Ask the Expert: Ideas to keep your kids engage this May holidays

Hello there! I found that having some anchor activities daily for the children that do not change can establish a good time sensitive routine. This would give you chunks of time to be productive. I think children need to be trained and conditioned. They are fairly resilient as well, so when explained to them, this way of managing children at home and getting your things done can be possible. Of course give yourself huge compassion - there will be good days and bad days. :)

Hello there! A couple of mediums are winners in this - water and clay! I have known this to work for children from 18 months onwards. For water, set up a safe space for your child to play with it in a little tupperware or container - depending on age, they will fascinate themselves on how water can 'change' in terms of shapes and size. You can then intermittently introduce other elements like their toy dinosaurs or other small objects to have a little bath. :) Another idea is to freeze their small toys in a tub of water and give them a safe object to chisel away the ice. For clay, because of its ever changing texture, children are usually engaged for an hour at least. Extend this by giving them different tools to explore clay with or make something. If you need access to safe clay for children, you can pick it up here: www.klaykit.com. :)

Hi there! Children primarily explore the world through play. They touch, feel, squeeze things and for a good part of their early life, put things into their mouths to explore them. They are fundamentally wired to explore their surroundings through sensorial means which is why when we play into the strength of this the brain can be optimally engaged for your little ones. When this is done, learning can be longer lasting and impactful.

Hi there! Research says that learning through play allows for lateral thinking which means thinking about a topic from different aspects as opposed to just one dimension. This is good for developing abstract thinking, problem solving skills as well as creativity and innovation.

Hi there! This is a great question especially given how we have all suddenly needed to embrace screen time, digital lessons and so on. I think it is very important not to create an association between screen time and device dependence when satisfying primary needs. So for example watching something while eating. This is a good start and many parents, no fault of theirs do resort to this for various reasons, but when something so basic and fundamental such as eating is paired with a device watching, your brain cells are forming an associated connection with the device which is then very hard to unpair. This mechanism is also at play when a device is used to soothe a tantrum. As far as possible, try not to use a device to ease a heightened emotional state. Also when using devices, it is best to prepare the child with a time limit and also not give them the devices early in the morning or late in the evening as this would disrupt their rhythmic cycle. Hope this is useful. :)

Hi, this is a great question! Have you played with clay before? The texture of clay is very different from any other medium. There is a grounding, therapeutic effect with clay. The texture also changes as you are playing with it. It can go from wet, cold, squishy to hard, powdery and dry. It can be reengaged by adding water to it. Other malleable mediums only have a constant texture to it, for example oily and sticky for the whole duration of its lifespan. Therefore, clay keeps the brain engaged as its texture is ever-changing and is great for children!

Thanks so much!

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