Hoop and Balls

Through my business, I often help parent and child care centres create activities that will promote healthy development and achievement of next milestones. There are so many things you can do with your child and they are very cost-effective. Generally, you will have the materials sitting around in your home somewhere or you can be creative and think of your own substitutes.

This hoop and balls activity is a great one which will stimulate several areas of development; both fine and gross motor, manipulative, sensory and cognitive. Depending on what your child decides to to with the materials, will determine which area gets exercised the most. The only materials you need are- as you may have guessed: a small hoop and one or two balls ( size of a tennis ball). I have decided to use textured balls; such as massage balls to allow for sensory development, but any ball will do.

Place the hoop on the ground and put one or two balls inside. I like to have materials set up before Lachlan wakes in the morning or afternoon; this way when he walks into the room he is greeted with new objects, uninfluenced of how I sat them down or moved them. See what your little one does. He may be intrigued by the ball and decide to explore that first. Perhaps he like the hoop. He'll be working on different grasps as he picks up both of these objects. At some point he will realise that if he moves or drags the hoop, the ball will move with it. The direction and way he moves the hoop will determine the direction the ball rolls and how fast or slow it will go. This process shows cause and effect while exercising his manipulative and gross motor skills. Lachlan also discovered that he could put him self inside the hoop, either by crawling into the hoop or by lifting it an placing it around him. For obvious reasons, you should always supervise your children when they are playing with the hoop. They may get aggravated if they can't remove the loop from around them and could pull it towards their neck during this frustration. As with all activities, keep a close watch and offer guidance when needed.

Try adding these other ideas for additional play:

• Add cars with the hoop (the hoop makes a nice 'speed bump' obstacle
• Older children can play a ring toss came with the hoops and buckets
• Toddlers can practice hooping other larger objects such as a bucket, doll, basket etc and practice pulling them towards them.
• School-age children can practice rotating the hoop around their foot and jumping over it with the opposite foot. They can also use it as a hula hoop for their waist, neck and arms.
• Have more ideas? Please leave a comment and share with others!

Stand By Me

Our little prince is getting more brave every day. Recently we've been catching him play this new game he's invented. He finds a wall or uses his cot railing and while standing lets go to see how to see how long he can stand independently until he flops back on the ground. The first time I noticed this he was in bed and I was trying to convince him that it was time to go to sleep for the night. Of course, as most babes, he had other plans of his own and he was not going to settle in for the tonight until he was satisfied with his task. With a huge smile on his face he wobbled like a tower of Jell-o until he crash landed on his bum.

As Lachlan has been getting more confident in his balance, he has been testing it more and more. He enjoys holding on to something with one hand and then balancing on one foot. He likes to take this a bit further and trys to lean to the side while on one foot. Part of me thinks that he might have a shot in a ballet company in the future. I certainly find it interesting and also entertaining to watch him come up with all these new tricks while he tests out his abilities. I often don't know what his overall goal is, but he does and when he accomplishes something he gets so excited; the smile on his face says it all.

The last few weeks Lachlan has been testing the waters with trying to stand by himself for longer periods of time. I happened to glance over at him while he was quietly playing; trying to get a toy out of a basket and he stood for five seconds unassisted. This has been the longest thus far and I was so proud of him!

Who knows when he'll be ready to walk. He is getting more interested, that's for sure; as he uses any thing he can find as a walker. He is also starting to get more restless during the night, when he usually sleeps through. Our brain, a most amazing organ actually maps out the first walking steps while you are sleeping. To do this, it stays in active sleep a lot longer than in deep sleep. This is why many parents often around 9-12 months, often feel like their child's routine has gone out the window and wonder what on earth is going on; their once perfect, sleep-through- the- night bub is now waking every few hours! Well, little bub can't help it. His brain is on a map out mission, connecting all the dots, piecing everything together which it has observed in the world around him to create a single movement- the first step. I told you it was amazing stuff! As parents, all we can do is be patient during this time and ride it out. You'll often find that when your bub gets up in the middle of the night, they are not fully awake and seem somewhat 'out-of-it.' Some parents describe their child as having a glazed look on his face, while others eyes are completely shut but they are crawling or pulling up in their cots. Though the child may be conscious of what is going on around him, he is actually still in a state of active sleep. The best thing to do is to not disturb this state. Once he wakes from active sleep, you will have a hard time putting him back to sleep. Either see if he'll put himself back to sleep or help him if he is upset by giving him a pat or 'shhhh' or reminding him that he can use his comforter such as a pacifier or blankie. Avoid taking him out of his cot, which may wake him. Generally children fall back to sleep; some will sleep on until morning and others may repeat this process every few hours or so,as the sleep cycle repeats itself. If meeting the next milestone is the cause of his sleep disruptions, you should notice a big difference after he starts walking. Parents are often amazed by this revelation and can't believe it until they witness it for themselves or think back and say, "Ahhhhh, yes. That explains a lot!" Pre-walking isn't the only time time when the brain acts up in this fashion; any big milestone acts as a trigger. Lachlan went through the same process right before he began crawling. He'd constantly wake and I'd see him half asleep trying to push up on his hands and knees.

Once you understand what is going on inside the brain of your little one, you actually tend to feel quite sympathetic towards their situation. So have patience. It is one of the MANY challenging phases- with lots more soon to come! Until then, happy walking...and sleeping!

Tummy Time Tips

A common question I often get from new moms is; 'how can I make my child like tummy time?" It is a fact that many bubs don't particularly enjoy being on their stomachs. This time however is  very important to their development as it helps them build strength in their arms, shoulders and back. Lachlan wasn't particularly found of being on his tummy at first either but here are some tricks that made it much more enjoyable for him:

1. When your bub is on his tummy, get down on the floor in front of him so that he can see your face and share in your enthusiasm. Give him lots of praise for his efforts.

2.Give your little man (or girl) a massage! Lachlan absolutely loves being on his stomach during his evening massage. He enjoys arching his back as much as he can and turning his head to try to see what I am doing.

3. Use a bolster to help support his chest. This will make it much more comfortable for him while he is on his tummy and allow him to build strength in his arms. Simply use a bolster pillow or make your own by rolling up a towel and securing the ends with soft bands (make sure your baby can't take them off as they could be a choking hazard).Place the bolster under your bub's chest and underarms with his arms stretched out in the front. Lachlan doubled his tummy time tolerance after I made a bolster for him. If he got tired he simply laid his head to the side on the bolster until he was ready to push up again. It also allowed him to practice reaching for objects more easily.

4....and my most favourite!....Lie on your bed or sofa with your head and back propped up a bit as if you were comfortably lying and reading. Put your bub on your chest tummy down. Talk, laugh, sing songs and smile. Many bubs love this position as they can easily gaze in your arms, feel the warmth of your body and feel secure with your arms or hands supporting their bum so they won't slide off. A word of advice: put down a little towel of burb rag to catch any drool that most likey will fall you way!