Archives for 2020

Children are naturally inquisitive explorers who learn best through play and modeling. Parents and teachers can help young children boost their natural creativity by providing time, opportunity, and materials, along with lots of support and encouragement. Here are 5 activities you can do with a toddler to help foster a creative mind that will help develop confidence and a strong mind. 

#1. Role-Playing, Simulations, And Dress Up Games

Probably since the beginning of time children have made sense of the world by imitating what they see and hear. If you have ever watched a child play house or dress up like a doctor or police officer, then you’ve witnessed this first hand. Children of all ages and genders can benefit from play kitchens, dollhouses, dress-up corners, and other role-playing games. Try to allow plenty of unstructured free time for them to explore. You can choose to join in, but avoid managing the activity and let them take the lead.  

You can build up your role-playing supplies cheaply with yard sale and thrift store finds. A great way to collect dress-up clothes is to hit post-Halloween sales. Additional ideas for role-playing games and dress-up costumes:

• Kitchen
• Grocery Store 
• Restaurant
• Garage / Car Shop
• Vet Office / Animal Shelter (with stuffed animals) 
• Doctor, Dentist, Hospital 
• Superheroes
• Police, Fire Fighter
• Teacher / Classroom 
• Store / Cash Register 

#2. Reading Aloud Or Storytelling 

Reading fiction helps people of all ages be more creative because we use our imaginations to live the story or picture it in our heads. Very young children can’t read their own stories but parents, teachers, and caregivers can spend time reading to them. Reading to a toddler might be a little more involved than reading to an older child so here are some tips to help you get started:

• Choose an engaging book on a topic that your toddler loves. 
• Sitting still for reading isn’t a requirement for young children, let them move around or act out parts of the story along with you. 
• Read slowly but use an animated character voice to help keep them entertained. 
• Being loud and silly is encouraged! 
• Here are a few creative reading suggestions for your toddler storytime. 

#3. Creative Sensory Play

What’s more creative than using all five senses to explore your world? Sensory play helps develop the mind, make connections, and increases creativity. It’s also a fun excuse to get messy and play with your toddler. If possible, provide a sensory play activity daily and let their imaginations run wild while they learn about texture, shapes, colors, smells, and more. Here are a few tried and true favorites when it comes to sensory play activities:

• Fill a bathtub with stuffed animals and hop inside!
• Shaving cream or whipped cream play on a tabletop.
• A plastic tub filled with water beads.
• Bathtub Finger Paints (shaving cream mixed with food coloring).
• Rainbow spaghetti noodles.
• Sink play with floating toys.
• A box full of cloud dough (Recipe)

#4. Go Wild With Messy Art Projects

When you think about “creativity”, art is probably one of the first areas that comes to mind. Experimenting with colors and different mediums is a great way to use your imagination. Besides providing the materials, adults can help by showing enthusiasm and giving positive feedback. Applaud your toddler’s art projects, create an art gallery, show off the projects to family and friends, and help them feel pride in their work. 

Here are a few examples of fun art projects toddlers can easily do with little to no help besides setting up and cleanup:

Painting With Ice Cubes

Freeze water and food coloring in individual ice cubes. Halfway through freezing, add a toothpick to each one as a handle. Have the toddler paint on paper with the ice cubes. As they melt they will create a pretty watercolor painting. 

Body Tracing

Use a large piece of paper or butchers roll paper, have the toddler lay down while you trace an outline of their body using a thick marker. Encourage your toddler to color and paint inside the outline

Marble Painting

Put a blank piece of paper in a shallow plastic bin. Drip marbles in paint and drop them onto the paper. Your toddler can tilt the container back and forth, sending the marbles spinning around and leaving colorful lines and splotches across the paper. 

#5. Make Some Music Together 

Another unmistakable spoke in the wheel of creativity is music. Studies show that infants and toddlers who are exposed to music training have increased white and grey matter in the brain that helps them make connections and develop language at a faster pace. The changes caused in the brain by these creative activities create lifelong benefits. Here are some wonderful ways to play with music and boost creativity with young children.

• Make musical instruments from objects around the house. Have you ever seen a baby or toddler bang pots and pans together? It might be loud, but they are learning and using their creative brains. You can make music with tin cans, spoons, rice in a jar, or just about anything that makes noise. 

• Play music during playtime, art time, or just about anytime throughout the day. Expose your toddler to different genres and music from all over the world. 

• Make up songs with words and silly noises to sing with your toddler. Sing short phrases and have them repeat the phrases back, the sillier the better. 

The more you encourage creativity during their early years, the more comfortable and confident your child will feel sharing their ideas with others throughout life. Time spent being creative will help them develop critical thinking skills, help with problem-solving, and help them learn to express complicated feelings and emotions. Don’t forget to offer praise and support throughout their creative journey. Some of the best learning takes place while making a mess, so don’t be afraid to let them get down and dirty. 

Author Bio

Sandra Chiu works as Director at LadyBug & Friends Daycare

Your dream career is now almost achievable, but there is a catch – it is located miles away. What will you do?

Just like any family, moving and settling in another place or country is inevitable, especially if your work demands you to do so. It is an upsetting thing for your kids given the adjustments they have to do in coping up in school, building relationships and friends, adapting the culture, and overcoming language barriers.

Moreover, it is more tedious on your part as the parent, particularly if you still need to sell your last house and relocate at the same time. To help you in expediting the process, here are some tips worth trying.

Sell your house instantly to a cash buyer

Opt for this choice if you have no time for a traditional listing. It is because selling your home right away to a sure buyer shortens the process of selling the property. To do this, prepare an enticing online listing or post of your property for sale. Remember to add compelling images because photos can help sell your house fast.

Skip the DIY and hire professionals

At first, you may have considered following the “do it yourself” or DIY process and ditch the idea of hiring a professional realtor. There is nothing wrong with this, except that this may take a while before you can sell the property. If you are on pressure due to job relocation, it is not right to stay frugal to save a few bucks. Do not hesitate to hire professional cleaning services and a realtor to put up your house for sale right away.

Prepare your things accordingly

No matter how urgent the relocation can be, your new employer should give you enough time to pack and prepare your family’s items and temporary place. At the same time, having the timeframe can have a massive impact on the home sale. Remember that selling a property in a rush tends to have low proceeds since the buyer pays in cash and ask for discounts. However, there is a massive difference if it can be sold the usual way since there is more time for negotiations.

Set a realistic price

Whether you sell the property via a realtor or direct selling to a buyer with cold cash, you should put a reasonable price. To do this, study first the current real estate market trends in your area. Try consulting some real estate agents and check their comparative market analysis in hand to get a better idea of what price to set to make it sell fast.

Ensure your relocation packages and benefits

Before committing to your new work, make sure that you have checked the relocation terms well. This includes checking with your new employer the eligibility to receive a relocation package. Some companies are not that proactive when it comes to this, so you might need to open up the topic with them beforehand. This way, they can help you and your family have temporary housing or provide reimbursement for moving expenses.

Do not buy a new home right away

Slow down. There is no need to rush into purchasing a new home. The proceeds from your home sale will help you secure your next home, but it may not be enough to complete the payment for your new home due to the changing market and property price. That is why it is best to wait a bit longer until you have secured enough funds to buy a new property.

If you are a working professional with a family and are planning to relocate some time soon, try incorporating the given tips above in your relocation plan. These will help you juggle selling your house and relocating at the same time.

Being proactive about your health and taking good care of yourself are sensible things to do, but if you find yourself constantly worrying about your wellbeing, you may be experiencing health anxiety. Rather than having appropriate thoughts of your wellbeing, health anxiety can make you feel irrationally or obsessively worried about falling ill.

In some cases, people with health anxiety will misinterpret normal bodily sensations for signs that something is wrong. Often, they will consult physicians more frequently than the average person or spend an excessive amount of time online searching for conditions and illnesses that correlate to their perceived symptoms.

Critically, people with health anxiety continue to be preoccupied with their wellbeing after receiving a clean bill of health from a doctor or medical professional. While it’s always worth getting a second opinion if you’re not happy with the care you’ve received, repeated reassurance from healthcare practitioners should give you peace of mind that you’re not suffering from any undiagnosed conditions.

Health Anxiety and COVID-19

Dealing with health anxiety can be difficult at the best of times but the current outbreak of coronavirus is exacerbating people’s anxiety in many ways. In some cases, people with no previous history of health anxiety are reporting increased feelings of worry, panic and alarm due to COVID-19.

While it’s entirely normal to take preventative measures to stop the spread of the virus, if you’re experiencing excessive anxiety or even depression about the situation, you may find it helpful to seek help.

With the right intervention, health anxiety can be treated. Generally, people can learn how to manage the symptoms of health anxiety and keep excessive thoughts and behaviors at bay. While anxiety can worsen at times of stress, having effective coping strategies in place can help you to overcome any reemergence or exacerbation of your symptoms.

Getting a Health Anxiety Diagnosis

The first step to addressing health anxiety is to get a diagnosis from an appropriate medical professional. For some people, realizing that they have an issue with anxiety is something of a relief, as it means they can access the help they need. For others, being diagnosed with an anxiety can be traumatic in itself.

The Kentucky Counseling Center provides guidance for people who have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, as well as tips for sharing this information with people. If you want to learn more about coping with a diagnosis of anxiety, you can see the full article here for more details.

If you’ve been diagnosed with health anxiety, you’re one step closer to taking control of your symptoms and reducing your anxiety. By speaking with a therapist or counselor, for example, you can understand the cause of your worries and take steps to address them in a safe environment.

Excessively worrying about your wellbeing can be stressful, draining and overwhelming. By getting the support you need, you can minimize the impact health anxiety has on your day-to-day life and begin to look forward to a brighter future.