Tricks of the Trade

[torontokids]

I love starting these threads every once in a while. I love learning from others mistakes or learning a new way to do something.

Some new/old things I have been trying

- I have been having the kids "wash up" in a dish pan filled with soapy water. This has been fun for them and has encouraged them to be more independent.

-I have been doing this since I started but it has always made the world of difference for me. I have colour coded clothes. E.g. each kid has a colour, my daughter is orange. When it comes to wiping her face, hands I use this, hang it to dry and I wash them every 2 days.

- Giving kids jobs. I have one girl who is really into shoes so she helps me get the little kid's shoes when it is time to go outside. My daughter hands out the milk or "reads" a story to the others while waiting for me.

-I am bringing some "inside toys" outside this year. I am going to clean up my shed, put in some shelving and put some of our toys out there for them to play with. I have the usual outside toys but I thought I would shove some of our extras out there to mix up outdoor time.

-This is probably common sense but I started using baby wipes to clean up after painting. So many cloths were getting wrecked I said "screw the environment."

- I mix up circle time everyday now and have set days. E.g. Mon-Yoga, Tues- Music Wed- Show and Tell/Parachute, Thurs-Music Fri- Dance. We also do special circles they love e.g. "dress up circle time," or "baby circle time" where they each hold a doll and we sing special songs for the babies and do special tickles etc with the dolls to encourage empathy etc.