It is essential that kids learn how to care for themselves so they grow up to be responsible and confident. Here are 5 small and fun activities that will help your children grow and learn independence and self-care that you can practice with your kids.
- Basic Hygiene
From washing up before meals to showering regularly to brushing teeth to flossing. Have your kids practice these basic habits on a daily basis. Explain the importance of practicing good hygiene and maintaining cleanliness. You can even have them make a marshmallow model like this one to help your kids understand how to properly brush their teeth!
Retrieved from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/156605-fun-ways-to-teach-children-about-washing-hands/
- Tying Shoes
Let’s face it, Velcro shoes are not a permanent solution. Teaching your kids how to tie their shoes can be fun and is sure to make them more independent. Practice makes perfect so it’s useful to create a visual model with guided instructions for them to practice on. Here is an example you can make with a cardboard, some scissors, and a pair of shoelaces.
- Telling Time
Being able to tell time is a skill that helps kids become more responsible and mindful. This is another skill that requires practice, but can be made into a fun active as well! Build a clock out of cardboard with movable minute and hour hands so kids can practice telling different times. Also, it never hurts to spontaneously ask them for the time whenever a clock is around, forcing them to practice what they have learned.
Retrieved from: http://www.motherforlife.com/child/3-to-5-years-old/development/learnings/5733-children-and-the-concept-of-time.thtml
- Value of Coins
Arguably one of the more important skills a child can learn is the value of coins and how to give change. Sit your child down with different valued coins and teach them how twenty-five pennies make a quarter and how four quarters make a dollar, etc. Then, you can practice their newly learned information by role playing the a buyer and seller at a store and teaching them how to give change.
- Practice Spelling
Fridge letter magnets are a good way to start. Say words out loud and have your kids spell them. Correct them when they make mistakes and remember words they have trouble with so you can enforce them later. You can also try giving them the first and last letters and having them complete the word by adding the missing letters in the middle.
Retrieved from: http://www.shutterstock.com/video/search/fridge–magnets/?ref_context=keyword
Isabella Arteaga
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