5 amazing Early Childhood Care and Development activities parents can do with their children | EduCeleb
Contributor
10th August 2019
By  Alan Williamson
The first five years of a child’s life are fundamentally important. They are the foundation that shapes children’s future health, happiness, development and learning achievement at school, in the family and community. During that time, children, much like sponges, absorb all the information around them which is why parents and educators are encouraged to guide, assist and support children in their development in order for them to reach their full potential.
It is not just an advantage for the young ones to have good role models and dedicated educators during the formative years, but an absolute must. Their exposure to such personalities can contribute immensely to the kind of individuals they will become one day.
But apart from helpingchildren build rewarding relationships with people whom they can look up to, itis essential to create opportunities for the little ones to develop theirskills as well as their understanding of the world. This is one of the reasonswhy a lot of parents invest greatly in the early childhood education that theirchildren can receive from a top-notch early learning centre.
With early childhood education (ECE) and early
childhood care and development (ECCD), every school day is dedicated toimprovement. Children get to hone their motor, problem-solving, and comprehensionskills through a variety of activities. At the same time, parents learn the best activities to engage in with their young ones.
And when it comes toactivities for optimum development that parents should do with their children,ECCD experts recommend the following:
It’s an easy activityto squeeze into your day. ECCD specialists say that walking with your childrenregularly can have a massive impact on their personality and intelligence.
Walking hand in handwith your child can boost their emotional quotient or EQ. Along with this, thefeeling of security this activity creates will allow your little one to expresstheir curiosity even more, which will help you establish yourself as anauthority figure and repository of knowledge.
Most importantly, dailywalks at the park or around your neighbourhood offer the perfect opportunity tointroduce environmental elements to your young learner. Let them have a sensoryexperience with plants and structures to further build their information andmemory bank.
Let your child practicetheir fine motor skills, as well as explore their own creativity, through artsand crafts. It’s important that at such
a young age, your child learns the valuable lesson that he or she is a creator.
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Also, doing arts andcrafts together is a joyful activity. Your child can find happiness in thecreation process that he or she is sharing with you. This is a wonderfulcombination of learning, applying knowledge, and building memories, which areall vital in helping children deal with challenges in life.
Lastly, doing arts andcrafts teaches children that material things have multiple purposes, and theyhave the power to determine the use of these things. Again, this is beneficialin cultivating children’s problem-solving skills.
Music is food for thesoul, and at an early age, your child can benefit from knowing how to createjoyful tunes using musical instruments. Doing this with them will foster astronger relationship.
This will also help youdiscover if your child has a talent and a passion for music. This is often anindicator of a child’s dominant learning style, as well as their lifelongpotential that will call for your positive support as a parent.
Dancing is not only afun way to exercise, but it can also put your child’s comprehension skills inaction. If your child gets the opportunity to follow simple instructions anddance moves specifically designed for them, it will help them increase theirflexibility, range of motion, physical strength and stamina.
These skills are skillsyour child will need later in life for other physical activities, such assports. Also, by dancing with your child, you get to offer them a copingmechanism for stress, which they will inevitably experience as they get older.
This is one of the bestactivities for parents and children to do together because it not onlycultivates motor skills, but it is also an opportunity to impart lessons onnutrition and health.
ECCD specialists alsopoint out that involving children in the food preparation process (not justcooking, but menu planning and shopping for ingredients as well) is an effective strategy against picky eating.Children tend to forget about food aversions when they have taken part in thepreparation of a meal.
Children are young only for a moment. So, do not miss the chance to be physically and emotionally present for them. If you dedicate adequate time to engage in various activities with them during the formative years, you can lay down a solid foundation for the other developments yet to come in your kids’ future.
Alan Williamson is the Chief Education Officer at Kings’ Education, a premium school brand in Dubai which leads a fantastic group of premium UK curriculum schools, including Child’s Play Nursery. As well as being passionate about teaching and learning, Alan has been actively involved in school leadership related to Special Educational Needs.