Tag Archives: child care

Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs

This week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Dinosaurs.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to dinosaurs can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs pinboard.

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings and be sure to take all social distancing precautions.

Local Field Trips:

    • Fossil Parks
    • Science Center
    • Science & Natural History Museums

Virtual Field Trips:

Toys – Many kids have dinosaur toys already. See what your kids have and think of fun, new ways you can play with these toys with them. Imagine taking a plastic dinosaur and making footprints in play dough to form your own fossils.

Webcam – This NPS Paleontology Lab offers a webcam where you can watch paleontologists remove rock from around fossils. The cam is normally working 9 am-5 pm PST, so 12-8 pm our time.

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about dinosaurs and fossils. Here are a few to get you started.

Movies – The Good Dinosaur, Land Before Time, and Ice Age are all great family movies that fit with this theme. For older kids, consider movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Jurassic Park (which is rated PG-13).

Books – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on dinosaurs.

Photo: krojotak.com

How to engage children in play

Children need to have physical activity and brain-developing activities every day. 1 It helps them to grow into smart and socially acceptable adults.  The process of play is the important part, not the end result 3

Learning through Play involves an active, alert, but not-stressed framed of mind. 3 Children must have the opportunity to play and learn in a place where they feel secure and without the fear of failure.  This state of mind allows them to learn new skills. 3

Why engage them?

Meaningful activities build the child’s knowledge, help them learn to interact appropriately, and become more social. 1 Activities like reading and playing develop imagination and creativity and also help in developing brain function. 1 By engaging children, you can easily increase their ability to focus and concentrate. 1

Engaging children in play allows them to explore, identify a sense of self, and create meaning – it can help shape the brain, by creating pathways in the brain. Children who practice meaningful play are more likely to have good memory, strong language and to regulate their own behavior. 3

How can I engage them?

Listening to their developmental status and their interests is important.  When adults model behavior, children learn how to act (such as being polite and trying again). 1

Your interest in their activities, and your comments will help your children use toys productively and learn as they play 4  You can mimic their behavior and create new ways to play as you work alongside the children. 4 Asking questions helps children get started (such as: “Oh, that fell down, didn’t it? Can you put it back on top?”) 4  Ask open-ended questions to encourage the child to think more and express ideas (such as “Why do you think that happened?” Instead of “Did you think that would happen?”)2

Focus on your child’s particular strengths and find a way to use them in the play activities so they can feel successful.  3 Keep activities simple by using only a few rules, or break down the steps into smaller pieces of information, then model or show the child how to participate in the activity. 3 Use the type of play that the child enjoys to build confidence and self-esteem before trying something new. 3

Different Types of Play

In Constructive Play children experiment with objects in their environment (like blocks or sand) to create new things. This is important for children to become empowered and have a sense of control.  3

Movement Play, such as dance or climbing, teaches children to think in motion. 3

Social Play allows children to interact and learn social rules such as sharing, give and take, reasoning, and relationships with others. § You can model behavior for the child or tell him what to say.

Imaginative Play allows children to try out new roles and scenarios, so they can exercise problem solving, use new language, and express different emotions in a safe environment. 3 You don’t need to have many children together to do this, you can be the pirate while the child is the princess.  Imaginative pretend play encourages children to act out scenarios in their world, such as taking on the role of a doctor or patient, a restaurant waiter or customer, or a shopper in a grocery store. 4

With what activities can I engage them?

  • Play Pretend based on whatever they like (we are looking for dinosaur bones, or we are baking a cake)
  • Build with blocks and talk about what you are building
  • Race toy cars and pretend the cars are alive
  • See who can jump rope or swing a hula-hoop the longest
  • Wash and Sort Vegetables1
  • Paint or draw together (on the same page or side-by-side)
  • Go on a treasure hunt 1
  • Play a board game 1
  • After reading a story, talk about how the story is like their own life 4

References:

1. https://flintobox.com/blog/parenting/ways-engage-children-indoors

2. http://resourcesforearlylearning.org/educators/module/20/7/19/

3. https://www.ptonthenet.com/articles/how-to-engage-children-in-play-time-for-groups-and-individuals-4168

4. https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/support-learning-with-play

For more, including videos about engaging children: http://resourcesforearlylearning.org/educators/module/20/7/20/

 

Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys

It is good to offer kids a balance of independent play time and play where you are actively engaging with them. You can make toys they may be bored with, feel new and exciting, by suggesting different ways to play with them. Try some of the ideas below as a starting point.

Play Food/Dishes

  • Teach your host children how to say the names of some of the food and dishes in your language.
  • Using English and/or your language play games where you are ordering food like in a restaurant. Take turns with who will be the waiter and who is the customer.
  • Come up with silly food combinations.  For example: Who wants pickles on their slice of cake?
  • Play a guessing game where the children have to figure out what food you are talking about.  For example: I grow under the ground in the dirt.  People eat me fried, mashed and baked.  What am I? (a potato)
  • Play a game with setting the table using your language to ask for the different items (plate, spoon, etc.)
  • Ask the children to divide the foods up into the different food groups (vegetables, meat, dairy, etc.)

Lego Blocks and Other Building Toys

  • Divide up all of the blocks between the people playing, by taking turns for each person to select block by block.
  • Suggest specific things to build (robots, houses, mountains etc.) and build together.
  • Challenge everyone to use all of their blocks.
  • Sort the blocks by color or shape and make patterns with them (red, blue, red, blue or square, triangle, rectangle.)  You can create a pattern and ask the child to fill in what comes next to continue the pattern.
  • Make the tallest block tower you can and let them knock it down (over and over again, if like most kids, they like destroying things.)

Mr. Potato Head

  • Teach your host children the names of the different parts in your language and play a game asking them to put on the body parts by name.
  • Play Hide and Seek with Mr. Potato Head. Have the children cover their eyes and count, while you hide Mr. Potato Head, then they go looking for him. Switch things up by letting them hide Mr. Potato Head and then you are the one to locate him.
  • Play the same game above, but using Simon Says.  Simon Says is a game where the leader gives commands by saying “Simon says” first. For example, “Simon says, put on the nose.”  The players are only to follow the commands when the leader says “Simon says.”  If the leader doesn’t say “Simon says” first and just says, “put on the nose,”  and the player follows the command, they are out of the game.  Repeat the game multiple times, so all kids get a turn to be the leader at least once.

Photos:  Lisa Maxwell (top) & Tom Smalls (bottom)