MumpaActivity: Finger Drawing

This is a simple to do at home activity which can help you spend quality time with your child and while playing this game, you kid will sharpen her/his pre writing skills.

You will need some flour on a plate. And now you are ready to play!

Ask your kid to draw objects/shapes with her fingers on the flour plate.
You can encourage her to draw everyday objects like a tree, table, chair etc.

While the child draws talk about the object that that is being drawn. For eg if it’s a sun, talk about the colour of the sun, the sun gives us energy, the sun is also called a ball of fire.

How you elaborate on the object should depend on the age of the child
Ask the child some questions What all did you draw? Did you enjoy doing this? What did you draw which appears in the sky?

Your kiddo will really have fun messing around with the flour while learning how to draw and write.

Be prepared to do some cleaning up after the activity. Involve the child in the cleaning up too!

Skills Learnt:
Pre writing skill
Vobaulary
Ability to illustrate ideas

Happy learning at home!

If Playing Be The Food Of Life, Play On!

Children pass through different stages of play during growing up, including solitary play, parallel play, associative play and then finally group play.

By the time they’re 2 or 3 years old, they become curious about their environment and the people in it. At this stage cognitive development starts taking place and kids are able to form judgements regarding who they’re familiar with and with whom they’re not. Children prefer playing alongside other children their own age but with minimum interaction, this stage of playing is called parallel play.

  • Characteristics of Parallel Play
    – Like to play in close quarters with each other but they don’t try to influence one another
    – They try to mimic what the other one is doing or modify their play according to them
    – Engage in similar activities or sometimes even completely different ones
    They may seem to ignore the presence of other toddlers but if you try to split them up you’ll notice how much that contact means to them
  • This early stage of child development is characterized by
    – Egocentric behavior – Reluctance in sharing toys etc
    – Inability to have any impulse control – So don’t be surprised if your little one pushes or lashes out at another child.
    – Inability to coordinate with the activities of their companion – This does not mean that they don’t enjoy the company of other toddlers, instead they love seeing faces and bodies of sizes similar to their own.

According to research, kids do want to socialize and parents just need to be aware of some signs like pointing and squealing on seeing another child.

  • Parallel play helps children develop these skills:
    – Language skills
    – Social skills
    – Builds confidence as children are learning to play around others. T
    – Makes the child aware of others’ emotions
    – Motivates the child to express her feelings through her own individualised ways.

Research states that parallel play is a child’s way to cope until she feels comfortable enough to have social interactions with other familiar kids. Parallel play or solitary play is a stage toddlers pass through to learn interactive behavior and symbolic communication.

Children learn and gain experience about their world simply by playing. So, let your child, play on!

Why Is It Important To Have A Routine For Your Child

Routine and structure play an important role in a child’s life. Living life is not easy for us grown-ups, imagine how chaotic it would be appearing to littles lives! By building and following a routine, we can add structure and predictability in the lives of our kids.

It is proven that children whose families have a set schedule have the possibility of being healthier and better behaved. It teaches children self-discipline and can help them perform better at school. It also helps to get rid of internal strife as you aren’t bulldozing the child around, and they acquire the ability to construct their own lives.

Most parents find that developing a schedule for your child makes life much easier. Young children tend to rely on a schedule because predictability makes them feel safe as they know what’s coming next. Your child will be satisfied to know that she gets to have breakfast after waking up and then it’s time to go to the park and play or that she’ll get to read “A very hungry caterpillar”.

A baby’s needs are simple and mostly just include sleep, food, love and play. The important part is knowing what your baby requires when, and how much of it. It is also necessary to be able to manage your own needs along with the rest of the family members’.

Within a week’s time of setting up a routine you’ll see plenty of benefits. The child will learn responsible and positive behavior. She will feel more in control over her life and become more confident. You should try to make positive reinforcement a part of this daily routine.

Routines are also an important part of a child’s social development skills. There should be preparations for transitions in the routine. You can talk to your child and say “After ten minutes we will have dinner. When the big hand of the clock touches 6 it will be time for you to fill up your tummy.”

There are ways of building creativity in your child while following a routine by making pictures with colorful papers of the activities for the entire day. Stick the chart in your child’s room and this will help her gain a sense of self-sufficiency as she will be able to pinpoint what she has to do next.

Not having a routine for your child would be like hoping to run a business without a business plan.

Even though routines are an important part of a child’s life, make sure to not be too strict regarding them as the child needs to learn to be flexible too. Flexibility will help the kid deal with minor changes in the schedule and not create a fuss about it.

The sooner you start to order your child’s life, the easier it will be. They will develop a sense of how to manage their time in an efficient and productive manner while organizing their own life in a way that cuts down stress.

Be healthy, be happy!

Co-Sleeping: Snuggle Up And Sleep Tight!

In almost every culture other than Indian, I have seen that babies sleep independently since birth. Independent sleeping allows the mother longer rest during the night. A baby who co-sleeps, asks for frequent feeds during the night and demands cajoling in between sleep cycles. However, there is research which suggests that co-sleeping has several advantages for the baby. Some of which are these:

Children who tend to sleep with their parents or siblings become independent at an earlier stage in life and need less transitional objects as they do not experience separation anxiety.

Some research states that kids who are left to cry alone (for sleep training) and are not coddled, can experience elevated levels of cortisol, which is known as the stress hormone. This can make the child more prone to illness and stress and cause damage to the developing brain.

Co-sleeping can also decrease the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Children who co-sleep usually sleep on their back or side which reduces the risk of SIDS. According to a study, sharing a bed does not increase the risk for SIDS until and unless either of the parents are smokers or abuse alcohol.

Also, children who co-sleep end up crying 4 times less than an independent sleeper. Crying releases, the hormone adrenaline which in turn increases the heart rate and blood pressure leading to long term sleep anxiety.

Kids that grow up in a family bed tend to be less anxious, have higher self-esteem, are less prone to peer pressure and are happier and satisfied with their lives.

So, forget the inconvenience and sleep happily with your kid!

Even Men Get Pregnant

This will not sound weird to a lot of people, but it is true that men get pregnant too. Nature chose woman to bear a child and become a ‘mother’. However, in this process of bringing a new life in the world, we are also creating ‘fathers’ and getting men pregnant!

The hormonal spikes during a woman’s pregnancy take women on an emotional roller coaster ride. But what goes unnoticed is that men join this ride just as much! Although the emotional flux in men is not induced by hormones, there is still emotional turbulence nevertheless.

They feel anxious about the impending expansion of their family, the additional responsibilities that it brings along, the financial demands that the new member will make on their income, among other things. If the woman chooses to quit her job and stay at home with the baby, the responsibility of being the sole provider may exert mental pressure of some men.

They feel protective of their wife, while worrying about the duress that child-bearing and birth would put her through. They also feel insecure about her attention getting divided, some even worry about their sex life while the baby is on its way.

Some may also get into self-loathing even before the baby arrives, thinking and believing that they may not make the best of fathers.

While the mother gets a lot of attention, men are totally ignored while the bun is baking in the oven. It’s not uncommon for men to feel left out. This could sometimes lead to unwanted differences between the couple.

This deluge of emotions may not be easy to handle for many fathers. Some family member should counsel these fathers in the making.  His partner in this crime, the wife, is the best person for this task. The easiest way to help men get through these emotions and feelings is to understand that men and women look at pregnancy differently. A woman should give her partner enough space and time for them to experience pregnancy in their own unique way. The best way would be not to criticize men if their reactions are other than what the women expected.

Men need to be reassured that they will make great fathers, and that their husband-wife bond would remain intact. In fact, they should be reassured that the bond between the couple will only deepen with the arrival of the child, as it will be their shared success, and that together as a couple they will make great parents!

MumpaActivity : स्टेकिंग Blocks

कुछ नया, कुछ अलग करने के प्रयास में हम अक्सर सरलता से की जानी वाली चीज़ों को अनदेखा कर देते हैं| कुछ खिलौने घर-घर में पाए जाते हैं, जैसे की “स्टेकिंग Blocks” |

इस आसानी से उपलब्ध खिलौने के साधारण उपयोग से आप बना सकते हैं एक मज़ेदार नया खेल| आइए देखें कैसे!

 

 

10 things To bear In Mind While Travelling During Pregnancy

You are having a baby and so you have to be happy, in mind, body and spirit to be able to bring a happy healthy baby in this world. And if travelling is the thing that gives you happiness, so be it! Yes, you heard me right, you can travel for work for fun, to take a break if you desire so and your body allows you to.

Pregnancy, in itself, is not a disease or a medical condition which requires treatment or confinement. Healthy people get pregnant, and the majority is able to carry on with their lives in the same manner as before.

Complications during pregnancy are not unheard of, and those who have it have to go by what is advised to them. If you have a condition which needs you to be in bed for a safe pregnancy, you’ll have to confine your movements, else you can be yourself and do what you want to do.

However, one should never take their wellbeing for granted, one has to be careful about their health as it is not just you but also the little life which you are nurturing inside you that you have to care for. Here is an easy reckoner for things to do and be mindful of while traveling when pregnant:

  • How far are you in your pregnancy?

Please make your plans while being mindful of how far you have progressed in your pregnancy. Most air carriers don’t allow women beyond 34 weeks pregnant to fly with them. Travelling closer to due date puts you at risk of going into labour while in transit.

The Indian Railways allow lifelong free travel to kids born enroute in the train! Unless you are prying this free ticket for your child, don’t make travel plans in the last few weeks of your pregnancy.

  • Consult your doctor

Pay a visit to your doc before you pack your bags. S/he will tell you about the necessary precautions to take while you are on the move and recommend medicines which are safe to be taken, just in case!

  • Avoid traveling to places where an infectious disease is rampant

There are some diseases which are rampant in a place in a particular season. For example, dengue and chikanguniya are rampant in Delhi during the monsoons. Don’t pick such places as your holiday destination. If you do, then take adequate precautions. For example use a a mosquito repellent oil/lotion to avoid contracting a mosquito borne disease.

  • Carry the recommended medicines with you.

Don’t depend on buying medicines in a new place as something that the doctor may have prescribed may not be available there. The brand names of medicines change outside the country, finding the right medicine which is safe for consumption during pregnancy may be difficult. It is best you carry what you may need with you.

  • Carry a fit to fly Certificate

Remember to carry a fit to fly certificate duly early few weeks of pregnancy, but when you start showing, some airlines will ask for it for domestic flights and all airlines will ask for it for international flights. To avoid last minute hassles at the airport, carry this certificate with you.

  • Reach the airport/train station in advance

Most air carriers will ask you to sign a form before you board the flight. They may also take you to their doc at the airport to make sure that you are fit to fly. So, factor in an additional hour at the airport and plan accordingly.

Train stations in our country are not pregnant women friendly.  Not to forget the arduous task of navigating through a crowd (which is bound to be there at the railway station). So, reach in advance so that you get to the boarding platform at your pace without any stress.

  • Avoid long hours of travel

Long hours of travel can bother you, as, sitting in the same posture can hurt your back. If you are travelling business class, you don’t have to bother, but the economy class travellers can choose destinations which don’t require long flying hours!

A train journey in many ways is better than a flight as you can walk around and stretch out. However, because of the cleanliness issue in Indian trains, trains are best avoided here.

Road journeys are okay to take. You can take a break every few hours, to walk around and stretch out. Bumpy roads can cause discomfort to you, but the jerks don’t affect the baby in your womb.

  • Accompanied travel

Work trips are mostly short trips and you may have colleagues accompanying you. It is good to have a companion while you are travelling.

  • Be careful with the food

Pregnant or not pregnant, catching a stomach bug on a holiday or on a work trip can be a dampener. Judge a place and its food on its hygiene and not on how tempting the food looks!

  • Drink packaged water

Stick to drinking bottled water to ensure that the water is clean.

There are some perks that pregnant women enjoy while travelling. You an easily cut a queue right from getting the boarding pass issued to boarding the plane. Some airlines may even give you an upgrade. The flight attendants will be extra sweet to you and will pamper you in their little ways.

So, go ahead, book your tickets and enjoy a holiday, even when you are pregnant.

Three Tricks To Add Tulsi Or The Holy Basil To Your Child’s Diet To Boost Your Kid’s Immunity

The benefits of Tulsi or the holy basil are no secret to us! We have planted it in our homes since time immemorial and worshiped it. A plant with so many benefits is surely fit to be worshiped!

Tulsi purifies the air and has numerous medicinal benefits. Tulsi is as beneficial to the adults as it is to young children as consumption of Tulsi helps build’s kid’s immunity and also serves as a natural medicine for the common cold, coughs, and cases of flu.

Benefits of tulsi leaves

Consumption of Tulsi leaves has many benefits, some of which are these:

  • Tulsi has detoxifying properties
  • Tulsi acts as an immunity booster
  • Tulsi has antibiotic, antibacterial properties
  • Tulsi helps relieve stress
  • Tulsi cures respiratory conditions like cold, cough
  • Tulsi is rich in phytonutrients, essential oils, Vitamin A and C

The leaves of the Tulsi plant are widely consumed in India for these very benefits. Various parts of the Tulsi plant are used in many ayurvedic and natural medicines. Tulsi’s immunity-boosting benefit is something that every parent should leverage for boosting their kid’s immunity.

The Tulsi plants grow very easily in pots and all of us should at least have one Tulsi plant in our homes for reaping the benefits of this magical plant.

Our children would benefit immensely from consuming Tulsi leaves daily. The only deterrent here can be its sharp taste and therefore it may get rejected by our children!

Here are some hacks to help you make your child (even as small as 1 year old!) consume Tulsi leaves which will boost their immunity naturally.

Simple ways to make your children eat tulsi leaves which will enhance their immunity 

Add tulsi leaves to their water tumbler

Simply add Tulsi leaves to the sipper/spout/water tumbler that your child drinks water from. Once you put the lid on the child will not be able to see the leaves in it, and will be sipping Tulsi leaves water throughout the day

Boil tulsi leaves and use this water in several other things

You can boil Tulsi leaves and use this water in more than one way. For example

  • Add this water to any fresh fruit juice that you are giving to your child.
  • Use this water to puree your vegetables or fruits
  • Use this water with vegetable stock to make your soup.
  • You can even use this water for making Halwa

There can be several other ways of adding Tulsi Leaves water in the food being cooked for the baby.

Add finely chopped tulsi leaves to a fruit salad or kheer

Chop up few fruits, especially bananas, and sprinkle very finely chopped Tulsi leaves on it. You can garnish other sweet dishes like Kheer or custard with finely chopped Tulsi leaves as well.

Like you can see, the methods suggested above our very simple and do not require elaborate preparations to execute to get the benefits of Tulsi to your child for boosting their immunity.

And based on your lifestyle and eating habits you can come up with many such ways to add Tulsi leaves to your child’s food to enlace your kid’s immunity.

Discover simple ways to keep your child healthy naturally!

MumpaActivity: Write A Letter To Santa

It is the time of the year when we hum ‘jingle bells’ to ourselves and our child.

Christmas means candies, cakes, gifts and a Santa popping out from every nook and corner of the city.  Santa is an affable child friendly, figure, who children look forward to meeting every Christmas, not just to pose with him but also for the surprise gifts that he brings along!

While the mythical Santa just delivers the gift, it is the job of the real Santa (Mum & Dad) to scoot for the right gift for the child! At times, we are unable to decide on the present that Santa should bring for the child!

To ease this dilemma why not encourage your child to write a letter to Santa, telling him what they want from him?

This will not only make your job easy in getting the gift but also set the child’s expectation for the gift.

While you are writing the letter, you can discuss the gift, it’s availability, feasibility (price) for Santa to get the gift, the size of the gift as Santa may not be able to carry something very big as he has to carry so many gifts in his satchel!

Once what they want is settled, just write the letter with your child! You can spend some time decorating the letter and can even drop it in a letter box!

You can use this letter writing opportunity to make the child reflect on what others may like as gifts from Santa. You can encourage the child to ask for something for friends and family too! This will plant the idea of caring, sharing, loving others, acknowledging their desires and not focusing on oneself all the time. It is a lesson which will make them better human beings today and always.

So let’s get started. We hope Santa delivers all the gifts and promises in time!

Merry Christmas to all!

डाँट मे भी होना चाहिए आपका प्यार!

डाँट मे भी होना चाहिए आपका प्यार!

एक बच्चे की नज़र से देखेंगे, तो आपका गुस्सैल चहेरा आपको रक्षसीय दिखाई पड़ेगा! कभी जाने अंजाने मे कहीं आप इस दैत्य का रूप तो धारण नही कर लेते?

माँ बाप बनना और उससे जुड़ी ज़िम्मेदारियाँ निभाना, बच्चों को संभालना, कोई बच्चों का खेल नही है| एस सफ़र मे ऐसे कई मौकें आएँगे जहाँ आप आपना धैर्या खो देंगे, मगर एक बात का धान रखें कि आप उनको डिसिप्लिन करने मे एक दैत्य का रूप ना धारण कर ले!

बच्चे माँ-बाप का व्यवहार, उनका बॉडी-लॅंग्वेज का अनुसरण करते है, उनसे बहुत कुछ सीखते हैं| हम उनके मानसिक प्रवृत्ति और विकास का अहम अंग हैं|

बहुत सी ऐसे बातें है जो हम रोज़-मर्रा बिना ज़्यादा सोचे बच्चों से कह देते हैं जिनका उनके उपर बहुत गहरा प्रभाव पड़ता है| जैसे की

– उनके हमारी बात ना मानने पर चिल्ला कर डाँट देना

– उन्हे काल्पनिक चीज़ों से डराना (खा लो वरना फलाना बूढ़ा आ जाएगा!)

– उनकी निंदा करना दूसरे बच्चों के साथ उनकी तुलना करना

यह सारी बातें एक बच्चे की मानसिकता और पर्सनॅलिटी को प्रभावित करती हैं|

ऐसा तो हो नही सकता की माँ-बाप आपने बच्चों को डाँट ना लगाए, मगर जब भी लगाएँ, ध्यान रखें की आपकी डाँट में आपका प्यार हमेशा शामिल हो| अपनी डाँट को दुत्कार में ना बदलने दें| आपकी कही हुई हर बात आपके बच्चो को आजीवन याद रहेगी, एसलिए उनके साथ कटु वचन ना बोलें|

एस बात को ना भूलें कि, जो बदलाव आप अपने बच्चे मे प्यार से ला सकते है, वो कभी भी डाँट से नहीं आ सकता| माँ-बाप का सबसे ज़रूरी फ़र्ज़ बच्चो को प्यार देना और प्यार करना सिखाना होता है|

वो बच्चे जो आपने माता पिता से डारते हैं, उन्हे बड़े होकर दूसरों पर भरोसा करने में मुश्किल होती| वो अपनी भावनाओं को अपने भीतर क़ैद रखते हैं और विस्फोटक तरीके से उसे व्यक्त करते हैं|

अपने बच्चे का निंदक ना बनें, उनकी छोटी-बड़ी कामयाबी को सारहायें, उन्हे कम डाँट लगायें, समझाएं ज़्यादा, और अपने मम्ता भरे चहेरे पे दानवता की परछाई ना पड़ने दें|

अपने बच्चे को एक सशक्त एनसान बनने मे उसके हमराही बनें, याद रखें आपकी डाँट में भी आपका प्यार झलकना चाहिए!