Big and Small

Bree and I had a little conversation about her Blunnies a while ago. She had placed hers next to her dad’s and I pointed out that her father’s work boots were big and hers were small. Later, we also compared other things around the house. Soon, it was very obvious that she knew what was big and what was small. That was a mini milestone indicating that she was ready to be introduced to my pack of Bear counters. I did not introduce the whole pack of 80 counters right away. The first game we played was sorting the bears by size. We used 5 big bears (aka Papa Bears) and 5 small bears (aka Baby Bears). To minimize distractions, the game was played using only the blue bears at first. Blue was selected because that is one colour that Bree could identify at the time. At first, she watched how I sorted the bears by sitting the big bears onto one plastic plate and then the small bears onto another plastic plate. I deliberately slowed down the process and sorted the bears one by one while Bree watched attentively. By the time I had only three small bears left, she more or less got the idea and helped to place them among the other two small bears. After that, she sorted them again over and over. In the weeks afterwards, Bree asked almost daily if I brought the bears with me. LOL.

I bought this pack of counters years ago. They have been used by many children in my care. I remember vividly when I bought them from this snobby toy shop; I was told by the shop assistant that preschoolers were too young to use these counters. Funnily, she even told me that she knew what she was talking about because she too is an ECE teacher. LOL. Pretending that I was also buying for older children, I just politely disregarded her comments and continued to purchase other items associated to the pack of counters. It is true that Bree is too young to work on many of the suggested activities but as can be seen here, she was clearly ready for the basic level work. I prefer to observe children to see what they are capable of than to simply write something off as too challenging. Like the other children before her, other activities related to these bear counters will be introduced to Bree gradually. It is very important that we always offer learning experiences that not only offer opportunities for success but we should also offer that little bit of extra challenge to stretch the child’s imagination. Imagination is probably not the right word because what it means to me is very different to what others have in mind. Does anyone have a better word?

Note: Photo of the bear counters has been removed.

Ten Favourite Picture Books for Toddlers

Here is a list of picture books that I always use when working with little children of Bree’s age (29 months). I usually read them aloud to children from around 18 months to around 3 years of age. Older non-readers enjoy listening to them from time to time as well. Occassionally, beginning readers also enjoy practising their new found skills with these books. This is especially true if they have younger siblings and would like to read to them for fun.

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
2. Peepo by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
3. Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
4. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
5. The Baby’s Catalogue by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
6. How Do I Put It On? by Shigeo Watanabe
7. Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
8. Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox
9. Mr Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr Seuss
10. Toddlerobics by Zita Newcome

This has been fun. I think I will make another list of books on another day.

Decorating Easter Egg Shapes

After last week’s mental block, this is the Easter theme craft that I planned for the girls to make. It is similar to the bauble shapes that Stella and I made for Christmas except that I cut out the shapes at home. Stella’s mum bought some blank ready made bauble shape cards after Christmas. So, I am pretty sure that there are stores out there selling blank ready made egg shape cards to make life easy. Well, since I have surplus cardstock at home, I decided to trace the egg shapes and cut them out myself. Because I also have pink cardstock leftover, I also punched out some circle shapes for the activity. This saved me a few $$.

I originally planned to do this activity on Thursday because it is the last day of work for me this week. We had to do this activity today because Stella is invited to a birthday party after school on Thursday. The following are the steps to how we decorated the eggs.

1. Have the children dab a little bit of Clag glue on each little pink circular shape and then sprinkle each with some glitter. These are then left to dry. (Bree didn’t want to do it because she didn’t like the glitter getting stuck on her fingers while Stella can’t have enough glitter.)
2. At the table, have the children decorate the egg shapes with crayons. (I offered only darker colours. I cut out only 9 egg shapes for the 3 of us to decorate. Bree’s attempts were mostly scribbles going back and forth, and some irregular circular scribble. Stella’s attempts were of course more advance. Hers included her own name, heart shapes, multi-coloured confetti marks, uniform stripes from left to right, etc.)
3. Explain to the children that we are going to paint the egg shapes with runny paint and explain the need to wear a smock. (Luckily, I remembered to bring Bree’s smock to Stella’s house!)
4. Mix the paints with a little help from the children. (Stella suggested green. The girls took turns adding a little water into the bowl that I was stirring. As predicted, Bree added too much water despite being told to stop pouring and laughed her little head off. LOL. I ended up halving that and then added a bit more paint to achieve what we needed.)
5. Encourage each child to paint the egg shapes with the runny paint. Assure them that the patterns they drew earlier on will show through even if they paint over them. (Bree needed no reassurance. She painted not only the eggs but the newspaper lining the table as well. LOL) (Note: Because the egg shapes weren’t cut out of heavy cardstock, I had to watch the amount of paint each girl applied on each shape to prevent it from curling later on.)
6. The shapes are then left to dry and clean up can begin in the meantime. (It took a little longer than expected for the shapes to dry up. The girls left to play with Stella’s felt storyboards.)
7. Once the egg shapes and the circular shapes sprinkled with glitter were all dried, invite the children to dab a little bit of glue at the back of the glittery circles and paste them onto the eggs to make them even more beautiful. (Bree pasted only one circle per egg and she decorated 3 eggs altogether. On the other hand, Stella the glitter girl had to curb the urge from pasting the rest of the glittery circles on the eggs she decorated. I had to remind her that if she covered the eggs with too many glittery circles, no one will be able to see her artwork on the egg shapes.)

I wasn’t very optimistic about this activity at first because I didn’t think Stella would enjoy something like this again but I was wrong. This activity turned out to be fun for both girls. Their parents gave the thumbs up approval as well. It is easy to please some parents.

Note: For this activity to work, it is important that the children do not colour in the entire egg shape, leaving no blank space with their crayons. When painting the egg shape with the runny paint, they are actually painting the spaces in between their drawings – areas not covered by the crayons.

Play Dough Easter Eggs in a Basket

The girls didn’t venture outdoors on Monday. It was just too hot. I suggested to the girls that we could make Easter eggs using the play dough in the fridge. This is an easy activity for Bree and she loves playing with play dough. The fact that Stella’s dough is always kept refrigerated in the warmer months also made the activity more fun. It is easy for anyone to learn to roll a piece of dough into a sphere shape but it is a little trickier to create egg shapes. Most of the girls’ eggs were spherical and a few were actually pretty well formed ovoids. The eggs didn’t have to be perfect. I was most happy to see the girls enjoying themselves.

While Bree was still happy playing with the play dough, Stella and I looked in her art cupboard for some construction paper to make simple baskets for the eggs. Bree didn’t participate in making the baskets but she did pick the colours for her basket when I asked her to. Bree picked yellow and orange, and Stella picked red and yellow. We needed two pieces of construction paper for each basket because they are not as strong as cardboard/cardstock. Stella was in charge of her own basket, following my suggestions as I made Bree’s. We used double sided sticky tape to adhere the two pieces of paper together to become one and then drew lines like I did. This was done step by step and Stella enjoyed every bit of it. Then I showed the Supergirl how to fold along the lines on all sides. Bree stopped playing with the dough and came over to have a look at what we were up to. After that we got the scissors out to cut the areas near the corners that needed to be cut. Bree sat there mumbling, “Sharp. It’s sharp.” LOL. Once the cutting was done, we had to put away the scissors again. We never used to have to do this in the past but now that Bree is here in the afternoons, we have to be careful. In doing this, Stella is learning to be neat, considerate and thoughtful. The final step to completing the basket’s body was to bring the corners together to be stapled together. As a precaution, I used normal sticky tape to cover the staples inside the baskets.

Thinking that the baskets were complete, the overexcited Stella rushed off to gather the play dough eggs she made earlier. Bree copied her. I asked Stella, “Hey Stella, come and have a look at the baskets. Do you think something is missing?” She came back to have a look and answered, “Oh, I forgot to write my name.” Before I got a chance to say anything else, Stella added, “I will use the new pink pen mummy bought me. I will write Bree’s name, okay? I know how to spell it. She has two ‘e’s in her name. It is like the word ‘green’.” When she came back with the pen, I asked her if there is anything else we can add to the basket to make it easier to hold. I suggested that she think about baskets holding chocolate Easter eggs and proceeded to the art cupboard. She came over and asked, “Do you mean we should add a loop, @#%*-@#%*? We will need ribbons for that.” In reply, I said, “I think the baskets could do with some handles. Shall we try making them with the same construction paper to see if it will work?” (Duh, I already knew it would work!) I didn’t have to invite Bree to pick a colour this time; she was already right next to the cupboard. She found a piece of green cellophane inside Stella’s useful box and was looking around the room through it.

The handles for the basket was easy to make. We just folded the paper lengthwise four times and then stapled each end to opposite sides of the basket. Again, I sticky taped the sharp ends of the staples as a precaution. Before stapling the handles, I demonstrated to Stella how each would look and only then did I invite her to use her new pen to write their names on the handles. While we were folding the paper, Bree wanted to join in. I got her a piece of paper for a bit of folding as well. She didn’t quite get what we were doing and was happy to simply fold the paper without following any directions. I try my best to involve Bree as much as possible. The things that I do with Stella are often not developmentally appropriate for Bree but I do try to allow her to do something similar on the side without following the same directions as Stella. To me, it is important that she is having fun and has the opportunities to observe what others are doing and to work with her hands.

Note: I did try to include a template for the paper basket in this blog but it is not working. How annoying!

A Thank You Note from Stella

I received a Thank You note from Stella last week. There was a stamp on the envelope but it wasn’t postmarked. I assumed that they must have dropped it into our letterbox in person. They must have returned to Melbourne early or at least her dad did. Stella and her parents spend this time of the year in the country. It was just a simple note thanking me for the pyjamas and picture book. I could see that she tried to be neat in her writing and spotted two spelling mistakes for the words: pyjamas and picture. The y was missing in pyjamas and the word for picture was written as pikch. LOL. Give the kid a break, This Melbourne Nanny! Her mum probably saw this as the right time to introduce the art of letter writing now that she is starting to write and read.

Seriously, I appreciated Stella’s effort. I was very miserable that day because it was very hot and the note cheered me up a little. I wonder if she was made to make thank you notes or did she eagerly take it up after it was suggested? Is it possible that she came up with the idea herself? I think I will bring it up in a conversation when I see her next week.

It really is nice to receive a Thank You note but it is not something I aim for whenever I give someone a gift. I just think that it is nice to thank someone properly if he or she has taken time and trouble to get me a gift. A young child of say between the age of 3 & 4 can be asked to draw a nice picture to thank someone. An adult can help the child to write a simple message. Older children may be able to do both themselves. Because there may be quite a few people to thank, children do get tired of doing the same thing over and over. I have two solutions to this.
1. Spread out the work over a few days. They don’t have to be all posted on Boxing Day. Encourage the child to do a few each day. It is the thought that counts.
2. Now, I am not big on introducing the computer to a child too soon but many parents are big on it. So, if the child has access to the home computer, make use of a simple software like MS Paint for a child to create a picture for the Thank You note and then type a simple message under the picture before adding the child’s name. Just print out the required amount (one at a time) and make sure that each is addressed to the right person because you don’t want to print out 15 copies addressed to Uncle Greg!

The second solution sounds like cheating but it is an easier option to keep the young child motivated and interested. It is far better than forcing the child to churn out multiple copies by hand, under duress.

An Art Area for Bree

Stella’s parents bought Bree an easel and rolls of paper from IKEA. Stella also selected a couple of picture books for her little friend. The easel, paper and art supplies are all stored in the laundry for now. Bree’s mum had decided that she would prefer her daughter to do art outdoors, under the covered area, just outside the kitchen and family room. This is where we do finger-painting and table washing these days. Until her mum finds a desirable cupboard for all the art supplies, finger-painting and drawing will be the only art activities on offer. The supplies for these activities are now neatly stored in an old basket. The intention is to give Bree a good start. They wanted her to learn to ‘care’ for her supplies like Stella (who also began learning to look after her things from around age 2 apparently). This does not mean total responsibility. They just wanted her to begin participating. I hope they will find a good size cupboard for everything to be stored properly. It is easier for the child to participate if everything has its own space and are stored logically.

This nanny is all for helping the child to become independent. I believe that toddlers and young children like to live and play in an organised and tidy area. I think that it even helps them to calm down. On top of that, toddlers and pre-schoolers like to pitch in. Many people misunderstand their intentions and label them as troublemakers but most of the time they really want to learn how things work in their environment. It is therefore highly beneficial to include them now while they are still interested. It will help to develop good habits. Their efforts may be sloppy (as compared with adult standards) but that will improve with practice. This sort of ‘work’ also gives them confidence in themselves. Step back and see how delighted they are when they have accomplished something rather complicating like cleaning one’s own little table.

Bean Bag Activity @ The Big Park

While surfing the net a few years back, I came across a couple of fun bean bag activity sets made by a famous American company. Knowing that it is likely to cost a fortune to have just them shipped over here, I set out to make a version of my own. (Shipping might have been cheaper if I bought other stuff as well.) It was only after I made the first one that I realised that it was already available here in Australia. It has an Aussie price tag of $49.90. My version was lovingly made by me using washable materials like calico and drill or canvas in primary colours. The whole thing cost me less than $15 to make.

Stella and I took it with us to the big park on Thursday to meet up with Lachlan and his nanny. The children had fun playing with it. They took turns throwing their bean bag, aiming at particular items (numbers, shapes and colours) on the mat. They got bored after a while and went away to play with the playground equipment. After having a drink, they came asking for the bean bag activity again. I had it set up very quickly and this time they attracted the interest of another child. The boy’s mother let him play with Lachlan and Stella. They are all about the same age. The boy’s mum eventually popped the question, asking where she can purchase this toy. Before I opened my mouth, Lachlan’s nanny blurted out that I made it. The boy’s mum looked quite surprised. I then told her that she could buy a similar product from a toy store. She took down the details and then said that she didn’t know how to sew one herself. Another mum with a young toddler also came over to have a look. At this park, people are usually friendly but most mothers and nannies do not mingle. I am just glad that they found what I made interesting.

I wish to take a photo of the mat that I made but it is in the wash. It got trampled all over on Thursday. I think I will post it later. I am also intending to make another mat at the end of the year. The American company which sells this bean bag activity set also sells a second set featuring the alphabet. I think I will make a similar one with an added twist to promote phonemic awareness.

Writing In The Air Is Not Really A Joke.

I suggested the idea of writing in the air last week. I wasn’t being sarcastic. That really is a recommended activity for young children. This is great if you would like the child to guess the letter that is being ‘written’ in the air. To do this, the adult should gently hold the child’s dominant hand and draw a letter of the alphabet in the air. The letter should be ‘written’ according to the correct order without any jerky movements to distract the child’s concentration. Initially, you may need to do this slowly and repeat it a few times. Letters like ‘i’, ‘l’ and ‘o’ are an easy start to this game.

Writing in the air is not suitable for what I intend to do with Stella. To find out if Stella is able to form the letters that she knows in the correct order, I need to be able to physically see the formations as well as her writing to be certain. At this stage, I will still be doing this by inviting her to a finger-painting session with me. Today would have been a fine day for such an activity but Stella begged to go to the beach when she got up from her short nap. It looks like it will have to be carried out next week because Stella will be playing with Lachlan at the big park tomorrow. There really is no rush. I hate to rush a child to do anything that is ever so slightly ‘academic’. At her age, Stella should be having lots of fun like playing outside. She is already quite advance for her age so there really is no need to rush at all.

It is 12:07 AM! I need my beauty sleep.

Handwriting Via Finger-painting

I recently wrote about introducing sewing to children to indirectly prepare them for handwriting. That then led me to the idea of offering printed alphabet cards with punched out holes for Stella to sew. I also mentioned that I’d better make sure that Stella knows how to write the letters properly before offering the alphabet sewing cards. Since then I have been thinking about a way to ‘assess’ Stella’s letter writing abilities without her knowing that I am testing her. I hate to cause unnecessary stress. Finger-painting could well be a fun way.

If the weather continues to be fairly mild on one of the days that I work with Stella next week, I might suggest we do some finger-painting. It is something she enjoys doing. I will see if she can paint any letters using her fingers before suggesting some letters. This may prompt her into writing out the whole alphabet if she knows how to. It is not important for her to know how to write them all. I just need to take notice of the ones that she is capable of writing properly. Most importantly, it will be the order of each letter’s formation that I will be paying my close attention to. This will let me know if she is ready to sew those letters because she will be required to sew each in the right order. Judging from some of her work at home, I am already pretty sure that she is able to write quite a few of them because her mum had taught her to write some, especially the ones in her name.

Stella is able to identify and sound out almost the entire alphabet. She is better at identifying the upper case letters, which is something quite common among pre-schoolers. With the lower case letters, she is still making typical mistakes like getting confused with letters like ‘b’ & ‘d’ and ‘p’ & ‘q’. That is ok. We should give her a break. She is only 4 and a bit!

I have gotten a little side-tracked again. Now, let’s get back to finger-painting. This form of art allows the child to move about the whole table’s surface freely to write or draw. It is less restrictive than writing on a piece of paper. There is no need for the child to use any writing tools. If desired, a paint brush can be offered to write the letters. Most children are quite happy to just use the index finger of their dominant hand to write or draw and then delete by swiping across the surface with the palm of their hand to start all over again. Since the child is likely to enjoy this tactile activity, it naturally becomes a relaxing way to ‘assess’ if the child is forming her letters properly.

Unfortunately, finger-painting is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people are just horrified by the amount of mess to clean up afterwards. A friend of mine is even horrified by seeing her child touching the paints with his bare hands. As a substitute, a tray of sand can be used instead for writing with fingers. Purchase a large art tray – the ones made for indoor table top mud play or finger-painting. This type of trays is available at Kindergarten or Art supplies shops. Other types of trays are fine also provided if they have low sides. Add to the tray a layer of fine, washed sand for the child to write or draw. If preferred, cornmeal can be used as a substitute for the sand. One mum I know even mixed glitter into the sand to entice her little princess! (What is it with girls and glittery little things?) I was kind of surprised that she didn’t dye the sand pink. Now, if sweeping up spilled sand is still too messy, one can always encourage the children to write the letters in the air. That really is a clean and thrifty option.

NOTE: I recently wrote about finger-painting and suggested making prints by transferring a child’s design to a piece of paper. This technique is not applicable to writing because the resulting prints will be a mirror image to what the child has written.

Sewing for Handwriting Preparation

There are a number of things children can do at home to develop their fine motor development as a preparation for beautiful handwriting. Sewing is one such activity. It helps to develop good hand-eye coordination.

I introduced a simple lacing activity to Stella last year when she was just 3. I bought this set of 4 simple plastic animal shapes with holes along the edges for the child to lace using a plastic threading lace. No sharp needles are required. I introduced only one animal shape at a time. The rigid plastic shape made it a manageable activity for a pre-schooler. Stella really enjoyed working on it and she was always making sure that she didn’t skip a hole. This was her first ‘Sewing’ activity.

Seeing that Stella was ready for something more advance, I decided to teach her how to thread using a darning needle and thick yarn in May. She had just turned 4 then. I showed her how to thread the darning needle with yarn and then how to thread through the holes of the animal shapes. I let her experiment these new techniques with the plastic animal shapes at first. They were quite tricky for her to manage at first. She enjoyed choosing the colour of yarn she would like to work with and concentrated very hard to thread it through the needle’s eye. (If you are going to offer this activity, be sure to buy darning needles with large eyes.) When she started to thread the yarn through the first hole on the plastic shape, I noticed that she was struggling because she had a tendency to pull the yarn all the way through. Because she was not able to tie a knot, I showed her how to use a piece of sticky tape to stick the end of the long yarn to the centre back of the animal shape. She didn’t like this step of the activity and would always ask for my assistance before proceeding to threading the yarn through the holes. Before long, she realized that she could thread multiple yarns of different colours through the holes to create a ‘rainbow’ effect.

I thought about what I can do with Stella this week on the weekend. I thought I might offer sewing again. This time, I have decided to abandon the plastic animal shapes. To give Stella the next challenge, I decided to encourage her to apply the same sewing technique she learned earlier on cards. Sewing on cards is more challenging because they are less rigid than plastic. While it is possible to buy ready made sewing cards from good toy stores, I chose to make my own. I print out the picture of a spider on sky blue cardstock and then cover it with a layer of clear book cover on the top to make it more durable. I then cut the cardstock down to 20 cm x 20 cm, making sure that the spider is approximately in the middle of the card. The idea is not for Stella to sew around the spider. I decided to create an ‘invisible’ cobweb for the spider by marking out dots on the card before punching them out using my craft punch set. When the sewing is completed by the child, she will see that the spider is actually sitting on her cobweb (waiting for a fly). I chose to punch larger holes but they weren’t as big as the ones on the plastic animal shapes.

I presented this activity to Stella today and it was a hit. She was at first more interested with the unique knitting yarn that I offered. She also asked about the plastic animals’ whereabouts. After I showed her how to thread through a couple of holes, she requested to finish it on her own. She stopped a few times because she wasn’t sure which way to go. After a while, she noticed the shape and informed me that she had made a cobweb for the spider. You should have seen her eyes when she discovered it. I now intend to make a few more of this type of sewing cards for Stella to work on.

I recently purchased a font set online. This means that I can now write (type) and print the Victorian Cursive Font. This is the type of font that children learn to write with when they go to schools in Melbourne. Since Stella is already quite capable in identifying her alphabets, I think I will print the letters out in bold using this font and then punch smaller holes on them for Stella to sew. I think I will offer her letters from her name at first. Come to think of it, this activity may have to be postponed until later this year because I must first make sure that she knows how to write the letters on offer before sewing them. It is important for the child to know the order of writing each letter before sewing it.

Children can continue to enjoy sewing activities even after entering school. As they develop, basic stitches can be introduced for the child to master. Offer Cloths like Binca and Aida for them to practice stitching. Encourage them to draw a picture on a piece of cloth and then show them how to place it on an embroidery hoop before sewing the picture’s outline. Such creations can then be framed. From the way they grip the needle to the way they move their wrist and arm, hand sewing helps children to indirectly prepare themselves for handwriting.

Finger Painting Question

I received an unexpected call from Bree’s mum on Sunday afternoon. She needed confirmation on the precise technique of finger-painting. She said she couldn’t resist any longer. They bought Bree a set of paints for finger-painting and a roll of butcher’s paper. They wanted Bree to create another print because they would like to have it properly framed to give to Grandma’ Ettie. It was while she was on the phone that she realised that she had forgotten to buy Bree a smock. I told her to use one of Bree’s long sleeved bibs, like I did. I also took the opportunity to ask if I can make a smock for Bree. She thanked me and quickly offered to pay. I refused the payment and gave her the excuse that it will just be a plain smock. (I am going to use calico. How ugly huh?)

Bree’s mum called because she wanted to know if I really place the paint on her little table. Another friend of mine also asked about this earlier this year. The answer to this question is yes. I do place a dollop of paint on the table for the child to work on. I do this because I find the results less disappointing. If the paint is placed straight onto the paper, it is likely to tear if the child works on the same spot over and over. This can be a little frustrating for the child who has just discovered finger-painting. When the child is ready, I will place a clean piece of paper over the design and run my hand firmly to smooth it out before peeling it carefully off the table. Older children learn to perform this step independently. The print can be dried by pegging it to the indoor clothes rack but I prefer to dry it flat on the dining table or kitchen bench. I suggested the kitchen bench because some dining tables are just not suitable for this type of ‘abuse’.

When I did the finger-painting with Bree, I offered only red paint. It was only her first introduction. I will introduce the other two primary colours later. If I am offering different colours, I will make sure that there is space in between the dollops of paints on the table. The children can discover for themselves the mixing of the colours to create new colours. It is through this type of physical experimentation that they may become aware of the different gradations of colour tones.

Bree’s mum didn’t bring up the issue of the mess created by placing the paint straight on top of the table but my friend did. I explained that children can be taught to clean up the table afterwards. That itself is another activity that children love. I am looking to introduce this to Bree later this year. Bree can be given a piece of sponge to pick up the paint from the table top. She can be taught to rinse the sponge and then go over the table top again until there is no longer any paint left. Stella (2 years older than Bree) is very capable of doing this and she even uses soap occasionally to give her little table a proper clean after picking up the paint. Initially, the young child’s effort may be somewhat clumsy but just like anything, with practice and encouragement, she can become quite a little expert in cleaning her own table. I believe that it is never too early to expect children to manage their own activities independently or at least as independently as developmentally possible.

NOTE: Until the child is fully capable of cleaning up after themselves, we adults are still responsible for the bulk of the cleaning to keep things tidy, neat and hygienically clean. Mess should not be an excuse to inhibit a child from discovering his/her world.

Stella Can Count To 10 (and more!)

Stella loves to count. She is not just rote counting by just saying the names of the numbers in sequence, she can actually count and is very good at it. She is quite capable of counting from 1 – 100 with very few mistakes.

It was only a little over a year ago when she happily helped me sort my barrel of teddy bears into 4 colour groups. (Some people, including the toyshop staff who sold me the teddy bears years ago, believe that pre-schoolers are incapable of such an activity. Well, not all pre-schoolers are identical are they?) Then she decided to line the teddy bears within the same group according to their size. The teddy bear counters come in 3 sizes. She used to also create stories, telling me what the groups of teddy bears were up to.

Stella still enjoys sorting teddy bears, spools or other counters into groups. Nowadays, I get her to group identical things in 10’s. Through experimenting on her own, she is now aware that 10 red mama bears = 10 blue mama bears. It doesn’t matter if the red ones were ‘holding hands’ in a circle or the blues ones were lined up like school children. She is aware that there are 10 in each group even if they are standing differently and she makes sure by counting each group again. She also discovers the meaning of x groups of 10, showing me that she is beginning to understand basic multiplication. So, if I ask how many bears are there in 2 groups of 10 teddy bears, she would quickly line up 2 groups of 10 teddy bears and then count the total, to give me the answer.

We play other counting games as well. Sometimes I just make things up as I go along. I might tell her that 10 baby bears are going to the beach but two got sick and had to stay at home. Then I ask her how many baby bears are going to the beach. She is usually very quick with this type of questions. She has plenty of practice and loves the attention that I give her in these 1:1 sessions. It doesn’t take long either. We don’t spend hours drilling. That is just not my style.

An Art Corner At Home

I received a phone call from Bree’s mum on Tuesday night. She said she is going to have the finger-painting prints framed. Bree’s dad was very proud of her work. I was told that the finger-painting activity gave her an idea on what to get Bree for her 2nd birthday. They had been wondering what to get her. Up until Tuesday, they were thinking about buying a cubby house or outdoor play unit for their small backyard. She is now thinking that art equipment may be more appropriate.

Bree’s mum asked if an easel was an essential item. I told her that most of the children I looked after have an easel at home but many don’t really use them. Parents enjoy witnessing their child unwrapping a big present, but they don’t often continue to provide items so their child can use the easel properly. They may also find it too cumbersome to clean up after their children’s painting sessions. While modern easels come with a storage area for the paint pots or chalk, so they are always accessible to the little artists, many parents can’t possibly leave the items out at all times because of a younger baby’s presence and some prefer a minimalist look around the house, without the permanent ‘clutter’ of an easel in the family room. Some parents even come to resent the chalk dust after a while. So, I suggested that they should think seriously before investing in an easel.

From my experience, most children are quite happy to do artwork at their own little tables. I think ample art supplies and proper storage for their art equipment is more important than getting an easel. It is off-putting to expect a child to draw if their markers no longer work or if their colouring pencils are of such a low quality that they are constantly breaking. While I may have mentioned markers, I am not a big fan of them. I am not against them because I am the one who has to clean them up if children use them to draw on the walls. In fact, one can buy washable ones these days (think Crayola). I am against them because they don’t teach children about shades. Children using colouring pencils will discover that they can produce darker or lighter shades by the strength of their application. Providing different types of paper is just as important. Plain A4 paper is fine for drawing. A large roll of butcher’s paper is a good budget option for painting at the easel. Thicker type construction paper is also good for collage or 3D art and Origami paper is not just great for Origami but is also great for cutting exercises. Collecting clean, used packaging (e.g., Cereal Boxes) in a useful box encourages children to reuse creatively.

All of the equipment mentioned above should be stored neatly in a cupboard accessible to the little artist/s. At Stella’s house, she has a cupboard designated just for her art materials. Her mum paints during her spare time, so she decided that Stella should also have her own little art cupboard. Both mother and daughter have a cupboard next to their own easel. Stella watches what her mother does and has learnt from a young age to clean up afterwards. She doesn’t just turn up at the easel demanding to do a painting. She knows how to retrieve the paint pots from the cupboard, select the brushes required and rolls herself a fresh part of the butcher’s paper on the easel. (She has one of those easels where the roll of butcher’s paper is attached.) Everything she needs is neatly organized in this cupboard. There is even a little ice-cream container with a sponge and a spray bottle filled with water for cleaning up spills. Unlike other children, she doesn’t run away after her painting. She knows to take the brushes to the sink to wash them and then let them dry in the backyard. The painting is left on the easel to dry and display. When she is ready, she may ask for it to be cut and removed. Her paintings are stored neatly in a big box. Observing how Stella handles things so maturely scares me sometimes.

At Bree’s age, she requires only a minimal amount of equipment at this stage. I have offered her black pencils and a fat black crayon to draw, but I must say that her creations with these pencils and crayons didn’t draw as much attention from her parents as her red finger-painting. For drawing, black pencils and crayons are a must as are ample supplies of white paper. When she is ready to paint, paints in the 3 primary colours should be introduced first. She will need bigger and stiffer brushes, one for each paint pot. Choose paint pots with a stopper. The paint pots should be placed on a stool next to where the child is painting. It should be next to the child’s preferred hand. Stella’s neighbour made her a wooden caddy to place her paint pots in. It carries up to 10 paint pots and it has a handle for easy transport. It is very handy indeed. Going back to painting, Bree will definitely need a smock. A plain smock (e.g. made of plain calico) is ideal but I have a feeling that they will buy her a multi-coloured one. Maybe I could make her one for her birthday. I shall talk to her mum first.

An easel does have its use, and was not invented for no reason. It allows the user to view the entire painting right in front of them. It also helps to develop large muscle control. I have observed children who painted really well on an easel. One little boy of 4 (at the time) would paint using different colours trying different brushes. He would stand back to admire his painting every now and then. He would check out the brush work and the colours from different angles. No one at the day care centre had ever told him to do that. We thought he must have learned it from home but we later found out that no one at home was painting either. He probably worked it out for himself.

The amount of materials is only minimal when a child first starts doing artwork. As more colours, brushes and other things (e.g. scissors, glues, clay, etc) are introduced, the amount of materials grows very quickly. This is why a cupboard designated for art materials is essential. Art is a fairly affordable activity that we should encourage children to explore. Everyone can express their feelings through art. It is something that anyone from around the age of 18 months onwards can enjoy.

Activity Packs

Once I get acquainted with the children that I work with, I begin to select activities that the children might enjoy when I am looking after them. This so called ‘activity pack’ that I put together for the children that I work with makes me look like a 21st century Mary Poppins clutching a big backpack. Observing the child/children carefully before making suitable decisions is a must. I have to factor in the amount of time available for this sort of activities because some families (probably slave masters in their previous life) jam up my hours with lots of ‘little’ chores to keep me on my feet. For households with multiple children of different ages, I have to restrict the number of ‘complicated’ projects and may sometimes plan activities by focussing on one child (in turns) while still catering to the whole group to participate in as well. I normally do not prepare any activities to take with me for children less than 18 months of age because they are too busy getting to know themselves and their own environment to be further overwhelmed by what I can introduce.

A typical ‘activity pack’ for someone Stella’s age (4) would include a couple of picture books and a game or a craft activity. While I have accumulated quite a big collection of picture books, art & craft stuff, games, toys and other educational products over the years, the activities I offer may be repeats. Most children do not mind ‘reading’ the same picture book over and over again. If a child likes a certain game or activity, he/she may ask for it again. With children older than 6/7, I would plan a more elaborate project to be carried out over a few days. This is usually a hit during winter holidays.

I also supplement my own collection by borrowing library books and making some of the games myself. While I enjoy doing this as a hobby, I can understand that not all nannies are willing to spend their time off visiting the library or searching the internet for ideas to make educational products. Also as nannies, we are aware that our pay will never match the $$$ our employers make. With bills to pay, I try to be frugal and invest in some useful items every now and then. As time goes by, my collection has grown and I have developed an eye in selecting quality and useful items for young children. Most of these things will never go to waste, as they will become extremely useful in my next big adventure.

Most parents are amazed to see the never ending number of activities I can offer their children. They see how the children enjoy themselves and may even begin to ask for tips so they too can plan for such activities when I am not there. Knowing that I am obviously on a tight budget, some parents would gladly supply basic items we need for the projects/activities. A few others are less appreciative. They tend to think that I should spend more time completing extra ‘little’ chores (that aren’t on my work description) while I look after the children so they don’t have to keep the cleaner and still enjoy a clean and tidy home. That’s seems to be pure exploitation but that’s a topic for another post.