fun and games
NURTURING YOUR CHILD’S MAGIC. All children have it. A sense of Magic. And it is our job as parents to protect this instinctive gift and keep it alive so they can use the mature version of it to foster their creativity and keep their sense of wonder and awe of life. I grew up in a household where being productive and working hard was deemed more important than having fun and laughing. But the two extremes really can co-exist nicely with each other. In fact, I think a balanced happy life demands it. What does that mean for parents and their elementary school children? Encourage them to play just as hard as they should work. And try to make every day tasks (finding their shoes, maybe putting them in the right place in the first place?) something fun. Picking up their things should not necessarily be something they get a reward for, but rather having it in order and things easily found should be the reward. To do that, I have had success with making cleaning it up the fun game. Sure, you don’t always have time to do this, but even if you do it ONCE and it is fun, they will remember, and some prompting from you might even enable them to have fun cleaning up without youWith pre-schoolers, sometimes the putting things away game is just as much fun as playing the games in the first place. They get to match all the pieces with the correct game and put them in the designated spots. (I think the mistake I made early on was: there was no designated spot!!! Toys and crayons were everywhere until I figured this out!)The point is – interacting with YOU is what makes it fun. DON’T clean up alone! They can help you think of games. But one that worked for me was:
- evaluate the mess: clothes everywhere? Papers? Toys?
- What do we need to accomplish: Clear the table for dinner? Find shoes and put them away?
- Put on some fun kid friendly music.
- Gather the team of kids
- Play the music for a certain amount of time (does it sound like 'musical chairs'?)
- How many toys can they clean up (or shoes put away, or can they make the bed) before the music stops.
OK, its kind of simple – but you get the point! Email me back and tell me how it worked – and how you improved the gameSpread that magic!jane :)
