While playing mini-luk with my kids, I realized that my children knows how to match hammer to a nail.. they know a saw can be used to cut the tree. I know they have not seen those items. They told me they learned those from DVD! Undeniably, those DVD are really educative!
My son's favorite DVD are Little Einstein and Thomas. And most of his goodies has Thomas on it. Personally I like Little Einstein, so he has some books with Little Einstein. Buying books, toys with the character that children like will motivate them to learn, to read and they will spend more time with those toys. So, choose what they like.
Here are some examples in case you really do not know what is out there for you.
(Note: My intent is not really to promote for Amazon, but I figure out that using their associate program like this, the product will get updated)
Thomas is about trains working together to carry out some task given by their boss. this cultivate team works. Somehow boys like train. That's why Thomas is very popular.
My vote is for Little Einstein. I know nothing about music but I saw the DVD display songs and even pictures of Mozart etc.. The story is about a group of friends going on mission to find something. As the character "visit" around the word, kids familiar with this show will have good knowledge about music and geography.
Do not forget about Words World.. This is funded by the US government if I am not mistaken. All the character in this shows is build using letters. And it shows the spelling of each of the character. Look carefully at the picture below. Can you see the dog's body has the letter "d-o-g"? And the stage is build from the words "S-t-a-g-e"?
Lastly, checkout Bob-The-Builder. I believe this is where my kids learn how to use a saw, a hammer etc even at very young age. Bob is a carpenter? who always fixed things for neighborhood. The story is also about team work and to help people.
Showing posts with label Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Jigsaw Puzzles
My wife loves Jigsaw Puzzle but I don't - I simply do not have the patience. Children are known to be impatient and usually they cannot concentrate for a long time. So, it is a challenge to make a 2-year-old sit down and play Jigsaw Puzzle for 1 hour. But I assure you that this is possible with some training. That is what my wife did and as a result, my son could complete a 200pcs puzzle all by himself at the age of 3-4 years old.
The training should start with something very simple such as the following items. Please do not underestimate the effect of these. We started these when our children were about 1 year old. I think these games help the children pick up motor skills and get a sense of orientation and pattern recognition. It will take some time for them to be able to grab the piece. The bottom game in the picture is very unique and interesting where it lets the children change the clothing of the bear.
After the above training, we started with simple 4-piece or 6-piece jigsaw puzzles like the following. I bought this in Walmart with hardly a few dollars each. Also, note that the puzzle has a base to hold the pieces which makes it easeir to solve. I remember that I gave a lot of praises to the children so that they become confident.
My children love playing the jigsaw, may be partly because of the praises and encouragement. Practice is critical because "Practice makes perfect". When they are ready, we slowly increased to 10pcs, 25pc, 60pc, 100pcs and eventually 200pcs. Look at the following pictures of my daughter completing a 10-piece jigsaw puzzle. Notice that the character is "Thomas the tank engine", her favorite character. Look at her happy face!
Sometimes, I think we have to spend a little bit more money to purchase those jigsaw puzzles with characters that our children like, such as Thomas, Dora, Pooh etc. Yes, a jigsaw puzzle with Thomas character may cost 30%-50% more, but it's worth the money because my son would play with it more often, 1 hour every time, and gave me the precious peace of mind to concentrate on what I wanted to do. I find that my children would not hang on long to those puzzle with the pattern that they do not like. So, the special character does play a role to give motivation.
I was so lucky to get a lot of Thomas puzzles sold at discounted prices, one of them can even glow in the dark. All these help to keep the interests going. Look at the photos of my son at work! He completed the 100 pieces puzzle in less than 30 minutes. If not mistaken, I paid less than RM50 for the set in the picture, definitely this is not cheap. But considering the time, the frequency used and his lovely happy face playing the Thomas puzzle, I would consider my money well spent.
Now, my son is helping me to motivate his sister to learn and play jigsaw puzzles.
And he is also helping his sister to clean up the toys after playing. I always insist that they clean up on their own even at a very young age. My son is doing fine in this aspect, but his sister tends to attempt to "escape" from her duty and relies on her brother's help.
One interesting observation is that my son sometimes uses different approach in dealing with Jigsaw compared to my wife and me. For those jigsaw puzzle with a "base", he could simply pick up one piece and he would know exactly where to place the piece by memory. I find it amazing because there are 24pcs together and I find it extremely hard to do so. I observed the same behavior on my daughter. Now, at the age of 2, she is playing 24pcs jigsaw using the same method. They never start with finding fringe pieces like what adults usually do.
What's the benefit of playing jigsaw puzzles? Well, I think it helps to develop motor skills. It's not easy for a 12-month toddler to hold the small piece and put it at the right orientation and at the right place. Also, playing jigsaw puzzles helps to develop skill of recognizing the pattern and colors. In addition, it helps to build up their concentration skills.
What matters most to me is that my children love playing jigsaw puzzles, and when they concentrate on the jigsaw puzzle game, I can really enjoy my own time, reading books or surfing net. I just need to sit beside. Don't you love that?
The training should start with something very simple such as the following items. Please do not underestimate the effect of these. We started these when our children were about 1 year old. I think these games help the children pick up motor skills and get a sense of orientation and pattern recognition. It will take some time for them to be able to grab the piece. The bottom game in the picture is very unique and interesting where it lets the children change the clothing of the bear.
After the above training, we started with simple 4-piece or 6-piece jigsaw puzzles like the following. I bought this in Walmart with hardly a few dollars each. Also, note that the puzzle has a base to hold the pieces which makes it easeir to solve. I remember that I gave a lot of praises to the children so that they become confident.
My children love playing the jigsaw, may be partly because of the praises and encouragement. Practice is critical because "Practice makes perfect". When they are ready, we slowly increased to 10pcs, 25pc, 60pc, 100pcs and eventually 200pcs. Look at the following pictures of my daughter completing a 10-piece jigsaw puzzle. Notice that the character is "Thomas the tank engine", her favorite character. Look at her happy face!
Sometimes, I think we have to spend a little bit more money to purchase those jigsaw puzzles with characters that our children like, such as Thomas, Dora, Pooh etc. Yes, a jigsaw puzzle with Thomas character may cost 30%-50% more, but it's worth the money because my son would play with it more often, 1 hour every time, and gave me the precious peace of mind to concentrate on what I wanted to do. I find that my children would not hang on long to those puzzle with the pattern that they do not like. So, the special character does play a role to give motivation.
I was so lucky to get a lot of Thomas puzzles sold at discounted prices, one of them can even glow in the dark. All these help to keep the interests going. Look at the photos of my son at work! He completed the 100 pieces puzzle in less than 30 minutes. If not mistaken, I paid less than RM50 for the set in the picture, definitely this is not cheap. But considering the time, the frequency used and his lovely happy face playing the Thomas puzzle, I would consider my money well spent.
Now, my son is helping me to motivate his sister to learn and play jigsaw puzzles.
And he is also helping his sister to clean up the toys after playing. I always insist that they clean up on their own even at a very young age. My son is doing fine in this aspect, but his sister tends to attempt to "escape" from her duty and relies on her brother's help.
One interesting observation is that my son sometimes uses different approach in dealing with Jigsaw compared to my wife and me. For those jigsaw puzzle with a "base", he could simply pick up one piece and he would know exactly where to place the piece by memory. I find it amazing because there are 24pcs together and I find it extremely hard to do so. I observed the same behavior on my daughter. Now, at the age of 2, she is playing 24pcs jigsaw using the same method. They never start with finding fringe pieces like what adults usually do.
What's the benefit of playing jigsaw puzzles? Well, I think it helps to develop motor skills. It's not easy for a 12-month toddler to hold the small piece and put it at the right orientation and at the right place. Also, playing jigsaw puzzles helps to develop skill of recognizing the pattern and colors. In addition, it helps to build up their concentration skills.
What matters most to me is that my children love playing jigsaw puzzles, and when they concentrate on the jigsaw puzzle game, I can really enjoy my own time, reading books or surfing net. I just need to sit beside. Don't you love that?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
My children's favorite "Thomas the tank engine"
I think most people like to own a toy train, especially an electrical one, but most people at my generation do not have the luxury to own one.
My son was very lucky to receive his first train as his 2-year-old birthday present, which was Thomas The Tank Engine. At that time, I was posted to US, and it was sold for a reasonable price at Walmart.
Initially, I had to "build" the track for him. But slowly he learned to do that all by himself. Later I learned that playing Thomas actually helped my son develop his motor skills. As his interest in Thomas developed, I brought him to see a "real" one and let him take a real "train". My wife did a great job hunting DVDs in the library for him.
I noticed also that he murmured to himself while pushing the train, repeating what he heard in the TV programs. He would show everyone his lovely Thomas and for the next Birthday, he insisted a Thomas birthday cake.
We came back to Asia a year later. Over here "Thomas and Friends" were not as cheap as in the US. I really missed Walmart, Toys'R'Us, and Amazon which allowed me to purchase Thomas at a competitive price. For example, a Thomas electrical train costs USD5-USD10 in the US, but USD20 in Asia. I added a lot more Thomas' friends for my son, such as James, Percy, Toby, Diesel, Lady and Duncan whenever I had business trips. The grandparents also bought him more Thomas' goodies during his birthday. The track had been added substantially too to the extend that my wife gave me a "STOP" order.
Usually kids get bored with the same toys after a while. Luckily, my investment on Thomas for my son paid off. He continued to take good care of the toys. As he grew older, his designs of the track became more complicated and sophisticated. Definitely from the language he used while murmering words, I knew he was doing some imagination while pushing the trains on the track. Although the train was an electric one, my son usually did not turn on the motor but pushed it manually. It's quieter that way. Also, I taught him to use less batteries to save money.
His sister, being influenced by him, also adores Thomas the tank engine. Look at the following picture, with both of them in Thomas T-Shirts.
My good friend told me about a wonderful place called Thomasland in Japan. Thanks to "Uncle Y" who provided free transport and free lodging for us, my son visited Thomasland twice and my daughter once. Looked at their lovely pictures here. The first one was taken in 2006 and the rest in 2009.
I am glad that my children enjoy Thomas and Friends. Some of my friends asked me why I invested on this. Asian parents usually are more willing to invest in educative materials. The answer is pretty simple. I understand that children learn most effectively through play. I read about multiple intelligence by Dr. Gadner, and by playing Thomas, I can see the development of his linguistic skill and spatial skill. Most importantly, I want both my children to have sweet childhood memories.....
You may like to have one set of Thomas like the following one: :-)
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