• Use fans or air conditioning to keep indoor air moving.
  
• Arrange outdoor play for before 10:00 a.m. and after 2:00 p.m. to avoid the worst sun of the day.
  
• Wear loose-fitting, lightweight, light-colored clothing. Encourage children to wear lightweight hats when they are in the sun. This practice is especially important for children with fair hair and very light skin.
  
• Always apply sunscreen before going out. Check the label to be sure the sunscreen provides adequate protection and will not wear off quickly in water. There is no such thing as a “healthy tan.” Using sunscreen to avoid a tan will lessen the risk of developing skin cancer later in life.
  
• Provide a lot of water. It is easy to lose fluids in the heat. Offer the children something to drink frequently throughout the day. A few ounces every 20 minutes is better than large amounts taken at infrequent intervals.
  
• Provide shaded areas for outdoor play during hot sunny days. When temperatures exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit, children should not be involved in strenuous outdoor play for long periods of time.

With reasonable precautions, you and the children will probably withstand the heat fairly well. But it is also important to be alert for the warning signs of heatstroke and heat exhaustion.

Heatstroke, which can be fatal, comes on rather suddenly. Warning signs include headache, weakness, and sudden loss of consciousness. Victims of heatstroke usually don’t sweat much. Their pulses are very rapid and their skin is hot and dry. They also have extremely high body temperatures.

Heatstroke victims should be cooled off as quickly as possible by wrapping or immersing them in ice or cold water. After taking these emergency measures, take victims to the hospital immediately.

Heat exhaustion is a less serious but much more common condition. Warning signs include excessive urination, gradual weakness, nausea, anxiety or agitation, and excessive sweating. Unlike heatstroke, heat exhaustion causes pale, clammy skin, and a weak, slow pulse. Victims of heat exhaustion often feel faint or disoriented.

The best thing to do for victims of heat exhaustion is to have them take it easy for a while. Find them a shady spot or an air-conditioned building to sit or lie down in. Give them a few ounces of cool water every few minutes.

Heat cramps may also accompany heat exhaustion. They occur because the body has lost salt through heavy sweating. Typically, heat cramps occur first in the hands and feet. Water or foods that contain salt will usually relieve heat cramps quickly.

High humidity, overexertion, poor ventilation, and heavy clothing can all contribute to heat-related illness. Dehydration, diarrhea, age, and chronic illness can also make individuals more susceptible to these conditions. As you approach a summer of “fun in the sun,” be sure to protect the children and yourself from the effects of the heat.

Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care – NNCC. Pankau, J.W. (1993). Hot weather tips. In Todd, C.M. (Ed.), *Day care center connections*, 2(6), pp. 5-6. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.

Reprinted from National Association for the Education of Young Children

When your child is aggressive, keep discipline fresh by tweaking old tactics to fit new circumstances.

By Margery D. Rosen | December 18, 2007

Nothing quite makes you feel like a candidate for Worst Mom of the Year than having your child hurt a playmate. To combat aggressiveness, teach assertiveness. Here’s how to do it at every age and stage:

3 to 5: Much to the shock of new parents, toddlers and preschoolers push, shove, pinch, and even bite to get their way. While acting aggressively is never acceptable no matter how old your child is, “you don’t have a little bully on your hands,” says Alvin Rosenfeld, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist and lecturer at Harvard Medical School. “Most likely she’s frustrated, impatient, and overwhelmed by feelings she can’t yet express.” Your best defense is prevention: “Preschoolers have trouble controlling their impulses, so watching her closely and predicting when meltdowns are most likely (say, when she’s tired or hungry) will help avoid them,” says Dr. Rosenfeld. Without shaming, step in immediately: “We don’t hit, we ask. If you want to play with Tommy’s truck, ask him.” Then, gently move her to a quiet spot so she can calm down, or distract her: “Did you see that big dog? Let’s see if we can pet him.”

6 to 10: If he’s still hitting at this age, it’s become a habit, and it’s time to break it. “He knows to use his words, but he’s found using his hands is more efficient,” says Michele Borba, Ed.D., author of No More Misbehavin’. Halt the behavior first, then look beyond the anger to what’s causing it. Is he being teased at school? Emphasize that standing up for himself is important, but not if it comes at someone’s else’s expense. Set a zero-tolerance policy for aggressive behavior, with appropriate consequences (no TV or computer game time; missing a friend’s birthday party) while you focus on anger management and assertiveness skills. Encourage him to say how he feels (“I’m mad that you took my guitar. Please give it back.”)

Show him how to calm down by taking slow deep breaths or walking away until tempers cool. Brainstorm alternatives: “Instead of punching Charlie when you want to use the computer, what could you do?” Reinforce positive actions: “You told him how you felt and asked for a turn — bravo!” Meanwhile, since predictability is comforting (for you as well as your aggressive child), add structure and routine to his day: regular family meals, standard bedtimes, and so on.

11 to 14: Aggressiveness now is a red flag, one you probably saw waving earlier but failed to curb. What’s provoking your child? “Either he’s being bullied and finally trying to defend himself,” says Borba, “or he’s become a bully and needs to channel his anger and frustration appropriately.” Bully-proof your child by helping him develop the confidence to stand up to put-downs. During a calm moment, listen empathically while you gently gather facts about who, why, and where your child is being targeted. Once you discern a pattern (bullying on the bus, in the park, during study hall), devise a safety plan. Remind your child to position himself around adults whenever possible: in supervised areas during recess, or near the driver on the school bus. Help him report any incidents immediately. Tell him to fight back only as a last resort and only if he’s in real danger. Since weakness spurs a bully on, plan different ways to respond: he could give the bully a cold, blank stare, then walk away or talk to a friend. Rosenfeld suggests scripting some quick comebacks to name-calling or teasing: “Who cares?” . . . or simply, “So?”

And if your own child is the bully? “Little bullies grow up to be adult abusers,” says Borba. “And most bullying behavior is learned firsthand if a child sees adults handle problems aggressively.” If a parent, older brother, or other family member is making life difficult at home, a child may take it out on others. Pay close attention to how your child acts with peers. Does he mistreat playmates, force fights, demand his way? Ask, “How do you think Logan feels when you do that? Would you like to be treated that way?” Insist that he not only apologize for his actions but make amends: repair or replace with this own money anything he damaged; tell other kids he is sorry; and champion his former victim. You may not be able to do this alone: seek professional counseling while you connect with teachers, coaches or other family members so you’re all dealing the same way with this problem.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3748604

By Susan Canizares PhD

Q: My 3-year-old son can’t seem to sit still when we try to teach him letters or numbers. He gets frustrated and distracted easily and asks us to answer our own questions. We’re concerned that he’s not learning at the right pace or may have attention deficit disorder. How do we know if these behaviors are normal and what he should and shouldn’t have already learned?

A: Because there is so much pressure on children today to perform well at school and learn to read as early as kindergarten, it is quite natural for you to want to give your child a strong early start. The most important thing you can do to help him is just what you’ve done: observe your child closely to discover what interests him and how he learns, then seek guidance to support your findings.

The range of normal behaviors in children age 3 to 5 is quite wide. There is nothing that your child is doing at this time that I would characterize as an indication of a disorder.  Instead he strikes me as a typical 3-year-old who has definite ideas about what’s around him and how he would like to go about learning more. To help him, consider the following strategies:

• Build on what motivates and interests him. His response to you to “answer your own questions” may be a sharp signal that he does not see the relevance of some of your questions to what he is involved with or interested in. Some toddlers and preschoolers enjoy a kind of work session in which they sit with a parent and identify letters and numbers, but many others do not. Your son may be among the multitude of normal preschoolers who learn by running around, touching, exploring, and simply making a mess. It is quite possible that he is easily distracted when you initiate a task, but that he sustains long and deep attention to tasks he invents or creates on his own.

  The trick is to build learning opportunities into his world — such as counting dogs you pass by or picking out letters in signs you see on the street. Inside, discover the pretend games he likes to invent and incorporate letters and numbers in them. For example, invent a parking-lot system in pretend play where each of his cars, trucks, or other toys has a letter or number written on a piece of paper to identify where it can go.

  Your goal: Don’t let him lose his motivation and eagerness to learn. Without it, he faces a school career of tediousness and drudgery — which will severely impair his ability to learn.

• Make learning active. There will be plenty of years during which your son will have to sit at a desk. Until then, he needs plenty of experiences using his whole body and all five senses to make important learning discoveries. If you have goals in mind about learning letters and numbers, make reaching them fun and multisensory. Draw letters and numbers in shaving cream, sand, or on a mirror covered in steam from the shower. Look for them in alphabet soup and gobble them up. Play with his fingers and toes by making a counting game as you go. Let your imagination (and his) run wild.

  Your goal: Discover the deeper talents your son has and what his particular strengths are. Help him rely on these strengths to solve problems.

By making these goals primary in your interactions with your son, you may soon have a child who is focused, eager, and asking all the questions of you!

About the Author

Susan Canizares holds a PhD in language and literacy development.

By Craig Ramey and Sharon Ramey

Look for your child to become more self-aware, to understand more fully the separateness of other people, and to exhibit a wider range of emotions. How you respond to her initiatives is increasingly important to her, and you will be guiding her behavior more visibly than before. This is a good time for her to understand what is expected of her. You can also support the emerging independence that comes as she begins to walk and talk. Some babies become perpetual motion machines at this stage!

Language is the other phenomenal achievement of this period. Most babies will speak their first real words soon after their first birthday.

With all these new skills, your baby will increasingly want to do things on her own. As this independent spirit and determination grow, so will your baby’s need for your reassurance that keeps her protected and connected.

Best toys and activities for your one-year-old

Your Baby’s Style
Your child’s temperamental style will show itself in some new ways in this period. Some children are more active, while others are quieter. Some are adventuresome and fearless, while others are more cautious.

But no matter what style your baby started out with in this period, you may be in for some surprises. Some infants try out new styles (in all age stages). You may also see changes in:
• how much sleep your child needs
• how often and how long he naps
• how willing he is to try new foods
• how much he likes different tastes, smells, and textures

Surprisingly, behavioral qualities in one area do not necessarily extend to others. For example, a child may be absolutely fearless in physical movement, but unwilling to try any new food.

Physical Growth and Movement
As the end of the first year approaches, physical growth will begin to slow down. Babies will gain about 5 or 6 pounds during all of the second year, compared with the average of 16 pounds in the first year. But there will be big changes in your baby’s body type. He will become leaner and more muscular from practicing new motor skills. Appetite often decreases in this period because your baby’s slower weight gain doesn’t require the calorie input of the first year’s growth spurt.

While most babies in the U.S. learn to walk between 12 and 14 months of age, the range of normal is very broad. Pressuring your baby to master any new skill will likely cause more frustration than success. While you can certainly encourage your baby’s first steps, don’t overdo it. It is much better to let each child develop at nature’s own pace. Remember that experimentation is integral to learning anything.

As your child’s arms and hands strengthen, his dexterity improves, giving him greater skill with everything from toys to spoons to large crayons or pencils. During this period he will gain a great deal of skill in manipulating multiple objects, able to do one thing at a time. Most children begin to prefer one hand (and foot) to the other around this time — but it’s too early to tell whether they’ll be right- or left-handed.

Cognitive and Language Development
As this period progresses, your baby will spend more time with physical objects and play. She will study objects intently for long periods of time. She will explore objects by touching and mouthing and perhaps by banging, dropping, and throwing. Whenever possible, she will figure out how to do something with them, and then proudly show you what she has learned. Simple puzzles may begin to hold her attention.

Imitation is an important learning tool. It is also a clear sign of your baby’s growing cognitive skills — it signals both observation and memory capabilities. Babies are keenly observant, and they will copy as much of your behavior as possible, good and bad. Throughout this period, imitation will become increasingly sophisticated and complex.

Imitation is also vital to learning language. By their first birthday, most babies understand a large and fast-growing number of words, even though they may say very little. They can point to many objects by name, including body parts, toys, and household items.

There are many good ways to support and promote your baby’s language development. When you speak to her, use simple sentences, and be clear and distinct in what you say. But be sure to include the rich and diverse components of language. Continue to read books, and talk together about the names of things and their qualities, the actions between objects and people, what happens when someone does something. Ask your child to tell you what’s happening, or to point things out to you. Repeat what she says. Recite rhymes. Act out poems and stories.

Emotional and Social Growth
Social contact continues to be important. But some babies may seem less interested, in part because they can do so many more things on their own. Most babies are remarkably friendly at this time, and openly show their love and affection.

Emotional development shows a big leap now. Your baby will seem much more tuned in to the feelings of others, and will show a range of emotions reflecting greater intellectual understanding of the world and what is happening. As babies acquire a more sophisticated awareness of cause-and-effect relationships, there are more things that contribute to feelings of joy, interest, disappointment, surprise, excitement, sadness, frustration, and confusion.

Around 11 months, two important developments occur. First, your infant will be able to understand “no.” Second, he will begin to test some of the limits you set. When you are watching, he may reach for an object or approach an area that is off-limits. This is a way of learning and checking out his understanding.

Activities and Toys
The range of games, toys, and activities that will interest your baby mushrooms during this stage. He is developing many new skills that are fun to practice and perfect. Activities that give him a sense of self-initiative and accomplishment will be high on the list of favorites. Try:
• word books and naming games to build vocabulary
• puzzles, stacking rings, and building blocks to teach spatial relationships, sorting, and ordering
• boxes and containers to empty and refill with objects
• chasing and hiding games
• balls and games with balls
• push-and-pull toys, especially those that make noise
• toys that encourage make-believe, such as dolls, puppets, play telephones
• crayons and markers

From Right From Birth: Building Your Child’s Foundation for Life by Craig T. Ramey, Ph.D., and Sharon L. Ramey, Ph.D. Available wherever books are sold. Copyright © 1999 by Goddard Press, Inc.

By Alice Sterling Honig, PhD | April , 2003

Babies must learn to trust and depend on their parents and teachers before they can learn true independence. So, during the first year of life, the first step to guiding little ones toward true independence is to address bodily needs promptly. Become a wise interpreter of babies’ distress signals. Use your ingenuity to soothe and comfort babies. Trust what you know about each one’s special needs for food, cuddling, bodily comfort, your loving company, or stimulation with toys or activities.

Let babies know that they are lovable and that they can trust you to address their individual needs. Hold babies for feeding. Stroke their hair and say soothing, comforting words if babies tumble while trying to learn to walk. Research shows that babies given this cushion of customized caring will, toward the end of the first year, explore and play more independently on their own. Well-nurtured infants will use their growing abilities (rather than cry or wail) to call out vocally, reach out arms, or crawl toward you when they need you.

Babies do try to show early on that they are capable of self-actualization. They will often suck on their thumb or their fist to soothe themselves when they are hungry and waiting for a feeding. Some babies who are able to sit well will hold out an arm for you to put their shirt on. They are already showing that they can take initiatives to cooperate with you. Your loving care has taught them how to “give back” with these accommodating gestures.

Well-nurtured babies show independence toward the end of the first year of life. They investigate the toys you have set out. They explore them on their own for long periods. They bang, poke, push pegs into pegboards, and carry out all kinds of discoveries on their own.

Babies’ own maturing central nervous systems also give a big boost to early independence. Growth urges deep within impel them to try new ways of coping with the world on their own. Thus, they may reach to grab the spoon from you to feed themselves even before they have enough wrist control to get enough food into their mouths. 

About the Author

Alice Sterling Honig, Ph.D., is a professor emerita of child development at Syracuse University. She is the author of Secure Relationships: Nurturing Infant-Toddler Attachments in Early Care Settings.

By: Roy Derrick

There are many simple ways that parents can help encourage their child’s developments from an early age. Many basic tasks that we do with our children can help to build up their confidence and ensure that they are happy children who will go on to succeed in their lives.

Fuel their imagination by reading bedtime stories

Research has shown that children, who are regularly told stories have a better vocabulary, have more ides of sentence structure and sense of stories, are keener readers, enjoy more cognitive skills and have higher self confidence. They are also more likely to remember details better from a story than on television hence helping to create magnificent memories.

As well as reading a story if is also beneficial to make up your own story for children. Children enjoy adding their own characters to a story which can help to stimulate their imaginations.

Stories can be good to introduce changes and can be a great way to bet a message across as the child is relaxed and their brain waves are slow and ready to absorb information.

By reading to your children you are helping to grow their imagination and creating a fantasy life that they can disappear into which is really important.

Nurture their creative skills through play

Enjoying creative time with your child is important as it helps to teach them another skill. Not all children will be great academics at school but many may go on to succeed using their creative skills. Simple activities like building with plastic bricks, painting or simply creating items can help a child’s coordination and can help to build up their confidence. Many successful entrepreneurs have built up a thriving business despite not obtaining any qualifications at school simply by using their creative skills and by their determination to succeed.

Playing board games can also help to educate your children. The child not only learns how to count but also how to take turns and follow rules. This in turn will teach them socially acceptable behaviour which is a very important lesson.

You will not have to spend a great deal of money  on such activities as you can even create items such as wind chimes ,mobiles  or necklaces using items like leaves and twigs. Children delight in seeing their own unique creation.

Teaching through role play

Another great way to teach children about everyday life is by playing games with them using role play. You can vary the themes which can include playing shops, libraries, and doctor’s surgeries. Such games help to fuel their imagination but can also help them to consider which occupation they might like to take up when they are older.

Teach your children about finance

Sadly in today’s schools there are no lessons given to children regarding finance. This is unfortunate as finance plays an important part in everyone’s lives. Teaching our children how to manage  money is a vital part of their education.

Children can be given financial education by rewarding them for good behavior. If your child is young you could reward them with marbles to put in their jars. If your children are older it can be a good idea to ask them to negotiate how much pocket money they feel they deserve based on chores they have completed that week. You can also teach them the importance of making more money by investing their money into a savings account which will help to teach them to understand making interest on their money. This can be beneficial as it will help to educate children ready for when they are older and might want to have a career in finance or if they want to start up a business. Any financial education that you give your children can also help to prepare them ready for when they might want to invest into stocks and shares at a later stage of their lives.

Whether your child goes on to succeed academically, learns a trade or decides to set up a business, skills learned during their childhood including using simple measures,  will have helped to shape them into confident individuals who will go on to create success and a financially secure future for themselves .

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/childhood-education-articles/how-to-educate-your-child-to-succeed-2236788.html#ixzz0mFCEBsd5

Children connect through play. Laughter. Silly games. Fits of giggles and tickles. It’s hard for parents to find the energy for play- to really get down on the floor with our children and have fun. A lot of us have forgotten how to play. Luckily, play is fun and laughter is contagious. When we give ourselves permission to forget about Christmas cards this year, or only bake one pie for Thanksgiving, we can use that time to give our children the gift of play, and ultimately the chance to reconnect. When children are connected to their parents, they increase their ability to handle frustration and disappointment. They are better able to manage their complex emotions and they feel more confident in themselves.

Taking time to reconnect with our children is a small investment when compared to what we get in return. And the investment in time does not have to be substantial- our children benefit from even five minutes of play. The difficult part is figuring out what to do. Think about the last time your child dissolved into a fit of giggles. What makes your child laugh from his belly and beg “Again! Again!”

A mom and fellow play therapist recently told me she keeps a recipe box full of index cards with ideas for play. When she finds herself feeling overwhelmed or fussing at her children for normal four-year-old behaviors, she grabs her box and pulls out a card. For the next five or ten minutes, her primary goal is to focus completely on her children. Her secondary goal is to LAUGH with her children. And laugh hard.

You know what gets your child giggling, but sometimes it’s nice to add to a few tricks to our repertoire.
• Sock Game- See who can get the other person’s socks off first.
• Play Hide and Seek and when you find your child, pretend you’ve found the scariest monster imaginable. Or when you child is searching for you, jump out and scare him.
• Animal Talk- Talk to each other using only animal sounds and pretend to have a conversation.
• I Love You So Much I Can’t Let You Go- Hold your child in a big embrace. Start to loosen your grip and just as your child is about to escape, grab her back into your arms declaring “I love you SO much, I can’t let you go!”
• Dance Party! Turn on five minutes of 80s dance music and jump, twirl, and dance.
• Tickle Time- All children love to be tickled. Tickle his feet or his tummy and then stop abruptly, becoming very serious. Moments later you’re overcome with the urge to tickle again- which will take your child by surprise each time!
• Hand Stories- Have your child make a fist. Pull up a finger one at a time, making up a line of a story for each finger. Tell silly or sweet stories about your child.
• Play Chase- A great game for outside. Chase your child for a moment, pretending your couldn’t possibly catch her. Suddenly catch you child, grabbing him into a full embrace, then let him go and do it again!
• Name Games- Use familiar songs and stories but incorporate your child’s name into the song/story.

As we head into December, take just a few minutes each day to truly connect with your child. Spend time laughing. Give them your undivided attention. Don’t answer the phone (you can call them back). You’ll notice you have more patience for your child. You’ll feel more in control of your life this busy holiday season. Those Christmas cards don’t have to go out. But your child needs to feel connected to you.

Robyn Gobbel, LCSW is a play therapist and family support specialist in Bastrop, TX. She’s the momma to a three-year-old “mischievous monkey” who reminds her of the importance of play and laughter every single day.

From birth, children begin to learn to love themselves and others. Infants and toddlers start to see differences between people. They notice skin colors, hair colors and textures, eye shapes, and other features of race and ethnic background. Toddlers may reach out to feel each other’s hair. Older 2-year-olds may stare or say things such as “What’s that?”

Three-year olds figure out how to recognize boys and girls. Preschoolers are curious, too. Will skin color wash off? Eye shape and color is of great interest. Unfamiliar languages puzzle them. Even elementary-age children seem “old.” Preschoolers also notice that people have different physical and mental abilities. Children often make comments that embarrass us.

By age 4, children are very much tuned in to our attitudes. They sense how we feel about them and other people. Many children grow up feeling good about who they are. “Here, let me do it,” they volunteer. Most children feel comfortable being around other people, too. They are eager to have fun together. “Let’s play firefighter!”

Many other young children already have negative ideas about themselves. “I can’t,” they say. Or you overhear them mutter, “I never do anything right.” They may not know how to get along well with other children. Such children may seem quiet and shy, or they may be bullies.

Preschoolers may even believe some common biases and stereotypes about other people. They hear put-downs on TV. They see holiday decorations that poke fun. They are indeed aware of what is happening around them and between people.

How do you help children love themselves and others? First, look at your own attitudes, values, and behaviors. Then, include activities to help children appreciate each other’s differences, develop a sense of fairness, and learn to stand up for themselves and others.

Mr. Rogers said, We are all different in many ways, but sometimes children are afraid to be different because they want to be like the people they love. Some children may even come to feel there’s something wrong with being different. That’s why grown-ups need to help children learn that being different is part of what makes them special to the people who love them.

When you help children notice and accept, in fact, celebrate differences, you pave the way to prevent prejudice and promote compassion, tolerance, and understanding.

——————————————————————————–

Reprinted from National Association for the Education of Young Children

Preschool Education Articles

Encouraging Creativity in Children

YOUR CHILD IS GROWING UP. From the first exuberant slap of a fat baby hand in the oatmeal, through tentative crayon marks and collages of sticky-back paper, made-up songs and more-than half-believed-in imaginary playmates, your child is growing in the ability to explore the world and to have an impact on it. The power to change a roundish lump of playdough into a flat one, the fun of taking an every-day activity and making a silly song about it, the insights that come with the “pretend” games are the motivators for the natural creativity that is so often lost before we’re out of childhood.

AS A PARENT OR PROVIDER, you can have enormous influence on your children’s creativity, nurturing and protecting the fresh and flexible world-view that will serve them as adults with an enthusiasm for learning and doing, with flexible insights and problem solving skills, with originality and enjoyment of life. For young children the “doing” of an activity is always the important thing, the finished product is of little or no interest. To be appropriate from the child’s point of view, comments about creative work should keep this in mind: “That looked like fun” or “You worked hard on this” are the sorts of comments that relate to the child’s own perception of the activity. The younger the child, the more true this is. Try particularly hard not to interpret a young child’s work as a representation. Many sensitive children are frightened away from creative activities when they pick up the idea that they are expected to produce “something”. Similarly, avoid evaluating your child’s work. A child who begins to draw, or build, or make up songs in order to please an adult has already lost some of the courage to experiment and enthusiasm for creativity that is so difficult to hold on to as we grow up. At first it’s surprisingly difficult not to say, “That’s lovely, how wonderful, that really looks like a dog, fantastic!”. Instead, try such comments as “I notice all those colorful dots in the corner” or “Looks like you’ve been experimenting with different clay tools”.

Let your child have as much freedom as possible in the area of creative play. For the young toddler this means blocks, dress-up clothes, rhythm instruments and other “do-it-yourself” activities should always be available, plus the supervised use of sand, water, crayons, playdough, and paint. Don’t forget to allow and appreciate creative (but not destructive) use of ordinary household things –pans, cans, couch cushions

. Older toddlers and preschoolers should be encouraged to learn and follow rules that will allow them free access to art materials as soon as possible. A 2 1/2 year old who has a low art drawer in the kitchen has a creative head start over the same-age child who has to wait until someone has time to get the crayons down from a high shelf.

Make sure you don’t overdo the rules to the point that art activities become more trouble than they’re worth. You should expect a toddler to spend only a very few minutes at any activity and elaborate preparation and clean up requirements may end up taking more time than the activity itself. Simplicity is the key to success in toddler art. As children get older, you can expect increasing attention span. Remember that the energy spent in conforming to rules of neatness and order will be taken from the energy of exploration and originality. Every child needs to learn to conform in many ways to learn to recognize the rights of others and to be aware of safety rules. Without a framework of reasonable expectations, exploration and originality tend towards chaos. The over civilized child, however, sacrifices originality and exploration for the sake of approval. If a child feels his or her self worth is totally based on being clean and orderly, on doing things “right” on “not messing up”, then there will be no energy or courage available for creativity. Each family has its own standards between these extremes, and each child develops a personal standard. Aim for the rules that allow the most “creative mess” that the family can be comfortable with. Creating can’t be much fun if “be careful–clean that up!” is the usual response.

Coloring books are a common way parents provide for their children to “do art”. There are some reasons why this is a bad idea, from the point of view of encouraging creativity. One of the greatest creative strengths of young children is that they haven’t yet learned to see the world in stereotypes. Coloring books destroy this strength by presenting highly stereotyped drawings that encourage children to see trees, for instance, as a solid brown trunk with a solid green mass on top and bright red apples set across the face of it, all surrounded by a thick black outline. The question of how to draw a tree (or a house or a puppy

) is answered for the child in a terribly insensitive and trivial way. Sunshine pricking through varicolored leaves, greenish apples half-hidden in the tree top, odd branches springing out here and there are what we’d like children to think of when they set about to draw a tree. The child chooses one of these difficult visions and fools around with pencil or chalk or crayon or paint and may or may not come up with something that impresses him/herself as a good solution to the problem. The value of the activity is the creative thinking involved in exploring the problem, whether the child is two or twelve. If those same twenty minutes were spent in coloring a pre-drawn picture or in drawing something “just like in the coloring book”, then that opportunity for creative growth has been missed. Give you children encouragement for good tries and interesting ideas, appreciate their unusual answers and unique ways of approaching problems, give them the feeling that to be “wrong” is just another way of learning, and you’ll be helping them towards a life of creativity.

Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care – NNCC.