Hello All,
This week I thought I would discuss the lovely old topic of household errands. Don’t we all just love them? Even just thinking about it makes me sigh! Unless of course you are one of these people that love tidying! In that case you are welcome round my house anytime! I know how challenging it can be trying to balance housework and a family especially when they try to help and end up causing more mess than we started with. However, allowing a child to help when you these tasks, when you have the time can help provide a range of entertainment and ways to develop which you may not think of. They love to help as it can give them a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose and in many cases, it can make them feel proud of doing something that a grown up does!
I want to firstly say that it is okay to be silly with your children! Many adults can be very judgemental, but children are not (unless to tell you that you are not doing the monster voice quite right or your dinosaur steps need to be bigger). Taking time to slow down (when you can) and making the most of these small generally mundane tasks and making them fun can end up becoming wonderful memories for children and yourselves. So, embrace these small snippets of time and take a moment to slow down from this fast-paced day to day life.
I will give a couple of examples below and try to link them to the areas of the EYFS to highlight how broad the opportunities these activities can provide.
Washing and drying –
Personal and social skills - Providing this opportunity allows children to be able to work with you as part of a team to carry out each part of the activity. Allowing a child to help you load a washing machine or tumble dryer can present the opportunity to learn about boundaries and expectations, for example what needs to go into the machine and what cannot, or how much soap can be placed in the machine. It also presents the opportunity to take turns. Providing this opportunity to children allows them to develop their gross motor skills by having to carry washing from one place to another, this will also help develop their hand eye-coordination and will help to develop their core strength when learning to balance when moving with the items or when trying to lift the heavier items safely. This can also open the discussion about why we wash our clothes, hygiene and germs, extending their understanding of self-care.
Literacy -The main source of literacy in the activity that we would not have to provide as adults would be the text and symbols written on the machines. Looking at these and asking questions about these (when a child is ready to do so) will help develop understanding that text and symbols hold meaning. To extend development even further to link to literacy we can sing songs related to either the movements we are making or the actions we are doing. (for example – “down in the jungle” or “this is the way we wash our clothes wash our clothes wash our clothes early in the morning”). Stories can also be linked to the activity (for example, look at those muddy jeans! They look like Peppa’s muddy dress, maybe they put it in their washing machine too!) For those with the understanding it can also link to books about germs and keeping clean.
Maths – To incorporate mathematical development within this errand you can start to discuss how many items you have, the weight of things (heavy and light) and the idea of capacity (full and empty), this can lead to development of mathematical language and understanding. We can also incorporate the idea of comparison by matching different items and separating colours (E.g. we need all the white clothes).
Understanding the world- We can bring in the discussion of previous events for example “oh here is your blue top, you wore this to Tom’s birthday”. We can also bring in the discussion of our clothes and how they can be similar and different to others “here is your red top, John also has a red top”. It opens opportunity to discuss previous events (e.g. ah these are the jeans you wore to the park when you jumped in the puddle, that’s where we saw the big dog). It can help provide opportunity to begin to understand what the buttons and dials on the machine mean and to show the idea of cause and effect ( e.g. if we choose this option it will take 30 mins and will wash it at degrees ), as well as understanding how the lock works and working out how to undo it and do it up.
Being Imaginative -it can provide opportunity for imagination and role play. (for example, you are loading the machine but pretending it’s a witch’s cauldron and you are making a potion, you need an assistant to help make it)
Cooking
Personal and social development – Cooking together can provide a time to work together, it can allow a child to help understand turn taking and can encourage them to discuss about what they are doing. It can provide the opportunity to understand boundaries and safety when discussing the use of knives, ovens and hobs. It allows the child to have a sense of responsibility, that they are responsible for a certain task and the success or failure of this task can rest on them, when completed this can help them feel proud and develop their self-esteem, if they were to fail it can also encourage them to continue to persevere and problem solve and become determined. By being able to cut, scoop and mix food items children are given the opportunity to develop their hand eye coordination and develop their fine motor skills.
Literacy – Using cookbooks or recipes is an easy way to incorporate literacy in day to day life. It can help a child learn that text has meaning and can hold information. It can encourage children to look at books independently and explore the images within a book.
Maths – Cooking together provides many opportunities for mathematical development, from the discussion of time to the measuring and weighing of ingredients. This can be as simple as counting how many cups of water you use to using a scale to measure weight precisely. It can also open up the discussion for problem solving and estimation “I wonder how many cups of water we will need” “ this looks a bit wet I wonder if we need another cup of flour”.
Understanding the world – The use of scales and a cooker can incorporate the use of and develop understanding of technology while cooking. Trying different foods from around the world can open the discussion of different cultures and traditions. When cooking we can discuss where that food comes from and how it is made, this often then sparks children’s curiosity about the world around them and will start to questions where other foods come from.
Being imaginative- You may find if your child is developmentally at this stage already that they may do this independently but while cooking we can be creative and imaginative in an endless number of ways. From role playing while cooking (for example making dinner for a mouse or making a potion) to being creative with presentation, creating different shapes and colours using food as a medium, there is no limit to what can be created using imagination and food.
I hope these 2 examples have helped to highlight how allowing your little ones to help around the home can be. Of course, the expectation we place on each child and what they would be able to do in each situation is largely based upon their development. Many of the examples above are based upon a child who has a good understanding and motor skills. I would not expect a 2 year old to be able to focus on an errand for its whole entirety ( unless of course they find it interesting!), for example when my little one helps at home ( nearly 18 months old) with the washing, she carries 2 socks and closes the door suggesting that that task is done. This is okay, she has still been provided with the opportunity and has still developed from allowing to help.
We do of course appreciate that everything in today’s society is a bit of a rush and that errands and chores around the house need to be done quickly in order for you to move onto the next thing, however if you have the time or are wondering what you could do together with no money, limited time and resources then these are perfect!
Next week josh will highlight and outline how an outing to the shops can provide an endless possibility for development for our little ones.
If you do manage to have a try of these then do let us know through tapestry!
Thank you for tuning in this week
Terrie and the Squirrels
xx
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