meaningful play – Days With Grandma

An Honest Check In On How It Went

This weekend, I got excited about writing a couple of blogs that brought me back to my teaching days. In fact, I was feeling darn good about the fact that I pulled together ideas from many places to produce a Monday through Friday list of plans all broken down, loosely, by Multiple Intelligences. I was thinking “Wow! You still have it, girlfriend.” And so then, I took yesterday off. It was Sunday after all – the day to rest.

But Then…

Monday morning, I leisurely opened up my previous blog post so that I could simply download the little worksheets, check the art project link from Pinterest and enjoy a cup of coffee before they arrived.

I opened the first document. Selected “Print” and then looked at the sample. It was all wrong! Luckily I have the original so I quickly opened that one and printed it successfully. But my heart was racing. I didn’t save a lot of time for prep! I opened the next document and it too was showing up wrong. That one was supposed to be a sheet filled with raindrops that just needed to be cut out. Unfortunately, I had to simply freehand those. Thank god, they were just raindrops. They were, however, looking a little like teardrops by the time I cut out 24 of them! Then I went to the Pinterest link to just look at the umbrella project..Wait, more to prepare? Sure enough, I had to draw up two umbrellas and two handles – both freehand because I didn’t have time to see if they had included a free template.

Ok, ok, I had everything cut out and ready with just a little time to spare. I had forgotten that the written plan is just step one. Step two is prep! Don’t forget the prep! And prep is no joke, especially with little ones. Luckily, my basement has an art table already covered with a drop cloth and the paints were on the table from a project last week.

And Then They Arrived

In came two precious little ones but the mama already looked exhausted. The oldest one didn’t want to get dressed so she was in her pajamas but then at the last minute she wanted to add one of her princess costumes complete with a cape, tutu, a crown, and her magic wand.

Rapunzel I think but then she became Elsa later on

And her little sister apparently completely lost it because she did not want to take of her fireman pajamas. Unfortunately, they were wet so she didn’t have the option to keep her’s on.

Then, the umbrellas both came as I’d asked but one was broken and they wanted to immediately open them up and play with them even though my “plan” was to have that as a great activity for later.

So Be Flexible Went Into Place

And then seconds later, they simply wanted to play with the toys at grandma’s house. Time to just take a breath and let them just be.

After some time of free play, I called them over to see the book/video that I wanted them to watch. Anything that has to do with technology has them stop whatever they’re doing and run. So that was a grandma win.

The story “Rainy Day”. They watched it two times.

Finally ready for the art project

By this time, they were ready to go to the basement where I had all the things ready to do a “fun” project.

They, however, had other ideas when they saw the downstairs toys. So, relax grandma. It’s all good.

Finally, I got them over to the table and was quickly reminded of the rule of keeping everything out of reach until they were ready to do the first task. And, of course, I was the one to dump some paint.

Luckily there was paper on top of the drop cloth and that paper will come in handy again later. You’ll have to wait for that one.

We actually got through one project, kind of successfully, and that was it! They just wanted to play then and grandma was done!!!

So, we completed about 2.5 things on the overall plan for the day

Yup, that’s it. We played a little bean bag toss, watched the video about rain, and did one project. But the best part is, we can just continue the activities tomorrow and I followed my rules of:

S -imple is best

M – ake it fun

I -llustrate but…

L – et them lead

E -njoy this time with them.

And we did that! Smile after smile after smile!

And the One Finished Project?

It was decided to fill in the spaces with the names of the characters they were by the end of the day – Millie and Geo

We are entering week two of the Coronavirus Isolation. Many moms and dads are trying to work from home and take care of their children. For older children, the schools have identified ways to stay connected on-line to help keep the kids learning. However, daycares also closed. These little ones are home now with parents who are stressed. Some are out of work, some are trying to maintain a paycheck by working from home. No one has the time to figure out how to make each day happy for all concerned. That’s where I maybe can help.

Retired Teacher – Grandma

My previous working life was spent with children. I know a few tricks for playing with little ones but this has even tested me. I am dusting off my previous learning and trying to pull together balanced activities for two grandchildren that I watch three days a week. I have the good fortune of living right next door.

So, first I started with a plan to connect some like activities (see previous post). It was pretty simple and involved lots of painting, a little play dough, one book, and a walk outside. As I am sitting here, in my quiet, though I thought I can do better than that. I know some things about learning.

I tend to go to what I enjoy…art projects. And that does not always satisfy a child’s needs.
I know there there are multiple ways for children to learn and a good/balanced day will include these multiple approaches.
I also know that it’s fun to plan everything around a theme. It helps to control my short attention span…and their’s.
And, above all else, I know that the best laid plans won’t always work.

S-imple is better
M-ake it fun
I-llustrate but…
L-et them lead
E-njoy this time with them
S.M.I.L.E

First I Dusted Off My Memory of Multiple Intelligences

There are several great sites online to simply google but this one from Scholastic actually gave a list of ideas. My grandchildren are young so I have to improvise but I always had to do that in my career, so this is just a good creative activity for me. From the list I think the following with work well with my 2 and 3 year old.

Verbal-Linguistic (Word Smart)

Words, Words, Words, Words, Words!
Talk to them about everything.
Label everything.
Read book after book after book and talk about the pictures.
Repeat rhymes over and over again.
Let them make up stories.

Logical-Mathematical (Number Smart)

Count everything (How many steps it takes to get upstairs, how many books did we read)
Show patterns
Make repeating patterns
Ask questions like “What will happen if we put this color with this color?” “What might happen if we drop oil into the water?” “What will come next?”

Spacial-Intelligence (Picture Smart)

Little ones learn so much about the world from story books: the pictures represent some form of reality. Then, if a child can replicate pictures, characters, settings with common objects is thrilling.

Break out the puzzle ideas. Make some related to the theme. Cut up pictures into the number of pieces that your child can successfully put back together
Break out the play dough and the cookie cutters. Make samples of the things that you’ve been talking about
Draw pictures of the characters, the weather…anything that links to your theme
Build structures with legos to keep the stories going.

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

I can’t speak for all children but I know that my grandchildren love rhythm and music. There is something about music that soothes the soul.

Listen to all kinds of music. Whether there in car seats or running around the house, music sets a tone. So if you want things to quiet down, play quiet music. If you want them to get up and get moving, play quick music. ETC.
Children’s music, nursery rhymes, and simple songs are so great to encourage little ones to sing along. Playing the same music over and over again helps them succeed.
Make up songs. I have been known to turn most everything into some kind of song. It doesn’t fail to put a smile on their faces. In time, I’ll ask them to make up a song.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)

It’s a no brainer that little kids need to move but letting little kids just race around and jump off furniture is not safe. And, Grandma has more anxiety about bumps and bruises than when I was younger so…I encourage control.

Role playing is fantastic. Crawling like a caterpillar, flying like a butterfly, leaping like a frog, jumping like a kangeroo are all controlled movements.
Find fun movement videos that get kids moving. Here is one called Super Simple Songs
Take the cushions off the couch and let them climb and jump from a safe height.

Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)

Little ones move through developmental stages. In the beginning they play alone, then slowly move into a side by side and then cooperative. Being able to negotiate the changes as they happen is so important. Right now my 2 and 3 year old struggle with sharing. That makes it more important than ever to give them opportunities to practice.

Almost all activities we do have a component of taking a turn. Talk them through it. Don’t expect it to be learned easily or quickly. Praise them for their patience and willingness to share.
Encourage play that helps each child play their part. The 3 year old, right now is into playing a Disney character. She usually dictates what role her sister plays but for right now it’s working and they play successfully this way.
This is a good time, also, to practice good manners – Saying “Please” and “Thank-you” and “Can I take a turn?”

Intra-personal Intelligence (Self-Smart)

Little ones are developmentally self absorbed so this one is easy.

Identify body parts – simple point and name games
Touch your head…touch your toes
Find things that are their favorites…favorite book, favorite song, favorite toy and name it as such. This is C’s favorite toy, This is N’s favorite song.
This is a good time to have them answer question like “which one do you like?” This gives them the power of a choice.

Naturalistic-Intelligence (Nature Smarts)

Whenever the weather is nice, we go for a walk. Even during this time of isolation, we can still be outside. So, weather permitting we…

Go in search of…one day it was finding all the RED cars, one day it was listening for birds, the latest was looking for signs of spring (flowers popping up out of the ground, squirrels running around, birds singing),
Find nature objects to collect and bring back to use as a paint brush, nearly everything works. Don’t forget to bring along a bag. They will find a lot.
Plant seeds, start your own garden.
Walk in a woods to find a greater variety of leaves, plants, animals.

Now It’s Time To Plan

Going through this activity alone has refreshed me on how important it is to vary a child’s play. I am going to print this list off and keep it next to me as I plan this next week. I have been guilty of falling back on what is comfortable for me. I need to push myself out of my comfort zone to make sure that I let my littles practice every way of learning. I am going to develop next weeks theme and I will share it here.

Stay tuned.

Tag: meaningful play

The Reality of a "Plan"