However, I did want to take some time to discuss children and holidays.  We are approaching the busy holiday season.  Children will likely show some signs of stress throughout this busy time.  It can be overwhelming to some children to be in large groups of people with a lot of noise and movement.  Many children may act out during this time.  This is their way of telling you they are overstimulated with the situation.  Infants may cry a lot, or simply cope by sleeping.  Toddlers are prone to have more fits, and bathroom accidents than normal.  When children get to the preschool age, they are typically a little more social.  These children may just get really excited and be hyper during holiday times. 

It is important to try to give your children some quiet, down time during these busy family events.  Many times families are traveling, and children’s schedules stray from the typical daily schedules that they are used to during their normal routines.  Take some time to plan your holiday.  Try to build in some rest time for your child and allow them to stick to their schedule as much as possible.

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!!

Mirror Play is a great social-emotional developmental activity.  First you need a child safety mirror.  Many infant toys have mirrors on them.  You can also use a mirror that is mounted to the wall.  If you have a infant toy with a mirror, place your child on the floor with the toy.  Position the toy so your baby can see himself (or herself) in the mirror.  Infants enjoy seeing their own face.  They will study parts of their face and their expressions in the reflection of the mirror.  Talk to your baby about what you see.  You can say “look, there is (child’s name)!” or “Look at your nose, eyes, etc.”  This will also help your infant with language development as you engage in conversation with them.  Mirrors will often make tummy time more appealing to your baby and you will be able to lengthen the time he/she spends on their tummy.  In turn, you are helping their physical development as well.

As your baby is getting older, you will be able to play the “hide the ball” game.  This is a good way to determine the stage of your little one’s cognitive development.  You can use your child’s receiving blanket and hide a ball, or stuffed animal.  If your baby quickly forgets about the hidden object, then he/she has not yet developed object permanence.  As you continue to practice this activity, and your baby continues to develop, he will soon stay interested in the hidden object.  Your baby will gain the knowledge that the object is only hidden from his view, not gone.  Your baby will soon begin to look for the object that is hidden.  Object permanence is the ability to realize that an object still exists when it is out of sight.  Developing object permanence is an important milestone in cognitive development.  Another indicator that your infant has developed this cognitive skill is separation anxiety.  Infants typically show signs of seperation anxiety around 8 months old.  This is a great indicator that your baby has a strong grasp on the idea of object now realizes that even when you are not around, that you still exist.  He/she then begins to miss you, and want you to be around when you are gone.

I know this a lot of information, but feel free to skip to your child’s classroom and read their section.  I hope that this helps parents understand some of the activities that we do at UCD.  Let me know what you think.  I will continue to do this, as long as parents are interested.

Infant classroom:

Our babies at UCD are almost 3 months, almost four months and five months old.  Below are some activities that can be done with your baby to promote healthy development.

At three months, four months, and five months old children need to have 10 minutes of tummy time twice per day.  Tummy time gives your baby the opportunity to develop the muscles needed for future movement.  As your child gets older, he/she will gain better control of his muscles and be able to reach and grasp at toys.  Below is some ideas to make tummy time more enjoyable for your baby.

Some tips to help your baby enjoy tummy time include that you:

• start with shorter periods of tummy time – maybe even two or three minutes a day
• lay on your back and lay your baby down on her tummy on your chest
• lay her on a tummy time play mat with some age appropriate toys to play with, especially once she has some upper body strength to actually reach for and play with them
• prop her chest up with a pillow
• get down on the floor with your baby and talk or sing to her

Also, give your baby a chance to lay under items and bat at, or grasp them.  A three month old can begin to bat at overhanging objects.  A four month and five month old may gain the ability to grab items and mouth them.  Don’t stress about your baby putting things in their mouth.  Children this age are very much sensory learners.  Mouthing items is an important part of brain development in infants.  Just be sure to make safe items available for your baby and avoid chocking hazards.

Face to face communication is extremely important for language development in babies at ages three, four, and five months.  Hold your baby in your lap, or get on the floor with him.  Talk using a soft and high tone of voice.  Use lots of facial expressions with your baby.  Your baby will begin to mimick you and this is the beginning stages of communication.  As your baby gets older you will find his interactions to be more in depth.  He will mirror your expressions and noises.  You can also mirror his noises and let him initiate communication. 

Read to your baby.  Your baby is never to young to reap the benefits of reading.  Allow your baby to reach for books, or even chew on them.  There are many books available to infants that are waterproof and chew proof.

Toddler 1 classroom:

Picture day is this week, so the toddler 1 classroom chose to focus on an all about me theme.  I will choose just a couple of the activities to expand on, but you are welcome to read the lesson plan posted outside of the classroom. 

1. “Babar Yoga”: The toddler 1 classroom is doing yoga with the young toddlers.  The book “Babar Yoga” introduces some child-friendly poses as an introduction for the children.  Yoga is wonderful for toddlers.  It helps the toddlers refine their gross motor skills.  Toddlers have learned basic movement, but have not yet become “graceful” movers.  Yoga assists the children with fine tuning their large motor development.  Yoga is also a great activity for social emotional development.  Yoga gives the toddler a chance to learn how to take a moment to calm down.  Toddlers, by nature, are very dramatic.  They often react without processing.  (as I am sure you have realized!)  Giving the toddlers the skills to take a moment and be still teaches them a sort of coping mechanism for their frustration.

2. Sensory activities:

The toddler curriculum is deeply rooted in sensory activities.  As I mentioned early in the infant explanation, sensory experiences are great for brain development.  Therefore, we carry over the need for sensory experiences in toddlerhood.  The toddler classroom often has water, or mud play.  These are both natural items from the environment that can aid in helping your child develop.  Sensory play helps physical development by letting the child have tools for pouring, scooping, etc.  These activities help develop fine motor skills.  There is also cognitive value to these sensory experiences.  This is where beginning math and science emerge.  Measuring and sorting are the beginning math concepts that are derived from sensory play.  Mixing is a beginning science concept.  It takes teachers “thinking outside of the box” to really teach a toddler.  The staff at UCD do an excellent job of this.  In fact, today the children went outside and enjoyed water play that was left by the rain.  The teachers were able to build on a natural experience and make it a teachable moment.

Toddler 2:

1. This week the toddler 2 classroom is taking advantage of the season change and teaching the children all about Fall.  The children will be going on a “nature walk” at the beginning of the week.  They will take the time to talk about the changes that we see in the outdoor environment with the coming season.  Just taking the children outdoors and having the discussion about Fall is great for language development.  Reinforcing the focus on the seasons at home will help your child gain a better understanding and improve your child’s vocabulary.  The nature walk is also great for fine and gross motor development.  Getting the chidren outside for physical activity helps with gross motor skills.  The act of picking up acorns, leaves, sticks, etc. will enhance fine motor skills.  This is also a great activity for cognitive development.  The children are gaining knowledge about the seasons.  They will use basic math skills to categorize the different shapes and colors of leaves.  Learning about nature and the changing of the leaves and weather is basic science skills.  The children are also enhancing social skills by learning to follow rules, listen to directions, and being outside the center in a group.

2. The class will extend the learning of the nature walk by doing leaf collages.  The will tear and glue the leaves onto paper for a collage.  These activites will primarily help with fine motor development, but also helps with cognitive development, social development, and language development. 

PreK:

The preK classroom also chose to learn about the season of Fall.  There are lots of wonderful planned activities for the classroom, but I selected a couple of my favorite. 

1. “Squirrels Looking for Nuts” game:  The children will have an object in the classroom that symbolizes the tree.  There will be “nuts” hidden around the classroom for the children to find.  The children will have to communicate with each other to find all of the squirrel’s nuts and return them to the tree.  This communication is great for language development and social skills.  Social development also takes place by listening to the directions of the teacher.  The children will use gross motor skills by being physically active around the room and fine motor skills by picking up the nuts to deliver them to the tree.  Cognitive skills will also be used during this activity.  The children will use basic math skills to count the acorns and sort them.  Plus they will get the opportunity to use their imaginations!

2. “Bear in a Cave” art activity:

On Friday, the children will be learning about bear’s hibernating for the winter months and how the bears prepare for hibernation.  They will then follow up with an art activity by drawing a bear in a cave.  This will allow children to use their fine motor skills by doing the drawing.  They will also use language skills to express the “story” that the drew in the picture.  The children will use coginition by gaining knowledge about bears and hibernation.  The children will enhance social skills by cooperating as a group during the discussion and art activity.  The children gain kindergarten necessary skills such as sitting and attending, pre-writing, and concentration.

UCD Center Director

CeCe