Have a Picky Eater? Try these true and tried techniques

Have a picky eater? Here are some suggestions below to guide you through the Picky Eating Frenzy: 

 

Picky Eating Issues	Common Coping Ideas
Refuses to Eat	§ NEVER force your child to eat, as your child’s appetite changes every day. Also, kids are going through many growth phases. Some days they may feel tired or cranky due to aches, pains or lack of proper sleep. § Keep the pattern of eating meals ongoing. Set up a plate for them every time the family eats, even if they refuse to eat. My child’s paediatrician told us to offer our ‘picky eater’ a meal for three times and then retry after 2 hours again.
Not Tolerant to new foods	§ Start off by including a small portion of the new food item on their plate every day. Don’t get discouraged if they don’t eat for a few days. They will try it eventually. § Offer the same food item to all the children and/or eat them yourself to show that you like it as well.
Won’t eat Vegetables	§ Hide ‘em and feed ‘em: is my new motto. I offer vegetables by pureeing them and then include them in the cooked meal. For example, I use crushed onions as a base for ground beef or use vegetables for soup base in the form of a broth. § Another option is to make it attractive or make edible food art by using fruits and vegetables to decorate a food item (i.e. make a happy face using blueberries on a pancake). § Offer vegetables sticks with their favorite dips such as hummus, ranch, cream cheese, cheddar cheese sauce, etc. § Sometimes, kids don’t know what vegetables are and why we eat them (nutritional value). Talk to your children, as your buy vegetables by pointing out their colors, shapes, unique flavors or their nutritional benefits.
Likes to eat one type of food only	§ Kids are happy with comfortable and regular food items. So don’t get frustrated when they refuse to eat anything other their favorite cereal. Offer new nutritious items with their regulars. § When the family sits down for dinner, don’t make ‘specialized’ meals for your child that they like. Offer them what the whole family will eat.

Note: Always talk to a registered dietician or your doctor about picky eating concerns.

  
In the next article, I will be talking about refusal to eating meat, drinking or not drinking enough milk, juice drinking craze, and slow eater.

To be continued....
Annie

Happy New Years!

I hope and pray that everyone has an awesome start, middle and end in 2014! 

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Best Wishes and Good Health, 

Annie

Series of Themed Play - Construction Equipment Toys

This is a continuum to the Themed Play Series. Kids need daily exposure to verbal, written, heard, and spoken vocabulary for the growth of their speech and language development. In this blog post, we will look at construction toys and how you may use them in your day-to-day play with useful vocabulary for your baby, toddler or preschooler. Construction toys can be anything from toy cars, diggers, haulers, dump trucks, tractors, bulldozers, cranes, road graders, construction clothing to many more. Construction toys are fun and can be played by anyone (boy or girl) of any age. All you need is a bit of imagination and creative energy.

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Let's look at how we played with our construction equipment toys:

1. First of all, we discussed the topics/questions below:
• What is construction? The words construction means to build something or to put something together (construct it).
• Where do we see it? We normally see construction going on in new parts of the city or in areas where something was destroyed or needs to be rebuilt.
• What is the purpose of construction equipment? It is important to have construction going on in the city or country, for its growth and progress. For example, if a city has a lot of people that migrated from another city or country, then they will need more houses for everyone to live in. Or if a building collapsed due to an earthquake, we need to clean the old mess and build a new one in its place. 
• Who is allowed to use real-life construction equipment? Only an adult (18 or older) can operate a construction equipment. Most construction companies require their workers to write tests or pass certifications to operate a construction equipment.
• What are some construction jobs? Heavy Equipment Operator, Construction equipment Mechanic, Laborers, Traffic Controller, etc.
2. Next, examine each equipment and talk about what it does? You can also demonstrate actions that go along with each construction equipment. Say:
• A Digger/Excavator will dig a large hole in the ground; it is a powerful electronic shovel.
• A Tractor will carry heavy loads in the front or the back depending on the type of tractor; front-end or back-end. It is sometimes used to carry a certain piece of equipment to the construction site.
• A Bulldozer will push large amounts of dirt or rocks.
• A Dump truck is used to carry heavy loads of sand, dirt, or rocks to a construction site that is in need of it.
• A Crane is a very large construction equipment used to pick up or lift heavy things from one place to another.
3. Finally it is time to play by making "beep beep" sounds for warning that the construction equipment is on the move. Here are some play suggestions:
• Move the toys back and forth and say: push or pull.
• When an equipment moves, say: Vroom, Vroom!
• Whenever you move a toy, say: beep...beep...beep. This gives others working on the construction site a warning; that an equipment is on the move. Beep means CAUTION.
• Use hand signals to show going forward or backwards. Similar to a traffic police officer.
• Make STOP, SLOW DOWN, PROCEED WITH CAUTION, UNDER CONSTRUCTION signs on a yellow/orange/red diamond. Talk about how to use them on a construction site. Then play with the construction toys and take turns using the made-up signs.
• Set up obstacles around the house and have your child maneuver the obstacles by taking their construction equipment for a ride. Avoid hitting the obstacles.
• Set up cushions around the house in a line (in likeness of speed bumps) and have your child go over them slowly. Say: whenever there is a speed bump, we slow down.
• Set up blocks or toys around, then have your child push the toys using a Bulldozer.
• With a Dump Truck, pretend to load it up with little toys, move/drive it to another place and then dump it. Say: load it, drive it, and dump it.
• Look at construction signs on the internet and talk about what each one means. For example, whenever you drive by a construction zone, talk about the low speed sign. Most construction sites tell drivers to slow down. This is for the safety of the construction workers on site who may work close to the road.
• Discuss why majority of the construction equipment or signs on the construction site are either orange, yellow or red. All these colors means Please Proceed with Caution.

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These activities can be done with intervals to avoid information overload! :) Overall, it was a fun learning experience and we love to play with construction toys all the time. How about you?

Annie

Series of Themed Play - Pets (Dogs)

This is the first set of instructions in the Series of Themed play that teach your child about related vocabulary and actions that go along with each scenario.  The following activities will target many life skills and is a great learning experience for babies, toddlers, and/or preschoolers.

The play below is directed towards pretend play with pets (dog). It is important to have a plush puppy/dog in the house for you to try out the following activities. For all other items, you can use old or unused items lying around your home. Your job is to say the vocabulary out loud/clear and demonstrate a sample action that goes along with each activity. Then you will let your child try it out for a few minutes, until they get bored or lose interest. This way you don't overdo it and it will only last a few minutes. Little kids have very little attention spans and lose interest quickly, so it's important to set up the materials before starting the activity. I had all the things gathered in a basket before we got started. I also jotted down what I wanted to do or language that I wanted to target, on a piece of paper. I purchased all of the dog play things at a dollar store and all together they cost around $5.

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Let's look at how we used each play thing during the themed play:

1. First, we pretend that our toy pet is a real pet by naming him as we invite him into our home. In our case, we named him "Rider". Say "What is your pet's name?"
2. Next, talk about self-care and ask your child; "How are some ways that we can care for our pet?" Show your child how to:
• Pet an animal by using gentle hand movements and behavior. Say "Gentle".

  

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• Feed the animal by looking at various dog foods while you visit the grocery store (wet or dry varieties). "What does a puppy/dog eat?" or "How do we serve doggy food?"
• Talk about other things that dogs or puppies do, like sleeping or going to the bathroom. Say "Dogs sleep in a basket" or "Dogs go outside to relieve themselves."
• Talk about what happens when your pet gets sick? "We take him to the vet."
3. Look at the pet and examine the various body parts such ears, eyes, tail, paws, nose, mouth, and legs. "Where is the puppy's ears?" or "How many legs does a dog have?" Point to the dog's body parts as you say them out loud.
4. Talk about the sounds that pets make when they are trying to get your attention. Use words like "whimpering", "barking", "growling", "whining", or "howling".
5. Look at various pet owners around the neighborhood and talk to your child about how they behave with their pets while taking them for a walk. Tie a ribbon or string around the plush dog's neck and take him for a walk around the house. Use words like "running" or "walking".

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Overall, I found this play to be very productive as I showed my kids some ways that they can play. Kids need role models in life and they watch you and learn from you. We repeated this exercise where I just let my kids lead and they did well by themselves. 

Have fun playing,
Annie

PreK Activity - Winter Flyer Recycle

We have become very fond of grocery and department store flyers in the last few months! Not only do they have pictures, words, and everyday household use items, they are also FREE! No more color printing (can get very expensive!) Since we are not using these pictures for anything other than educational purposes in a single household, they are free to use legally as well.

Anyways, we have been exploring winter clothing items to accompany or build on the 'Weather Calendar Theme' theme. We looked for and then cut out pictures of winter clothing from department store flyers. Then we discussed what each item is and why/how important it is to wear them in the winter weather. We even added blue bingo dauber snowflakes in the back for making snowflakes. We then used a toothpick to spread the wet paint to make a snowflake effect. This activity can be done for all the seasons.

Happy Recycling!

Annie