Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘toddlers’

Aug
22

Inside, Outside, Upside Down

Prepositions. Can you name one? Before I started homeschooling my children (6 years of Shurley English later), all I could remember about them was that a preposition wasn’t something I was supposed to end a sentence with. And something about not dangling them… no, that is participles.

Anyhow, prepositions are all about spatial relationships – meaning, where you are in relation to an object. How important are they? Just try giving your child a direction without prepositions.

You: “Go get the ball.”
Child: “Where?”
You: “The backyard.”
Child: “Where in the yard?”
You: “Tree.”
Child: “Which tree?”

See, you can’t give the clear, accurate directions, “Go get the ball in the backyard. It’s under the tree opposite the shed”, without using prepositions.

Beside, between, and next to are all prepositions that must be understood before children can make and understand patterns (pre-math stuff). Prepositions are a really important part of language development, too. Children with sensory issues often have trouble learning prepositions as they don’t often have good body awareness.

So, how can you teach prepositions? There are many (because you say them so frequently) they will probably learn on their own. But games (musical ones, of course!) are a great way to teach new ones.

over under in out on inside outside up down behind in front beside above below through between around across with against following before to from

I’m using the song “Go ‘round the Mountain” in my Kindermusik camp this August. I’ve put it below for you to listen to. You can also download it at www.play.kindermusik.com.

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In class, we use hoops on the floor to be our “mountains”, but you can use a chair, an exercise ball, a taped-off square, a box, or other objects. Once you’ve learned the song, turn the music off. You sing, and change the words. Here’s a slew of ideas:

Jump in the box…
Crawl under the chair…
Tiptoe around the ball…
Fly above the mat…

See? Pretty easy. Be sure to play with prepositions two ways. Have your child do the preposition, like in the examples above. Then, sing again, and this time, direct your child to place an object (like a toy turtle) in relation to the chair, or box, or hoop.

Turtle on the box…
Horse behind the chair…
Shark under the carpet…

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is sitting on the couch with her laptop despite how tired she is, but who shall soon get up and go towards the bathroom to brush her teeth and crawl under the covers and into bed, after she picks up the remote from beside her and puts it on top of the shelf!

Tags: brain, games, language development, learning, Miss Analiisa, music, preschoolers, sensory child, Things to do, toddlers

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Aug
20

Inspiring Natural Curiosity in Children

Posted in Child Development, Things to do

“Children who are allowed to explore freely in a safe environment become eager learners. As we encourage natural curiosity, we validate their innate need to know. So let them loose in the Tupperware drawer! Cover the deck with flour and give them a bucket of water. I’m always amazed at what they come up with!” – Carolyn Hornell (one of my favorite people and a Kindermusik Educator and owner of Notable Kids in Vancouver, BC.)

Here are some other ideas to encourage creativity:

Make a big plastic container of jello. Add some extra packets of plain gelatin to the mix so it is firmer. As it is solidifying, add some plastic animals, small colored rocks, and other objects like corks, bottle caps, marbles, etc. In the backyard (or the empty bathtub), provide your child with plastic utensils (yes, even a plastic knife!) and let them go for it.

Collect starch-based packing peanuts and give your child a boxful along with a little cup of water. Show your child how to dip the end in a little water and stick it to another packing peanut. Be sure to take pictures of their creations!

Pack a box with totally random craft items you might have around the house (just a few of each) – feathers, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, glitter or glitter glue, dried pasta, buttons, cut up straws, fishy crackers, empty toilet paper rolls, etc. Hand your child a couple pieces of construction (or plain) paper and a glue stick or glue bottle – AND NO DIRECTIONS. This is about the process, not the end result!

Find some unusual building blocks – a whole box of plastic or paper cups, stacks of paperback books, plastic bowls and plates. Provide a few matchbox-type cars or a small ball and watch what happens.

Hand your child a spray bottle filled with plain water and some sidewalk chalk. Send your child outside. Alternately, put fill two spray bottles with two different colors of water (or even the 3 primary colors – red, blue, yellow), and put an old (or cheap) white sheet down on the ground outside. Made those starch packing peanut creations recently? Have your child spray them with water to make a little magic.

Here are the rules:
No hovering
No directing
No explaining what to do (unless your child has never used a glue stick or squirt bottle before.)

This is all about fostering natural curiosity. Yes, there are certainly times when we should be right there guiding and teaching our children. But not all the time. You are your child’s best teacher, but our children don’t always require our presence in order to learn. And sometimes, when left to their own devices (with some objects to work with) they discover things about the world they might not have learned otherwise.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who warns you that the combination of child, markers, scissors and dog will end up being a learning experience for you, not for said child.

Tags: games, learning, Miss Analiisa, preschoolers, pretend play, Things to do, toddlers

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Jun
24

Care for Refreshment? Start a Babysitting Co-op.

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, parenting, Things to do

I recently returned from a wedding weekend away. My husband and kids went to grandma’s house while I hopped on a plane. It was so refreshing. During the weekend, I spent some time encouraging an excited, but exhausted new mom. Her 3-month-old son was thriving under her watchful care, but she was…well…not. I could relate. It took me quite a while to find my balance when my first child came along. Like many new moms, I was desperate for refreshment, but found it hard to get.

In order to parent well, it is critical to figure out how to get regular refreshment! But how can we do it? One deterrent is that many of us believe that the only people who can give our child safe good care is a parent or relative. And many of us don’t have any relatives living nearby. With this line of thinking comes over-protection and burnout. In reality, when we think this way, we may end up limiting our child’s experiences because exposure to safe others will enrich his life more than we can alone! Even as an infant, our child can benefit from experiencing loving interaction from a variety of people.

I can hear many of your saying, “I’d love to take time for myself, but I just don’t know anyone to help.” Because I lived far away from my family, I experienced this acutely. While it takes time to develop trusted friendships when you don’t have family around, developing a network of close friends is essential for family health.

Getting out and being an initiator is key. One of my friends set the pace for this by organizing a babysitting co-op among the moms she knew and trusted from church and play activities she attended. She worked as an engineer before staying home with her children, and she found that she needed to get out more to be fulfilled at home and be a better parent, but she didn’t have a lot of family in the area.

She took action and started a babysitting co-op. Members of the babysitting co-op each received a number of “baby bucks.” Each buck was worth an hour of sitting. We’d call each other up and arrange sitting for doctor’s appointments, date nights, grocery shopping, whatever! When someone ran low on baby bucks they would invite other moms to drop off their kids to earn more bucks, especially if they had a theater night or dinner party, or other outing coming up.

Getting refreshed regularly is SO important for a parent. Find out what refreshes you and do it. Enlist the help of friends if needed. Take the initiative! A babysitting co-op is a great idea.

The exhausted new mom I spent time with at the wedding was doing such a great job. However I know she’ll need to take some time for herself again if she wants to maintain a healthy balance—which is critical to parenting at her best.

Posted by Donna Detweiler who would like to thank babysitting co-op creator Liana for her honesty, courage and initiative!

Tags: babies, Donna Detweiler, parenting, preschoolers, Things to do, toddlers

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Jun
8

An Invitation to Play

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Things to do, Things We Love

This July at Soundbridge at The Seattle Symphony, we’ve got some really great happenings going on. PlayDates! A couple of summers ago they didn’t have space for July summer camps, so the PlayDate was born. It’s now become a tradition.

PlayDates are 1 ½ hours of music, movement, stories and fun. You’ll attend a 45 minute class, ½ hour of “exploring time” at Soundbridge, and 15 minutes of musical storytelling. It’s a $35 total value for only $15! Siblings are just $10, and Soundbridge members are $12. Grownups are free.

When your class is over, take home the activities and fun with the included music download card and instrument. How great is that?

Turn the day into an OUTING. Bring a friend or two, pack a lunch, and after class head to one of these really great parks (all recommend by preschool DirectorTeacher Aaron, who totally knows what he is talking about).

Madison Park – a freshwater beach park with sand, a grassy area and a playground. Lifeguard on duty.
Judkins Playground - a park in Seattle’s Central District with a cool water feature for playing in.
Seward Park - This 300 acrea park on Lake Washington has a brand new play structure, a zip line, and lots of woods and trails.

Looking for an all-inclusive birthday party idea or get together with your playgroup? We’ll book you a private PlayDate.

Here’s all about the themes we’re premiering this summer:

Fly Away With Me – ages newborn to 3 1/2

It’s everything with wings – birds, butterflies, bees, and planes! We’ll swoop and twirl to promote body awareness, and buzz and hoot to enhance vocal development. Songs, puppets, finger plays, dancing, and instruments round out the fun. Help your little ones channel their energy as you laugh and learn together.

Oh Say Can You Play? – ages 2 to 5

It’s all about American music. From Native American drum circles to the blues of New Orleans, come discover our musical roots. Dance your way to Arkansas, and float down the river to Ohio. Come bounce, sing, move, play instruments and uncover an engaging musical world, right here in the US!

Register now. These fill up quickly.

-posted by all of us at Studio3Music. We look forward to playing with you in July!

Tags: kindermusik, music, preschoolers, Things to do, toddlers

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May
29

Make Your Own Salad Night

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Recipes

So I have some picky eaters in my house. Namely my husband, who could eat the same food every day for all three meals and be perfectly happy. The second is my gifted and sensory-sensitive child who claimed himself a vegetarian by age 4 (including fish because he was NOT going to eat a dead fish), and who probably only eat about 5 foods. He too will eat the same food everyday for every meal and is perfectly happy about it. It does mean making his lunch for preschool very easy and I can do it before I’ve had my coffee in the morning.

Luckily, I also have a three year old who will happily ask for a steak and will eat a chicken wrap right out of my hand if I let him. Sadly, it makes dinner time for this Foodie an agonizing challenge.

When the 4 o’clock hustle begins I dread trying to come up with something everyone will eat or even consider looking at. Once or twice a week we have breakfast for dinner so everyone is happy with their eggs, or pancakes, or cereal and most times they can even get their own food. I always leave a bowl or two of fruit out on the table and this has increased fruit intake by everyone, so thumbs up for that!

The veggie situation is the next challenge, and tonight I discovered some sort of success. Tonight was “Make Your Own Salad Night.” Not sure why I hadn’t thought of this before. We’ve had taco night which is a similar idea where everyone gets a tortilla and puts what they want. Kids LOVE this stuff!

So I guess the little bits of sunshine we’ve had lately was just enough for my veggie garden tending to help set off this brilliant little light bulb. Funny enough, the recipe to “Make Your Own Salad Night” requires one of my famous “lists.” I’m not necessarily a fan of lists but it does seem I’m kind of listy that way. So. This is how your family will LOVE “Make your own salad night.”
• 1 bowl romaine
• 1 bowl red leaf lettuce
• 1 bowl mixed greens like arugula and kale and any other “fancy” looking leafy green
• in separate bowls:
• sliced cucumber
• bite sized pieces or think slices of carrots
• tomato wedges
• raw mushroom slices
• any other salad pleasing veggie cut thickly for finger food people
• avocado chunked or sliced
• little bowls or jam jars of dried fruit like blueberries, cranberries, or cherries (or all of them!)
• little jars or bowls of raw seeds like sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc.
• bowl of freshly chopped chives from the garden

• My picky eater also brought to the table a plate of pickles and olives.

• We added some hard cheese like parmesan reggiano so each person could grate their own. (I helped the left handed 3 year old.)

• And of course numerous salad dressings and croutons or bacon bits can be added as well as other proteins like shrimp or chicken or anything else you might put in a salad. The key is to have lots of options. Sometimes it’s just the way it looks or feels in the mouth that gets them to eat it. My 3 year old likes his cucumbers peeled so I had little plate of sliced cukes both peeled and unpeeled.

I desperately wished I had a big lazy susan for this affair and I might go out and buy one tomorrow. Although without it, everyone got to practice their nice restaurant manners for passing food. From mom to mom, let me tell you, this was a huge success! We put the larger salad bowls out and then put little dishes on the side for those who want rice or maybe pasta or even a protein. (And the picky eater’s seaweed. Yeah, I know, I just go with it.)

I used jam jars for the seeds and dried fruit and put spoons and forks out for serving. Let me tell you, everyone had fun and ATE the FOOD. They all asked for “Make Your Own Salad Night” again! Luckily for me I just signed up for organic produce delivery so that will keep the variety going.
The bonus of it all, besides the eating was that even the little one could, and wanted to help set the food out. It was truly the family affair I never though would exist. Aaah. A mom’s day is done.

-posted by Heidi Forrester, who hopes to turn one family member into a Foodie someday.