AN ART ACTIVITY FOR THE EXPLORER

I remember of reading this article on NewYork Times a few weeks ago. The article claimed that exercise makes brains work better and suggested that kids need to be exercising (especially walking and swimming) to increase their intellectual abilities rather than all the other types of exposure that today's parents are working hard to be able to afford with the hope of raising smart kids.

The article focused on the impacts of physical activity on the physiology of brain functionality but I have no doubt that some regular exercise is full of goodness in many ways. That is why we try to utilise any opportunity to be outdoors and be physically active whenever we can even though, unfortunately, what we do is so much less than we we believe we should do in this regard.

There is an endless amount of opportunities and stimulants out there but let me share with you one simple idea that gives you a chance to help your child nourish his physical, mental and emotional capabilities here.

This particular activity is an art activity requiring some outdoor exercise as well and is most suitable for toddlers and preschoolers. Here is what you do: Step outside with your child and go for a walk. As you walk, let your child explore his surrounding. Let him touch the grass, chase a butterfly, try to spot a blue truck on the side street, smell the air, sing a song to you, collect some leaves... As you both have fun doing all that, make sure you two communicate, talk about things.

For this art activity, your child will need to bring the leaves that he collected while out for a walk. Encourage him to choose different shaped, sized, types and colour leaves to take home. On a piece of (preferably recycled) paper, let him glue them randomly or in a certain shape that he would like to assemble them (for example, he can draw/paint a tree trunk and can glue the real leaves and make them the tree's leaves). Also, talk about how they look and feel for some extra learning and fun opportunities. I am sure he will be very happy and excited about all the stages of this activity. Once the masterpiece is nice and dry, he can even use it for his next show&tell activity and make sure you take a photo of his proud face as he shows off his artwork!

Show some appreciation to nature today!