Whenever parents talk about the bright and successful future of their child, they should always start the process to build their future from a very early age by inculcating critical skills for children in them through a governed skill development path.
Is this going to be a daunting process?? Well, the answer is Definitely Not.
Skill development is basically a process of identifying the skills for children gap in a child by observing day-today activities, and ensuring that right measures are taken to develop your child. Some of the skills that should be built in your child are:-
"Making your kid's life easier is nowhere near as important as teaching them how to stay motivated when things get hard" - Anna Tingley
Social Empathy
Empathy basically means that the child should be able to recognize how a person is feeling in a particular situation and react accordingly. The child should always know that every person has different feelings, thoughts, and reactions. Also if the child knows the situation and can do anything good or to help another person they should always be ready for that.
Your child is emotionally empathetic if you agree with both these statements:
- When another child is upset, my child needs to be comforted, too.
- When another child gets frightened, my child freezes or starts to cry.
As a parent, expose the child to different situations around you for which the child can build a deeper connection. Continuous exposure, observation, and parental guidance will start building social fibre in the kid at an early stage.
Mumtree’s “Thirsty Crow in the City” is one of the best toys to build Social Empathy as its a sweet rendition of “Thirsty Crow”, and the struggles it faces in the modern world city. This provides kids an opportunity to be considerate about our ecosystem, and understand different emotions of crow in the journey.
Communication
Communication is one of the most important things that a child should adopt as it is the only way to know how a child feels and what their thoughts are. Children learn by absorbing and talking. Parents should always communicate with children about their feelings, their activities, and their day. This would help parents to know more about their kid, and in turn kids will build confidence to face the world and keep their point confidently.
Communication varies for different age groups. Like “Responding to humming sound” for kids less than 1 year, “Looking at pictures and name familiar items, like dog, cup, and baby” for 2 year old, “Starting to match letter sounds to letters (like knowing b makes a /b/ sound)” for 3-4 year old, and so on.
So as a parent, you are the best judge of whether your child is able to convey and receive information in both verbal and written form.
Since Mumtree understands the value of verbal & written communication, each toy is supported by a curated learning content in the form of either Flash cards, or story book, or DIY activities, so that children can develop deeper engagement with the toy, and then communicate about it with others around in the same spirit. Like all the Puzzle and Sew toys contain animal flash cards with them.
Adaptability
Some people may think that Adaptability is a very advanced skill for a toddler, but it is one of the most important skills that should be nurtured in a kid. It’s closely tied to the trait of approach/withdrawal, i.e. initial response or reaction of a kid to new things, ideas, people and places. Kids who are slow to adapt, often find themselves in tough spots for anything new they discover or encounter, and hence adapting to different situations in the growing years will prepare them for the future.
The following questions can help you measure adaptability in your kid:
- Do your children cry and get upset when you ask them to finish an activity and move on to something else?
- Do your children find it stressful to change ideas or routines?
- Is it difficult for your children to make decisions and when they do, do they agonize over their choices?
If you don’t agree to the above questions, then your child is likely to adapt to new situations without much difficulty.
So as a parent, don’t be afraid to expose your kids to new situations. Just make sure that you are with him/her to handle the situation better whenever the child feels uncomfortable.
Thinking out of the box
Children should be able to think out of their imagination, and it can be developed in a child through creative playing. Kids should always be given a chance to think more and keep their thoughts accordingly. Playtime is the best time for this skill to be developed in the child naturally.
To think out of the box, we have a mind and strategy game “Goat & Tiger” that helps the child to play with a strategy to develop intelligence quotient.
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills are the small movement that a child does through their hands and wrist. That is a skill that children adapt very naturally from an early age as they start to do movements. This allows coordinating the effort between muscles and the brain, so that the child can react and move more effortlessly.
The best way to judge whether a child is developing fine motor skills successfully is by observing day-today tasks by him/her according to age. Like “Reaching for and grabbing a toy” for a 1 Year old, “Holding a thick crayon or marker” for a 2 Year old, “Put together a simple puzzle” for a 3-4 Year old, “Tie shoe laces & knots” for a 5-6 year old, and so on.
As a parent, you should observe how your child is doing these activities, and motivate them to practise these more if they are not able to do them comfortably. With time, the child will start doing these things more confidently.
To develop fine motor skills, we have vibrant Sew Boards with animal illustration for Dinosaurs, Farm Animals & Zoo Safari that are a perfect combination of playing, developing fine motor skills, and getting to know about different animals.
Cognitive skills
Cognitive skills play a vital role in one’s life and development as it includes some of the core functions of the brain. Such as reading, learning, gaining information, etc.. Cognitive skills are mental capabilities that are essential for a child to learn effectively.
You can observe simple things in your child to judge the level of skill development, like “Begin to predict the sequence of events (like running water means bath time)” for 1 year old, “Match basic shapes (triangle to triangle, circle to circle)” for 2 year old, “Start predicting cause and effect (like what will happen if they drop a toy in a tub full of water)” for 3-4 year old, “Start using very basic maps to find a “hidden treasure”” for 5-6 year old, and so on.
As a parent, you can measure the effectiveness of your child for these things, and hand-hold them to perform these activities better. Simple tasks like shape & color sorting, puzzle solving, image matching, and others can help your child develop this skill at an early age.
At Mumtree, we have a variety of shape-cutout puzzles which aid in development of understanding, thinking, memorizing and solving skills. Some examples include Dino Puzzle, Farm Animals Puzzle and Zoo Safari Puzzle.
In summary, to develop these skills the parents should keep talking to their kids as the kids observe each and everything and they react accordingly so the parents should behave properly and react in a positive way so that the child observes these qualities. Also playtime and the toys from which a child plays also becomes an essential part for children to develop these skills.
You can visit our website mumtree.in to find educational toys which are defined by age, skill development, learning content and usage instructions which can channelize development of multiple skills in your child.
Article Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuroparent/202004/6-easy-ways-measure-your-child-s-empathy