Activities and crafts for preschool kids

Art and crafts is always a favourite time pass for me and for my nursery class kids. I usually search for crafts ideas at the net and participate at many parents, teachers or craft, drawing related online communities. I just pick up some ideas or project instructions, just follow it or create similar or different activities for my students. There are many sites around which offer crafts or art activities for toddlers or preschool kids and most of those sites provide free access for that stuff.

"Pre school learning and crafts" is created by former teacher who describes the purpose of creating this site:

'Using toddler and preschool learning activities, crafts, games, and songs in your everyday busy life can help your child (and you) in so many ways. As a former teacher and current stay-at-home mom, I have noticed that many of the activities for preschoolers I find online don't actually work with my kids. I have to modify them to avoid having to do most of the project myself!'

She has explained it in details at 'about me' page.

She is a stay-at-home mom of three young kids ages 1, 3, and 6.

The easy and fun learning activities and crafts on this site have all been tested by her children and friends. These activities on Preschool-Learning-and-Crafts.com are age appropriate (moms won't have to do them for their kids), have easy to follow directions.

Each month you can receive the "Craft Your Kids Smart newsletter" directly to your email. Each issue will be full of learning ideas, games, crafts, and songs around a preschool theme (Valentine's Day, Animals, Dinosaurs, Weather, etc.)
All of the preschool activities will have easy to follow directions and supply lists.

Subscribe for the newsletter at 'this link'

The site owner has account at 'facebook' and if you are interested to get updated news about her crafts then go directly to her account 'here'

Community place for teachers

Online forums and communities are a good place to get tips, ideas, and news about specific topics. Like bloggers have many forums from which they can get useful information while getting a chance to discuss or share their own experiences. There is a lot of learn at these social community places.

'The apple' is for teachers, which is itself created by a teacher. It brings members of the education community together to support and advance the profession.

You get news, search for lesson plans and read articles written by experts, as well as getting career based posts.
Membership is free for all.

Few post links are given to show the content you can read at the site:

- Classroom Discipline Tips: Dealing with Difficult Students & Parents

- Top 10 Technology Tips for New Teachers

How teachers can learn the use of internet effectively?

It seems very easy to say that we are good in surfing the net or know a lot about 'internet' world. But being an internet surfer and user for more than 6 years, I feel that I am still an infant at the world wide web. There is a lot to learn at it and most important thing is that you need to learn the effective use of it. Now internet has opened doors for students and parents as well. Teachers can easily learn the effective use of internet for their schools or classrooms.

'Internet for classrooms' is created to offer free internet resouces to use in classroom. It is used by teachers, parents and students of all ages. internet4classrooms.com has a huge collection of educational links: free worksheet sites, free software, interactive activities and much more. They answer requests for help, concerns, or anything you want to write about.

They also offer online tutorials for teachers to help them integrate technology in classrooms.

Site link: internet4classrooms.com

Create online stories and art with 'scratch'

There are many graphics softwares which can help you create a lot of art or other interactive stuff. But if you want to teach children with those softwares, you need to simplify it. 'Scratch' makes it easier for young children to learn art and other stuff for free online. You need to download the software programme from the site which your child can use offline as well.


What is 'Scratch'?

It is a programming language for children. You can create interactive stories, games, music and art - and share them online.

According to 'Wikipedia':

'Scratch is a computer application aimed primarily at children that allows them to explore and experiment with the concepts of computer programming by using the simple graphical interface. It was proposed and developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab by a team led by Mitchel Resnick and first appeared in the summer of 2007.

Scratch,which is available free, can be installed on any Windows or Mac OS X computer with various installation options for computers running Linux .'

Site link: 'Scratch'

How to help our kids use digital technology wisely

Internet provides a lot of learning opportunities while surfing at the net but still we need to learn about downloading music, movies and copying computer software and games as there are some ethics which we should follow, learn and teach to our younger generation. We can help our kids use digital technology wisely by providing useful information to our kids.

'Peers2Peers' is a program of 'Wired Kids', devoted to making sure that all young people have a safe, valuable and private surfing experience and that all children have access.

Peer 2 peers.org teaches kids and teens how to help each other surf responsibly. It develops new educational and awareness programs for kids and teens about important issues affecting kids and teens.

They say: 'We think that when it comes to setting the rules for what you should and shouldn't be doing online, you should be involved.'

The public service announcements and animations have been designed by real teens and preteens to help others realize the consequences of movie and copyright piracy online.

Safe and family friendly media usage

As a parent and teacher I am always concerned about the media exposure for kids. It is our duty to think and take steps towards safe and family friendly media usage.
I believe that we need trustworthy information to guide the new generation. Media has become an important part of our lives and the best way to get most and healthy outcome from it to train our kids. We cannot cover their eyes but we can teach them to see.

If you want to be a well informed parent or teacher then MPPA Motion Picture Association of America is the first place to check for useful issues, classification or ratings about the films.
* Check the 'Parental Resources' section.

More useful sites and links:

1- Common sense media

Mission: (In their own words)

'Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families.

We exist because media and entertainment profoundly impact the social, emotional, and physical development of our nation's children. As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume.'

By signing up for the site you get the stuff in your inbox:
- Age-appropriate best bets for your kids
- Weekly email alert with the latest picks, reviews & advice
You can Post your own reviews and share them with friends.

They believe that "Parents need to know about media content and need to manage media use."

2- www.kids-in-mind.com enables adults to determine whether a movie is appropriate for them or their children, according to their own criteria.

3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE & PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10. We also explain in detail why a film rates high or low in a specific category, and we include instances of SUBSTANCE USE, a list of DISCUSSION TOPICS that may elicit questions from kids and MESSAGES the film conveys.

They do not "condemn," "critique" or "criticize" movies. And they don't "praise" or "recommend" movies either, so you are free to make your choice.


3- Rotten Tomatoes offers a fun and informative way to discover the critical reaction on movies neatly summarized via the Tomatometer.

Over 7 million readers each month use RT as a dependable, objective resource for coverage of movies and DVD. It offers more than 250,000 titles and 850,000 review links

Help your child in developing problem solving skills

Problem solving skill can lead to success in practical life where we need problem solving and creativity in each and every step. As parents and teachers we can help in developing problem solving skills among our kids/children. Normally every child is born with this skill but with proper encouragement and taking few practical but simple steps can help develop this skill very easily.

All parents and teachers have seen the unique ability of toddlers to use toys and materials in unexpected ways. One child may turn a cup into a hammer or a basket into a hat. Another toddler may stand on a riding truck to try to reach a toy or pull over a chair to climb onto a bookshelf. Observant adults recognize these innovations as signs that children are learning to use their thinking skills to solve problems.

Experiences in problem solving help children develop curiosity and patience, along with thinking skills such as flexibility, and understanding of cause and effect. They learn to work toward achieving a goal, and gain confidence in their ability to reach a solution. Even very young children make discoveries on their own. An
infant who accidentally creates a noise with a rattle may then make the sound again and again on purpose. An older infant discovers that by looking under a blanket, he can find a hidden toy. A toddler who cannot pull a wagon up a hill by herself learns that she and a friend can push it up from behind.

By not rushing in and rescuing young children who are facing minor everyday problems, adults can help infants and toddlers develop confidence and increase their thinking abilities.

It's also helpful for parents and teachers to provide materials that encourage children to explore. Some toys, such as jack-in-the-boxes and busy boxes, provide opportunities to explore simple cause-and-effect relationships. Other common materials like empty cardboard boxes, plastic bowls, or scarves can provide open-ended experiences through which toddlers can make choices and decisions, and
find different ways to manipulate the materials.

Other activities can involve materials such as clear plastic tubing (such as the tubing used for aquariums) which children can fill with bright materials, and watch the materials move as they shake the tubes. If you provide inclines or ramps of wooden blocks, a toddler can watch what happens as objects roll down inside the tubes. She may discover that some objects roll faster than others. He may learn about
actions and reactions when he sets plastic bottles at the bottom of the ramp to create a unique bowling game.
(Whatever materials you provide to help children experiment with problem solving, remember to be very careful about choking hazards.)

These everyday materials are fun, and can hold children interest for long periods. They also help children experiment with cause and effect and with gravity and physics. In addition to supporting cognitive development, problem-solving activities help in the social arena as well. Groups of children engaged in these activities negotiate with their friends and learn how to solve interpersonal problems.\

By providing interesting materials and enthusiastically reinforcing children attempts to explore and solve problems, parents and teachers can stimulate children development, promote advanced critical thinking, and help children take pride in their own abilities to find out more about how their world works.

Excerpted from "Using Everyday Materials to Promote Problem
Solving in Toddlers" by Laura Segatti, Judy Brown-DuPaul, and Tracy L.
Keyes - an article in the NAEYC journal.
Link: Helping toddlers become problem solvers

TV watching may cause psychological distress among children

Watching tv for long hours regularly may cause behaviour problems among children and according to a new research study, it may increase psychological distress in young children.

'Higher levels of television and screen entertainment time and low physical activity levels interact to increase psychological distress in young children.'

Most of you probably saw a wave of news media reports about a recent study showing that television exposure in infancy and early childhood may lead to a delay in language development. In a recent study also published in Pediatrics, a group of researchers from the University college London in the UK examined the effects of television viewing and physical activity on psychological distress among children of various ages. This study is very interesting, not only because of the provocative findings, but because it opens the door for a discussion of the concept of “Prodrome.”

The authors examined data from the Scottish Health Survey, a nationally representative study of multiple psychosocial factors. The data for this analysis included 1,486 Children age 4 to 12 with a mean age of 8.5, who were assessed in 2003. The Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire was used to assess for psychological distress. Specifically, the total difficulties score incorporates responses to sub scales that examine hyperactivity, emotional distress, conduct problems, and peer problems. The authors also obtained the parents’ reports of the kids’ total weekly hours of television viewing, and the frequency of sports or active play during the week. The authors were primarily interested in exploring whether TV viewing and/or activity level were associated with psychological distress.

The results:

1. On average, kids watched a total of 2.4 hours of television per day
2. Television viewing was associated with sports activity in that those who watched most television were also those with the lowest level of sports activity.
3. Those with the highest levels of television viewing also had the lowest level of fruit intake, and the highest levels of sweets and sugar drink intake.
4. High levels of Television viewing and low levels of physical were both independently associated with psychological distress.
5. An additive effect was found in that the combination of high television viewing and low physical activity was associated with the highest levels of psychological distress.

We can write entire books and a year worth of blog posts discussing the many possible explanations for these findings. The most salient, but not necessarily correct, is that television viewing likely limits other behaviors that are associated with psychological well-being, and that physical activity also promotes psychological well-being directly (physiologically) and indirectly (through the effects on the kid’s social development). Yet, it is possible that these two findings do not cause distress, but are a reflection of distress. For example, relatively recently, researchers have began to extend the concept of prodrome from general medicine to psychiatric disorders. Prodrome refers to a conglomeration of symptoms that reflect the disease process at an early stage, usually before it displays the symptoms that we usually associate with the disease. A prodrome is not a symptom that leads to the disease. The prodrome is the disease itself already evolving.

I’m currently working with Dr. Maria Kovacs on a upcoming invited theoretical paper on prodromes in child depression, and during the writing process I’ve been considering the implications of prodromes to past longitudinal and cross-sectional “predictive” research. That is, how many of the factors that have been found to predict a condition are actually not predictors (causes) of the condition but the condition itself?

Back to the TV viewing/physical activity study; the authors found significantly elevated levels of psychological distress in 4% of the sample. Yet these were not clinical cases with specific diagnoses. It is possible then that the authors were tapping at a subgroup of kids with specific psychiatric problems at the prodrome level (depression for example) which would result in increased levels of anhedonia and reduced motor mobility. This would in turn lead to more ‘just laying on the couch staring at the TV’ and reduced interest in outside sporting events.

Related posts:

ESDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- Television reduces verbal interaction between parents and infants, which could delay children's language development, says a U.S. study that challenges claims that certain infant-targeted DVDs actually benefit youngsters.
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The researchers studied 329 children, aged 2 months to 48 months, and found that for each additional hour of television exposure, there was a decrease of 770 words (7 percent) heard from an adult by the children. The study also found that the more hours spent watching television, the fewer vocalizations infants made when adults talked to them.

"Some of these reductions are likely due to children being left alone in front of the television screen, but others likely reflect situations in which adults, though present, are distracted by the screen and not interacting with their infant in a discernible manner," wrote Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, of Seattle Children Hospital, and colleagues.

"At first blush, these findings may seem entirely intuitive. However, these findings must be interpreted in light of the fact that purveyors of infant DVDs claim that their products are designed to give parents and children a chance to interact with one another, an assertion that lacks empirical evidence," they noted.

The researchers added that their results may help explain previous findings of a link between television viewing and delayed language development.

"Given the critical role that adult caregivers play in children's linguistic development, whether they talk to their child while the screen is on may be critical and explain the effects that are attributed to content or even amount of television watched," the team wrote. "That is, whether parents talk less (or not at all) during some types of programs or at some times of the day may be as important in this age group as what is being watched."

The study appears in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

link: TV Interferes With Infants' Language Development

Link: Television viewing, psychological distress and thoughts on Prodromes

More links:

* Source link: TV viewing associated with psychological distress

* How addiction of Watching TV is affecting our lives?