150 Inspiring Educational Activities for 2 to 7 Year Olds: Games for Development Of: Whole Brain Learning, Listening Skills, Social Interactions, Communication, Self-Calming, Respect, Sharing, the Senses, Imagination, Creativity and Much More.

By Helen Hansen D. Psych ECD

150 Inspiring Educational Activities for 2 to 7 Year Olds is a quick reference for parents and teachers, describing each area of a young childs life and spicing it with appropriate exercises to enhance IQ and EQ. Early childhood development teacher and director of numerous childrens plays, Helen Hansen, includes more than 150 of her most rewarding games that can be enjoyed by young and old.

Chapters include the following:
Breathing
Listening
Speech
Imagination
Stories
Colors and Shapes
Puppetry
Singing
Expression
Intuition
Movement
Rhythm of Life

Extended chapters are Conscious Discipline, where methods for tantrums are explained, and Speech, which contains expertly crafted speech exercises for six months of practice.

Included is a wholesome story about Itumeleng, the joyful dolphin who learns an important lesson about consequences.

If you desire to understand and teach your children at their developmental level through inspiring games that guide through play, then 150 Inspiring Educational Activities for 2 to 7 Year Olds is for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Dec 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504371032

Helen Hansen D. Psych ECD

Helen Hansen is a transformational facilitator with a background in developmental psychology and early childhood development. She taught and observed thousands of children for nearly two decades in a program of creative developmental arts as well as at her school, Forest Friends Kindergarten. Helen wrote and directed nine plays featuring casts of only children, ranging from eleven to ninety-four performers. Her productions were hosted at the Baxter Theatre Centre in Cape Town and the Barnyard Theatre in Johannesburg. During this time, Helen was performing extensive research and experimentation in right brain learning as she continued to expand her teaching curriculums. Today Helen lives with her husband, son, and three dogs in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she practices kinesiology and provides workshops for parents on wholeness parenting.

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Copyright © 2016 Helen Hansen.

Author Credits: Dip, D. Psych, ECD

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-7099-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-7100-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-7103-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016919921

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/10/2016

Also by Helen Hansen:

Living an Inspiring Life with Young Children

The Conscious Parenting Guide

5 Nourishing Tales for Children

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

YOUR GREATEST TEACHER

BY HELEN HANSEN

1.UNDERSTANDING THE YOUNG CHILD

2. UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES

3. PERCEPTIONS

4. INTUITION

5. HARMONISE YOUR BRAIN, INSPIRE YOURSELF AS A PARENT

6. HEALTHY BODIES = HEALTHY MINDS

7. NATURE

8. THE RHYTHM OF LIFE

9. THE BREATH

10. SINGING

11. MOVEMENT

12. EMOTIONS

13. LISTENING

14. LANGUAGE & CONVERSATION

15. SPEECH

16. WHOLESOME STORIES

17. PUPPETRY

18. VISUALISATION

19. SHAPING COLOUR

20. CONSCIOUS DISCIPLINE

21. CONCLUSION

ITUMELENG

BIBLIOGRAPHY

This book is

dedicated to:

all the conscious parents and teachers of young children.

Nothing is so important about the universe as your participation in it

Deepak Chopra

FOREWORD

In ‘150 Inspiring Educational Activities for 2 to 7 year olds’, Helen begins by drawing attention to the fundamental concepts of understanding the child (in mind, in brain, and in play), and just as importantly, understanding ourselves (especially with regard to the conscious and subconscious minds, and how to gain new perceptions by breaking old habits). The sometimes unacknowledged fact that our children are just as much our teachers as we are theirs is discussed in some detail, before beginning the series of chapters which make up the body of the book.

Intuition: intuition is quite simply that gut reaction that we can sometimes feel, whether it be instant or subtle. We all have intuition; it can help with survival. Children live very strongly in the present moment, and therefore have a highly developed sense of intuition. As educators, Helen stresses that we need to recognise and trust in our own intuition in order to encourage the same in our children. Children recognise doubt – so trust in your own inner voice! This will encourage children to trust in theirs.

Healthy minds = Healthy bodies: When our minds are at an equilibrium, so will our bodies be. We know that our psychological state can affect our immune system. Balancing our minds can be achieved by living in such a way that our highest values are being fulfilled. If we as educators feel fulfilled, this will reflect positively on our children, and they will feel the beneficial effects thereof. Play is such an important part of balancing children.

Conversely then, balanced bodies = balanced minds, of course! It is just as important to feed our bodies correctly and nutritiously as it is our brains. On a basic level, we need to be eating fresh, whole and organic foods – children can and should be educated from the very start regarding healthy choices! Helen warns to watch out for food intolerances or allergies – they may be reflected in behaviour. And always, less sugar!

Nature: nature provides us with the core fundamentals in life – fresh air, clean water, fresh produce. Mother Earth holds everything we need to nourish us. Encourage bare feet – feeling the raw earth beneath one’s feet is grounding, and connects us to the earth. Being outside offers space and can lighten dull moods. Gardening is a great way for kids to connect to Mother Earth. The Rhythm of Life includes us in day and night cycles, as well as seasonal cycles. We are part of nature! Inner balance can be achieved by respecting our outer world. Children are naturally in rhythm; there’s an organic ebb and flow to their make-up. By creating a day that flows, we can allow for the daily routine to follow these rhythms.

The Breath: it comes naturally to children to breathe and to move, as moving is essential to health. Encourage good breathing habits in your children with breathing exercises – these can be used to calm or inspire.

Singing: singing is not only artistic, but is also intellectual, as it stimulates both left and right sides of the brain. Singing is also a wonderful tool to promote conscious breathing. Children feel rhythm from singing, lyrics provide language experience, and sound vibrations are healing and restorative. Sing with your children in a myriad different ways! Also introduce instruments, and body movement.

Movement: young children can appear restless – they know they need to move, as at this age they are discovering the world primarily through their limbs. Once we as educators understand this, we can use action to communicate most effectively with children this age. Gender specifics may start to emerge through body expression at this stage. We need to encourage expressive gross motor movements.

Emotions: emotions are visible and are signals to show positive or negative states of mind. Encourage tears as well as laughter! Role playing is a highly effective method of allowing children to explore their emotions safely. The emotion or emotions can be freely expressed, and then the child can return to reality.

Listening: listening is a skill which requires practice. Children will learn to listen if we listen to them! Listening is a sign of respect, and makes children feel that they have something worthy to say.

Language and Conversation: words carry emotions – they are vibrations of sound which attach meaning. Children cannot connect the two as the same. When there is no object connected to a word, the brain will create its own image (imagery). Imagery is developed through conversation and storytelling, and it is therefore crucial to talk to your children from an early age, and to tell them stories.

Speech: clear, audible speech makes for better understanding. As an educator, adjust your speech to be slower, and use a lower tone. Children’s speech can have a large impact on the opportunities that will be presented to them later on in life, not only in academics but in other areas too. There are many fun activities to play with your children using sounds.

Silly Rhymes: silly rhymes are a brilliantly fun form of speech exercise using exaggerated articulation. The content thereof is relatively unimportant. In the book Helen provides some fantastic silly rhymes to use, as well as the speech focus of the rhyme. (Don’t forget these on long car journeys!)

Wholesome Stories: make sure stories, like the movies that children watch, are suitable. Tell your own stories where possible, and try to avoid definitive sides representing GOOD and BAD (this can be confusing for young children). Imagery generated in the child’s brain from storytelling helps to create important neural pathways.

Puppetry: children love puppets! Keep them simple to allow the child’s imagination to fill in the details of the story. Puppet shows can be interactive.

Imagination: imagination is creative thought. Children naturally have brilliant imaginations which should be encouraged, but not overstimulated. Imagination helps with brain development in the sense of conceptualising. Visualisation is an extremely useful tool to develop imagination, the importance of which cannot be overemphasised. Using visualisation, children can be what they choose. Visualisation can calm a child, help to focus, and even be used to handle a difficult situation. It can also develop empathy. Helen shares a lovely visualisation sequence in the book.

Painting: colour can affect mood. Watercolour is a fabulous medium for children to explore different colours and the weaving together thereof. Colouring in specifically of shapes and patterns is a calming activity. Geometric patterns are especially beneficial as they reflect the patterns of nature. There should be no rules to colouring in – just allow the child to colour!

Environment: the space in which children live and learn will influence their mental wellbeing. Curves and shapes are comforting, whilst choice of colour and pattern is also significant.

Discipline: it’s difficult to allow children to make mistakes, but it is vital to allow them to do so! Let the mistake be their teacher! We also need to teach by example, obviously good manners and respectful behaviour demonstrated by us as parents and teachers will be duly mimicked. Children also need to learn their own values, and those values need to be given space to shine through. Discipline is teaching, not correcting or punishing. We need to learn to teach with praise, and also to praise specifically. It’s so important to uplift our children every step of the way.

Each chapter has a section called Inspiring Activities, which offers practical activities to apply to the particular concept that has been discussed in that chapter.

Helen’s passion for education really shines through these pages, and I have found it to be an incredibly useful reference book. It’s the ideal go-to whenever looking for inspiration, and I highly recommend it to any adult involved in any way with the education of the wonderful children of this world!

Janet Neilson

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This book would not have been possible without all the children who I taught, directed and facilitated through my creative dramatic arts programme and kindergarten.

Thank you to my dear hubby Alosha, for always believing in me.

Thank you to my mom, Christine Hansen, for being a consistent role model.

Thank you