Saying yes to children every time they want some chocolate isn't always the kindest response. Have you thought about the amount of sugars that are in Easter treats.
Mini Eggs = 19 1/2 spoonfuls
Lindt Chocolate Bunny =13 spoonfuls
Malteser Bunny = 3 1/2 spoonfuls
Kinder Bunny = 20 spoonfuls
Mars Egg = 41 1/2 spoonfuls
Cadbury Cream Egg = 6 1/2 spoonfuls
Smarties Egg = 20 1/2 spoonfuls
Children can be treated with alternatives to chocolate, here are a few ideas;
Colour your own Easter Bag, great for promoting children's pencil control skills and developing concentration skills. Can be a great activity to develop communication too, sit with your child as they colour, encourage them to talk about what they see. "Does the Bunny have a name?" "Where has he found all the eggs?" "What's inside the eggs?" Talk about the colours they use etc.
The perfect gift for any child, a book. This lovely little Easter themed book is perfect for promoting children's literacy skills. Share the story together, talk about what is happening in the story and encourage your child to think about what might happen next. This story has some great opportunities to talk about friendships and working together as the Mr Men have to work together to find all the eggs. Children will also learn to enjoy books which has great benefits to their learning and learn how to hold them correctly, turn pages correctly and begin to be aware of the way stories are structured. There are many Easter themed books staring children's favourite characters such as Thomas, Peppa, Lego, Paw Patrol and Peter Rabbit.
This lovely little set from Playmobil is great for promoting children's imaginary play. Children can learn to build stories around the characters and act out their own ideas. Having an adult to initiate the play is great for giving children ideas and developing their skills. Children can develop their creative and critical thinking, making links with their experiences, testing ideas and changing strategy. Communication development can also be strongly promoted and developed during imaginary play.
Great bit of science and discovery for children. Something children can watch over a period of time which is great for promoting learning about The World. Encourage children to develop an understanding about changes over time, can they talk about what they have observed, noticing detailed features and talking about why things happen and how things work. You could create a little chart of what happened each day or every few hours and talk photos so after the chick has hatched children can look back and talk about the activity in the correct sequence.
A great toy for promoting maths skills. Children will need support finding the correct pieces and following instructions so a lot of adult input is needed. Children can be encouraged to look at, talk about and find the correct shape needed, count the number of spots on the pieces, learn about how Lego all fits together and learn to understand that building can have a purpose. Children can construct in different ways and it is perfect for developingpositional language. There is an end product which children can play with, developing imagination or simply admire, being proud of something they have created.
A lovely cute little soft toy for children. Children can learn independence in unzipping and zipping the carrot, developing fine motor skills which strengthens muscles ready for writing skills. Children can use the bunny for role play, preparing real carrots and water for the bunny to eat, making a little bed from a box and real hay, learning to create props to support their role play. You can encourage children to problem solve different scenarios such as bunny being unwell, getting lost, making a mess and encourage children to think of how the problems can be solved and what they might need. Bunny is also great for playing hide and seek games, promoting good looking or listening to instructions.
The difference in all these gifts compared to the chocolate is that the gifts encourage parents to spend time with their children, role modelling language and play skills which can make a big difference to children's play, learning and development. I have over 23 years of experience, planning and carrying out activities with children to promote development in all areas. For any further guidance on ideas to play at home to develop your child's learning please speak to me. I would be more than happy to give you ideas and even show you how to carry out activities.
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