Tag: As a parent

Number Recognition Activity 0-9

This is one of the first activities that we put together for getting the girls to recognise numbers from 0-9. This up-cycled number matching box activity combines both the fine motor and the math skills in one go.

Materials Used:
  • Cardboard box (we used Surf Excel and Ariel Matic detergent powder boxes which are pretty strong and capable of enduring child play)
  • 10 popsicle sticks
  • Wooden coloured numbers available for craft work; alternatively, you could re-use cardstock which the children have scribbled or painted to create the numbers
  • 10 stickers to label the detergent powder box
  • Hot glue gun and Markers
  • Craft knife
Activity Preparation:

1) Using the craft knife, make 10 slits at different points on the cardboard box. Ensure that the slits are long and wide enough to insert the popsicle sticks.

2) Glue the coloured numbers 0-9 on to the popsicle sticks.

3) Place the stickers next to the slits and using a marker, write down the numbers 0-9.

We are ready to play with our DIY number matching box.

Play:

We, of course, created two boxes for O +ve and B +ve. Both the girls take their respective detergent boxes. They open the boxes and take out their set of 10 popsicle sticks. They enjoy finding each matching popsicle stick for the stickers on the boxes. As they begin matching the numbers, I start calling out the numbers, so as to practice number recognition.

When the girls were introduced to this activity, they took quite some time learning to identify 6/9, 2/5, 1/7. Now, they put the popsicle sticks in the slits in the chronological order of 0-9.

We have done this activity many times. The girls have learnt their numbers a long time ago, but they are still game to this activity to this day.

A little chocolate now and then does hurt

Very recently, I realized that there is a certain phenomenon happening with the girls. It looked so innocuous that somehow I missed it completely. It was just off the radar for me and now when I look back at all these incidents, I realize that these happenings have become so ingrained in our lives that we do not even notice it.

I am not referring to any top-notch event. Just that every now and then, with quite a bit of eerie frequency, girls are being gifted chocolates. It is not just the relatives or the friends who keep showering their love and affection through the brown thing, but the medical store guy, the security guard, neighbours, parents of children whom we meet at the park, why even the shopkeeper from whom we bought the feed for the pigeons; all of them keep giving the girls the chocolates / the lollypops (once a neighbour gave a giant-sized lollypop which was made in china with an expiry of 3 years, girls had to finally throw it off after 10  minutes).

This may sound like a bit of a kill-joy from my side as to why I won’t let my daughters enjoy. Well, read on, and let me know your views at the end of the blog.

Nutrition:

As I type this, I am having the ingredients and nutrition information of Cadbury Gems in front of me. Per 100 gm of Gems, we have 75.1 gm of sugar and 13.8 gm of saturated fat, with a 0.1 gm of trans fat added, we already reach 89 gm of the 100 g of Gems. It is made of hydrogenated vegetable fat, I don’t understand this ingredient, but surely does not sound/look good. (There might be a debate about milk chocolates and all imported ones. Let me know if you find one with sugar and saturated fats below 50%, at any point in time).

Pricing:

Paying Rs. 5/- for 8.9 gm of Gems, meaning it is Rs. 562/- per kg. Another way of looking at this is that raisins and dates are way cheaper than chocolates and almonds and cashews are just about 50% more expensive. Yet, none of these is anywhere seen as gifting options to children.

Options:

Talking of options, girls have a great liking for carrots, they can have cucumber and beetroot (which is currently Rs. 12/- per kg) as well – raw. I am sure that barring some exotic fruits that have been imported from Antarctica, all the fruits will be cheaper than these chocolates. But, none of these gets considered when it comes to pampering the children.

Pampering:

All the people who do gift chocolates get looked upon as favourites. We, the parents, who ask them to share/have it later in parts are considered as villains of the piece. Come on people, chocolates cannot be the sole way of getting yourself popular with the kids. Use your imagination, please.

Imagination:

A whole lot of marketing around chocolates has ensured that we lack imagination beyond them for options as gifts to children or ways of pampering them. Leave aside, fruits and dry fruits, there are no options of chikki, til laddu, puffed jowar, ragi mudde, coconut laddu for the children, as either it is not available in the first place or if present, it will be in such shabby form that children used to glossy covers will gloss over them.

I am in no favour of processed food loaded with sugar and fats to start the dietary journey of my children. For that matter, anywhere as the part of the food journey.

#NoChocolateForMyChildren. What’s your say?

Credit: Have adapted the title of this blog from a Charles M. Schulz quotation.