Be a Watcher
Monday, December 12th, 2011
While this is billed as the time of year to be jolly, and the build up to the end of the year can be frenetic, it is also the season when we have the opportunity, if only over The Big Shut Down between Christmas and New Year, to take life a little slower than we normally would, whether at home or away on a holiday.
Taking it slow, and being more “in the moment” as parents, gives us the opportunity to see our children operating at their own pace for a change, and not dancing either to our hectic schedules or the ones we or school have imposed on them. As you stop and smell the roses for a little while I want to encourage you to be a “watcher” from time-to-time. Stop doing, organising and micromanaging, and just take a while to be a watcher and not a doer. Observe your children with all of your senses whether you are doing something together or observing them from a distance.
Open your eyes, ears, hearts and minds and absorb your children. Soak them up. Look at their faces, really look. Listen to their conversations, really listen. Give them some money (it doesn’t have to be a lot) to buy small Christmas presents for family members, or let them choose a new decoration for the Christmas tree, and don’t judge their choice – observe with interest and give them a chance to express themselves, even if their ideas are very different to yours.
You may have the opportunity of cuddling up together as a family in the big bed, or on the couch watching a movie together or playing a game. What does it feel like? You now have the time to notice. Can you see how they have grown and matured this year and what they are now capable of that they have never been able to do before? Appreciate the growth and let your heart swell with pride. It’s a great feeling.
Enjoy their anticipation of the season of giving and receiving – they are both an art and a life skill that need to be developed. Watch how you speak to each other over this time. Talk with kindness and respect, and listen twice as much as you speak.
Watch for the little things about your children, capture moments often missed in the daily grind of our rushed and hurried lifestyles. Most of these little moments will be so fleeting is it unlikely you will be able to photograph them. It is as if you are a guest who has been privileged to ’see’ and you get to store these moments only in the recesses of your heart and mind.
The most important thing about being a “watcher” is to remember that they are watching you too, and they are doing it with their whole being, absorbing the very essence of who you are.
Happy holidays!
NIKKI BUSH
A magnificent book with over 300 stickers, a free CD and over 200 pages of beautifully illustrated and laid out facts, puzzles, drawing and colouring activities to keep your child busy for hours. You will keep going back to this bumper book that is filled with fascinating general knowledge that you can share together too.
At last, a travel version of the very popular Zingo, a classic bingo lotto-type game. Fun for the whole family but easy enough that children can learn how to play without adult supervision very quickly. A drawstring bag is supplied for easy storeage of all items in Zingo to Goa when travelling. There are 9 ‘robots/traffic lights’ which click/snap together to form a bingo board. Three traffic lights each means three players can play, two each means four players can play etc. The little car contains two picture dice. Shake it and see how the dice land. If you have the picture on your board make sure you shout out quickly. Then turn over the disc so that the picture is face down. The first person to turn over all his discs is the winner. As children get older you can play the first to turn over a horizontal/vertical/diagonal line is the winner etc. 10 – 15 minutes a game. Size of box is 16cm x 16cm x 8cm.
This light as a feather, beautifully and practically packaged eye-hand co-ordination acitivity will have your child engrossed for ages. Under the age of 7 your child will just doodle, pushing the ‘pen’ which is filled with a lace, into the ‘holes’ on the rubbery board. The holes trap the lace with no knotting required and voila, you are on your way to making a picture. Comes with 18 double-sided pattern cards for older children as well as a complete booklet with even more complex patterns and pictures to copy. Copying one of these pictures requires counting and spatial planning – a brilliant mathematical activity that also stimulates all the eye-hand and fine-motor co-ordination skills for good reading and writing. Creating pictures with Filo exercises the tripod grip for handwriting and gives fabulous proprioceptive feedback to the brain via the muscles and joints. “How hard do I need to push?” A very soothing and creative activity. Great for travel, the size of an A4 page and 5cm deep. All the ‘pens’, laces and pattern cards are stored in the plastic, basket-like container with a clip on rubber mat. Size 30cm x 22cm x 4cm.
Superb for travel. All letters and parts of the hangman are on elastics so nothing can get lost! A4 size x 2cm thick.
It’s a miracle – bubbles that can’t be spilt! What a win for parents of toddlers who’s first reaction to bubbles is to pour them out. Once the bubble liquid is finished, just replace with any cheap bubble solution of make your own. Putting the wand in and out of the No Spill bubble container is fine-motor, eye-hand co-ordination, and blowing builds the foundations for the ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds.
You will need:
Make a loop at one end of the pipe cleaner for the snake’s head.
You will need:
What to do:
You will need:
Get your child to draw a picture using wax crayons. Using a few different colours will make a prettier and more interesting picture.
With the increased interest in geography among our children since the Soccer World Cup, this game is a must for any household. An outstanding visual memory game. Take a look the picture side of the card until the timer runs out. Throw the dice and answer the question with the corresponding number on the back of the card. You have to remember what you saw in order to answer the question, eg. how many stars appear on the flag, or what is the name of the capital city? etc. Great for general knowledge and strengthening observations skills. 15 – 20 mins depending on the number of people playing. Great for strengthening comprehension skills. 15×15x15cm box. For the car, just remove a pile of cards and secure with an elastic band. Don’t take the dice and timer in the car.
Using the tips of your fingers move/roll the marbles into the corresponding positions to match the pattern on the task card by manipulating them through the holes underneath the marble box. Comes wtih two perspex covered marble boxes and doubles side task cards. Play against each other or alone. Brilliant for eye-hand co-ordination and fine motor control as well as working in the midline as one would when reading.
Use these useful giant dice anywhere for a quick game. Throw the dice and call out items the same colour or shape. Play adding games or subtracting games. Do times tables with the number and dot dice. Get your littles to throw a colour and find the item that is the same colour or shape, for that matter. Get them to count the dots and then pick you that number of leaves, or find that number of stones. Make it really practical and fun for them. The dice come in a set (one colour dice, one number dice, one dot dice and one shape dice) and each dice is 3cm x 3cm x 3cm x 3cm in size. Don’t leave home without them.
A compact brain teaser game perfectly packaged for travel. Spatial planning, eye-hand co-ordination, this multi-award winning game will get your mind really thinking. The irregular puzzle pieces train mathematical and logical intelligence in your left brain. There are dozens and dozens of challenges in the booklet and eight levels of difficulty. Arrange the puzzle pieces according to the picture in the booklet – there will be some open spaces. Your job is to fit the remaining pieces into the spaces. Measures 12cm x 9cm x 3cm.
Roll this unique letter mixer in the palm of your hand and lay it on the table. List up to 10 words on the notepad supplied using the letters on the dice. The first person to complete their 10 words shouts “Finished! Each letter may only be used once in a word. The person with the most number of unique words is the winner, ie. no-one else has the same words. Scoring is determined by the length of the words. Determine how many rounds will be played. The person with the most number of points at the end of the game is the winner. The unique Word Magic Mixer is closed ensuring that the dice can never get lost. The box is 15cm x 15cm x 4cm but the actual mixer has a flat,circular 9cm circumference.
