Learning ... Is work

Through play and experience, children learn best. There is no better way than setting them free in the outdoors and letting them be creative and imaginative. And this absolutely does not have to include any expensive toys and gadgets to better them as growing children.

Blocks

Possibly known to be the world’s oldest toy for both indoor and outdoor play. No child can go wrong with blocks as this helps develop experimentation by putting one on top of the other and testing to see how high stacking the blocks can go. And if it tips over, then it tips over. Try and try again is what your child will be thinking. Especially when the blocks come in different colours, shapes, sizes and weight, this can even be more challenging and exciting for your child.

Hide and Seek

What can be better than your old school game that helps develop navigation, mapping and spatial skills? In short, your child just has to use his/her head. To begin with (when your child at a younger age and doesn’t understand the whole concept of hide and seek), try hiding an object such as a stuffed animal under a pillow as your child watches you, and then ask him/her to find it. When this practice happens a little more often, then your child will somehow get the idea on how this game is played.

Imitating

This can help develop creative thinking and broaden your child’s imagination, which is very helpful, as they get older. Imitating is a form of acting or drama to be what they possibly want to be, so watch your child’s imagination take off! Plus, it makes such a wonderful activity that your child would love.

Pretending

This for a child can be very entertaining. Though it is only pretend, he/she is slowly developing pre-literacy skills. And this is very easy for your child to do, say for example when in a car, pretend that you are flying or give your child an empty teacup and plate and pretend that you are having teatime and eating sandwiches. The more common ones can include pretend cooking, but whatever it is you can come up with, this is all so much fun for a child.

Water + Sand = MUD

Many children are in love with water, that is a fact! If they add sand to it, then it becomes all sticky. This, they will love even more! And this is when creativity steps in. Playing with water, sand and mud can definitely keep your child going on for hours on end when at the same time, he/she is learning more about liquids, solids and even volume and texture. What better play can it be?

Helpful Resource: www.babycentre.com