Raising Antonio Luis

23/09/2023

Love this! 🧡

28/04/2023

Paint Your Own Cookie 🍪 Thanks Alina! ♥️ Happy Birthday! 🎁

“Button’s sweet!” 🍭

👩‍🍳 ovenandsaturdays

04/04/2023

It’s MATH TIME! My son started BEAR DROP COLOR SORTING when he was almost 2 years old and now mastered color sorting at four while learning through playing.

Thanks for watching! Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe to my YouTube page for more developmental activities🥰

Antonio Luis, 4 years old, sorts the colors of the rainbow.

03/04/2023

Self-awareness, empathy and handling emotions.. wow! 🥰 So inspiring ❤️

13/02/2023

Hi friends, let's try some food items and name their tastes. Which one is your favorite?

Antonio Luis, 4 years old, tries to taste different kinds of items and names them.

05/02/2023

Have you ever stopped to consider the strange dichotomy between our hopes for our children in the future and how we want them to behave today?

Today is all about compliance. We want children to always do what we (and others) tell them to do, to not question us or complain, to be subservient and easy to control. If we think about our goals for them when they're in their twenties and beyond we want the complete opposite for them. We want them to aim for the sky and smash glass ceilings, we want them to be true to themselves, with a strong voice that they're not afraid to use to question injustice. We want them to respect themselves and know that respect should be earned, not demanded. We want them to be inquisitive, to explore the world, to try out different things. We want them to stand up for their beliefs. Basically, we want them to be completely different to the easy to control little child that is easier to parent. No wonder our 'job' is so hard. We have our goals and expectations confused and muddled and so rarely do we stop to admire a so-called 'stubborn' and 'willful' child for their amazing grit and resilience, or to celebrate a tween who answers back when they perceive an injustice has occurred.

The more I write about parenting, the more come back to the idea that it really shouldn't be about trying to change our children, but instead, changing the expectations we have, which are largely inherited by a misinformed society whose beliefs are still entrenched in outdated authoritarian views of childhood. I think it's about time we shift this train of thought, don't you?

For more reframing and tips on how to discipline mindfully, so you can have boundaries and rules today, but still nurture your child’s amazing traits for tomorrow. Check out my Gentle Discipline Book:

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🇦🇺 https://bit.ly/3nwXlQU

10/06/2022

Don't forget about FUNCTIONAL WORDS🙂

14/04/2022

THE POND 🪷🐢🍃

While preparing the bin, Antonio Luis saw me and started to play. So I asked him to help me put everything together. “HABITAT”, he said. I said, “Yes, this is the home of the frogs and turtles.”

We put in the logs 🪵, mossy stones, plants and the animals. He played with the water beads at first then placed the animals on the logs. I told him that water lilies are like umbrellas ☂. They give shade and protect fishes and frogs to hide from birds.

He loves to explore the materials with his magnifying glass 🔎 and talked about the frog and turtle life cycle. It’s a different and curiosity inducing activity. This is a fun sensory and cognitive activity for kids.

Our next adventure is to see the real pond and water lilies 🪷 What nature adventure have you explored lately? 🕵🏻‍♂️

28/02/2022

Muscle up little explorer! 💪🏼

10/02/2022

CARDBOARD THEATRE 🎭

This is a fun way to encourage toddlers to enhance their creativity in making up stories and enhance their conversational skills, aside from reading books.

If they don’t know where to start, suggest a plot line like a mouse went to the city, ask them what happens next and take turns. You can also begin with.. “once upon a time, there was a..” include a plot twist like, “oh no, he fell on the ground!” to make it interesting. Then invite them to act it out with dolls or a mini theater if you like it to be more creative and fun!

This enhances their linguistic area.. let’s get talkative 🙊

Sage The Gemini • Tick Tick Boom (feat. BygTwo3)

11/01/2022

Land, Air and Water Transportation Vehicles 🚁⛵️🚜

If you’re looking for an indoor activity for a car loving toddler, this one is a hit! We had a game of sorting vehicles to where they move and vise versa. We had letter and word reading, color recognition and sensory activity too. I placed some cottons for the sky, marbles for sea foam and tape for the road. We ended this activity with some little doodling. My son drew on the board paper and he made train tracks, cloud and ocean waves 🌊. They don’t look like they are but what is important is that my son practices his fine motor skills and as he improves, his drawings will get better and better 😊

03/12/2021

Guided Handwriting ✍🏼

25/11/2021

City Scene: Invitation to Imagine 🏙

My son’s imagination is exploding! He discovered the joy of imaginative play and does it over and over 🏢🌳🎣.

Imaginative play takes off with my toddler and has become interested in lots of fantasy and make-believe play. It offers lots of unstructured learning covering all areas of his development, understand the world, process new information and cope with stress 👷🏼‍♂️🧱🏗.

The best invitations to play are what Antonio Luis’ current interests are. He loves trains, Freight Train book by Donald Crews, fishing and building towns 🚂📙🎣🏘. Now he knows the types of freight cars, plays with speed: fast,
slow and traffic lights, tracks and imagines the train moving on trestles, under the tunnels and many
more!🚦

The Wooden Train Set has the perfect set-up for this play. You may set up a print out city scene or something about their interest, add some toys and props that complement it 🧸. This would capture their imagine and you could guide them and enhance their vocabulary while they play. Have fun and spend time watching them learn and play for hours 😊.

0 Likes, 0 Comments - Raising Antonio Luis 🇵🇭 Rowena () on Instagram: “Toy Recommendation: Wooden Train Set ”

25/11/2021

Happy Thanksgiving!! 🦃

23/11/2021

SORTING BY SIZE 🦕🦖

Today we have sorting activity with Antonio Luis’ favorite dinosaurs and animals. This stimulates his conceptual reasoning by reviewing the differences between, small, medium and large (big) animals.

I wrote small, medium and large on a brown paper and asked him to sort each animals by their sizes. I always asked him what the name of the figure is and if they are the same or different is size.

It was fun doing this activity whenever it’s time to rotate his toys. He helps me and we do sort his toys by sizes. He also lines them up by size and have our sing song activity.

We also do size sorting activities using play doughs, legos, blocks and other toys. If he needs help, I give him hints. When we do our nature walk, we do playful activities such as finding which flower is the smallest, biggest, tallest and lowest. It’s a fun cognitive activity with Antonio Luis!

22/11/2021

How my son learned to read sentences and sight word stories at two 📖

My son learned a lot through interactive play and read alouds. We had lots of themed activities and games 🏀 that expanded his vocabulary and enhanced his speech development 🗣.

If he was interested in an item, I would name it and ask him to do the same. Whenever there are signs 🪧 and words, I read them to him. I sang songs, pause and let him fill in the blanks 🎶.

We started with ABC’s then phonics. I would read each letters phonetically then read the whole word to him 📚. He would then imitate me and eventually read each letters to words. As soon as he could read simple words, I introduced to him the CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonants) words.

We used to read his baby books with simple and short words, flash cards and board handwriting 👩‍🏫. He has a bookcase that invites him to read. He’d grab some books and read those that he’s very interested in.

When he struggles to read a word, I help him read it, then he would also say the word. It’s fun to watch read books, signs, and labels when he encounters them. It helps him express what he needs, meaning less frustration for him 😊

What word games have you played lately? Let us know 💭

16/11/2021

Serve and return interactions shape brain architecture.

When an infant or young child babbles, gestures, or cries, and an adult responds appropriately with eye contact, words, or a hug, neural connections are built and strengthened in the child’s brain that support the development of communication and social skills.

Much like a lively game of tennis, volleyball, or Ping-Pong, this back-and-forth is both fun and capacity-building. When caregivers are sensitive and responsive to a young child’s signals and needs, they provide an environment rich in serve and return experiences.

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

31/10/2021

HALLOWEEN SENSORY BIN 🧪

Here’s the easiest sensory activity you could try at home.

🕸 Cook some noodles and add some food coloring in Halloween colors 🎃 Add large water beads on top and your toddler is ready to have some sensory and fine motor fun! ✂️

My son started with the bead transfer using his fine motor tools. Then he had a water bead and noodle sensory play 👋🏻. I hid some of the water beads and had him dig through the noodles to get as many beads as he can.

I asked him if they look like worms and brains 🧠 to expand his vocabulary 📖. Then he had scissors activity and cut some noodles. He had lots of fun and this activity kept him busy for an hour.

TIPS: you can separate noodles and add different food colors to make rainbow noodles 🌈. If you don’t like to use noodles, you could use clay and extruder. Add scoopers, scissors and Halloween accessories on the noodles to make your toddler busy 🕷.

What Halloween activities have you played recently? 👻 Have a great Halloween weekend!

30/10/2021

Happy Halloween 🍪

Virtual Halloween Party 🎃 Monster on the Loose! 🌳 Household Trick or Treat 🍭

28/10/2021

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Dutch, French, English, Spanish and Italian ✨

19/10/2021

THE CHANGING CHAMELEON

My son had a fun squeeze painting activity today. This was inspired by one of his favorite books, The Mixed Up Chameleon 🦎.

I prepared four squeeze bottles in different colors 🍶. I mixed water-based paint with water to come up with the right consistency. It was not to thick to clog the bottle and not to runny. I just cut a cardboard into circle but you can use a paper plate for this activity ✂️

It’s fun to watch Antonio Luis squeeze and shake the bottle and make faces at the same time while trying to empty it. It’s also good to see his hands at work while painting and mixing colors. I was great to see how curious he was when he saw how the paint oozed from the bottle, made drippings and get mixed up with other colors.

I air-dried his artwork. I drew a Chameleon outline on another paper and cut it out. When the paint was dry, I placed the outline on top of the painted plate and added a split pin in the middle.

He loved to spin the plate and saw how the chameleon changed colors. It was a good introduction about this lizard and it’s characteristics. How it changes colors and blends with his surroundings.

See the last video of my son while spinning his Chameleon plate. You will hear him sing his favorite song in French, Spanish, English, Italian and Dutch! 🧠 Also, check out our story for other mixed up Chameleon activities!

18/10/2021

Play Dough Selfie! 📸

This is a fun clay activity that strengthens fine motor, finger dexterity and hand muscles.

My son, pressed and rolled the dough in different shapes and colors. We made a face shape with clay on the board. He added the hair, eyes, eyebrows, nose, lips and ears. We talked about about skin color, face and body parts, hair types and eye color. We decorated it with his shirt color and some buttons that he made.

TIPS: use safety scissors ✂️ to cut the clay and make some hair.

Can your toddler cut clays using scissors with one hand?

14/10/2021

SQUASH POUNDING ACTIVITY 🎃

This festive toddler activity helps develop a lot of critical skills:

🎃 Eye-hand coordination
🎃 Concentration
🎃 Strengthening hand muscles, important for hand writing ✍🏼
🎃 Determination

I only prepared squash (we don’t have pumpkin), golf tees ⛳️ and a wooden hammer. My son recognized it as squash and pumpkin. He kept on pounding the pins into the squash for over an hour. We talked about vegetables, their health benefits 🤓 and seasons 🍁. I also added some rubber bands for him to play and made shapes. This was an awesome fine motor practice for Antonio Luis.

TIP: For pumpkins, you can cut the top off, remove innards and add a candle to make a lantern. 🎃

What are some fall activities have you done lately? Please share in comments 💬

14/10/2021

21/09/2021

21/09/2021

Here is my Printable Rainbow Blocks Patterns 🌈🧱

20/09/2021

RAINBOW BLOCKS PLAY 🌈 Learning patterns and counting