Lately I’ve found myself wanting more for Kwabena. Not in terms of materialistic possessions, but in terms of more creativity, and more quality experiences in his day.
Some time ago I had checked out some books from the library on Homeschooling and Montessori education, of which these books offered many fun and educational suggestions on things to do at home with your child. I gravitated towards these things because I was (and am) feeling like I don’t do enough with Kwabena at home to stimulate his mind. Or, at least, I don’t think I have been.
Our routine is as follows: wake up, get dressed, I leave for work, Kwasi dresses Kwabena and takes him to daycare, I come home in the evening, Kwasi and Kwabena come home, I make a mad-dash for the kitchen to figure out (usually on a whim) what dinner will consist of, interact with Kwabena a bit while we eat dinner in front of the tv (I know…definitely not a good thing), bathe Kwabena, help him dress for bed, read him a story, and then get up the next day for the same routine.
Weekends are less hectic, but I still don’t feel that the weekends have provided much more opportunity for quality interactions and learning opportunities, either. Or else I haven’t been taking advantage of the opportunities….
I feel that Kwabena watches too much tv… that the tv is on too much, creating distracting background noise… and he’s not offered very many stimulating activities while at home. It’s parents’ responsibility to lead the child, not expect the child to just know what to do on their own, with little direction.
But I’m ready to change all that. I want more for him. I want him to have all the things I didn’t. I want him to have the opportunity to flourish and discover new interests, and to become the best that he can become, without his environment hindering him.
So I’ve found some cool websites that offer so many fun activities to do with preschoolers, such as:
- Drawing a body outline of your child, and then decorating it together.
- Demonstrating to your child what salt trucks do by experimenting an ice cube with salt poured on top versus an ice cube that has no salt.
- Do a funny face collage with your child by cutting out facial features from various magazines and putting them all together.
- Make a space constellation.
- Pretzel art.
- Fill a bucket (or during bath) with water and show your child 5 things that float and 5 things that do not float, and then explain what floating and sinking is and why it happens.
- And the list goes on…..
I realize that there are more creative ways that I could be spending my time with Kwabena than how I have been spending it with him. Granted, we go fun places, go for walks occasinoally, do cool things like research tornados, which he’s been into lately (what did parents do before YouTube???). I also bought him some awesome packs of cards from Target for $1.00 that show pictures on the front of insects, or planets, or animals, and on the back is information about what’s featured on the front. All of these things are attempts to open up his mind to different activities, concepts, etc.
I didn’t have this growing up. When I think back to my childhood, I honestly can’t remember my mom doing these kinds of things with me. I don’t know if she even had the capacity to do these things, considering her stressful situation of being a single parent of two small kids, with no help. Who knows. But I just know that I can do more to be a better parent to Kwabena, and I have the ability and resources to open up a whole new world to my son. And damnit, I’m going to do it.
If you’re interested in some of these preschool activities, go to:
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