May at Raising Little Ones…
Another busy month at RLO has flown by! We are now busy developing our space at RLO and next month, we will hopefully have lots of exciting new toys and activities in the garden!
We have unfortunately had to say goodbye to the lovely Lili this month. Lili is moving back home to Hungary and we would like to wish her all the best for the future. We hope to see you soon when you come back to visit!
A collection of photos we have taken this month of the little ones!
What we have been up to this month…
Hide and Seek-
While in the play room, the children began playing a game of Hide and Seek! It was great to see the little ones start this game with no prompts or adult interaction! We couldn't help but join the game and it ended up being a group game with all of the children and practitioners! The little ones were great at counting while everyone else hid, developing their numeracy skills! Some needed a little support when it came to counting, so this was a great learning opportunity. The children seemed to love this game, they were able to bounce ideas off one another with their hiding spaces and they worked really well as a team to hide and to seek!
Building Bonds-
This month, we have really seen a difference in the relationships being made by the children with each other. The little ones have been creating some lovely bonds and it is so rewarding for us to see! They often come in and ask where their friend is if they aren’t there yet and when they arrive they greet one another with hugs and lovely smiles! Building secure relationships in a setting such as RLO is really positive for the little ones, as when they think about coming in, they can think about the friends they have there! We can’t wait to see how the children develop their friendships over the next few months and we hope many more will be made at RLO!
Bubbles Outside-
On our daily walks this month, we have been taking bubbles with us for the little ones to enjoy. We have observed the little ones really enjoying popping the bubbles and even some have been counting how many they can get! This is a great way to get little ones running around and doing exercise without them even noticing! The babies love to watch the bubbles floating around and find it funny watching the bigger children popping them!
Handprint Butterflies-
Finally, we have been doing quite a few arts and crafts activities this month, after these being so popular in our Easter Camp last month! As you can see below, an amazing butterfly made out of one of the little ones’ hand prints! The little ones helped to draw around their own hand and then cut them out. They were then able to choose some feathers and other little bits to decorate their butterfly!
“My 4 year old loves going for a morning session at RLO. She is able to meet and socialise with other children and they are always getting up to something fun. I love to hear about her morning and I also love how I can see pictures of her on her learning journal. ”
Monthly advice for parents…
This month, we would like to share advice on supporting your child with their feelings…
Continuing on from advice we gave last month about parents maintaining a good mental health, this month we are discussing your child’s mental health. The main method of understanding that you are struggling with your mental health, is understanding how you are feeling. If you are unsure of what emotion you are feeling, then it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to feeling better. Children need to understand their feelings/ emotions and how to deal with these at as young an age as possible. It is both our and your job to support your little one to begin to understand these. Some ways of teaching a child about their feelings and emotions are;
Reading Books-
Reading books with your child is a great way to start a conversation with your child. You don’t need to be reading any book in particular, any book will do! While reading with your little one, you can ask how they think the character is feeling and then you can continue the conversation on from there… for example you could say “have you ever felt like that before”. Although you can be reading any book with your child, there are many books out there that can support children with their emotions. There are books that explicitly explore the theme of emotions, for example; The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas and the series of Dragon books by Steve Herman.
Recognising your child’s emotions-
Another way you can support your child with their emotions, is to show your child that you are recognising them. You can recognise emotions in the moment, by saying “ I can see that you are feeling sad” and then explain how you recognise this. Similarly, you can have this conversation after your child is feeling better. While having this conversation, it is important to state that it is okay to be feeling the way they are and that their emotions are valid. You can also discuss other ways of showing emotions, for example; if your child is feeling angry and they hurt someone or something, you can recognise their emotion but say that you would rather they express their emotions through words rather than violence.
Using a variety of resources-
There are so many resources out there that are available online to support you and your child with their emotions. A couple of examples of these are; flashcards that show a face with an emotion, and then the word underneath, and also a worry pal/ monster is very popular. This is something your little one can carry around in their pocket and they can tell their worry monster or pal about how they are feeling.
As always, we are here to support you and your child, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch or chat with us at drop off or pick up!
