It may not seem like it at first, but pantomime can be a very effective form of communication. If you have ever watched any of the performances done by Marcel Marceau or Charlie Chaplin, you will know that people use a lot more than just words to communicate with each other. According to Wikipedia, some researchers suggest that people communicate with each other using non-verbal cues as much as 80% of the time. So when you are teaching your child communication skills, it only makes sense to include some form of non-verbal communication practice.
There are many ways you can pantomime with your child. A simple game of charades would certainly fit the bill. You could also try acting out a favorite fairy tale or other story using only a few props and, of course, no words. Goldilocks and the Three Bears lends itself nicely to this activity.
Before acting out a story, have your child practice making faces to represent different emotions. Ask your child, “What does a person look like when he is sad?” Once your child has put on such a face, show her your own version of the emotion so that she can see what it looks like on someone else. This is also a lot of fun for children to do in front of a mirror.
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Written by BRWI Staff on August 24, 2011
Each year when I taught elementary school and preschool, one of my students’ favorite lessons was when we would make butter. Typically, we did this lesson in coordination with a unit about harvest-time or Thanksgiving. However, it could be enjoyed any time of the year.
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Written by Laura on July 22, 2011
The next time you are at the beach and your child needs something to do, send her on a beach stone scavenger hunt. She will have fun searching while at the same time reinforcing what she knows about textures and other descriptive words.
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Written by BRWI Staff on July 18, 2011
You may not realize, but your preschooler probably experiences something that is new to him almost every single day. It may be a new taste or a new smell. It may even be a new word. Try the following activity to help your little one experience various textures while at the same time learning some new vocabulary to go with them.
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Written by Laura on July 13, 2011
As a parent, it can be very easy to become frustrated when your toddler or preschooler is not able to count a small group of objects. Even if a child is able to count aloud to ten, for example, this does not mean she will be able to count a group of ten objects. This is because rote counting is a skill that is generally learned before a child understands one-to-one correspondence.
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Written by Laura on July 11, 2011
In the “Winnie the Pooh” stories, Pooh Bear and his friends will sometimes play “Pooh Sticks”. This is a game they made up which they take great delight in playing even though it is a very simple game. Each player chooses a stick from the ground and then, together, they stand atop a bridge that has a stream running underneath it. At the same time, all of the players drop
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Written by Laura on July 8, 2011
Emotions just happen. There isn’t any way to stop them from happening, but you can control how you deal with emotions you are having. However, this comes only with a lot of experience and practice that small children simply haven’t had yet. One of the biggest challenges for youngsters when it comes to dealing with feelings is that they are still learning what they are and how to ide
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Written by Laura on June 22, 2011
My two little boys are friends with a little girl who lives down the street. I babysit her on occasion because neither her mother nor father have family that live nearby. Her mother and I also have a friendship that has allowed us both to take part in many of the milestones each of our children have achieved. Unfortunately, since both of their families live some quite some distance away, they
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Written by Laura on April 22, 2011
My now three-year-old son has his older brother to play with, and is much more interested in the types of toys with which older children play, such as pirate costumes and any type of sports equipment. He has not had the same amount of letter practice his older brother had simply because he is not interested in the same learning toys.
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Written by Laura on April 11, 2011
I was sitting at the library with my older child helping him complete a writing assignment. Brennen loves to dawdle, and five-year-olds are not the quickest writers in the world to begin with. So my mind was wondering onto the shelves around which we were seated. I was delighted to find a wonderful book to take home to my preschooler.
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Written by Laura on March 21, 2011
Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence to teach your preschooler the joy of reading and writing.
Sponsored by Bridges Reading & Writing Institute -- teaching the JOY of reading and writing to students in preschool through 12th grade.
