4 minute play dough recipe

If your having trouble finding activities during the summer in Dubai and it is simply too hot to play outside play dough is the perfect thing. Play dough is a fun creative activity for children and a great way to train little muscles in their hands to develop dexterity, build strength and refine fine motor skills! Encouraging your child to use both hands to roll, shape and even pound play dough can improve their bilateral hand coordination!

Play dough can be a great outlet for emotional stress and a wild imagination so simply refrain from distracting them and just let them play freely.

Not many nurseries are willing to share their secrete recipes but we simply couldn't keep this one to ourselves. We at Kids Island and Cocoon Nursery believe in "sharing is caring!" so here is our recipe for play dough we actually use. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of plain flour (all purpose)

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup of salt

• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (powder) or replace with 6 tablespoons of lemon juice. Note: If you use lemon juice you will require less water.

• 1.5 cups of boiling water (Should be poured away from the children, on an adult counter top)

• Food colouring or natural pigments such as turmeric, cinnamon… (optional)

• Food essences strawberry, mint… (optional)

Recipe method:

• Mix the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl

• Add food colouring/food essences (lemon juice if not using cream of tartar) and oil to the hot water, then add into the dry ingredients

• Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough

• Allow it to cool down, then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone.  This is the most important part of the process, so
 keep at it until it’s the perfect consistency!

• If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right

Storage & Use:


Store in an airtight container at room temperature. 
Will last for months ☺. If it gets a bit dry just add a few drops of water and knead through until it’s a nice consistence again. To make it interesting and interactive, gather bits and bobs from around the house or garden, such as stones, sticks, leaves, bits of wool, acorns… and let your children explore!

Recipe created by The Imagination Tree

“Mum, read me a story”

In this technology-driven world, curling up with your little one and a good book is increasingly rare. Some reasons you should make time for it and benefits it can have for you both are;
 
1. Bonding
Story time with your child on a regular basis, whether it’s each evening before bed or during the day, can help further strengthen your relationship with your child. The physical closeness of sitting together and hearing your voice with no distractions is hugely comforting to them. Many children look forward to this undivided attention as much as they enjoy the actual story. Reading together can also improve a child’s confidence as they are secure in their bond with you. 
 
2. Exploring emotions
Story books are an excellent way for your child to see how other people deal with new and challenging situations. Whether the plot covers positive or seemingly negative emotions, using a character to explore them opens up the communication lines with your child. Ask questions like “What do you think they are feeling? What do you think is going to happen next? How would you feel if…?” Books can be especially useful as a way of starting the conversation or dealing with situations such as starting school, moving house or a new sibling.
 
3. Boosting language, interest and curiosity
Even if a book doesn’t have many words, the images held within are fantastic for teaching children new terms and sounds. You may look at the same book time and time again and by describing the illustrations it can be a new experience every time. By prompting your child to tell you what they see in the picture, identify letters or numbers and by praising them, you will begin to build positive associations with reading.
 
4. Understanding real vs make-believe
From magical lands to outrageous beasties, books can open up a whole world of imagination for children. By identifying what they see around them in the real world and what appears on the pages of their books, your little one will become aware of what’s possible and be inspired to use their imagination. Encourage them to take the story further, draw their own pictures and even spot subplots or characters in the images for older children.
 
5. Improving listening and concentration
It’s no secret that people of all ages are experiencing reduced concentration. With our children growing up in times dominated by screen time and countless choices, this situation is unlikely to improve unless we take major steps at home. Setting up boundaries for screen time is essential. By sitting quietly with a book a child’s listening skills improve as well as their concentration and their ability to remember details. Ask them about characters, the story so far and descriptions to further boost their visual memory.
 
6. Learning other languages
Books are also a way to introduce second or even a third language to your child. Those aimed at younger children, with sing-song styles or rhyming, are a fun way to explore new words and vocabulary. Books set in different countries can also help children understand the wider world where a multitude of cultures can be explored and respected.
 
7. Social and communication skills
Sitting, listening, taking turns to choose a story all contribute to your child’s social skills development. As they grow older their concentration levels will improve and they will continue to thrive at school. Remember that by reducing screen time and increasing reading they will have a head start in their growing up years!

Exploring at my own pace

As parents it’s so easy to rush and push towards the next milestone, and walking is the big one, with mums and dads using it as a benchmark for so-called progress. However, every stage that our children go through is precious and critical, helping them develop in specific ways, and only when your baby’s nervous system is ready and operating at its full potential will they move on to the next activity.

By the time your baby is 12 months old, their brain will be 50% of its adult size, and it will continue to expand, with experiences and movements creating connections between nerve cells. You might not realise it, but the most simple (and fun!) activities can have brain-boosting capabilities.

Floor time and movement on the floor is essential for learning. Your little one must be able to spend up to 20 minutes of ‘tummy time’ per day from around 3 months old.

Why is it so important?

It strengthens your baby’s neck and shoulder muscles - as they will want to look up to see what’s happening around them. This will encourage your child to sit up, roll over and crawl earlier and this can prevent “positional Plagiocephaly”, which is flattening on the back of the head.

Between car seats and strollers, today’s babies spend most of their time on their backs or upright. You might find that your child initially resists floor time and persistence is key, building up from even just a few minutes.
To have the best of Tummy Time, position a favourite toy or child-proof mirror within their gaze and encourage them to reach for it.                            
Avoid tummy time shortly after eating to make sure it’s as enjoyable and comfortable for them as possible.

Building up strength

You might also see your baby push off the floor using their hands, which is the beginning of rolling over and crawling. It will assist in developing their will and determination to take action and complete a task. Their hands will become strengthened, assisting with holding a pencil when a little older.

Floor time also builds spatial awareness

Informing babies of their environment and helping them to build an internal map of their physical position in the world, such as next to a toy, on the rug, in the playpen, which helps with movement and navigation later on in life.

So what happens if your baby doesn’t get enough floor time?

Skipping the crawling stage can have a major impact later on. While this may appear inconsequential from a brain development angle, it can lead to challenges once your child reaches school age. By not crawling, their eye tracking can be compromised, and there might be less integration between left and right sides of the brain, which can inhibit fine motor skills such as tying shoe laces, cutting paper and doing up buttons.

How to get the most from floor time:

1. Do a little every day, building up the time to around 20 minutes.

2. To stimulate, regularly change the toys.

3. When they’re ready, offer a smooth space where your baby can try to move (leave hands and feet uncovered for grip).

4. Get down to their level. Eye contact and talking will help with bonding and model each other’s movements for fun.

5. Use this opportunity to safely stretch and massage your baby. Gently try cross-body movements to introduce the brain to patterns for crawling.

6. Floor time can be continued into childhood, with families interacting on the same level, playing, reading and discussing topics.

Sand Dough Recipe!

Sensory Activity Objective:

What a great way to let the children mix, kneed and explore this special sand dough and at the same time develop their language and fine motor skills in a very creative way!
Engage in a conversation that supports this activity i.e.
 
What textures do you feel? Is it soft, hard…? 
What happens to the flour when we add water?
Where can we find sand in Dubai?
What can you do with wet sand, and dry sand?

Activity Words: Soft, hard, gritting, rough, squeeze, roll, pull, cut, mold, create…
 

Items required:

• Clean play sand – 4 cups

• Flour – 3 cups

• Water – 1 cup

• ¼ cup vegetable oil

Equipment required:

• Glass mixing bowl

• Wooden spoon

• Rolling pin

Method: 

1. Combine the flour, salt, water and oil in a mixing bowl.

2. Knead with your hands until the mixture forms a ball.

3. If the mixture is too dry, gradually add water until it reaches a nice dough consistency and if the mixture is too watery, gradually add more flour.

4. Let the child’s “creation” dry on a tray.

Change, one small step at a time

February has just burst through the door! The thought that we are well into the second month of 2016 creates a response of nodding heads and tut-tuts about how quickly time seems to fly. And yet it seems as if it were only yesterday that January arrived in a shower of confetti-shaded hopes, wishes and resolutions for the new year ahead. For many of us, this is the time of the year that we look at the year gone by and assess what we could have done better or achieved more with ourselves, our children or our family. And so during the beginning of the year, we often create grandiose resolutions during which, with steely resolve, we promise ourselves that we are going to do more or change more. By February all those plans have faltered, as we protest at how difficult it has been. Actually, those plans were more than likely to fail because we are trying to change too much, too quickly without enough resources or without enough time.  Perhaps, instinctively, we know that they are going to fail and so we give up before we have even started.

The “One percent Principle” goes a long way in explaining why resolutions or long-term plans often fail. It basically suggests that we often avoid setting major goals because achieving them seems so overwhelming. Sometimes changes we are trying to establish may be too great. Interestingly, the theory continues to support that small, often subtle changes create a momentum that increasingly brings about much larger change. I would say that when it comes to our children this idea makes a lot of sense.

Very often we, working in early years children’s nurseries in Dubai, hear parents saying that they are going to start disciplining their children more, spend more time with them, establish better eating habits or help them achieve better grades. The plans come from a good place but are often too general, broad or too drastic. With children, we cannot start changing established habits all at once. It creates too much insecurity as children do not know what to expect. Yet, if we change small things incrementally and consistently, we stand a better chance of succeeding which in turn will bring about confidence in ourselves and our abilities as parents. If dad arrives at home half an hour earlier to read a story to his child he has basically started and achieved in measure the change planned. Scheduling family dinners together over the weekend and at least once during the week creates the basis for a habit that impacts language, communication and cognitive skills. Half an hour less on the I-pad will mean half an hour more time playing and developing physical skills. Speaking to our children and others using “and “instead of “but” will reinforce that respect and love are not conditional. Small, positive changes that we apply with consistency can have the potential to create a lasting effect.

Easy Clay Ornaments!

Looking for a recipe to make ornaments for the holidays?
We found the best one and you only need everyday kitchen ingredients to do it!

What you will need!

• 2 cups baking soda

• 1 cup cornstarch

• 1.1/4 cup water

• Cookie cutters/stamps

• Straw for the holes

• Ribbons for hanging ornaments

What to do

• Mix the baking soda and cornstarch in a pan. Add the water and mix. Place on stove (medium heat) and bring to a boil stirring constantly throughout.

• In few minutes, the watery mixture will thicken and suddenly become almost like mashed potatoes. Straight away remove from the heat and place mixture onto a cookie sheet in one lump. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to cool.

• Once it is cool enough to work with, lightly dust the surface with cornstarch and roll it out into a snake roll. Divide it into smaller chunks. It will have the smooth consistency of fondant.

• Stamp it with stamps (with or without ink) and then cut it with the cookie cutter, finishing it off with a hole using the straw.

• Leave it to air dry overnight.

Ice Cube Painting

Discussion: What happens to the ice when we paint with it? What happens to the water when put in the freezer? How does the ice feel? 

Activity words: wet, melting, cold, freezing, very cold, frozen, hard….
Remember to make the activity fun, and encourage the children in their creativity.

Preparations: Each teacher must make her own ice cubes.    

1. Fill a jug (1 liter) with water and add half a bottle of food colouring or paint. You may want to do more than one colour.

2. Fill the ice cube trays and place in the freezer overnight. You may want to add popsicle sticks.

Activity:

1. Place a piece of paper in front of each child and then give them each an ice cube.

2. They will see how cold it is to hold and then the excitement of what they can create as the ice-cube melts on their pieces of paper.

3. Encourage the children to move the ice cube around their piece of paper, creating patterns and shapes.

4. Allow to dry!

Developing Important Motor Skills

Teachers at Kids Island Nursery and Cocoon Nursery in Dubai, have noticed some preschoolers having difficulties using their fingers and hands to do basic activities such as tie their shoes, zip their school bags or open lunch boxes, in recent years.

One of the main reasons identified by teachers is that preschoolers are spending more and more time in front of the television, tablets, mobiles or computers, instead of using their fingers to play and make things. It is important for preschoolers to develop their motor skills involving the movement of the fingers and hands with strength and dexterity, this is crucial in the early childhood years.

Fine motor skills are important and children need to develop them in order to do everyday activities such as pouring themselves some milk, buttoning their clothes, tying shoelaces or write and draw.

Some of the methods used by teachers at nurseries in Dubai to help young children develop fine motor skills in the classroom are as follows:

• Play-Doh, Clay and Salt dough – Malleable materials such as clay or play-doh gives children the opportunity to use their hands and make models. They should be encouraged to squeeze, pound, roll and cut out shapes using cookies cutters. This activity can also be encouraged at home by using salt dough, where children can model the material and use paint to decorate it too.

• Actions – Teach children nursery rhymes and songs that include actions with their fingers and hands such as itsy bitsy spider and the wheels on the bus. These activities encourage children's motor, language and cognitive skills.

• Jigsaws and puzzles – Provide children with a variety of simple jigsaw and puzzles with large knobs, small knobs, large knobless pieces, small knobless pieces, large pieces and small pieces, table puzzles and floor puzzles, in order to encourage fine motor development.

• Drawing and colouring – Drawing and colouring are great activities to encourage a preschoolers fine motor skills. Most curriculums in Early Years Education in Dubai, lets children explore Art by letting them tear tissue, painting with different size brushes, pasting an array of collage materials and paper folding.

• Self-help skills – Teachers should include activities that help children practice basic self-care skills such as tying, buttoning, snapping and zipping. Encourage children to attempt to dress themselves for outdoor play, gym time, nap time and any other time.

• Blocks – Children can be encouraged to use their fine motor skills with blocks, where they actively use their skills to build a tower with blocks, construct a structure with Lego® or Duplo® blocks.

• Games – Encourage children to make bead stringing, placing pegs in boards, parquetry blocks as well as board games such as Chutes & Ladders and Lotto which enhances and develops their motor skills.

Having enough opportunities for children to develop their motor skills in a classroom environment is a priority.