Today's activity in our "learning with dad series" is actually a pretty cool game you can play as a whole family. It's a memory game where you show your little champ (or everyone) a selection of objects (e.g. toys, household objects, etc) and then cover them up with a blanket. Then ask them what they remember (if you are playing this as a family with older kids or adults - get everyone to write down what they remember).

A variation of the game is where you first show all objects and then get everyone to cover their eyes (or blindfold them) and remove an object. Then ask your child (or the whole family) what's missing. You can gradually increase the difficulty of the game by using a wider selection of objects and removing more items.

Enjoy!

-Stefan

This week we are focusing on a very simple activity you can do with your kids - finger painting. But did you know that it helps children fully develop motor skills - all the way from the shoulders to the fingers. And yes ... it can be quite messy but many of the finger paints on the market these days wash out easily and are basically food safe. You can make your (cleaning) life easier by putting old newspapers on the floor and table where you do the finger painting with your children. Another cool alternative to ordinary finger paint is to use painting soap (read our article about painting soap).

Enjoy,

Stef

The second part of our series on simple exercises you can do with your baby to help them develop fully is for dads with babies aged 6 - 12 months. It's called the "Wheelbarrow" exercise and here's what you do:

1) Lay your little champ on her front on top of a small (soft) ball, holding her around the hips
2) Encourage her to use her hands and walk on her hands, rolling back and forth over the ball
3) Watch her hands to make sure she puts them flat on the floor (and you don't step or kneel on her hands while holding her!)

Remember these are short exercises - so a couple of minutes at a time is perfect.

Enjoy,

Stef

For more exercises like these check out Margaret Sasse's book "Smart Start". It's definitely a good investment of 30 bucks and you can buy the book in most bookstores or online at Exisle Publishing.

In the foreword to Margaret Sasse's book "Smart Start", Professor Frances Page Glascoe points out that kids in Gymbaroo sessions are mostly accompanied by their dads. This is obviously somewhat unusual and you'd be well aware of the "alone among women" phenomenon if you've done your fair share of parenting education / activity groups for kids. So this is great - it means Margaret has found a formula that works for dads! To celebrate this we've got agreement from the publisher of her book to post a mini series of exercises dads can do with their kids at home. The book is divided into 8 chapters (by age range) - so we will post one exercise from each group ... and hey there may be a prize in it for you at the end!

First up is a simple exercise for babies who can lift up their head (i.e. typically 3 months or older). It's called "Rocking" and what you do is get on the floor (ideally where you've got a soft surface - like carpet), sit up with your legs stretched out and put bubs in your thighs with his feet against your stomach. Hold onto his hands and rock backwards and up to the sitting position again. Do this a few times (not more than 10) - this exercise gives your little champ an opportunity to experience alternating between lying down and being upright. Great for developing balance and as preparation for later on when he tries to pull himself up to practice walking.

Enjoy,
Stef

For more exercises like these check out Margaret Sasse's book "Smart Start". It's definitely a good investment of 30 bucks and you can buy the book in most bookstores or online at Exisle Publishing.

A wee while ago we were given a book to review – “Smart Start” by Margaret Sassé who established the “GymbaROO” programme for early childhood development and learning which has been widely adopted and has become a global success story with over 100 Gymbaroo centres established worldwide . Sadly, Margaret passed away on the eve of her book being published on May 2nd this year. Her passion in life, to help children reach their full potential of physical and mental development through simple exercises is well captured in her book. Why is his relevant for Dads? Because statistics show that it’s mostly fathers who accompany children to Gymbaroo classes.