Preschool Activities with Teach Me Mommy » winter

Better TV Watching

Wendi — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:00:13 +0000

With the weather getting colder and the days shorter, it’s often easy for children to start spending more and more time watching TV. Rather than give up, here are some simple things to make this a good activity in your preschool child’s life:

Decide together home much time they can watch TV a day.
Practice selective television viewing by going over the television guide in your Sunday paper and deciding in advance what you’re watching and when.
Watch your child’s television programs with them. This will allow you to make suggestions and to have discussions about what is being shown, making the activity more interactive and less passive.
Help your child to understand the difference between the world on television and his real world.
Use television viewing as a springboard to reading. For instance, a TV show about wild animals could prompt a visit to the library to find books on these subjects.
Help your child to avoid watching TV while eating a meal by having family meals away from the TV. A 2002 study from The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center showed that children who eat meals in front of the TV spend more time watching TV—more time than it takes to eat their meals. They believe this promotes overeating and minimal activity and thus increases the risk of childhood obesity. The children in the study who watched more than 2 hours of TV a day weighed more than the children of the same age who watched less than 2 hours of TV a day.

So while TV may be an unavoidable part of most children’s lives, these simple ideas can maximize the positives and minimize the negatives.

Cheap winter undershirts

Jill — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:33:42 +0000

Instead of buying winter undershirts for your children, have them wear their short-sleeved summer t-shirts. They will probably be too small by next summer, so you can get more wear out of them by the children wearing them through the winter under heavier, long-sleeved shirts.

Don’t Lose Those Mittens!

Jill — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:18:47 +0000

One of the frustrating things that mothers have to constantly deal with in the winter is keeping track of mittens or gloves. This is a quick and easy idea: if your child’s coat has buttonholes, sew buttons to their gloves or mitten. That way he can just button his gloves to the coat when he takes it off.

Is That You Winter?

Brittany — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 01:39:37 +0000

Is That You, Winter?, by Stephen Gammell
When Old Man Winter awakens to bring winter to the world, he gloomily wonders whether everyone even notices him. But when a little girl picks him up, he is reassured that his efforts are appreciated. The unique and colorful illustrations will be a refreshing glimpse for your child into a different side of this chilly season.

Little Fern’s First Winter

Brittany — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 19:37:09 +0000

Little Fern’s First Winter, by Jane Simmons
After Mama Rabbit tells Fern that winter is coming, Fern runs outside to play hide-and-seek. But when all the other animals won’t let Fern hide with them because they’re getting ready for the first snow, Fern doesn’t understand. She soon discovers the delights of snow after uncovering her friend from beneath its layers. The simple, clean pictures beautifully reveal the freshness of a newly fallen snow.