When we think of keeping children engaged, the first idea that comes to our mind is to get toys for them. So obsessed are we with getting toys for our children that we’ve turned the obsession into an industry. And yet, children did not always grow up like this. Even the present generation of parents had much more ‘utilitarian’ toys that were more mechanical than battery operated. Pots and pans. Wooden blocks. Crochet balls. Rubber balls. Metal rattles. And they are none the worse for it. In fact, their understanding of how things work is solid precisely because they messed about with mechanical things that have more science in them.
What many of us fail to recognize when we think of engaging our children is the vast potential of everyday practical activities. Sweeping. Dusting. Washing. Ironing. Wiping the table. Cleaning vessels. Watering plants. Sewing. These are all just a few examples of activities that enormously excite a child. And have vast potential for developing a child’s quest for self-formation.
For a child, these activities taken on a whole new meaning. Here why these kinds of activities are significant for a child
-A child performs these activities to satisfy the inner urge for development. Though they seem like activities that an adult would do as a matter of routine, for a child, it is a wonderful means of perfecting his developmental challenges.
-At a functional level these exercises help a child imbibe aptitudes like focus, concentration, coordination and motor skills.
-At a higher level these activities enhance the whole personality of the child by fostering self-reliance, self-confidence and self-esteem.
-These activities provide opportunities for a child to gain 3 important developmental aspects – independence, intelligence and a sense of community.
Here’s how these activities help build a child’s independence, intelligence and sense of community:
Independence
The essential nature of most of these activities is such that they help the child master the tasks and situations that will enable him to take total care of himself, his environment as well as of the social microcosm that he will have to eventually be a part of.
Such daily practical activities help the child in the first stage of attaining independence – the attaining of physical independence. A child needs a range of movement and activity to develop motor skills and neuro-muscular coordination. These daily activities provide a very wide range of such movement and activity. The exercise of every limb and muscle and in coordination can be discerned in these activities. Thus doing these activities moves a child along the path towards physical independence.
Taking part in these activities help a child integrate with the world around him by imitating the adults. He attaches a lot of importance and sense of achievement with it. It builds in him a sense of belonging to his immediate world. Though we might see these activities as a matter of routine and derive no sense of achievement from it, we should realize that the child derives a sense of belonging from it.
These are daily activities that provide ample scope for repetition. A child needs activities that offer scope for repetition because every child develops uniquely and so should be given the chance to set his own pace of development. He should be free to repeat activities till the time he feels a sense of perfection and mastery over it. It helps imprint these learnings to the reflex center so they become part of the autonomic nervous system. Thus engaging in these practical activities help a child define and refine his sense of perfection.
Intelligence
Doing these kind of practical activities builds a child’s intelligence by feeding their sensory gateways. A child has to be given repeated exposure to a variety of common, every-day things. It helps build a repertoire of sensory stimulus (visual, auditory, tactile, baric, olfactory, gustatory). This repertoire forms the basis for the development of intelligence.
Most of these practical activities represent materials and activities that are self-correcting in nature which helps build self-evaluation as well as self-reliance and analytical thinking in the child. It will be easy for the child to see where he has gone wrong and rectify it himself. These daily activities foster a sense of satisfaction and concentration.
A child needs activities that are of short duration, so that he is able to see the start and finish of the activity within a predetermined time frame. And help him understand the impact of its labor. Practical life activities provide ample opportunities to fulfill this developmental requirement and help build a child’s input-outcome cycle of thinking.
Sense of community:
Activities of daily life provide the child with an opportunity to develop social skills such as learning etiquette, observation and teamwork. These learnings form a vital part of the child’s sense of community.
So why not we adults get creative in how we engage our child in the mundane practical activities of daily life. They won’t complain.
