Tips to encourage water

As the weather heats up, most kids will be spending more time playing outdoors. It is important for kids to drink enough fluids to avoid becoming dehydrated during the warmer season.  It is also important for kids to understand the benefits of drinking water. 

Water is vital for life toucan learn and has many benefits including:

• It regulates the body temperature
• It helps flush body waste in the form of urine
• It is required for transporting nutrients throughout the body
• It helps maintain a good weight
• It helps avoid constipation and urinary infections
• It helps digest food and absorb the nutrients from your food
• It increases your energy levels

Here are some tips from Kidspot to keep your child hydrated and healthy all year long.  

• Try putting ice in it - most children love playing with the ice with their tongues while they drink.
• Float a slice of lemon or banana or strawberries in a jug of water that she can access herself.
• Keep a jug of cold tap water in the fridge. Cold water is generally more appealing than room temperature water.
• Make sure that your child sees you drinking water - and enjoying it!
• If she steadfastly won't drink water, try diluting her drinks with water - half juice, half water. Gradually increase the dilution until she is basically drinking water.
• If all else fails, feed her water-rich foods. Most soups, vegetables and milk have high water content, somewhere around 80%. Try home-made juice iceblocks and fruit smoothies.

Cheers!

Vanessa

Prepositions

Teaching a child 'prepositions' - words that specify time, place and direction - can sometimes be a confusing task.  There are generally three types of prepositions:

Preposition of place - at, on, in, below, beside, under, behind, between. 

Used to describe the place or position of nouns.

eg. The puppy is beside the pool. 

Preposition of time - at, on, in, since, during.  

Used to show when something happened.

eg. I read my book during morning tea.   

Preposition of direction -to, toward, across, into, over, onto.  

Used to clarify the direction of someone or something. 

eg. The plane flew toward the beach.

Here is a simple printable that can make these concepts clearer and more concrete to learning minds.

 Download at free printable fun

At Small Talk Speech Pathology, we have printed these out, laminated them and turned them into 'fans' - a great language tool for children to refer to when in doubt.

Cheers!

Vanessa 

Free printable artwork

Print off - laminate or frame - then display on a blank wall to brighten any room! Get the kids involved so they can choose which pictures they like best for their room.  Double siding the artwork allows you to change pictures whenever you like. 

Download at Make it perfect

Alphabet boards are great to have on display in a child's room as it is never too early to start learning the names of letters and what sound the letters make.  These pre-literacy skills are the building blocks for learning how to read and write in the future.  You can also build on vocabulary using the printables below by discussing animal names etc.

 

Download at Sprik space

Here are a few more:

Download at simple as that

Another great site for children-friendly artwork is Feed you soul unfortunately as its for personal use only I was unable to upload any of the artworks - definitely check this one out if you liked any of the above.

Happy printing & keep smiling!

Vanessa

The Early Years - Kids Count

Why are the first few years of your child's life so important?

Between birth and three years of age your child grows and develops faster than at any other stage in their lives. The way your child's brain develops in these early years is critical. In the first three years of your child's life, the brain has done a great deal of its growing and has established important pathways for future development.

Everything we do, say, think and feel is experienced and made sense of through our brain. Our brain allows us to love and to laugh, cry and then feel better, be confused and then understand.

The developing brain

At birth your baby has about 100 billion nerve cells, yet the brain is not fully developed. In the first few years of life these cells develop vital connections in the brain that influence your child's emotional, social and intellectual make-up. The brain is affected by influences from your child's environment in these early years.

The brain uses our sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) to tell us what is going on in the world. Everything we experience is filtered through our senses. Our senses send signals to our brain that can alter how our brain understands and responds to experiences and information.

The important role of parents in the early years

Researchers have found that the relationship between a parent and child in the early years affects the child's brain development in many ways.

When children are provided with loving and caring experiences in these early years, the connections in the brain for feeling good and learning are strengthened.

Babies and young children need lots of nurturing, touching and stimulation to enable them to learn and grow in the best possible way.

Early positive relationships with parents promote curiosity, self esteem and confidence in developing children.

These relationships will assist children to better cope with life's challenges.

During the early years spend time:

• Holding and cuddling your child
• Talking to and smiling with your child
• Recognising and responding to your child's signals
• Providing your child with new experiences and opportunities
• Make sure that your children feel safe and secure

Visit Kids Count Website for more information

A fun way to teach colours

Here is a lovely paper heart garland from spearmint baby.  It is super easy to make and you can modify the garland by using different shapes eg. hearts, stars, circles, squares etc. 

You can teach children about:

• all the different colours including shades such as 'dark blue' vs 'light blue'
• how colours are made from our primary colours red, blue & yellow
• different shapes
• different sizes eg. small, medium, big

Things you will need:

- A trip to the local hardware shop to collect the cards from the paint section

- Shape punchers

- Needle and thread

Enjoy!

Vanessa

Family Tree

Young children often struggle with the concepts of family members, especially when they don't spend a lot of time with certain members. Essential Kids has a wonderful free printable Family Tree this week, which can provide with a lovely opportunity to highlight important family members to young children, which can be especially important leading up to the holiday season.

Download at Essential Kids

You can further your child's understanding of family member names such as Aunty, Uncle, Sister, Grandpa with these free printable Family Member Puppets

Download at DLTK

For your older child, why not print out these wonderful story templates and have them write a story about a family member- I'm sure Grandma would love it.

Download at Enchanted Learning

I hope you all enjoy a bit of family fun,

Lauren

Make Your Own Pizza - Craft

Download your own Pizza Cut Out Activity

This fun activity is a great way to work on prepositions with your child 

e.g. put onions on, put olives on, put salami on...

Bon appetit 

Lauren