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It is amazing how a simple hat can change a personality! Watch what happens to your child when you put a hat on his head.

Materials:

  • Variety of hats
  • Mirror
Learning Skills:
  • Creativity and imagination
  • Dramatic play
  • Emotional expression
  • Self-image/self-awareness
  • Social interaction
What to Do:
  1. Gather a collection of hats.

  2. Stand in front of a mirror so your child can see himself.

  3. Place the first hat on his head.

  4. Let him admire himself in the mirror.

  5. Then ask him to act like the…
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Have your child follow a rope that will lead her to mysterious places!

Materials:
Long length of rope, string, or yarn.

Learning Skills:

  • Balance/coordination
  • Body awareness
  • Cognitive/thinking skills
  • Gross motor development
  • Spatial awareness
What to Do:
  1. Select your material.

  2. Lay the rope on the ground or floor from one end of the room or yard to the other.

  3. Twist and turn the rope to make it go over, under, and around several obstacles.

  4. Ask your child to step on the rope and…
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Here’s a fun game to play in the dark, and it also teaches spatial awareness.

Materials:

  • 2 flashlights
  • Dark room
Learning Skills:
  • Body awareness
  • Cognitive/thinking skills
  • Gross motor development
  • Social skills
  • Spatial awareness
What to Do:
  1. Give your child a flashlight and keep one for yourself.

  2. Go into a room and turn off the lights.

  3. Have your child turn on his flashlight, and try to catch you with the light as you move around the room.

  4. After he catches you, you’re it! Now it…
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Here’s a fun way to double your child’s language skills; a conversation full of Double Talk.

Materials:
Topics to discuss such as your child’s day at preschool, her favourite book or TV show, her new toy, and so on.

Language Skills:

  • Cognitive/thinking skills
  • Language and vocabulary development
  • Self-awareness
  • Social interaction
What to Do:
  1. Pick a topic to discuss with your child.

  2. Have her begin to tell you a story, one sentence of phrase at a time.

  3. Ask her to stop after each…
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Guest what’s new at the Night Safari?

One of two red river hogs Night Safari received from a zoological institution in the United States in February this year. Unlike other pigs, the red river hog has a unique russet colouring, black hooves and a defined white stripe along the spine. It is found mostly in the Congo area and is one of the most hunted species in the Congo Basin. The hog has adapted well to its new habitat.

Photo credit: Bjorn Olesen

With its intense red…

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For many families, there are only a few hours between the time Mom and Dad get home from work and the time the kids need to go to bed. Those precious few hours are usually spent making dinner, eating, doing dishes and homework, taking a bath, or doing laundry.

So what’s a busy family to do? Make the most of every chance you get to spend a little one-on-one time with your child. Regardless what you do, your child will definitely cherish those moments.

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Sterling is a leading book publisher

@SterlingBooks

It’s all about promoting an interesting/worthwhile twitter user.

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This game encourages both cognitive and physical development at the same time.

Materials:
A number of objects that do something such as a rope, ball, blanket, block, spoon, hat, towel, and so on.

Learning Skills:

  • Body awareness
  • Cognitive/thinking skills
  • Gross and fine motor development
  • Social interaction
  • Spatial awareness
What to Do:
  1. Collect several items that do something.

  2. Set them on the floor between you and your child.

  3. Select one item and ask your child, “What does a ball…
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To help your child learn her colours, take a Colour Walk and see all the colours that surround you everywhere you go.

Materials:
Room, yard, or park full of colours.

Learning Skills:

  • Classification skills
  • Cognitive/thinking skills
  • Colour concepts
  • Gross motor development
  • Social skills
What to Do:
  1. Invite your child to take a walk with you.

  2. As you walk, have her choose a colour.

  3. Then have her locate as many items as possible that match the colour.

  4. After she finds ten items, have…
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Children enjoy anticipating what comes next in a story. Have some fun by changing the story from what your child expects and see if he catches you!

Materials:

  • Picture book with an interesting story
  • Cozy chair
Learning Skills:
  • Anticipation/surprise
  • Cognitive/thinking skills
  • Creativity and imagination
  • Mental imaging
  • Problem solving
What to Do:
  1. Find a picture book that tells an exciting story.

  2. Sit with your child in a cozy chair and begin the story.

  3. As you read, change some of the…