Full article from the Term 2 No 2 2007 Newsletter
 

Our winter holidays are fast approaching - and children are looking forward to the adventures, activities, and freedom from routine that accompany these wonderful times.

This year, more than ever before, we are all hoping for a very wet season to help ease the effects of the long periods of drought experienced throughout parts of Australia.

But what happens when this much needed rain (or currently, even flooding rain) keeps the children confined indoors for days on end?

How can we ensure that children enjoy these days to the fullest, while avoiding the easy way out of allowing them to spend endless hours glued to the computer, playing video games, or mesmerized by the television screen?

Recent research studies by the American Academy of Pediatrics and also by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, have found that on a typical day, pre-schoolers are likely to spend as much time in front of the television or computer as they are playing outside - three times longer than the time they spend reading, looking at books, or being read to by parents or siblings. Children aged six and under spend an average of two hours a day playing video games, using computers, and watching TV and videos, about the same amount spent on outdoor activities.

The study found that even the youngest of children are no exception. In both Australia and the USA, nearly two-thirds of children under two spend a couple of hours each day in front of the television screen.

In fact, many of Australia's top paediatricians have recommended that children under two years of age not watch TV at all, stating that this is an absolutely critical period for children's development -- for their intellectual development, their social and emotional development, and their physical development.

The Royal Australian College of Surgeons is concerned that inappropriate material is damaging young minds, and suggests that parents and educators limit the time older children are exposed to television and computer programs.

Research has also found that excessive TV watching may affect children's reading abilities. It has been found that children with a television in their bedroom or who live in households where the TV is on "always" or "most of the time" -- are less likely to be able to read by the age of six.

Researchers say that these findings should raise concerns about the importance of the early years on children's development, and that using TV and videos might displace more interactive and constructive time for learning.

The research findings provide essential understandings for educators and parents alike - highlighting the importance of our crucial roles in guiding the leisure-time activities of children.

To keep any screen activity (TV watching and computer activities) to a minimum, it is important that parents set time limits to how much, when, and what children can watch. It is highly recommended that parents choose programs carefully, and actively help children to find other options to occupy their free time.

When children are confined indoors for long periods of time during winter school vacations, it is particularly important for their developmental well-being and happiness that they are encouraged to choose activities that are challenging, motivating, and educational, as well as being entertaining and fun.

Commercially produced games are available for all ages and levels of development - and are an invaluable resource for wintry days. They are great presents for birthdays, and can be passed down from generation to generation. Board Games have existed in some form throughout human history, but have only been commercially published since the 1800s. Some traditional favourites, even today, include

Tiddlywinks (1888)
  Sorry! (1934)
Monopoly (1935)
Snakes and Ladders (1943)
Scrabble (1948)
Clue / Cluedo (1949)
Yahtzee (1956)
Concentration (1959)
Risk (1959) )
Twister (1966)
Uno (1971)
Trivial Pursuit (1982)
Balderdash (1984)
Scotland Yard (1985)
Pictionary (1986)

Both traditional and recently developed board games and card games have wonderful value for families, and groups of friends playing together, encouraging the social values of co-operation, taking turns, sharing, winning and losing gracefully, working with a partner, waiting patiently, and encouraging others.
Through their interactions while playing these games, children practise and develop the social skills so necessary for successful interactions throughout their lives.

Children will love to invite friends to play these games during the long winter days. It's amazing how the time will pass very quickly when shared with a special classmate from preschool or school.
It can be lots of fun to print the following ideas onto strips of paper, and place them into a "lucky dip box" - children can then take it in turns to pull out a "lucky dip idea" to choose their next activity:

create a puppet show using a range of toys; make shadow puppets
change the characters or plot in a traditional tale or rhyme, and tell the story to your friends
 (eg "Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Bears) - for lots of fun and laughter!
 take a trip to the local op-shop to choose new and exciting costumes
dress- up; make-up clown faces with face-paint
create imaginary creatures with play dough; make your own play dough from flour and water recipe
play with bubbles and bowls of coloured water in the bathroom
bake biscuits; ice and decorate
build a tent with blankets, chairs, pillows and a torch each
play board games and card games (Snap, Happy Families, Fish)
exercise (dress up in leotards and play aerobics to favourite music)
cut out pictures in magazines (paste to make a collage or a book)
carve soap into fun shapes
pencil and paper games (Hangman; Join the Dots; Noughts and Crosses; crossword puzzles;
 puzzles)
Jigsaw puzzles
sewing (scrap materials, needles, needle threaders and thread)
play hide and seek inside
play "shops" (make a pet shop with stuffed animals, write signs, make up interesting names
 for your pets)
make a "restaurant": play "chefs" and "waiters" use paper plates and cups; create menus; make
 up dishes from rice, oats, dry pasta; invite "guests" to dinner
have a picnic on the floor
play "Simon Says"
play with a balloon (keep it off of the floor); make "balloon people" by drawing faces on balloons
 with texta
play with blocks, and small toys to create a city.

A large cardboard box with a firmly fitting lid can be purchased inexpensively at Art Supply stores - in the weeks leading up to the term vacation, fill it with all sorts of scrap materials that come your way: feathers, pieces of cardboard, coloured paper, string, plastic shapes, shiny objects, small boxes, packing foam, rubber bands, cotton reels, bottle tops, pine cones, corks, envelopes.
Children can spend many hours creating wonderful objects from these tiny treasures! Don't forget to display their art work for the family to appreciate at the end of the day.
Painting using a variety of materials
Drawing with pencil, crayon, texta, chalk

When selecting activities and games for children to play, educators often turn to Gardner's theory to provide a theoretical framework. The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. Howard Gardner has suggested that there are at least eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults.

Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals.
Games that help to develop children's linguistic skills include:
Balderdash
Boggle
Scattergories
Scrabble
Questique
Charades

Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. It entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.
Many traditional games , including Strategy Games , are excellent for developing logical-mathematical skills:
Chess
Uno
Uno Stack
Risk
Chinese Checkers
Draughts
Battleship
Cranium
Lego technic

Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.
Children of all ages love to
Dance and sing to music
Listen to favourite CDs
Make and play musical instruments from pots and pans and junk materials
Create their own music
Sing to Karaoke
Write new words to a classical tune
Perform for the family

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Howard Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.
Indoor games that build upon bodily-kinesthetic intelligence include:
Twister
Pick-up-Sticks
Jacks or Knucklebones
Building Card Houses
Marbles
Jenga (5+)
Operation

Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.
Lego
Lego Technic
Meccano
Duplo
Blocks
Marble Racer Construction Set (Ages 4 -8)
Spaghetti Junction
Jigsaw puzzles
Memory Games (Kim's Game)

Gardner also identifies Interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence as important aspects of children's development. Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. Playing games with others, learning to abide by the rules of the game, and learning to accept the outcomes of chance and competition, certainly assist the development of both interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.

By encouraging children of all ages to read, and play a wide range of creative and educational indoor games, parents will be providing opportunities for them to develop in all the areas so important for their social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. And, most importantly, the children will have great fun, and thoroughly enjoy their time spent indoors on cold and wintry days.

Article written by Helen Newton, (Associate Kathy Walker & Associates, and former primary school principal).

Helen Newton