive for him as it gives him a sense of accomplishment and confidence in using his big boy scissors.

In side Dimples Scissor Box I have a wide range of different papers and materials that are easy to cut. Lots of different shapes, sizes, textures, colours, thicknesses and some printables make it interesting to sort through. He has a small box that sits with it so when he cuts small pieces he can throw them out, and keep all his bigger pieces in the box for another time.

Material Ribbons
Felt squares
Colourful card stock
Crepe Paper
twirling ribbon
cellophane paper
cardboard
wrapping paper
Foam pieces
Metallic papers
Scrap booking papers
Magazine pictures
Vellum transparent paper
& some scissor practise printables.

I have also added some of our own cutting practise lines on the colourful paper. Just grab a ruler and a pencil and do a dotted straight line, maybe a few zig zag ones or a wavy one.  You can also do it on magazine papers or wrapping paper to help your child see where to cut in order to cut out a particular picture. I did this with some cars & Thomas wrapping paper as I knew Dimples would want to cut Thomas and Lightning McQueen out.

Not only does he get some quality time with me and some practise using his big boy scissors, this is also a great way to boost his confidence in his developing skills.  He gains a sense of achievement and his self esteem develops more as he succeeds in the fine motor tasks he is learning to master. It is also a good activity to build up attention span, focus and concentration.

 

Happy Adventures

 



Halloween Discovery Bottle

This is an easy fun DIY activity in preparation of Halloween. To get in the spirit we put this discovery bottle together in just 10 minutes and Dimples enjoyed exploring it all afternoon.

Using an empty Pom juice bottle we added-

• Glucose syrup
• Halloween Sequins
• Eye Ball buttons
• Orange Glitter
• Black and red buttons
• Small plastic spiders
• Star sequins

We played I SPY, and named things starting by letter such as Spider, Star, Bat, button, Pumpkin, Eye, Orange, Black, White, Red, Slime & Glitter.  Dimples enjoyed helping make this one because of its funky shape and the messy time we had getting the glucose syrup in. These are so easy and simple, the best thing is though, anyone can make them out of recycleable materials and things you find laying around in your art/craft supplies, or even every day materials. Just remember to glue the lid shut!

6 months - 18 months:
Discovery bottles are great for developing observation skills, predictability and thinking skills.  For young children they are great for gross motor, grasping, passing from hand to hand, twisting, turning, shaking, they aide in the development of focused concentration. High contrast colours should be used for younger children to develop their sight perception, depth and visual focus. They are great for sight and sound sensory development and when used with more than one child can help in sharing, interacting and swapping.

 

18 Months- 4 years:
With older children they can be more detailed and used as  I Spy bottles to introduce letters, numbers,  themes and some science lessons such as separation, depth, gravity, density, sinking and floating. Again it helps with predictability, cause and effect cognition's, observation skills, focused attention and thinking skills.

They can be used for experiments such as sink or float, separation using water and oil, gravity with non liquid ones or like you seen here the Halloween one explore concepts of density and depth. Themes can be taught also, like the use of this Halloween theme. With non contrast similar colours and softer colours older children need to pay attention to objects presence.
If you want to make it more interesting for younger children, enrol their skills and help. Get them to choose what they want to add in to the bottle, how many and get them to help measure and pour anything in via a large funnel as I did with Dimples. This one is his favourite because he made it.

Happy Adventures :)

Bolt Sorting, Matching & Stacking

Like all little boys Dimples loves anything that Daddy fiddles with in the yard. He is always keen to explore the shed, pretend to mow the lawn, build and fix things like Daddy does and play with tools. This bolt & nut play was perfect to keep him occupied on a beautiful sunny day as we tinkered around the yard.

This little activity is so simple and fits perfectly with role playing Mr. Fix it and with an extra learning bonus it offers some practise in fine motor skills, cognitive development in focus & attention, sorting by shape, length and by size, matching and stacking by size.



I started with a collection of different sized bolts and washes. A few different widths and a few different lengths, all with matching ends, Some had multiple ends. Just to make it interesting I added a padlock and keys in to see if Dimples could master it and find the right Key without guidance.



Dimples stacked the nuts up, it took alot of focus and concentration to do so.
Through cause and effect he learnt that he needed to stack it up with the large pieces on the bottom, decreasing to the smallest on top for the best and most stable stack of nuts.



He Balanced the bolts up on their ends. Balancing and sorting them from smallest to largest. Putting them all in a row and making a "fence".
Dimples matched the bolts to the right size nuts and had to concentrate on using his fine motor skills to twist and turn the nut up evenly onto the bolt without stripping it or getting it jammed.
He fiddled around experimenting on which way the nut goes depending on which way he spun it, up the bolt or back down.



Then came the Key, this was tricky. Dimples found the right key, at first it didn't fit so he turned it around and it didn't fit, after a few wiggles he got it in. The he had to manipulate it to hold on the padlock with one hand and turn the key in the correct direction with the other to pop it open.
He threaded some of the washes on to the padlock and lined it up, pushing it locked again.

 

 

 

Something so simple that we take for granted. I had never really considered the skills it takes to unlock a padlock or thread bolts. To a growing and learning mind of a 3 year old who has never opened a padlock before or had to use such focused fine motor skills, this is a huge accomplishment!

Benefits of Pretend Play

Recently I had the opportinity to do a guest post @ http://positiveparentingconnection.net which resulted in some great comments. So here is an extended version with some additional ideas, links & pictures for the Captain Underpants fans...

In a busy world with what seems to be tireless amounts of chores, it is easy to fall into a cycle of giving your child the same toys to play with each day, using the TV as a baby sitter or saying "maybe next time", "hold on, I just need to finish this first" each time your child comes running to you with underwear on their head exclaiming that they are Captain Underpants requesting that you come play with them.  As parents it is important for us to acknowledge that for a child "Play" is not just leisure but is how they learn.

Captain Underpants flying through the clouds... 

 Of course there are many forms of play and endless ways to engage in play with your child. Dramatic or Pretend Play is just one way that children benefit from immensely that will also give you a chance to positively enhance their learning experiences, their self-esteem but most importantly it can strengthen your relationship with them.

Here are some of the benefits derived from Dramatic / Pretend Play-

• Pretending:  Just the act of pretending is a learning curve for a child. It grants them with an outlet to role play what they have seen in their world. This helps them learn about how the world works and practice how adults interact.
• Social Play: Pretend play encourages negotiation, cooperation, and role playing different situations. Pretend story lines and characters, turn taking, sharing are all great skills to learn.
• Social interaction: Not only does it help with social skills but it encourages a child to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and be empathetic and considerate of others. This gives them a chance to practice behaviour, manners and language that is needed when they interact in real world situations, as well as what behaviour is acceptable in public.
• Language development: Dramatic Pretend play encourages expressive language that would not otherwise be used by the child.  Often through pretend play withdrawn children can first start to express themselves by acting a certain role.  Further, this gives the parent an opportunity to extend on language skills by paraphrasing what the child has said using more descriptive language and exchanging conversations using expressive language examples.
• Imagination: Pretend Dramatic Play is a great for showing how imaginative children are. Imagination is an important building block for learning.  It is not only important in childhood, imagination is crucial for life. Just imagine a world without it, we would not have scientists making new discoveries, artists making new artworks, Santa traditions, award winning stories like Avatar and we would not be able to cognitively process these possibilities or examples.
• Self-esteem: By giving your child complete control in their pretend world and accepting them as a silly character like Captain Underpants you are enhancing their self-esteem. While they use their own initiative to develop story lines, their creative imagination to expand stories and their own personality to choose a character they enjoy, you are enhancing their self-esteem by allowing them complete power in the world & enjoying it with them.
• Motor skills: Playing is very busy work. While pretending to be adults or role playing your child is also fine tuning their motor skills. Mixing, Pouring, scooping, cooking, squatting, lifting, serving, moving around & remaining active.
• Practice: Practice makes perfect, while they are playing & pretending they are practicing all the skills they are going to need as they grow up into adults in the real world. From simple things like dressing, measuring, serving food, cooking skills, to handling money, grocery shopping, going to the doctor, answering the phone and not to mention practicing appropriate manners, behaviours and etiquette.

 

Pretend Play: Eating out at a cafe

Try to provide some Dramatic Props:

Tea sets,
cooking utensils,



Old cooking pots
outdoor mud station mud-is-good-for-you
play kitchen,



Fresh food Shop with trolley, plastic food, food boxes & Cash register



plastic food,
a cash register,
empty food containers,
Real ingredients  eg: worms-eyeballs-goblin-finger-stew



Pretend cooking with Rainbow Spaghetti.
Doll houses,
Telephone, masks,
Dress up accesories,



Flower Stand. Playdough as mud & flower arranging.

pretend money,
wallets & bags,
a pretend shop stand,


Muffin tin, Shaving Cream & real ingredients. pretend-cooking-wild-berry-muffins

play tools,
toy doctor kit,
bandages,

Doctor mask & toy doctor kit

toy animals,
kids tool bench 
building toys
Costumes pirate-party-dress ups
Make Costumes eg: making-robot-suit
Buried Treasure treasure-hunt

By accepting your child in their make believe world you give them complete control not only over the game, but over the 'world' for that short time, this enhances their self-esteem and gives you a chance to engage in their interests and their blooming personality, share in their enjoyments and it strengthens their trust in you and the world around them.

So next time a screaming Captain underpants runs past you, grab a towel and throw it on as a Super hero cape & go rescue Big Ted from the malicious tornado that’s about to hit your house.

Happy Adventures