Simple strategies to inspire your kids in making use of the time productively. Children represent an epiphany, no matter how cute they are, if you don’t know how to make them busy then sadly life takes a turn towards difficult times. But rest assured, when it comes to engaging children in a much more exiting and a long-term manner there are certain well calibrated and executed strategies, which can help you in keeping your children busy. Just go through the following list of suggestions and try them out:
Let them be Creative:
Provide the resources and create an environment where it is easy for kids to explore themselves. The key resource here is time. Kids need a lot of time for unstructured, child-directed, imaginative play –un-encumbered by adult direction, and that doesn’t depend on a lot of commercial stuff. Next time someone asks for a gift suggestion for your kids, ask for things like art supplies, cheap cameras, costume components, building materials. Put these in easy-to-deal-with bins that your kids can manage.
Encourage Love of Reading:
When it comes to raising readers, you know the drill: start young, read books aloud, visit the library, and be a good role model. Excellent advice, all of it. But what if you’ve toed that line and your child still hasn’t caught the spark? Or you’ve ignited a flame only to see it fizzle as he gets older and busier? Here are few suggestions from Milton Montessori that you can try to ignite that spark in your kid:
- Hook them on the story – There is an old saying “A good yarn can reel in even the most reluctant reader”. Similarly, you will need to start it together. Read aloud the first few chapters to get your kids involved in the story, and then let them finish it. Obviously sometimes things aren’t that simple and as we know that children have very little attention span, so how to take this problem? The answer is piquing their curiosity. Experts advise on sitting near your children and quietly read something aloud which your kid might like. As you will reach an interesting part, exclaim or laugh aloud, then share a compelling tid-bit. It will work like a charm.
- Keep it fun – with kids you need to try every activity a game, as revealed by experts at Apple Montessori School. You can use the following techniques to engage your children like Prediction Board, Midnight Movie Quiz, Fact or fiction.
Aspire to be an Architect:
Childhood is the best time of whole life, but it can also be tiring for some parents if they don’t engage their kids properly. Help your kid discover their talents. One activity in this pursuit is talent for architectural design. Visit your favourite playground and evaluate what your child loves most about it. What equipment does he enjoy the most? Can he think of a new type of slide? What could make the playground more interesting? Use these visits and conversations to inspire him to design an original jungle gym or swing set. Start with graph paper and have him illustrate diagrams and plans with specific placement of each piece of equipment.
Superhero Identity:
From an early age kids are infatuated with super-powers, partly because the influence of these characters on them and partly due to the time spent on watching them. Every child wants to have super powers, so challenge yours to create their own superhero persona. Ask your child what super powers they would like to have and what superhero name they would choose. Then draw a superhero logo and use old sheets and scraps of material to create an outfit.
Don’t be Bossy:
Too much ordering around will eventually yield disobedience or a systematic discontinuity of creative ideas. Allow kids the freedom and autonomy to explore their ideas and do what they want. As mentioned earlier, it is much better to give them a controlled environment then to control them directly.
Prioritize Achievements:
Try to stop caring what your kids achieve. Emphasize process rather than product. One way you can do this is by asking questions about the process – Did you have fun? Are you finished? What did you like about that activity?