Wednesday 26 December 2012

Thinking with your child


(continuation of Lateral thinking series….)

How can the child be encouraged to think in “problem” situations?

As parents, most of us are quick to offer solutions to “problem” situations. Each “problem” situation can be turned into an exercise that enables the child to think on his or her own. You may even simulate situations that let the child think and decide.

Situation 1: You are playing snakes and ladders with your child. The dice is lost or you hide it. Encourage the child to think of the possible ways to play the game. If the child has trouble starting, prompt with an option or two. 1) search for the dice 2) write 1 to 6 in chits and use it in place of the dice 3) buy another dice. 4)create a dice using a cube box ……

Situation 2: Your child is playing in the park and picks up a fight with another child. The immediate reaction is to offer a solution. Why not allow the child to decide ? Support where required with prompts like 1) Go to another park 2) resolve the fight by talking 3) play a game that both children like 4)ignore the child…………

Situation 3 : Your child refuses to share a toy with another child. Instead of coercing the child to share or offering a quick solution, explore several options with your child. 1) give one and take one 2) choose another game that both children would like to share and play 3) choose another day to play together 4)both children play different games on their own 5).........

A simple thumb rule: Stretch your child’s imagination only to the extent the child is comfortable. If your child does not want to offer solutions, so be it!!! Just sow the thought in your child.

HAPPY THINKING WITH YOUR CHILD...

WHAT IF s for children?



There are several concepts we, as parents, seek to explain to the curious minds of children. Sometimes, the absence of some thing/phenomenon explains the importance of that thing/phenomenon in a powerful way. For instance, What if there is no water? It allows the child to flex the thinking muscles and also appreciate the importance of water.

This can be played as a game with your little ones. We can increase the complexity based on the age group.

Some What if's ....

What if there is no sun

What if there is no tree

What if there are no cars

What if there is no wind

What if there is no house




Please share your "What Ifs" with this forum.

Creative thinking with day to day objects




What is required to induce creative thinking in children? 

         Just about anything around us can be used to stimulate a child's brain. For instance, soap boxes can be used as building blocks. The child can be asked to make different patterns with the soap boxes.You will be amazed with the different patterns your child can make with nondescript soap boxes!! The very box which otherwise would have found itself in the trash can stands tall in the hands of the young architect!! Call it a skyscraper or a tower; the child takes pride in his /her creation. Please share what your child likes to do with day to day objects.





































Letter made with nails or match sticks

Unleash the creativity of your child–Empower them to CREATE toys


An expensive brand new toy arrives in a brand new box. There is twinkle in child’s eye, excitement high in the air. But the novelty and charm lasts only for a couple of days and there after it is sitting in shelf gathering dust. Sounds familiar???
Well, one rainy day, children getting bored indoors and started negotiating  for some TV time.
“How about we make a double decker bus with these empty shoe boxes?” mommy pops the question.
Soon enough, ideas started pouring in. “Let’s make a triple decker bus”. The action starts with a design of the bus and the steps to do written out by Abhinav.
So, two shoe boxes, some old cardboard pieces, poster colours and lots of creativity, look at what we have “CREATED” and happiness of creating and playing with it is priceless. Like the popular Master card Ad – “The cardboard box that came with the Toy – Priceless”. So very true.

Check out the card board house made with very little effort and some scotch tape.  This has been a major entertainer for the last few weeks since its creation, serving as a Dr’s clininc, a kitchen, a grocery store and many more.

Can you imagine the joy and the empowerment a child derives out of “CREATING” something!





Do you have a story to share? Please do send us.

Lateral thinking in children





How can we inculcate lateral thinking in children?

Lateral thinking is concerned with the generation of new ideas…

Lateral thinking is also concerned with breaking out of the concept presence of old ideas. This leads to changes in attitude and approach; to looking in a different way at things which have always been looked at in the same way. Liberation from old ideas and the stimulation of new ones are twin aspects of lateral thinking.
(Edward de Bono, Lateral Thinking)

It is a myth that “out of the box “thinking cannot be inculcated. We bring a series of thought provoking activities that will help the child think laterally.
Here is what we can suggest for today.
Ask your child different uses of a common object. For instance, what all can you do with a ruler apart from measuring and drawing a straight line? I asked my 5 year old what all can a shop be used for apart from selling goods; he came up with 5 different options: one was “use it as a shelter when it rains”.
When we practice this repeatedly, the child does not take any object for granted. So, the child can build toys out of scrap. The child can use his school bag to protect himself /herself from rain. And so on………
We request each of you to share more such activities with this community.
So , wishing you and your child a happy lateral thinking!!

Game design - an art


As we all know, game design is an ancient art. People love to spend lot of time coming up with new games.

On that note, what can be better than encouraging our kids to design their own games? This will give their creative minds an amazing boost and also a sense of satisfaction playing their own designed games. Designing a game will include all the aspects of creativity. Games should be easy to understand but challenging. Answering questions like how many players? What is the winning strategy? What material is required and so on will keep their thinking minds going.


Once I was playing a good old game of Snakes and ladders with my 5 year old and an idea came to my mind. Why not change this game using some ups and downs of our own like – Car tire punctured on the way so loose one turn, Car battery is charged so advance 2 places and so on. We had so much fun coming up with our own ‘ups and Downs’. After that day, he always wants to design his own game and play with it.
Another interesting way to nurture their creativity is designing a crossword puzzle. Take a topic like sports. Help them design a crossword first and then ask your child to come up with ‘Across’ and ‘Down’ clues for that puzzle. Give these clues to another family member to solve that crossword puzzle.
The possibilities are endless and each child can expand his/her creativity in this area.


Being a parent



"One of the great privileges of being a parent is witnessing, close up, the flourishing of a young mind. But that's not the only benefit. In trying to make the world a more interesting and comprehensible place for their child, parents often find their own intellectual interests rekindled."


- Michael Schulman

Ragi Cake Recipe

ThinkBag brings you a series of nutritious yet yummy recipes to tickle your tiny tots taste buds!


Enjoy Ragi – packaged in the form of a cake – an irresistible snack for children and adults! Ragi is an excellent source of Calcium, Iron known to strengthen bones and nervous system.

As most of the moms can relate to, it has become a challenge to make our children eat nutritious food that actually excites and appeals to their taste buds.

Try this recipe to make that Snack Box healthy and yummy too.

Ingredients:

1 portion Ragi flour
1 portion melted butter
3/4 portion sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Vanilla essence (optional)
Any dry fruits (optional)

Recipe:

1. Preheat Oven on Bake and broil for 10 mins. at 150 degrees C.
2. Grease the baking pan with butter from all the sides
3. Melt butter and mix it with Sugar.
4. Break 3 eggs and add to the above mixture.
5. Whisk it and add Ragi flour.
6. Mix the above mixture. No lumps should be formed.
7. Add Baking powder to the mixture and whisk it again.
8. Pour it in baking pan and put it in preheat oven.
9. Leave it for 20 mins with Bake and broil at 150 degrees C.


50 Snack ideas






50 Snack ideas for children – Handy list for Moms!


Moms, here is a handy list of snacks for your fussy little eaters. There are tons of ideas out there. This is just a beginning!!! Please share with us, what your precious likes to munch on. If you need a detailed recipe for any of these, please let us know.




Sandwiches and Toast

1.Nutella Sandwich
2.Multi grain grilled cheese sandwich
3.Fresh veggie sandwich with keera, tomatoe and pudina chutney
4.Potatoe sandwich ( Mash the boiled potatoes, add some peas and cook )
5.Toasty Paneer sandwich
6.You can use any of the ingredients below as toppings for the toast.
7.Grated carrot + cheese
8.Tomato + Cheese
9.Sprouts + cheese
10.Spinach sandwich
11.French Toast

Parathas
12.Aloo, methi, palak, carrot, muli, peas, gobi , paneer, beetroot parathas


Dosas
13.Adai dosa
14.Sweet Dosa ( use jaggery or sugar for the sweetness)
15.Rava Dosa
16.Moong dal dosa
17.Ragi Dosa
18.Egg dosa
19.Cheese Dosa
20.Vegetable Dosa
21.Wheat Dosa

22.Different kinds of soups( fresh and home made )
23.Milk shakes with different fruits

Regular/Baked Puris
24.Palak Puri
25.Methi Puri


Tikkis
26.Aloo tikki
27.Soya Tikki
28.Spinach Poha cutlet
29.Noodle vegetable cutlet

30.Chick peas sundal
31.Peanuts sundal
32.Boiled Masala peas

Vadas
33.Sabudana vada
34.Urad dal vada
35.Chana dal vada with palak
36.Moong dal vada with palak or methi
37.Mixed gram vada with palak or methi

38.Poha
39.Vegetable Semiya pulao
40.Dahlia
41.Tomato Upma

Sweet Snacks
42.Ragi Laddoo
43.Wheat laddoo
44.Rava laddoo
45.Dry fruit laddoo
46.Peanut laddoo
47.Oats laddoo
48.Urad dal and jaggery laddoo
49. Coconut and jaggery laddoo
50.Sesame seed and jaggery laddoo

Home made Pizza in the Pan



Pizza Base:

You can use the readily available pre-cooked Pizza bases from stores.

Pizza Topping:

Take a pan, put some oil and add cut pieces of onions, tomatoes, capsicum and any other vegetables.
You can even add sprouts to sneak in some good stuff.
Sauté the vegetables and add some salt and Italian seasoning.
Cover the lid and cook the vegetables for some time.

Spread the above topping evenly on pizza base and top it with grated Pizza cheese.
Take a pan big enough for the pizza base. Add slight butter or oil and place the pizza base in pan.
Cover the pan and cook on low flame for some time.
As cheese starts melting, turn off the stove.
Viola, few minutes and very little effort - home made Pizza in the pan is ready!

To make it even more fun, involve your child in cheese grating or spreading the topping on pizza base!

You can come up with different toppings like paneer, black olives, Pineapple and jalapeno and many more!


Yummy Ragi Dosa Recipe


1. Soak whole urad dal ( the whole white urad dal used for Idili/Dosa) for half an hour

2. Grind it into a paste with red & green chillis and some curry leaves

3. To the above paste, mix Ragi flour and 2 table spoons of curd.
4. Mix water and curd, as necessary, to obtain a "Dosa batter" like consistency
5. Add vegetables like onions, grated carrot, tomatoes, curry leaves and corriander leaves. Add salt to taste.
6. If your little one does not like to chew on leaves, grind them with the urad dal as in step 2.
7. The Ragi Dosa batter is ready.
8. Make yummy ragi dosas with ghee.
9. Serve it to your little ones with sambhar, chutney, potato curry or just plain curd.

ThinkBag wishes your little ones "Happy eating".





Making food interesting for kids



As a parent, we all want our children to eat well and stay healthy. We get worried when our children become fussy about eating. " I do not want more". " I am not hungry". " I want to play now". Can we make food interesting for kids? Pick a topic that your child likes. For instance, animals. Why not make their snack in the shape of animals (or any other shape your child likes)? Use the shape cutters that come along with the clay packs. Needless to say, wash them well. Make Parothas, biscuits, dosas and so on in the shape of different animals. Involve the child in the process and he/she is more likely to enjoy the food. Please share more such “interesting food” ideas.


Rolling paratha

cutting shapes

Looks at those shapes


yummy!!

Recipe for colorful Dahi Rava Idli


Step 1: grease a pan with little oil. Add mustard seeds, cashew nuts(cut into half), curry leaves. Add rava (around 1 small tumbler). Cook for a few minutes while stirring.

Step2: allow the mixture to cool
Step 3: now add fermented dahi to the rava mixture. Mix thoroughly till you achieve proper consistency to make idlis. Add salt, mint, coriander leaves and mix well. Keep aside for five minutes.
Step4: divide the above rava and dahi mixture into four parts.
Part 1: add finely ground tomato and mix well. This gives you red idlis.
Part 2: add blanched and finely ground spinach leaves and mix well. This will give you green idlis.
Part 3: add little turmeric powder. This will give you yellow idlis.
Part 4: keep it as it is to give you white idlis.
Step 5: steam the idlis for 10-12 minutes.
Step 6: allow a few minutes standing time
Serve along with coconut chutney or mint coriander chutney and/or sambar.
Kindly note:
1) one medium sized tumbler rava should give you three to
four idlis of each color.
2) you may chose to add finely chopped vegetables like carrot, beans or even peas in step 2
3) in addition to children, the colorful dahi rava idlis serve as a healthy and tasty snack/ breakfast to the diabetic elderly at home too!
So make your breakfast colorful and enjoy!! :)




A quote by Rabindranath Tagore


"The child learns so easily because he has a natural gift, but adults, because they are tyrants, ignore natural gifts and say that children must learn through the same process that they learned by. We insist upon forced mental feeding and our lessons "

-Rabindranath Tagore

A quote by Robert Fulghum



"Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you"


~Robert Fulghum

A quote by Malcolm Forbes



"The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one."

- Malcolm Forbes

ThinkBag's First Story Telling Session!!!


Loads of fun, eager participation ,creative juices flowing , a dash of suspense,a touch of humour, the spirit of Diwali and best of all a full hour of pumped up action and excitement, sums up the first ever story telling session under the banner of 'ThinkBag'. We thank you all for the support and your best wishes! This has been a major accomplishment for us as we start off our series of Story telling sessions.

With an overwhelming response of 17 children , we started the session with some singing and then some getting to know each other. Then started the story!  The children instantly connected with Binku, Tinku, Tia - the lead protagonists , their furry friend Mr Ruffles, the very popular, funny and creative Uncle Dev.The curiosity levels rose as children got to know about Uncle Dev's cool new inventions - the mood sensor, the Wachauki ( Watch + torch + Walkie Talkie ).

Soon enough, children came up with their own inventions. We had ideas flowing like a flying race car, a car that can have multiple fuel options, a puppy phone ( that has a ring tone of puppy - this came from a 4 year old ),creative greeting cards and many more…. Then came the part where children agreed that it is good for all of us to have a smoke and noise free Diwali and some of their insights on what smoke and noise can do to us. They thoroughly enjoyed the creative and eco-friendly fire crackers made by Uncle Dev! Now comes the twist of missing Ruffles and the suspense involved in finding him. Once again children gave lots of ideas onthe possible places Mr Ruffles can be looked for. As the story concluded, children could not wait to make their own Mr Ruffles! As they put on the masks they created, we got to do some role playing barking like Mr Ruffles!!!

Thus concluded our fun filled session!!!! Looking forward to many more….





Story telling session in progress


Kids busy making masks

Wonderful masks made by children







Marble Painting


A sheet of paper, a closed box, a marble and some poster paints. What can you create with these??
Any guesses?

Well, to start with, here is some thing.
Check out marble painting! Very simple to do and too much fun!

STEP1: Take an enclosed box into which you can roll a paper easily.
STEP2: Cut the correct size of paper and roll it inside the box.
STEP3: Take a marble, dip it in your favorite colour paint, drop it in the box and close the lid.
STEP4: Shake the box as much as you can and let the marble inside do its job!
STEP5: Open the box, take the sheet out!!! Viola!!!
STEP6: Don't stop! Dip the marble in many more colours each time and shake away!
And that's not all. You can certainly add your own creative twist and do much more!
Can you think of any other ways to marble paint?

Do share with us. Happy marble painting!





Art work created by dipping marble in three different colours one after another and shaking! Viola! Painted canvas ready!




Why not involve children in household chores?



When you mop, your little one is ready to mop. When you chop, your little one is ready to chop. Your little one does not mind mopping the rest rooms either! And then, there are times when you have an urgent chore to do and your kid wants you for something else.

Are there times you wish you could do your daily work without such interruptions? What if you involve your little one in the household chores? Why not? Our daily chores that are so very mundane for us actually fascinate children.  Which are the household chores into which the child can be involved?  Please share your experience and suggestions.

Sweeping helps them learn the importance of cleanliness.



Mashing potatoes : All the finger muscles are exercised here; and there are higher changes of eating what they cook, Is it not?

Channelising energy in children


Channelising energy in children

"My child is full of energy the whole day. Are there any activities that can channelise this energy?" Based on a request from one of the parents, we share with you some activities that kinesthetic children might like.




“Self-esteem is as necessary to the spirit as food is to the body.”


“Self-esteem is as necessary
to the spirit as food is to the body.” 
~ Dr. Maxwell Maltz




Once upon a time there were two seven-year-old boys, named Bruce and David. They both had mothers who loved them very much.
Each boy's day began differently. The first thing Bruce heard when he awakened in the morning was , " Get up now, Bruce! You are going to be late for school again."

Bruce got up, dressed himself - except for his shoes and came in for breakfast. Mother said, " Where are your shoes? Are you planning to go to school barefoot?........ And look at what you are wearing! That blue sweater looks awful with that green shirt... Bruce dear, what have you done to your pants? They are ripped. I want you to change them after breakfast. No child of mine is going to school with torn pants... Now watch how you pour your juice. Don't spill it the way you usually do!"

Bruce poured and spilled. Mother was exasperated. As she mopped up the mess, she said " I dont know what to do with you."Bruce mumbled something to himself. " What was that? Mother asked. "There you go mumbling again."

Bruce finished his breakfast in silence. Then he changed his pants, put on his shoes, collected his books and left for school. His mother called out, " Bruce , you forgot your lunch! If your head weren't screwed on to your shoulders, I bet you'd forget that too."

Bruce took his lunch and as he started out the door again, mother reminded him , " Now, be sure to behave at school today."


David lived across the street. The first thing he heard in the morning was , " Seven 0'clock , David. Do you want to get up now or take five more minutes?" David rolled over and yawned. "Five more minutes," he mumbled.


Later he came to breakfast dressed, except for his shoes. Mother said, " Hey, you are dressed already. All you have to put on are your shoes! ..... Uh, oh- there is a rip in your seam of your pants. Looks as if the whole side could split. Shall I sew it up on your while you stand up or would you rather change?" David thought for a second and said " I'll change after breakfast." Then he sat down at the table and poured his juice. He spilled some.

" The clean up rag is in the sink" Mother called over her shoulder as she continued making his lunch. David got the rag and wiped up the spill. They talked a while as David ate his breakfast. When he was finished, he changed his pants, put on his shoes, collected his books and left for school - with out his lunch.

Mother called after him, " David, your lunch!" He ran back to get it and thanked her. As she handed it to him, she said, " See you later!"


Both Bruce and David had the same teacher. During the day teacher told the class, " Children, as you already know, we 'll be putting on our Columbus Day play next week. We need a volunteer to paint a colourful welcome sign on our classroom door. We also need a volunteer to pour and serve the lemonade for our guests after the play. And finally, we need some one who will go around to the other third-grade classes and make a short speech inviting every one to our play and telling them the time day, and place."

Some of the children raised their hands immediately, some raised their hands tentatively, and some didn't raise their hands at all.

Our story stops here. Thats all we know. About what happened afterwards, we can only guess. But it certainly does leave us with food for thought. Take a moment now to consider these questions and answer them for yourself.

1. Would David be likely to raise his hand to volunteer?
2. Would Bruce?
3. What is the relationship between how children think of themselves and their willingness to accept challenges or risk failure?
4. What is the relationship between how children think of themselves and the kind of goals they set for themselves?

- Extract from the book

" How to Talk so Kids will Listen & Listen so kids will Talk"- By Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish




ThinkBag's Second Story Telling Session!!!





ThinkBag's Second Story Telling Session!!!


Here goes our second successful story telling session. This time it was more than a story “telling" session. Children actually became a part of the story, mid-way. How did that happen...? Well, read along and find out. One Sunday morning, Binku, Tinku woke up to find a well-crafted pencil holder made with ice cream sticks...Uncle Dev had made it. He posed a question "What else can you do these ice cream sticks?" The little participants of the session jumped in with answers like" puppet, tree, flower etc". The story moved on with the twins inviting their friends over for an ice cream party but the toy room door gets jammed and they are unable to play with their toys. What do they play with now? As they children sat with sad faces, Binku got a wonderful idea. “we have these ice cream cups. Why can’t we invent our own games and activities with the cups?" Kids loved the idea.
And that's where our story listeners became actors in the story.

The story came live with participants becoming Binku, Tinku' s friends. Soon ideas poured in for what they could play or do with ice cream cups. Build towers with cups; play bowling with cups as the pins. So the kids made a big circle with cups and played jumping in and out without stepping on them. Then they divided into teams and each team built a structure out of their own imagination with the cups. Some made flowers, tunnels, alphabet L, towers and castles. Lo and behold, yet another interesting activity!!!! They were supposed to transport cups from one end of the room to another without using hands. Children came up with all possible ways and within minutes, some kicked, some tried to pile up the cups b/n chin and chest, some wore it like a shoe and moved them to the other end. As a grand finale, children expressed their own creativity and imagination using the cup and came with a master piece!!! They drew many different things on the cup : house, flower patterns, lake with sea creatures, volcanoes, colourful tree, furniture ; the list is endless. There was even a bracelet made of cup! It was a pleasure to watch their enthusiasm and creativity.


Children busy making creative things out of ice-cream cups
Nice bracelet

Some more creativity

Games with ice-cream cups




Tuesday 25 December 2012

Engage your child in thinking in free time


Engage your child in thinking in free time




What does your child do when you are waiting at the clinic , billing counter, railway station???
Some children explore on their own; there are others who get bored and still others who just want to leave the place.

Can these waiting instances be utilised for bonding with the child by playing a game or two?


For the 3-5 year olds:At the clinic, you can play games like : How many "+" signs can you spot? How many alphabet "A" can you spot in the chart?, even a pretend game of a doctor and patient.
At the billing counter: Lets count how long it takes for our turn. Lets identify objects of similar shapes in our cart. weave a story...
At the railway station:. Count the compartments, observe and name the clothes worn by different people, how many different types of travel bags did you notice... Sky is the limit here :)
For older children, you can spark engaging conversations starting from what a stethoscope does to how heart works. The child can also choose to seek answers from the doctor. At the billing counter, the child can be asked to calculate the change that needs to be given back to you or what are the roles and responsibilities of a super market manager! You can even play Pictionary with older children; all you need is a rough sheet of paper and pencil.
Or , you may choose to just listen to whatever your child says... Listening too is a great bonding exercise.
We also share what one parent Sowmya posted on our page :Another game we used to play in traffic jams - pat/shout on seeing a vehicle with double numbers - eg: on seeing a vehicle with number KA 05 N 7741, pat saying seven seven aloud.Thanx Sowmya for sharing.
HAPPY "WAITING"!!

Sunday 23 December 2012

About us






About us

We at ThinkBag love 3 things - Kids, Books and Stories. We made up stories for our kids. And then we thought, "why not reach it out to your kids too?" Thus started ThinkBag : Stories that let the child imagine and explore.

Mission
To create an 'Edutainment par excellence' that brings out leaders, thinkers and researchers in children.

Description
Want your children to be original thinkers and leaders?

For this, the child needs knowledge, cognitive, social and emotional development with an ability to be independent and appreciate interdependence. 

We, at 'ThinkBag' are in the process of creating stories that helps the child experience each of these facets.



ThinkBag Team

Mathangi & Srilakshmi - Founders of ThinkBag




Both of us like to explore and share ways to provide an enriching environment to our children. This inspired us to embark on this creative journey called “ThinkBag”.
Come, join us in this endeavor. Share, learn and unlearn and together make a difference to our children.
Watch out for “ Whee” – e-story book series and "WOW" e-magazines penned by us.



Priya Bhide:





Priya is giving shape to our kids’ magazine and supporting us in all other areas too. She is a passionate mom of two and always on her toes to creatively raise her kids. She is a Masters in Computer Science and worked in the software testing & Quality Assurance field before quitting the job for her kids.


Subha Parthasarathy



Subha is our story critique. Her useful insights have helped us fine tune our stories. She is the founder of MagicHive : an initiative that helps improve the parent / child understanding and communication. She regularly conducts parenting & teacher’s workshops, activity classes & play therapy for 4-10 year old and counseling parents/adults on various issues. Her blog http://iamone-onlyone.blogspot.in/


Shyam Phatak



Shyam Phatak ji is penning stories for us. A Bcom (Hons) graduate with 30 years of banking experience, Shyam ji retired as a senior manager in a leading nationalized bank. He is an amateur Poet and a published children's story writer. His stories have been published in the well-known Children’s Magazine “Tinkle.” He is the author of books - “Secrets of Speed Reading” and “Make Your Child A Winner” and Biographies written for students on “Nelson Mandela” and “Sir Winston Churchill”.

A quote by Howard Gardner



"We should spend less time ranking children and more time helping them to identify their natural competencies and gifts and cultivate these. There are hundreds and hundreds of ways to succeed and many, many different abilities that will help you get there."
- Howard Gardner

Creative ways to empower our children to read








Creative ways to empower our children to read




"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss. When it comes to reading, different parents have different concerns.  “My child likes to be read but does not like to read on his own.  It is difficult to make him sit and read. She likes to sit for hours with Barbie, but not with a book………”
Why not rekindle our creative self and weave reading into activities the child likes? Click on these photos for some suggestions.  Please share your ideas and experiences with this forum. Let us learn together!

Friday 21 December 2012

Albert Einstein on Imagination


“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

- Albert Einstein



How do you engage your little ones during festivals?

How do you engage your little ones during festivals?


The festival season has begun with Ganesh Chaturthi.  Yes, its going to be fun. But, we need to do a lot of running around : buying ,  cooking, cleaning, arranging…..   Involve them too…..Their little hands can mould clay into Ganesha, Paint & decorate Ganesha,  do a Rangoli, sort out flowers, carry out Visarjan!,  the list is endless……..        And do explain to your child the harmful effects of immersing plaster of paris idols in lakes and rivers. Please share with this forum what else did your child do on Ganesh Chaturthi?