Fine motor skills are vital for all people because humans use them to complete even the most basic tasks. Tasks like shoe-tying, eating, and opening containers require such skills. Children develop their fine motor skills at varying rates, but you can help your little ones by having them participate in the following activities:
Sponge Play
Almost everyone has a sponge in the house somewhere. Thus, you don’t even have to leave your house to get started. You can set up an activity to improve fine motor skills with one sponge and two bowls.
Add water to one bowl and leave the other one dry. Next, dip the sponge into the water bowl to absorb the liquid. Then move the sponge over top of the other bowl and squeeze the water out of it. Do this process a few times to show your children how to do it. Then watch as they perform the fun process repeatedly. They’ll never even know they’re learning how to improve fine motor skills. All they’ll know is that they’re having a blast.
Painting
Finger painting is an activity that can be exhilarating for you and your children. It provides several benefits as well as fine motor skill development. Try doing hand brush painting so they’ll learn how to handle paintbrushes more steadily. Then switch over to finger painting because it will allow them to work all the muscles at once and get dirty without any repercussions.
Your children will develop stronger hand-eye coordination and open their minds to artistry. You never know what you’ll help them unleash. You might discover that one of your little ones is the next Pablo Picasso!
Silly Putty Fun
Silly putty can work well for improving your children’s fine motor skills. It’s versatile enough to work all the muscles in their little hands while simultaneously giving them a sensory blast. Hand your kids some putty and encourage them to roll, cut, squeeze, and build things with it. Additionally, you can have them put the putty into pre-cut shapes to see if they can keep it inside the lines.
Stress Ball Use
Let’s face it; little kids love those squishy stress balls many people use to get through rough workdays and complicated lives. They really do alleviate stress, and they feel pretty good in their hands. Another benefit they offer is muscle strengthening, which improves fine motor skills. Thus, you can hand your children stress balls and tell them to practice squeezing them for exercise.
Coin Stacking
You don’t have to invest a lot of money in helping your kids develop their fine motor skills. You can do it using the cash you already have. Round up all the quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies in your possession, and have your little one try to build stacks with the change. It’s an excellent way to get those small muscles working, and it helps with hand-eye coordination as well.
You’re now aware of how to stimulate fine motor development in your children. Try some of the methods mentioned above and evaluate their progress over time.
Being a parent can be wonderful one moment but draining and frustrating the next. Whether they display emotional outbursts, temper tantrums, or general bad behavior, there are many reasons why your child could be misbehaving at home or school. These could be different situations like stress, fatigue, hunger, and other biological causes.
In some cases, it could be communication issues. This behavior can be challenging as it mostly comes at the most inappropriate times. If you’re struggling to manage a misbehaving child, there’s always something you can do to help them improve. Experts recommend treating such children as people with vulnerable nervous systems, not "problematic children."
What Is Normal Behavior for a Child?
Normal behavior depends on a child’s personality, health condition, age, and emotional and physical development. A child’s problem can be challenging if it’s disruptive or doesn’t match the family’s expectations. Good behavior is generally determined based on what is acceptable in the social, cultural, and developmental setting.
Understanding what to expect from your child is the best way to know whether their behavior is normal or not. Remember, your child isn’t perfect. They will make mistakes daily as they learn to live around others, around schools, hospitals, malls, parks, and other public places.
How To Handle a Misbehaving Child. Managing a Misbehaving Child
Here are three tips for handling a misbehaving child.
Avoid Punishing
No matter how irritating a child can get, resist the urge to punish them. Your child could be stressed, and punishing isn’t the best way to handle stress. Children also experience bad feelings. They can misbehave if they’re hungry, tired, sleepy, or annoyed by something. Punishing such a child can worsen the situation and make the child more difficult.
Identify Stressors in Your Child’s Life
Stress in children may involve everything in their life, including yours. It could be their relationships, schoolwork, extracurricular activities, or even your relationship with them or with other people that connect to you, such as your spouse. Some children can act up for simple reasons such as too much light, noise, or odor. When you identify these stressors, you can help your child feel more comfortable and prevent bad behavior.
Find Calming Strategies That Work for Your Child
Before you train your child to calm down, ensure you’re calm when addressing them. Stop, breathe, and react calmly to what they’re doing. Talk to them calmly, and don’t shout even if they become problematic. Every child uses a unique technique to replenish energy and reduce tension. Some children can calm down through simple breathing exercises. You can encourage them to try activities that bring them joy, such as taking a walk, playing with their pet, or practicing their favorite sport.
We Can Help Your Child Be a Child
Do you need a learning program that supports your child’s body, mind, and spirit? At Kids Kingdom Learning Center, we offer a toddler and infant learning program with plenty of hands-on activities. Book an appointment with us to find out if our program fits your child’s needs.
Children need structure and discipline to adjust and exist in the world. It is so important to ensure that you are finding healthy ways to discipline your child that actually work. There are so many methods for disciplining your child. Here are some that are proven to help.
Healthy Methods To Discipline a Child
Children are tough. They try to push your buttons and do whatever it takes to get their way. There are so many methods that work and that can actually help you get your children back in line. The first is that you need to model the correct behavior. Children are creatures of habit and learn from example and from what they see. If they are exhibiting a behavior that you do not like or that is not acceptable, you need to model what behavior you would like to see.
Another great method is to set limits that are consistent and that you have clearly defined for your child. If you have boundaries set, you can let your child know what they can and cannot do, what happens when they reach those limits, and even when they push past them. You also need to remember that when you are dealing with children, they will not believe they did anything wrong if you are not providing consequences for their actions.
With any child, you also need to hear them out. If they do something you do not want them to do, they may have had a reason in their mind for why it was acceptable. It is always ideal to listen to your child and give them the attention they are craving so that you can find out why they do what they do. Not all behaviors deserve or even need a response.
Even if a child is doing something that might not be on task or that might not be the exact behavior you want, it is important to note that not all behaviors should elicit a response from you as a parent. If you have a child that gets praise for good behavior, showing them that you do not respond to bad behavior may be a good way to discourage it.
How Should I Discipline My Child?
Every child is different. No blanket discipline is going to work for every single child. What works for one child may not work for another. When it comes to your child, it is always best to try out a few different methods until you find one that fits your child and helps them act better. You need to take the time to find what works for you and your child.
There are so many methods for discipline to stick to one method entirely. It is always best to take the time to find out what works for your child so both of you can be happy with the outcome.
Which type of childcare is best? As a new parent, you need to know that there are different types of childcare available. Many young parents might not have the necessary information about the different types. Some of these childcare approaches include:
1. Child Care Centers
Usually, these are commercial institutions that provide care for more than one child. The beauty of enrolling your kid in such a facility is that they will be able to interact with other kids and hence socialize at an early age. Some of the activities that the children might be involved in include games and other sports. This type of childcare has trained staff with the necessary skills to care for the kids.
2. Family Child Care Homes
In this case, the provider takes care of the kids in their homes. The good thing about this type of childcare is that the kids will be cared for in a homelike environment. In most cases, these service providers have other kids they care for, which is advantageous to your child as they will learn how to socialize at an early age. You need to understand that the number of kids being cared for in this environment is usually tiny. This is an advantage as your child will get individualized attention.
3. Nannies
This is a traditional form of childcare where you hire someone to take care of your kid full-time in your home. The good thing about this type of childcare is that your kid will receive personalized attention, which is suitable for their development. The disadvantage of this type of childcare is that it can be pretty expensive, and you might not be able to afford it.
4. Preschool Programs
Recently, preschool programs have gained popularity, and this is because they have proved to be quite effective. These programs are designed for kids aged between three and five years. The good thing about these programs is that they help the child prepare for kindergarten. However, many kids in these programs can be disadvantaged as your kid might not get the necessary attention.
5. School-Age Programs
In this category, the kids are usually between five and twelve years. These programs are designed to supplement the education that your kid is receiving from school. The good thing about these programs is that they help the child stay active when not in school. However, you must ensure that you choose a program with qualified staff so your kid can get the necessary help.
Conclusion
Childcare is a vital decision that you need to make as a parent. You must ensure you have all the necessary information to make the right decisions. The above are some different types of childcare that you need to know about. Ensure that you choose the right one for your kid so that they can get the necessary care and attention. Contact My Second Home Early Learning Center for the best childcare services.
Sometimes parents are torn about if they should put their child in daycare or not. At Kids Kingdom Early Learning Center, we know that daycare is essential for most working parents. There are even some parents who are under the mistaken belief that they are doing something wrong if they put their child in a daycare system. That is just not the case. There are numerous benefits of childcare that should not be overlooked, and it is a good idea to check how this may work out for you and your child when you have the chance.
The importance of having childcare is so parents can free up more of their own time to take care of the logistics of their household. This is to say that they need to have the ability to go to work and provide for their family, and that is why so many choose to enroll their children in childcare. However, the benefits may go beyond just that.
Behavioral Improvement
Many children ultimately do better with certain behaviors when they see role models from their own age group behaving in ways that are appropriate for their age. Thus, it is important that they be granted the opportunity to be around other children who show appropriate behaviors.
Just being around other children and learning to cooperate is a great way for children to learn how to interact with one another and respond to the world in appropriate ways. Children can learn good behaviors from one another, and it may help them be more successful in school.
Better Immune Systems
The COVID-19 pandemic has made many people think about all they can do to potentially improve the immune systems of their loved ones. Children develop their immune system as they grow up, which is a big reason to consider putting them into daycare. They can congregate with the other children and build up their immune systems in ways they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. This may give them a better chance to fend off any illnesses or diseases that would otherwise have a major impact on them.
Increased Parental Involvement
People often think that parents leaving their children at daycare is the opposite of parental involvement, but that isn’t exactly the case. Statistical information indicates that parents who drop their children off at daycare will be more involved with those children when they enter their school life. It seems that they want to increase their involvement with their children when they enter school to make up for some of the time they may have missed out with them when they were in daycare.
Overall, there are many reasons to consider enrolling children in daycare that go beyond the necessity of daycare for so many parents. Thus, it is a good idea to consider the full scope of what daycare means for both children and their parents and then decide whether they will proceed to send their children to daycare or not.
