Technique 83 – Let ordinary play lead the way to a world of learning.
Play is the Voice of Curiosity
Beginning in the earliest days, your baby is absorbing every innuendo from every action. When crawling starts, there is no end to where your baby will try to go and what he or she will try to do. Your baby wants to know everything, and learning comes naturally. As a matter of fact, because of our lifestyle filled with all kinds of schedules and constraints, we have to be careful not to hinder nature’s well thought-out and carefully planned process of discovery learning.
As your child grows, you will see play with all kinds of simple materials—cards, paper, balls, napkins, tissues, sticks, and other easily accessible items. These materials are basics that hold the key to much of early learning. What is big and what is small, what is heavy and what is light, hard and soft, rough and smooth, short and tall and more are all of interest to your child. What to push and what to pull and what to open and what to close are also examples of the many concepts your child will learn through play.
Adapted from Constructive Parenting by Sally Goldberg p. 95
Everyday play experiences with dolls, cars, trucks, blocks, play dough, paper, crayons, markers, scissors, glue and and all kinds of simple items make up a big part of unlocking many of the mysteries of life for your child.
February! The Month of the Heart
Have fun all month long with the heart. Make some cardboard stencils for tracing. Your child will love coloring them. Make all kinds of cut-out hearts for your child to paste on paper as a collage. Go on a “heart hunt” right in your own home and see how many you can find. You might come across three people in a photo and notice that together they form a heart design. Maybe you have one or more heart-shaped picture frames. Maybe one of your children is wearing an outfit with heart designs on it. Being a “heart” detective can bring with it all kinds of loving discoveries.