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Archive for the ‘Village’ Category

Oct
4

The Man in the Moon

Posted in Imagine That, Our Time, Things to do, Village, Young Child

The Moon can be a magical nightlight for a child, but it’s also fun to learn more about the moon and the night sky. Did you know that the places on the Moon have names just like places on Earth? The moon is full for the next couple of nights. So, bundle up, use a telescope or pair of binoculars if you have them, and head outside. Look up at the Man in the Moon with your child to see if you can find some of the places below.

Places in the Moon
Remind your child that although many of the moon’s features are called “seas,” there’s no water on the moon (at least we haven’t found it yet!)

moon-man * The Sea of Cold-the top of his head
* The Sea of Rains-the eye we see to the left
* The Sea of Serenity-the eye we see to the right
* The Sea of Tranquility-the bag under the eye we see to the right (The Sea of Tranquility is where the very first moon landing took place on July 20, 1969.)
* The Craters Copernicus and Brother Maura-his nose
* The Sea of Clouds-his mouth
* The Sea of Storms-the big bruise next to the eye on the left

Back inside your warm house, listen to the song Aiken Drum, which is from your Kindermusik Village Dream Pillow CD, and have fun with the following activities. If you don’t know the song, you can play it right here:

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There was a man lived in the moon lived in the moon, lived in the moon.
There was a man lived in the moon and his name was Aiken Drum.

And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle
He played upon a ladle and his name was Aiken Drum.

For Infants: (Contributed by Miss Analiisa, who misses having babies in her house.)

What baby doesn’t like exploring the kitchen as soon as he can manage to get his little body there? I hope you have an “exploring” drawer, full of safe kitchen utensils and plastic bowls, lids and cups. It will provide (at least!) minutes of entertainment while you are making dinner.

Pull out your metal serving spoons and sing Aiken Drum together. Show your baby how to drum on the floor, bang the spoons together or with yours, and make a racket on pans, lids or upturned bowls. Listen to all the different sounds you can make!

Substitute body parts for the word “ladle”. Can she play upon her toes? Her knee? Her head? Substitute his name for “Aiken Drum.” Children love to hear their own name in songs.

For Toddlers: (Contributed by Miss Anita, who loves to think this stuff up!)

Toddlers love activities about themselves! So let your child live in the moon. “There was a girl (or boy) lived in the moon…and her name was Natalie.” Then, in the second phrase, substitute your child’s current favorite motor skill or one they are working to master.

For example: “And she skipped upon a ladle…and her name was Natalie.” They may want to run, jump, hop, skip, roll, or gallop on the ladle. In the car, try smaller motions such as: clap, roll (hands), wiggle (fingers), tap (toes or thumbs). Amidst all the fun, your child has practiced coordination & explored the parts of speech!

For Preschoolers: (Contributed by Miss Allison, who used to play this game when she was a preschool teacher. Come to think of it, I don’t think she’s ever stopped being one!)

There are many other verses for Aiken Drum. Many of them involve food:
And his head was made of cream cheese…
And his coat was made of good roast beef….
And his breeches were made of haggis bags….

Ask your child which piece of clothing they want to sing about and what type of food it was made out of. You’ll end up with socks made of bologna, swimsuits made of peaches, and before you know it, your language learner will move on from food and clothes and suggest other nouns. Now the questions are, “What did the Man in the Moon own? What was it made of?” His car was made of pots and pans, his blankie out of window shades…

Extend the activity with rhyming variations. “His mittens were made of kittens,” “his hat was made from a cat,” “his house was made from a mouse,” “his shoe was made of glue.” You’ll have to be creative to make the timing work, so that it is still singable. And of course, you have to sing it! Maybe your man doesn’t live in the moon but in Redmond or another favorite location. Eventually it will be completely your own special song, starting with “There was a man…” and ending with a wonderful memory and whole lot of language learning.

-posted by Miss Anita, Miss Allison and Miss Analiisa, who leave you with a quote from W. Clement Stone, “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”

Tags: babies, Miss Allison, Miss Analiisa, Miss Anita, music, preschoolers, Things to do, toddlers

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Jun
1

O Say Can You See? – 9 to 12 months

Posted in Child Development, Village

I did promise this information a couple of weeks ago on a Tuesday, but then I got completely sideswiped with the start of the Spring Mini Session. Sorry about that, and thanks for your email reminders for me to finish! Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog on the right hand side of the page, so you can get new blogs as they come out.

The visual system takes in information from the environment and interprets it. Vision works with other sensory systems and provides the information needed to have accurate motor responses.

When a baby is born, they have all the necessary pieces of the visual system in place, but they haven’t learned to use them yet. An infant’s vision begins to develop at birth, and they spend much of their early months of life learning how to see.

Birth to Four Months
Four to Six Months
Six to Eight Months

By 8 months, babies begin to see more like adults. Near vision is still better than far, but as they can judge distances well, they can see a toy across the room and crawl to it. Color vision is fully developed. They can track objects in all directions, and will look around when they hear a noise. Fear of heights may occur because of their new awareness of vertical space.

Babies can notice which direction your eyes are gazing, and find the object you are looking at. They will also begin to look for a familiar object or person in response to a spoken label. (You say, “Daddy’s home!”, and your little one looks around to try and find Daddy.)

Sometime during this stage, they will begin to react to a new situation based on the expression of your face. (Like when you give a horrified expression as a child reaches for something they shouldn’t have, or when you are totally excited and encouraging when they are about to take their first step.)

baby-and-ball Integration of their vision and fine motor skills allow them to grasp and throw objects fairly accurately. This is the age where small, easy to grip balls are a great toy. (Much better than getting bonked in the head will a small hard toy, thrown shockingly well by your little one!)

As they move toward 12 months and official “toddlerhood”, they can hold toys and small object in a “pincer position”, between thumb and forefinger, and even reach behind their back to grab a toy without looking.

Turning pages becomes a total delight to babies at this age. To help with this skill, read board books with your baby on your lap. Hold all but the page to be turned firmly in your hands. At first, your baby will paw the page to flip it, but soon that little pincer grasp will begin to develop.

Between 9 and 12 months, babies begin to understand that objects and people exist, even when they are no longer visible. This is called object permanency, and is often an age of the first separation anxiety. Lift the flap books, pop up toys and games like peek-a-boo are sources of great fun.

Here are some ideas to help stimulate your 9 to 12 month old’s visual development:
• give your baby stacking and take-apart toys
• provide objects that your baby can see, touch and hold all at the same time
• don’t push early walking; crawling is vital in developing eye-hand-foot-body coordination
• provide small easily-gripped balls for throwing Gerties work great, and we carry them ($4.75) at the studio.
• little cereal O’s (I like Barbara’s Organic O’s because they are wheat-free and sweetened with fruit juice) They provide lots of fine motor/eye coordination, and kept my babies entertained in their highchair for a long time while I was making dinner.
• have a nice supply of board books in a basket or container where baby can easily reach them. Here’s some of the favorites at our house: (Favorites meaning some of the ones I’m keeping, even though all three of my own children have grown out of board books.)
Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Touch and Feel books by DK Publishing
Is Your Mama a Llama by Maria Guarino and Stephen Kellogg
Jamberry by Bruce Degen

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who wishes she had known these things when her babies were little.

Tags: Miss Analiisa, sensory systems, vision

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May
22

Village: Go and STOP!

Posted in Child Development, Village

From birth on, your baby has been on a mission to grow and go. Once he rolls, he wants to crawl, when he walks, he wants to run.

Working to master a new motion, a baby will let nothing get in the way of this progress. But a child also needs help to learning how to stop—a skill called inhibitory control, or the ability to stop oneself and wait. It’s also one of the first steps toward self-discipline.

Stop and go songs, dances and chants give your child practice for this lifelong skill through fun and play. During a game of stop and start, a child understands that she has control over her own actions, giving your child a great sense of accomplishment (and allowing you can catch up with her)!

For a stop and go dance, turn on your Rhythm of My Day CD track 20 “Walk All Around.”

- posted by Miss Anita, whose elementary-aged boys now use their inhibitory control skills when one tells the other, “Stop it!”

Tags: babies, Miss Anita

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May
15

O, Say Can You See? – 6 to 8 months

Posted in Child Development, Village

The visual system takes in information from the environment and interprets it. Vision works with other sensory systems and provides the information needed to have accurate motor responses.

Birth to Four Months
Four to Six Months

Six to Eight Months
With sitting mastered, a baby’s territory begins to expand rapidly. Many babies begin crawling (scooting, creeping, commando crawling, or other sorts of movement) during this stage. Crawling further develops coordination between vision and body movement. By six months a baby’s eyes should move together all of the time. At this age, babies tend to show a preference for reds and yellows.

Your baby is developing a better awareness of his body, and how to make it do what he wants. (Though not always successfully…I remember my frustrated babies who were trying to move towards a toy, but their little bodies kept scooting backwards instead!)

Babies learn to judge distances by seeing something, and then making the necessary movements to reach it. Your baby is getting much more accurate at grasping and throwing objects. This is the stage where babies love to sit in a high chair with toys on the tray, and then drop them over the side and look for them. Cheerio-type cereal is a popular highchair activity, because babies are thrilled that they can pick up small objects with a “raking motion”. (The pincer grasp comes later.)

Seeing how objects occupy space is fascinating to babies at this age. Objects that fit inside each other (like stacking cups), things that can be transferred from one hand to the other (a small toy), turning over items to see what is underneath, finding hidden objects (like a small ball hidden in a pot that has its lid on), and the beginning of stacking (blocks are great for this activity), are all intriguing actions. Emptying and filling containers becomes a fascinating pastime.

Here are some ideas to help stimulate your 6 to 8 month old’s visual development:
• Play peek-a-boo with a chiffon scarf. Take turns hiding yourself and baby.
• Hide small objects under the scarf and practice “finding” them.
• Get down on the floor and encourage your baby to crawl to objects. Place a favorite toy on the floor just out of reach and cheer her on!
• Provide lots of toys and objects that he can take apart and put together.
• Babies love mirrors, so an unbreakable mirror is tons of fun. With your baby in your lap, make faces at her in the mirror and see what happens. Your little one will be fascinated with his own face, as well.
• Read, read, read to your baby. Books at this age are fun to read and chew, so be sure to have cloth and/or board books handy!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is reminded by all this “vision” talk that it is time to change her contacts! More 8-12 month vision development to come on Tuesday.

Tags: Miss Analiisa, sensory systems

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May
14

O, Say Can You See? – 4 to 6 months

Posted in Child Development, Village

The visual system takes in information from the environment and interprets it. Vision works with other sensory systems and provides the information needed to have accurate motor responses.

Birth to 4 Months

Four to Six Months
During this stage, babies become quite skillful with their eye-hand and eye-body coordination. They are learning to roll over, push themselves up, sit and scoot. They reach for almost everything they see. Babies learn to aim accurately when reaching for objects of interest, grasp them, and begin to direct the objects to their mouths. Babies’ brains have finished learning how to fuse the pictures coming in from both their right and left eyes into a single image. Both eyes should focus equally, and babies learn to focus quickly and accurately when switching between near and far distances.

Smooth visual tracking (eyes following a moving object) continues to develop. Swishing a scarf or other interesting object from side to side and up and down across babies’ field of vision helps strengthen this skill.

This is also the time they start to work on remembering things they see. They love the “magic” of peek-a-boo, when a beloved face disappears and reappears behind a set of hands.

And speaking of beloved faces, Researchers at the University of Minnesota in the 1970s found that newborn infants will tend to look at the borders of objects, especially high-contrast borders. Thus, when looking at a human face, a newborn will look at the hairline or edge of the face. By 2 months of age, infants begin to pay more attention to internal features of the face such as eyes, and mouth, and by 4 to 5 months of age they can and do recognize your face from all others in the world.

Here are some ideas to help stimulate your 4 to 6 month old’s visual development:
• Allow your baby to explore different shapes and textures with his fingers and mouth
• Give your baby lots of freedom to crawl, roll, move and explore.
• Hang objects across the stroller or above the crib.
• Place bright and interesting artwork across the room from the crib. Change it every few weeks.
• Play patty cake and peek-a-boo with your baby.
• Tape your baby’s Village art banners on the wall next to the changing table. Point and talk about them with changing diapers or getting dressed.
• Read, read, read colorful books to your baby!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who not only thinks babies have a lot to get coordinated by 6 months, but is going to post about the visual development of a 6 to 8 month old tomorrow.