The following is a guest post from our newest trainer, Pediatric Speech and Language Pathologist, Carol Lettko.

Here are a few go-to creative ideas to help keep your little ones engaged while reinforcing their language skills during play!
Remember to keep your child’s age in mind and modify the activity as needed. I hope you have fun with these ideas!

Bubbles
You can provide SO much language about the simple and fun act of blowing bubbles! You can talk about: blowing the bubbles; the bubbles are going up up up, and now they are coming down! (did you see how you just taught the concept of opposites by modeling “up” versus “down”?!), you can count the bubbles or sing a little made up song (“One little, two little, three little bubbles, four little bubbles go pop pop pop”!). Here you worked on counting as well as using repetition in the word “pop”.

For toddlers, rhythm and repetition are important to help them understand and start repeating words. You can turn it into a “receptive language” type of activity by having the child follow a direction with the bubbles (“Can you blow the bubble on mama’s shoe?…. versus blowing the bubble on your knee?) Here you worked on clothing identification versus a body part. Can you think of other places to have your child blow the bubble? You can work on turn taking…. Now it’s your sister’s turn to blow the bubbles. Turn-taking is a great skill to start working on to enhance the child’s social/pragmatic skills. Can your child say “my turn” to request the bubbles or “I want more bubbles” depending on what age he or she is? Be creative and the important thing is to have fun!

Forts
Does your child need some quiet time to relax? Throw a blanket over a table to create a quiet space to read books or play with their toys. Kids love to build forts! Let them bring a cozy pillow or blanket in their “fort” to create a safe quiet space to relax or listen to quiet music. Some of our children need what is called “sensory breaks” when life gets too over-stimulating. And do you need a break too?! Climb into this quiet space with your child and snuggle up and read a book together.

Scavenger Hunt
Movement and being outdoors is a great way to get those wiggles out! One of my favorite go-to activities is to go on a “scavenger hunt”! Let the child put their hidden treasures into a bag (leaves, stones, feathers, shells, bark, grass, etc) As you and your child find different treasures, talk out loud about what your child just found “Ooh you found a big round stone! My stone is tiny and rough”. (You just provided really rich language in which you used “descriptive words” such as big, round, tiny and rough). Keep on narrating what you and your child are doing! Remember, your child will stay more engaged if you follow “their” lead and talk about what they are interested in! Take your treasures back home and glue them onto a piece of paper, or let your child “paint” the stones or shells. They even love painting with water if you don’t have paint.

I hope these suggestions were helpful and that you can incorporate some of them into your routine this week! Happy playing and talking!

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Do you remember reading the back of cereal boxes, playing with empty boxes, and banging on pots and pans? Whatever happened to the enjoyment of the little things? The holidays are vastly approaching and we have the opportunity to be intentional about defining what we value with young children.

In a world where excess is valued above interdependence, how do we foster gratitude in young children? A 2019 study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies[1] found that gratitude is linked to happiness in children by age 5. This means that instilling gratitude in your kids at a young age could help them grow up to be happier people. 

We are seeing an influx of behavior in young children that is indicative of our I-centered society. Things like the inability to share, on-demand expectations, and incessant begging are now the norm. Children are now being targeted by advertisers. What was once a typical Saturday spent watching cartoons, is now a marketing minefield. Advertisers are doing their jobs to build an insatiable want, in young children.

Are we doing our job to counterbalance the narrative?

Research shows that people who are grateful for things that happened to them in the past felt happier in the present and more hopeful about their future. Perhaps giving your kids a childhood they feel grateful about now will help them reflect more on reasons to be grateful as an adult. Children remember experiences, they rarely remember things. Creating experiences where children can develop an understanding of the time, effort, and impact of interaction, can provide meaning and depth.

As parents and educators, we try to provide authentic experiences that honor children and are natural and unforced. It is a delicate balance in understanding that children do not know norms and customs. We are helping them to form cognitive awareness of harmony and interdependence. We have the opportunity daily to help children:

• Recognize when others have given them something, whether it’s something tangible like a gift, or intangible like time.
• Praise prosocial behavior. “I really liked the way that you shared,” or “I really liked the way that you said thank you.”
• Connect to the feeling that they are experiencing while receiving the gift.
• Understand more clearly what they are able to do for others. For example: get new toys, donate an old one. 
• Teach children the difference between a want and a need.
• Practice positivity. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. 

Parents and providers, you have the power to be the change that you want to see in the world. Cultivating gratitude is not a monumental task. It’s the little things that we do every day with our kiddos, in action. Practicing gratitude can be something as simple as putting a mason jar, a stack of Post-its, and a pen on your dinner table. Encourage your family to write one thing that they are grateful for every day. Read them aloud at the end of the month, and reflect on all the beauty that you have all experienced. Gratitude is simply pausing to notice and appreciate the basics that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food to eat, clean water, family, and friends. Helping children perform random acts of kindness is essential. Parents and caregivers who model gratitude help to reinforce its importance. A little kindness goes a long way.

In the spirit of gratitude, BANANAS is grateful for YOU every single day! We know caring for and educating our youngest children is more than a full-time job! Of course, it is rewarding, but please know that we know you are the hardest working, most dedicated, most patient and incredible bunch. THANK YOU!

Written by Ni McCovery
Professional Development Manager

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Licensed providers continue to be a reliable option and referrals of licensed providers in Northern Alameda County can be obtained by contacting the BANANAS Referral Service at 510-658-0381, referrals@bananasbunch.org, or visiting our Referrals webpage HERE.

These programs consist of:

Licensed family child care providers: programs that operate out of a provider’s home, and

Licensed child care centers: facilities that operate in non-home settings.

Once getting referrals, it is important to contact as many licensed programs as possible in order to compare and determine the quality of care. This can feel challenging now and BANANAS referral staff can discuss with you about best practices when looking for care during the pandemic. These practices should include:

• Thoroughly interviewing the primary caregiver over the phone.
• Calling references; people who have used the caregiver. These you can get from the provider.
• Making arrangements to see the program, and maybe observe the provider working with children. This is tricky these days. See if the provider would allow you to look through windows, over a fence or, at the very least, give you a tour on their phone.
• Checking their licensing history. These programs have earned their license from Community Care Licensing (Department of Social Services), and parents can contact https://cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/child-care-licensing/resources-for-parents or 844-538-8766 to get more information about a program’s licensing history.

Alameda County Department of Public Health’s Reopening & Recovery health and safety resource for child care programs and schools has very useful information and can be found here: Recovery | COVID-19 | Alameda County Public Health

When looking for an environment for a school-age child, ask questions of providers in order to help verify the quality of care and determine best-fit of child care programs such as:

• What activities and arrangements do they have for school-age children?
• How many children are in care and how are different age groups managed?
• Are student workstations setup, and is there high-speed Wifi that supports distance learning?
• What is the outdoor physical setting like, and how flexible is the schedule to accommodate the important play needs of children?

The state’s child care licensing agency recently issued an official notice regarding an application process for a temporary waiver. If an application is approved, this would allow a licensed program (or license-exempt program) to operate without a license, or “beyond the current conditions for licensure or exemption” – in order to expand capacity to serve primarily school-age children during this time. So, for instance, after-school programs or summer camps would be able to create full day, full week, school year option. It remains to be seen how many programs will be granted this expansion option. BANANAS is in communication with Community Care Licensing to make sure we are notified when and if these programs become available.

Even though licensed child care settings are a good option for families, during the pandemic it can be harder to find available programs with spaces for children. Therefore, here are some other creative solutions families are using:

Shared caregiver arrangements: parent-created child care situations where one caregiver is hired to care for the children from two or more families. The care can take place in one parent’s home or it can rotate among the homes of the participating families. Shared caregiver situations are completely managed by the participating parents and there is no license for this type of care, as long as it is happening in the parents’ homes. All the responsibility for screening and contacting references is upon the parents who are the employers of a domestic worker. This means there are tax, minimum wage, and overtime pay implications. Parents interested in hiring this type of care can contact BANANAS for more information and visit BANANAS Community Jobs Listings to post the job announcement.

Parents can also create care pods in each other’s homes, rotating responsibility for supervising the group (instead of hiring a nanny or tutor) and parents simply exchange their time and support. The key is that no one is being paid. Parents can also use BANANAS Community Jobs Listings at https://bananasbunch.org/job-listings/ to post their interest in forming a care pod and to look for others who would like to join.

This is proving to be a unique academic year during a difficult time for parents, teachers, child care providers, and school-age kids! But take heart, and remember that children remain resilient while caring adults ensure their safety and success.

The post The Fall Challenge for School-Age Parents by Heather Lang-Heaven appeared first on Bananas Inc..

However, it is a season filled with teachable moments and important values. Reflect on what you want your children, or the children in your care, to learn. Talk with them about the good things adults feel during this time of year. As a parent or provider, are you excited about spending time together as a family? Do you feel joyful about delicious cooking, or giving a simple gift to tell a person they are special?

As a way to model care and generosity for children, try the following:

• Be aware of over-planning and resist the urge to completely book the calendar. Children need unstructured playtime to process and relax.
• Stick with regular routines as much as possible. Children thrive when they know what to expect and this is especially important when they sense adults rushing around them with additional plans.
• Keep regular bedtimes too! Just as adults are tired from the busy season, certainly the children are. Infants need 14-17 hours of sleep per day, toddlers need 10-14 hours, preschoolers need 11-13 hours, and school-age children need 9-11 hours.
• Be flexible and creative if their behavior becomes a little challenging. Children are probably feeling the stress and excitement of the holidays too. Allow extra outdoor time to get out those wiggles. Playing alongside with them will help burn off adult anxiety too!
• Talk with children and remind them they are loved and special. They are a big reason why holiday traditions are fun. It’s important to honor and celebrate them!
• If your family is in a position to do so, brainstorm with children how they can help give back to the community and donate to families in need. These are some local Bay Area resources to help get you started:
• https://www.accfb.org/helping-alameda-county-neighbors-holiday-season/
• https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/ca-alameda
• https://www.handsonbayarea.org/opportunity/a0a0e00000E03icAAB

From all of us at BANANAS, we wish you a joyous holiday season filled with love, laughter, good food, and the time to make long-lasting memories.

The post Having Fun with Your Kids During the Holidays by Heather Lang-Heaven appeared first on Bananas Inc..

I remember when I first came across this quote from the patron saint of positive child development messages, Mr. Rogers, at a workshop. The show defined everything I believe about the value of play, and how fundamental it is for children to experience this method of learning. It reminded us to value the important ways that play builds skills development. If simply having fun was the only outcome of children’s play, that would be more than enough, but there is so much more to it.

As parents and caregivers, our primary role is to support play. We are understandably anxious about the pressures for children to have kindergarten readiness skills in place well before they start elementary school. The reality of standardized kindergarten curricula that is aligned to state standards and Common Core standards leads many parents to focus on academic skills, such as learning the ABCs and counting to 20. The pressure to teach our young children these skills can lead us to overlook play. We might even feel that introducing worksheets, drills, flash cards, or the many learning apps that mimic these modes are the key to bringing our kids up to the standards of kindergarten.

Research has shown that young children learn differently from school-aged kids. Play helps early learners build the skills necessary for critical thinking, autonomy, self-awareness, focus and leadership. Children build confidence through problem-solving. Academic skills like number sense, letter recognition, and phonological awareness (letter sounds) are developed through active play and the use of language. For example, when children experiment by sorting objects and building structures, they are learning observation, spatial reasoning, and logic skills by comparing sizes, shapes, and amounts. This forms the fundamental building blocks for understanding math and science.

Through playing together or with a caregiver, children learn how to cooperate with others, share materials, listen and build self-control and self-awareness. These are the necessary social skills that serve as foundations for academic success. Ask a kindergarten teacher what their students need and they will likely talk about self-control, focus, and sharing over every student entering their classroom knowing their upper and lower case letters. Nurturing a love of learning through open or guided play with others builds the social-emotional skills that make our children ready to learn.

Parents and caregivers help children learn by supporting creative play. We can support them by providing a variety of creative materials like blocks, crayons, dolls, toy cars, and animals or household items like pots and pans, thread, laundry caps, scarves, and utensils. We know that children get the most out of play when they interact with caregivers but it is important to let kids lead.

Ask questions about their play without giving too much of your own interpretation. When they are roaring like a lion, instead of just saying, “Oh no! It’s a scary lion”, try asking questions that lead to more dramatic play. “I hear you roaring, who are you going to eat today?” “Where do you live, Madame lion?” When they are drawing, instead of saying what it looks like to you: “Is that a ladybug? That’s so pretty”, try a more open-ended approach. “I see that you used a lot of strong red and black colors. The pattern of dots is striking and really stands out! What is it? What goes next to it?” Let the child tell you whether or not it’s a ladybug.

When we support play without taking control of the learning process, children learn to express their own ideas and develop critical thinking and independence. Ask guiding questions or step back and allow the child to speak freely. Knowing how to support rather than guide play recognizes and values the skills our children are developing.

At BANANAS, we believe in the power of play for learning! We host Play and Learn playgroups throughout Oakland and Berkeley and will be opening up playgroups in the Havenscourt Community of East Oakland four days/week starting in September 12 at the Cubhouse – A Family Play Zone. Come join us and get some serious learning in! Click here to RSVP.

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