Category: Teaching Ideas

Cooking is a pastime that parents can share with their children. It gives them an opportunity to bond and at the same time it can be a start for fostering the love for food and passion for cooking. Parents can start teaching cooking to kids as early as three years old. As soon as the child starts becoming responsible and starts to help you with doing your chores, you can start teaching them how to cook.

Preschooler in Your Kitchen

Start teaching your kids very simple chores that they can perform in the kitchen while you are cooking. You can show them how to wash fruits and vegetables and have them follow you. Cooking food that requires cutting and using knives during preparation can be put off when they’re older.

Baking Cookies and Other Sweets

Baking is a very good activity that they can do in your kitchen. It is safer for very young children because they do not need to come in contact with sharp objects or anything else that could harm them. Have them help you in putting batter into their containers or making shapes out of cookie cutters. You can also ask them to help you roll things on your baking sheet, but keep them away from your oven or its hot surface.

Cleaning Up Their Mess

If you’re teaching your child how to prepare food and how to cook it, make sure you also teach them about cleaning up. Ask them to help you wash the plates that you used in preparing the food. You can already designate them to clean the area that you have prepared your food in.

Remember that throughout the whole activity, you need to always keep an eye on your child and supervise them. There are many things in the kitchen that could cause them injury. Always observe safety precautions when teaching cooking to kids.

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Easter has always been something that every Christian, especially kids, looks forward to because of the fun activities and family traditions that they get to enjoy. Stories are always a great entertainment when all the kids are gathered around a big room listening to their parents or grandparents who narrate Easter tales. These stories and other traditions are great vehicles to pass on the tradition to their own families when they grow up.

Jesus’ Death And Resurrection

Lent is a forty-day period when Christians are encouraged to offer prayers and repent for all their sins. Before coming to a close, the last week of Lent is known as the Holy week where Jesus’ death and resurrection are commemorated. Easter is believed to be the day when Jesus had risen from the dead after being laid to rest for three days. The Bible accounts Jesus was persecuted by the people and was crucified. A crown of thorns was laid on his head and was made to carry his cross to Mount Calvary from Jerusalem.

His death on the cross was a sacrifice for all the people to save them from their sins. This happened on the day before the passover, now known as Good Friday. He was laid to rest in a tomb and three days after that a disciple opened his tomb but he was no longer found. Jesus had risen from the dead to remind believers that there was something to rejoice about.

Why Celebrate During Easter

Each year Easter is celebrated on different dates as long as they fall on Sundays. It is a moveable feast within March to April depending on when the Paschal Full Moon falls. Since it represents the foundation of Christian faith, it always calls for a celebration that is just like Christmas.It is believed to be a symbol of new life, hope and renewed faith. Everyone has been washed from their sins and they are to lead their lives away from the sins that they have committed.

Celebrating Easter, for Christians, is a time for merriment and usually involves being with loved ones. Traditions are very varied throughout the world and from different Christian influences. On the night before Easter, Holy Saturday, the church performs an Easter Vigil, also known as the blessing of the Easter fire and of water. It is during this time that the Paschal candle is being lit. This candle serves as the symbol of the Risen Jesus Christ.

The Easter Bunny And Egg Hunt

Families have their own Easter traditions and activities. One very popular activity is the Easter egg hunt and the anticipation of the Easter bunny who brings basket of colored eggs and candies. The Easter Bunny is believed to visit every home of a child, just like how Santa Claus visits every home each Christmas.

Each household is busy preparing sumptuous meals for the whole family and hard-boiled eggs for the yearly Easter egg hunt. The egg is believed to be a symbol of renewed life even as early as the time of the Egyptians. Pre-Christian civilizations practiced cooking eggs, coloring them and eating them during the spring festival.

This tradition coincides with the celebration of Easter and is perhaps the reason it was adapted by the Christians. Nonetheless, it’s an activity that many children really enjoy from preparation to the actual egg hunting activity. Parents can ask their kids to help in decorating the eggs and painting them. Tradition also calls for candies and different desserts which always delight kids and everyone else with a sweet tooth.

It’s important to always remember in our hearts what Easter is and pass it on to our children.

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Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November each year. This national holiday is celebrated to commemorate the first Thanksgiving of the nation’s early settlers and their first harvest feast. Here’s a brief overview of the holiday’s history that you can pass on to the young ones.

The Native Americans and the Settlers

The area surrounding the site where the settlers first landed is now known as eastern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachussets. This area used to be home of the Wampanoag tribes for more than 12,000 years. Before the settlers aboard the Mayflower came, they had been visited by other European settlers.

When the settlers came, comprising of 101 men, women and children, they gathered anything they could find in the area to prepare for winter. After 66 days in the Atlantic Ocean, they intended to land in what today is New York. However, due to windy conditions, they decided to settle on what is now Cape Cod.

This settlers are orginally a group of English Protestants who wanted to separate from the main England church. They were often referred to as the separatists. They originally moved to Holland and after a dozen years of lack and money problems, they decided to sail into the “New World’ through financial aid by English merchants.

The Celebration

Samoset, the leader of the natives and Squanto who knew English paid the settlers a visit and a formal arrangement was made that they will protect each other. This happened on March 1621. One day during that fall, the natives heard gunshots and thought that the Englishmen are waging war against them. When all 90 natives rushed in to the settlement, they found out that they were only hunting to celebrate harvest. When the tribe leader knew of this, he ordered his men to hunt for deer and join the feast, too. For three days, the settlers and the English joined together in the merrymaking. Thus, the first Thanksgiving feast occurred. Apart from the food, they sang, danced and played games.

Myths

The 1621 gathering offered thanks and prayers for the bountiful harvest. However, the first recorded religious Thanksgiving day happened in 1623. That year, the settlers gave thanks after a two-month drought.

It is interesting to note that the first Thanksgiving meal consisted of deer, roasted meat, shellfish and corn. Much of what is served today during Thanksgiving was not served during the first Thanksgiving feast.

As potrayed today, the early settlers did not wear black clothing or anything resembling somber. They did not have silver shoe buckles as well. The truth is, they wore cheerful and bright looking clothes. On the other hand, the native Americans are portrayed as wearing feathered headdresses and large, woven blankets on their shoulders. This is not entirely true though.

Modern Thanksgiving

Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the Godley’s Lady Book magazine, campaigned for an annual nationwide Thanksgiving holiday in 1846. She proposed that the celebration will be patterned after the first 1621 gathering.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared two annual Thanksgiving holidays, one in August to remember the Battle of Gettysburg while the other in November to express gratitude for the coutnry’s “general blessings”.

Thanksgiving for Children

When telling the story of Thanksgiving, it is best to teach young ones the value of gratitude, too. Thankfulness means to be extra aware of the blessings and not the disappointments. The idea of giving thanks every day should also be relayed. Children should be taught not to focus on big things alone such as wealth, health and happiness. Gratefulness should also be expressed for their warm pajamas, ripe bananas and sunshine.

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Summer activities are certainly a heavy favorite among children, may it be the outdoors or indoors. Kids are easily bored and are always in the lookout for something new to do. Below is a list of outdoor and indoor summer activities for kids, fun under the sun (and roofs, too) guaranteed!

Outdoor Summer Activities for Kids

• Encourage kids to create and maintain a small garden. Apart from getting them engaged in nature and science, their sense of responsibility is also developed. It would be fun for both parents and children to do gardening together and work on growing fruit trees, herbs and bushes.

• Games such as hopscotch, hula hoops, bubbles and sprinklers spell fun for children particularly during the summer. Allow kids to exercise their creativity by drawing their own patterns in hopscotch, have their pet dogs join in the fun while doing hula hoops, or take turns making, chasing and popping bubbles.

• Fly a kite with the kids. It will be definitely exciting and physically healthy for them to run and see the kite against the wind.

• For a more adventurous summer, parents and teachers can take children to the woods for some hiking and trekking.

Indoor Summer Activities for Kids

• A trip to nearby museums is an excellent indoor activity that is both educational and entertaining. Children are most likely to enjoy the interactive exhibits in most museums nowadays.

• Children can also be encouraged to engage in indoor summer activities such as gymnastics, table tennis and martial arts. Indoor sports are often incorporated in summer camp programs.

• Joining library clubs or reading circles is also highly recommended. Apart from being free, it will also develop a love for literature amongst children.

• Activities for children inside malls is an excellent alternative for children missing a huge chunk of outdoor activities. Play areas are often designated for youngsters, they can simply be left alone while parents or caregivers can wander away for an hour or two.

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Explaining the importance of sleep to preschoolers can be quite challenging. As a teacher or parent, going against their impulse to play with friends or toys instead of napping in the afternoon or going to bed early at night can result to tantrums and scolding. Since they’re still incapable of understanding its role for their wellness and growth, you can consider the following tips as part of your magical sleep guide.

Why Sleep?

Explain the role of sleep in the language they know. You can use a storybook, some pictures, a puppet play or anything that will help you explain the following:

• A sleepy student finds it difficult to remember what the teacher says. He dozes off in class and misses the lessons. He feels too tired to play at the playground with the other kids.

• Sleep is important for gaining weight and growing tall. The brain needs to rest, the heart has to beat regularly and the body has to fight against sickness by having enough sleep.

• A child can get into trouble with his playmates as sleep deprivation affects mood. He gets easily irritated when he doesn’t get what he wants. Sleep simply makes him feels great.

• Lack of sleep can cause accidents and serious errors. A bus driver might meet an accident on the road or a cashier might make mistakes in counting out changes.

How Many Hours?

Count the number of hours an average person needs for sleeping. You can have a wall clock as your prop for this discussion. As you move the short hand in front of the class, let the students count from 1 to 8, with each number equivalent to an hour of sleep.

You can also explain that the younger a person is, the more sleep he needs. Ask someone to take the role of a two-month old baby and let him lie down and close his eyes in front of the class until he hears the number 18. Ask another student to act out as a mother and let her do the same until they hear the word 7 or 8. Here’s a table of average sleep needs from www.helpguide.org.

Average Need Sleeps
Age	Hours
Newborns (0-2 months)	12 – 18
Infants (3 months to 1 year)	14 – 15
Toddlers (1 to 3 years)	12 – 14
Preschoolers (3 to 5 years)	11 – 13
School-aged children (5 to 12 years)	10 – 11
Teens and preteens (12 to 18 years)	8.5 – 10
Adults (18+)	7.5 – 9

Sleep Activities

Ask the kids what they usually do at home before they sleep. You can even try some of the following in the classroom to spice things up:

• Storytelling – Some parents read a book to their kids before they go to sleep.

• Listening to lullabies – Music has a powerful way to make children have a sound sleep.

• Wearing the right clothes – Putting on loose and lightweight garments like pajamas and nightgowns brings sleep comfort.

• Brushing teeth – This protects the teeth from having cavities and the mouth from having bad breath when they get up in the morning.

• Correct sleeping position – Demonstrate what position is healthy for their body and where to put pillows for muscle comfort.

Others Ideas

Explain what dreams are all about. This is quite interesting for kids as they sometimes see themselves eating ice cream or going on an exciting trip to Disneyland while in slumber. Remind them that not all dreams are beautiful, though. They can sometimes wake up terrified and profusely sweating because of a nightmare.

For advance kids, you may talk about technical terms such as sleep talking, sleep acid reflux, sleep apnea, treatment for sleep paralysis and other sleep disorders and their medication.

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