Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Friday, May 18, 2012
Using Egg Carton Boats to Learn About Gravity
I sure love free stuff and in my mind, egg cartons are a free toy so I'm always brainstorming new ways to use them around the house. This week, we decided to do a little science experiment to learn about gravity, using egg cartons as boats. First, I ran my egg cartons through the dishwasher before using them because I am a borderline OCD germa-phobe (Not really, but kinda).
For this experiment, we used:
1. Egg cartons
2. Large tupperware container
3. Feathers
4. Rocks (Purchased from the Dollar Store)
5. Straws
6. Lots of patience (keep reading, you'll see why I needed patience)
First, I filled up the tupper-ware bin full of water and gave them the boats and they each got a straw. They used the air to move the boat around the water. I explained about wind. Since egg cartons are so light, they moved around easily from blowing air through the straw.
Next, we filled the boat up with feathers and the boat didn't sink. We slowly started adding in rocks and finally, the boat finally sank under the weight of all the rocks. This really illustrated to Munchkin Girl (almost four) the concept of heavy vs. light. The feathers were so light that they didn't make the boat sink, but the rocks did.
After this, she literally spent 45 minutes filling up the boat with rocks over and over again until it sank. We worked on using both sides of the boat to balance it so it wouldn't sink, and then she would move them all to one side because she loved watching it sink.
Now, some of you might be wondering what my darling rambunctious two year old boy was up to during this educational science experiment? I'm not going to lie. He was a total pest. He kept coming over and tackling Munchkin Girl while she filled up the boat. Then he would take the boats and rocks and throw them in the yard and run off laughing. If I had it to do over again, we would do this while he was napping. Of course I tried to include him but he couldn't understand weight, gravity, or balance, so I finally just gave him the hose to distract him from bothering us. Luckily, that turns out to be a very fun and educational experience for a two year old:
It occurred to me to get a 2nd tupperware container and rocks for him, and then he played with those for awhile too
Tips for you: Get everything ready before-hand. Find the tupperware container and wash it out if needed BEFORE you show it to them. Consider filling it up with water first too so you can get right into what the boat is used for. And of course, gather up all the materials and have them ready before you start. Unfortunately I didn't do any of that, and let's just say I wish I had followed my own advice. Maybe then Munchkin Girl wouldn't have taken off Little Buddy's shoes and used them as boats, causing them to cackle hysterically and almost ruin his shoes while I was still cutting up the egg cartons. Oh well, I'm always learning and will do better next time!
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Sunday, March 11, 2012
New Research: The Nicer the Mom, the Smarter the Kid
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Human nature is wanting what you can't have. My kids seem to think that I need lessons in how this works because no matter what they are currently playing with, they have a few items that are always in demand and they will instantly fight over any of the following:
1. The Mickey Mouse ball
2. The stuffed cow (from the dollar store)
3. The large Tonka Truck (from a garage sale)
Things can quickly escalate and in no time they are screaming at each other and crying. If I ignore the situation, it quickly turns into this:
It really amazes me how they can be oblivious to the smoke that I am sure begins to steam out of my ears as they fight over that stupid stuffed cow. I would love to go get another one, just so they each have one, but of course they don't sell them anymore. Plus, I am trying not to get into the habit of buying them stuff just to make them happy. It's amazing how quickly I can feel my blood begin to boil when the kids start fighting, but something I read recently has made me really attempt to control my anger. Did you know that a new research study has been released that shows that Moms who get testy with their kids may actually permanently decrease their child's intelligence?
The researchers of this study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, studied two groups of children and their mothers. They were put into a frustrating situation. The mothers and children were left a small room that had a shiny package on the table. They were told they could open the package, but only after the mother filled out all the forms. The Mothers had no idea they were being watched. Based on the behavior of the mothers, everyone was categorized everyone into two groups. This was observed: Half of the mothers either ignored their child or harshly scolded them. The other half were more nurturing and explained patiently to the children why they couldn’t open the package yet. The researchers used this event as a starting point and went on to study numerous other factors over several years, such as medication use, traumatic life events, and maternal history of depressions.
They waited several years and brought everyone back in for MRI scans. The study showed that children with nurturing mothers had a larger hippocampus (area of the brain that controls short-term and long-term memory) by almost ten percent than the children whose mothers tended to scold in a harsh manner. In order to make sure their assumptions were correct on how they categorized everyone, they added the external variables (such as medications etc) as co-variates.
Of course, every study has its flaws, but if you look closely at the findings and the science behind this study, you will find that the evidence is pretty solid. If you want to read more about the actual study, feel free to click here.
"It is to our knowledge the first study that links early maternal nurturance to the structural development of a key brain region," said study author Dr. Joan Luby, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "It provides very powerful evidence of the importance of early nurturing for healthy brain development and has tremendous public health implications."
Of course, every study has its flaws, but if you look closely at the findings and the science behind this study, you will find that the evidence is pretty solid. If you want to read more about the actual study, feel free to click here.
"It is to our knowledge the first study that links early maternal nurturance to the structural development of a key brain region," said study author Dr. Joan Luby, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "It provides very powerful evidence of the importance of early nurturing for healthy brain development and has tremendous public health implications."
Now, don't panic. Researchers of this study stress that occasionally losing your temper won’t cause the hippocampus to suddenly shrink and simply being patient can't guarantee smart kids, but it is clear that long-term impatience can have lasting effects. Ever since I read this study, I find it easier to take a deep breath, because I now have true motivation to quit snapping at my kids.
So, if your kids get under your skin and you feel the need to snap at them, DON'T! Instead, listen to this advice from child expert, author and former Kindergarten teacher, Susan Case. Susan's blog, Kindergarten Basics, has other tips on discipline, crafting, and preparing kids for Kindergarten:
So, if your kids get under your skin and you feel the need to snap at them, DON'T! Instead, listen to this advice from child expert, author and former Kindergarten teacher, Susan Case. Susan's blog, Kindergarten Basics, has other tips on discipline, crafting, and preparing kids for Kindergarten:
1. Try a little self talk: “I am the adult. I am a role model. I teach respect. I love my kids and they love me.”
2. Put the incident into perspective. Take a few deep breaths and ask yourself these questions:
-What difference will this make a year from now
-Can I let it go or let the child have his way?
-How is this making my child feel? How will I feel about this tomorrow?
-What difference will this make a year from now
-Can I let it go or let the child have his way?
-How is this making my child feel? How will I feel about this tomorrow?
3. Take some time to pamper yourself so you don't have such a short fuse. Go for walks, ask someone to babysit, indulge in your favorite reality TV show or take a bubble bath...whatever you enjoy, do it and don't feel guilty about it!
If you liked this post, you will LOVE my new book (which is currently ranked#4 on Amazon in the category of Motherhood!). If you have ever asked yourself questions like, these, then this is the book for you!
- Why do my kids drive me so crazy sometimes?
- Why do they just want to watch TV all day long?
- How am I ever supposed to get anything done when my kids won't stop pestering me?
In this book, I teamed up with former Kindergarten teacher, Susan Case, and we worked together to give a Mom's point of view and a teacher's point of view, so that we could give you activities that not only keep the kids busy, but also keep them motivated to learn and develop their natural curiosity. Here is what one of the reviews says on Amazon:
"This book seriously saved my sanity. I've read a bunch of parenting books but this is literally the only one that actually gave me real and specific advice and ideas for things to do with my daughter. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year old and I was at my wits end trying to come up with ideas of fun, easy, creative things to do with her that will keep her busy and occupied and help her learn. I wasn't very good at following through on ideas that I heard about from friends or read in other books or online because they seemed too complicated (aka: messy!) but this book broke it down and made it so simple. I highly recommend it!"
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