Today’s school uses ineffective learning methods, such as parroting or copying, that do not help the child cultivate his imagination and critical thinking. Having spent half his day in school, the child needs in his spare time to engage in activities in which he can play and create freely.
Therefore, as parents, you are invited to provide him with as much variety of stimuli and activities as possible to enable the child to discover the potential of his abilities and skills and learn to use his imagination to find original and creative solutions.
Above all, it is good to try many extracurricular sports activities such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, football, ballet, cycling. In addition to the classic sports that all children have tried to a greater or lesser extent, it is good to try some “unusual” sports types, such as skating, (water) skiing, horse riding, rowing martial arts, yoga, etc. These activities have physical benefits, take place in a group context, and contribute to the cultivation of co-operation and solidarity.
Many activities can be done inside the house, both by playing together or the children alone. You can use simple materials in different ways than we are used to and create with your children original crafts and more. Some ideas that you can use as you want by modifying and enriching them are:
· Make candles, organic soaps, and other cosmetics and decorate them with various materials (gold dust, rhinestones, beads, etc.) – you can search for recipes on the internet.
· Use cans, plastic/glass bottles or jars, fill them with legumes, pasta, sand, stones, toothpicks, or any other “noisy material.” Decorate the containers with colored designs, and you have new musical instruments!
· You can write cards to give to friends using ordinary (cardboard, stickers, paints, beads, sequins) and unusual materials (feathers, buttons, fabrics, ribbons, dried flowers).
· Take the old frames from photos or paintings and decorate them in the same way. Use shells, pebbles, stickers, buttons, etc.
· Make various seals using corks, sponges, potatoes, apples, and anything else you can imagine!
· Paint using sponges, brushes of various kinds, sand, foam, glue, and experiment with different surfaces besides paper/watercolor, canvas, wood, thread, stones, special glass, etc.
· Make cakes and cookies and decorate them with sugar paste and colored candy.
· Collect the chopsticks from the summer ice creams, paint them, decorate them, and use them for bookmarks!
· Make original bulletin boards using: wood pieces, old frames without the glass, any wooden or metal object that can be hung on the wall, a part of styrofoam coated with fabric or paper, cork, adhesive paper for blackboard or corresponding special paint, pins, magnets, ribbons, rubber, discs and anything else you think!
· Make homemade play dough using only flour and water.
These are just a few of the infinite things you can make with your child! Search on the internet, get ideas, get inspired, enrich, experiment, and let your child take the initiative! Look for materials and items in your house that you don’t use and think about how you could use them in alternative ways. The result will compensate you. Both the child and you will feel proud that you can make such beautiful “miracles” in such simple ways. These activities have psycho-pedagogical benefits for children who learn by playing, but the best is to cultivate their imagination and become smarter.
Some ideas you can get from the following websites:
http://www.ftiaxto.gr/
http://www.gsheller.com/crafting-with-children-1
http://www.thecraftycrow.net/creating_keepsakes/
