Global Day of Parents
Every year on June 1st, the Global Day of Parents celebrates the tireless efforts of parents around the world. It recognises the profound impact parents have on their children's lives, from providing a safe and loving home to shaping their character and values.
Parents are instrumental figures, influencing everything from a child's emotional well-being to their academic success. Their commitment to nurturing future generations deserves our deepest appreciation.
This day is a chance to thank them for their love, guidance, and sacrifices, and to acknowledge the vital role they play in shaping a more inclusive and tolerant world.
Here are a few activity ideas to incorporate Global Parent's Day into your little one's learning:
Change Roles
Our children love copying us, so why not change roles while role-playing with them?
Gather some pots and pans, a doll, your little one's play kitchen, for example.
Encourage them to become the parent and you be the child.
Allow your little ones to guide you and support them by commenting on their actions and expressing interest in their emotions and feelings.
Role-playing activities encourage confidence, creativity and imagination. They also practise their language and social skills as they re-enact real-life experiences.
Prepare dinner together
For children of all ages, cooking is a fantastic sensory activity!
Along with fostering physical development (as they cut, manage cooking tools, etc., your little one strengthens their muscles and promotes motor skills), cooking with your little one is a beautiful way to enhance your relationship.
Cooking provides opportunities for children to use what they know and to expand on it. For instance, they immerse themselves in a conversation using familiar language and, in return, learn new vocabulary from you.
Finger tracing
Write down parents' and caregivers' names on paper and get your little one to use their index finger to trace around it!
Begin by doing finger gym! Get children to warm their fingers by opening and closing their hands, shaking, wriggling and stretching them.
To make it exciting and fun, use paint to trace the letters.
Describe their movements as they do this. For example, "Your finger is going up and down now across."
Get your little one to trace names in the air too! This will allow them to write the same name on a larger scale, using their arm and shoulder muscles.
Memory Collage
Get your photo books out of the cupboard!
Go through the pictures together, talk and discuss what is happening and who is in the pictures; show them pictures of your parents and share your experiences with them growing up.
Then make a memory/photo collage showcasing their favourite family moments.
Family photographs will promote the development of identity and a sense of self. They will also practise language skills as they engage in conversation with you.
Favourite songs
Songs are fantastic, fun language tools which teach children the rhythm of language, words and sounds. Singing songs with your little one is not only a great bonding experience, but the repetition of words and rhythm in songs helps to promote language and communication skills.
So why not share your favourite songs with your little ones whilst growing up and compare them to their favourite ones! perhaps you discover that you like the same songs!
Books.
Reading to your little ones is a fantastic way to introduce them to the broader world and teach them about the world. Besides that, books introduce children to language, new sounds and words in a fun and interactive way. Experience with rhyming words in books and poems supports your little one's literacy development!
1. Love Makes a Family Board Book by Sophie Beer.
In this story, many different families are shown in happy activity, from an early-morning wake-up to a kiss before bed. Whether a child has two moms, two dads, one parent, or one of each, this book demonstrates that the love the family members share is the most important in each family's life.
2. Homemade Love Board book by Bell Hooks.
In this poetic board book, a mother and father call their little girl silly names to show her how much they love her. It's endearing and a joy to read.
3. My Two Mums and Me by Michael Joosten.
This lovely inclusive story follows busy moms and their children throughout their day-eating breakfast, going on a playdate, heading to the pool for a swim, and settling back in at night with a bedtime story and a good-night lullaby!
4. My Two Dads and Me by Michael Joosten.
This lovely inclusive story follows busy dads and their children throughout their day-eating breakfast, getting dressed, heading out to the park, and settling back in at night with a bubble bath and a good-night lullaby!
5. Better Together: A Book of Family Board book by Barbara Joosse.
In Better Together, each spread starts with a single animal. Then a gatefold opens to reveal that the single animal is one of many animals working together to comfort, feed, and protect one another. Ultimately, we see how human families unite similarly to care for their little ones.