Skill boosting activities to do at home with your child - Enappy.com

Skill boosting activities to do at home with your child

There is a strong focus on children’s development nowadays. Numerous professionals and different institutions are available to parents who wish to strengthen their child’s abilities. However, with so many options open, parents and professionals may overlook the fact that a child can improve their skills in a complex way at home as well. Activities and tasks in and around the house contribute significantly to the proper functioning of the nervous system. Of course, in cases where the child’s progress substantially differs from the average rate, it is necessary to use therapies provided by a specialist to ensure that the child’s abilities develop appropriately.

Activities at home can help to improve the following areas:

  • serial thinking, or sequencing
  • eye-hand coordination
  • fine motor skills (dexterity)
  • body awareness
  • development of body dominance
  • spatial perception/ability
  • strengthening of task awareness
  • vocabulary
  • problem-solving skills
  • social competences
  • adaptability

From about 12-15 months of age, children experience the drive to imitate their parents in their daily routines. Giving your kid the opportunity to help with activities around the house, sometimes even independently, supports their physical, mental, and emotional development. These tasks are developmentally appropriate for all ages and can be adapted to the child’s age and abilities.

Below is a list of daily home activities that promote children’s development in a fun and non-invasive way.

Skill boosting activities to do at home with your child - Enappy.com

Dressing up

When it comes to dressing up, it is very important that until the children can dress themselves, we always tell them which clothes we put on them. The process must always be done in the same order.

This activity can be complemented by preparing (initially together and then by themselves) the clothes in the evening that the child wants to wear the following day. You can also ask questions such as, “Where do you put your socks?” Where do you put your trousers, T-shirt, etc.?

Thanks to this exercise, in addition to developing serial thinking (putting things in order), the child’s body awareness and vocabulary also improve. You can start this activity early, and you will notice when the child feels the urge to do it independently. It takes time, so be patient, as dressing is challenging for young children.

If the clothes have a button, buckle, or zip, leave the buttoning, fastening, and pulling up to the child, as this will also develop their fine motor skills (especially their dexterity). These tasks are difficult for kids at first, so it is better if you practice them even without actually dressing the children up and, if necessary, with some help at the beginning. They will gradually acquire these skills, and dressing up will not be a problem anymore.

Pouring and filling

Parents often find it difficult to divert their children’s attention while they prepare lunch or dinner. In this case, you can place your child next to you and provide them with bowls or cups containing water or dry ingredients (for example, beans, peas, lentils, and pasta.) If your child is still putting things in their mouth, choose ingredients that are not dangerous for them. First, let the kid experience pouring, and then level up by teaching colours within the activity. For example, put a red and a blue cup or bowl in front of the child and ask them to pour all the water into the blue cup. You can add other coloured glasses or bowls your child can play with. This task improves vocabulary, attention, and eye-hand coordination.

Sorting different objects

Around the age of two, children are happy to do these types of tasks. For this exercise, you can choose dried fruit, nuts, chestnuts, and different-shaped pasta. During the summer, you can also put raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries in a bowl and add them to your daily fruit consumption. First, select two or three different types of food and show them to your child. Tell your little one that all the fruits are now in one bowl mixed, and the task is to sort them out, put one in the first bowl, one in the second, and one in the third, etc.

The sorting should be done with responsibility, based on their previous behaviour and preferences.
Selecting and sorting certain ingredients can also be done with tweezers when the child can perform more delicate movements. Tweezers can also be used later on to help improve your child’s fine motor skills. By then, you can give your child smaller things to sort since they require finer skills to pick them up.

Skill boosting activities to do at home with your child - Enappy.com

Kneading dough, drawing (with flour)

This activity is perfect for perfecting fine motor skills and strengthening the hands and fingers. In addition to developing manual dexterity, drawing also improves the child’s attention. It is also a great way to bond with them and an excellent opportunity to expand their vocabulary by discussing the steps of the activity.

Sorting socks

The larger the family, the more trouble and effort are involved in matching socks accumulated after washing. By involving your child in this activity, you not only make it fun but also benefit them. Matching socks improve their attention and concentration skills and helps them recognize and distinguish different shapes, patterns, and colours (depending on the socks, of course). This task can also be done on paper if the parents ask for a professional to assist their child. In addition to the areas listed so far, if the parent speaks throughout the activity, the child’s vocabulary will also develop.
chatting while walking with children

Gardening (watering, planting, raking, collecting fallen leaves)

These activities contribute greatly to the child’s personal development, especially when caring for another living organism and learning what they need to survive. The tasks also engage the senses; for example, planting improves the kid’s fine motor skills (dexterity) and tactile perception. The vocabulary of the child also expands when the parent narrates their actions.

Hanging clothes with clothespins

This is another everyday activity that supports the development of your child, whether you are hanging the clothes indoors or outdoors. It is important to use clothespins that open easily. First, show the kids how they work and let them open the pins on their own. This practice can have an impact on the development of several areas. Using clothespins helps to develop fine motor skills and familiarizes the child with different clothes. Hanging the garments and talking about which one to put on which part of the body develops body awareness. Moreover, if we accompany the activity with words, we are also expanding the children’s vocabulary.

Walking while talking

It is very important that parents take the time to do this since a child who has just learned to walk moves much more slowly than an adult. It is critical for the kid’s development to spend time looking at everything and, in some cases, even touching and feeling the texture of certain objects. During the walk, the parent should talk to the child, letting them know where they are going and what is around them. This will help extend their vocabulary and knowledge of the world and how it works. This activity can also develop the senses.

It is very important to involve your child in everyday activities because, up to the age of six, they absorb information about their surroundings with great efficiency. This allows them to evolve and learn about themselves and the environment through playing. In addition to the ones listed above, any activity in which you engage together will, of course, have a developmental effect. This is because, regardless of the child’s age, it allows us to spend time with the child, listen to them, and answer their questions.

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