Month: April 2020

1. Maximize love, Manage stress

Children can be particularly vulnerable to feelings of anxiety, stress and sadness during such a crisis, which makes it important that the adults in their lives provide a safe, reliable space to discuss these feelings in.

The tools you can use to talk to children about coronavirus are very similar to how you would talk to them about any other development in their lives.

Listen to them

First understand how much your child knows about the pandemic. Acknowledge their concerns fully and honestly and tell them there are countless adults working hard to try to end this.

Maintain structure in their lives

Keep regular routines and schedules as much as possible, especially before they go to sleep, or help create new ones in a new environment.

2. Talk, sing and point

Make hygiene precautions fun

Most children are not fans of standing for 20 seconds while they wash their hands, but we know it has to be done, especially after going to the toilet, before and after eating, after coughing, sneezing, or blowing their nose and after coming home from a walk.

Try to make it fun, sing a few verses of a nursery rhyme or do a little dance with them to help them count down.

See Circle time with Teacher Maria about flue and washing hands.

3.  Read and discuss stories

Be honest with them

It is important to provide children with information, but as their caregiver, you need to balance truthfulness with what is appropriate for their age and developmental level.

Please see a story written for children to understand what’s happening in all of our lives, theirs too.

Click on the link to see and listen to the story.

I found it a good conversation starter. It’s reassuring for children to know that parents care about what they think or wonder about.

4.  Explore through movement and play

Avoid stigma, share kindness

Explain to children that the illness has nothing to do with what someone looks like or where they come from. Viruses can make anyone sick, regardless of race or ethnicity.

• You can also encourage them to reach out to grandparents and far-away aunts and uncles or Strongstart friends more often, using video chat applications.

( See Zoom circle time invite in your e-mail. If you haven’t receid it please e-mail me and I’ll be happy to send it to you.)

• If your child is a fan of arts and crafts projects, you can encourage them to make cards for people in the extended family or friends, that way they too can take part in spreading some kindness and love.  

• Science experiment for kids. Why do we need soap to wash our hands by Odin’s Play time

• Another little science lesson how to make bubble solution at home from Mad Science.

• You can also spread some joy by organizing a Bubble Party with your neighbours. Everyone can join in the fun from their own balcony.

5. Count, group and compare

• What sizes are your bubbles?

• What colour are the bubbles?

• How many bubbles?

• What can you create with circles and semicircles?

1. Maximize love,

Manage stress

• Gratitude:  Gratitude is one of many positive emotions. It’s about focusing on what’s good in our lives and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family. For Earth Day we did a gratitude project. I am hopeful that this project will inspire ongoing gratitude in my kids for our Earth and its resources. Hope will inspire you and your kids too.

• Take action: Three great ways YOU can eliminate waste and protect your environment is: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2. Talk, sing and point

• Let’s remember how blessed we are to live on Earth by listening to What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

• Teacher Maria sings about being thankful and proactive by Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Listen to the songs here.

3.  Read and discuss stories

• The Earth book by Todd Parr is a great one for preschoolers. It also gives the opportunity to discuss the ideas and help children understand the connection of paper bags and trees. Paper is made of trees, but if we reuse or recycle paper, less trees need to be cut down.  Energy usage worms the climate that result in melting the ice lands. Todd Par has a sense of humor. Look for what his idea of cooling himself of in hot summer is.

• Here is another child friendly information on Reduce Reuse Recycle.

4.  Explore through movement and play

•         One of the activities we did with our family is: Took a walk and noticed the things each of us are truly thankful for: trees, flowers, water, animals, sunshine. When we returned home, made a poster about what inspired our gratitude. Perfect for Earth Day or any day. For the poster we decided to write down Earth Day and come up with a word, from what we noticed and appreciated, for each of the letters. Our poster is digital to use less paper.

•     Craft activity with recycled materials.

•     We also enjoyed drawing side by side as taught by Art for Kids Hub

5. Count, group and compare

•       Count your blessings flower. Make a circle and attach as many petals as many things you can think of being thankful for. Parents can write the words on the petals. Or if child is old enough you can write the words on a piece of paper and let children copy it on the petals. Glue the pieces together.

• How many different nature elements have you collected for a nature art? Get the biggest rock you can find, wet it with water. You are ready to arrange the nature element on it for a unique  piece of art. What colour are they? What pattern do you want to use? Leaf, flower, leaf, flower…

1. Maximize love, Manage stress

2. Talk, sing and point

3. Read and discuss stories

4. Explore through movement and play

• Nature walk: Fresh air every day can calm, balance our moods and refresh the mind.
When on your daily walk look for how many yellow, blue, red, black, green and pink coloured nature elements you can find.
Here is a picture of what we saw with my kids.

• Do you have paint at home? If not, try mixing flour with red food colouring. You can paint the beautiful cherry blossoms with fingerprint or a juice bottle.

5. Count, group and compare

• Do you remember how many feelings did Colour Monster had? If not, let’s listen to the story again.

• Find your colourful collection and sort them into separate jars/containers just like Colour Monster did. Do you remember which colour represented calm, happy, sad? How many red objects have you found? Can you count them? Put them in pairs? Group them by five?

• Can you think of a patter you can create with your colourful collection? Ex. Yellow, blue, red, yellow, blue…
What comes next?
My son chose to create a rainbow.