Hello there.....I've been wanting to write this post for days already. I've been putting it off with the Eid celebration, entertaining the kids after our family from Kuala Lumpur left for home (after a week plus staying with us to celebrate Eid). What a wonderful and blessed Eid celebration it has been :) Today, this very moment, at 7.50 am with the cool weather (it was pouring rain at 6am) and the hubby's out sending our son to school and the lil princess still asleep, I am writing this post.
I've always believe that too much dependency on gadgets are bad for children. My son learnt to switch on the computer when he was only one and half years old. He would switch it on for us to play nursery rhymes and then moving on to watching Disney Pixar's CARS (his all time favorite). By the time he was four, he knows Youtube and where to get all the nursery rhymes and games. At this point I thought, I'd never buy a play station for him or any gadgets that will get him hooked on for hours just playing games. I was so worried that gadgets would provide him with so much fun that learning becomes boring. I am especially worried because our education system is already so boring. However, living in the era where everyone (well, at least almost everyone) has access to internet, latest handphone with multi functions and tablets, I know I cannot keep it away completely from my children. I also fear that if I do not expose them to these things, they'd be left behind. So the solution to it, is to allow with limits. My son was allowed to use the internet for 30 minutes everyday after school once all his home work is completed. It was much easier to manage my son. My problems started when my husband bought an iPad. He then allowed the children to play games and watched videos on it. What magic it does, the iPad can really be a substitute for a baby sitter, the kids can sit on the couch for hours just playing games and watch videos after videos. During one of our adventure trip to the Lenggong Valley, a guy we met said "It's money worth spent, when you can get something like this as a baby sitter". I am guilty too. Especially at times when I am occupied and didn't have much time to organize stuff for the kids, I'd just pass the iPad to them, so much so that they've got accustomed to it, that my three year old daughter screams and cries whenever we don't allow her to use the iPad.
I know this has to stop, been thinking about it, delaying from one week to another. Thanks to Maxis which came up with an excellent Raya advertisement in which an urban boy went back to the kampung with his family to celebrate Raya. He's so used to gadgets that the first few days was a torture for him as he could not access the internet (actually his younger cousin in the kampung hid the wifi modem), he finally started playing with his younger cousin and they had so much fun without any gadget. Seeing this, I said "I am going to take up this challenge." So come Raya, we took the iPad away. My kids played and interacted a lot with their cousins. When they're not playing, I'd see all four of them busy drawing, coloring, and more drawing and coloring. What a wonderful situation. And the best part is, I didn't have to put up with screams and cries and fights over the iPad anymore!
When you come to think of it, there are so many activities that children can do or we can get our kids involve in besides playing games or watching videos on tablets or handphones. All you need is a little bit of planning and some organizing. Life gets much better and easier when you plan. Don't be worried with the word plan and organize, stuff to do with children are simple. After all, children need time for free play as well. Hence activities which you need to plan and organize will not take so much of your time.
Here are some stuff you can do with your children to fill in time. There are also stuff you can do to teach life skills. At the same time, some of this activities are important in promoting optimal development in your children.
Indoor Activities
Drawing, coloring and painting are a good way of cultivating creativity. It allows children to express their ideas and communicate to us how they see things. If you allow children to paint and color freely, you too will learn to appreciate uniqueness and individuality. What's more important is that it allows children to be creative. Creativity is a skill much needed in life. Besides developing creativity, art and craft helps in enhancing hand eye coordination and strengthens hand and finger muscles. Strong hand muscles are important to help children in writing once they start schooling.
Building blocks such a Lego is another activity that strengthens your children's fine motor skills plus it does wonderful things to their brains. It requires children to think how to construct objects. It is also an activity that allows children to develop problem solving skills. Whenever stuck in certain stages, they will have to find ways to reconstruct. Once done, it provides them with a sense of achievement, a crucial element in developing confidence and self-esteem.
Which child doesn't love cooking and baking? Children are actually amazed with the food you create in your kitchen. My son and daughter are always up to asking me if they can help with this and that when I prepare meals. I have a stool for each of them at the kitchen island so that can help anytime they want. Sometimes, I would even ask them if they'd like to bake something. Just like two days ago, I asked them if they would like to bake a rainbow cake. My daughter was adamant at first because she wanted to paint, so I let her do some painting. Once done, she was all eager to bake the rainbow cake. It was 5.30pm and I said "Let's go and bake." So she helped me with filling up cups with flour, sugar and then mixing the batter and finally mixing color to have the rainbow effect. By 6.30pm we had fresh rainbow cake from the oven. Both the kids were smiling ear to ear to see the rainbow cake and could not wait to eat! Again a sense of achievement. Plus they grow to be more loving because they know what it takes for their mother to prepare fresh food for the family. It also teaches them the importance of eating healthily.
Outdoor Activities
There are plenty of things you can do outdoor. Children love cycling. When I am occupied, I lock the gates and allow them to cycle within the house compound. Once I am done with work, I'd accompany them cycle to the playground where they get to meet their friends and play. This evening play sessions are very important in a child's growing years. For a child to grow healthily and to strengthen their motor development, they need an hour of outdoor play daily. They should be allowed to run around the field, climb the climbing tower at the playground, hang and swing on the monkey bar. Besides physical development, such time that they are given to play with friends also enhances their social skills. They learn to communicate, they learn to share, they learn to wait for their turn and they learn to give and take.
Water play is another fun activity that any child will love. Get a mobile swimming pool which you can fix and then keep once they're done playing. Fill it up with toys or even plastic bottles and just let children have a blast! If space is an issue, you can always allow them to have fun in the bathroom with some supervision. For several years after my kids no longer needed their baby bath tub, I still kept the tub for them to play once in a while. They would just fill up water and toys and have fun.
There are plenty of stuff you can do with your children to keep them happy and to help them grow healthily. The gadgets are just an easy way of handling children but it has devastating effects on their growth. Let's stop depending on the gadgets and give our children the growing experience they deserve.
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