1 Fine Day

Friendship is such an integral part of life. Some children make friends easily but some find it difficult to make friends or maintain a friendship and need a lot of guidance. The reason I wrote Draw and Tell Charlie is to introduce the concept of friendship to children and to help them develop the ability to make friends.

You may have heard this say before, “if you feel lonely, go and find someone who is lonely and be their friend”. In Draw and Tell Charlie the story begins with an introduction of Charlie who lives in a big blue house with his family with no mention of any of Charlie’s friends. When you are reading Draw and Tell Charlie to your children you can point out Charlie has a family but he hasn’t got any friend yet, but rather than feeling upset about not having any friends to play with, he decided to introduce himself to his new neighbour and be their friends. You can role play with your children to teach them how to make friends by extending you hand and say “Hi my name is ....... What is your name?”

A new relationship is easier to form when two parties share something in common. You can point out Charlie and his new friends play something they both like. A common interest can also maintain a friendship and help it flourish. If your children are finding it hard to settle into daycare centres or preschools you can enlist the help of the teachers to find friends for your children by telling them what activities your children like to do and ask them to help your children find friends who share their common interests.

Charlie was able to share his big blue house with his new friends. You can point out how good Charlie is to be able to happily share with his friends. Sharing is an important concept to introduce to children at this young age. If you would like helpful tips and activities about sharing, you can find a few articles I have written about sharing under the DID YOU KNOW label on this blog.

Helping children make friends is quite important and I sincerely hope that Draw and Tell Charlie gives you the opportunity to introduce the concept of friendship to your children and help your children have confidence in making friends.

Happy reading and making friends!

Till next time....

Simone

Routine x 4

I once helped a mum cared for her quadruplets and was amazed to see how she seemed to be able to manage her day so seamlessly. It was ROUTINE, ROUTINE, ROUTINE and ROUTINE.

I am going to research a bit more about how routine helps children (and parents). In the meantime, I have designed a few daily routine charts to help children as young as 2 years old to start getting into a habit of being in a routine. There are 2 versions with different pictures but with the same routines, one for boys and one for girls. If your children like to colour in, a colouring in version of the charts is also available for your little ones to enjoy.

You can find the free charts on our website www.rainbowballs.com.au Look for “Daily Routine Charts” under the FREE eBOOKS label.

Happy introducing routine to your little ones!

Till next time....

Simone

About Science

Did you know....Cooking is about science. Why not make every second or third Friday a PIZZA NIGHT?

When your little Masterchefs mix flour, water and oil together to make the dough, they are learning about combination and transformation. Let them add their favourite toppings and help you wash lettuce and tomatoes for the salad. Little ones often love washing up too. You are also teaching them about teamwork and responsibility.

Copyright © Simone Yuen 2015

1 rainbow, 1 blue sky, 1 bright sun, 3 friends and a new neighbour

I was never too into birds until I saw the rainbow lorikeet for the first time after I moved to Australia. I was immediately captivated by their beauty and thought they were the most beautiful creature in the world. They are not shy at all. I know that because I have had firsthand experience being befriended by them. They were perching on the balcony balustrade singing to me one morning and after leaving a piece of bread with a sprinkle of sugar on a plate for them, we instantly became best friends! Almost every day I would find them perching on the same spot singing to me and waiting for me to feed them.

Children love birds; they love to read stories about birds; they draw birds; they pretend to be birds and fly and chirp like them; they lie on the mat to watch birds fly around; and they try to look for their nests on the trees.

When creating my Draw and Tell series I didn’t have to think twice about writing a story using a bird as the main character. I purposely used triangles and an oval shape to draw Robin and the letter C to create the feather because I want parents to realise how easy it is to draw and tell a story. I also want parents to realise that their children don’t have to be like Picasso to be able to draw a picture that touches someone.

Let me share with you my experience with a 3 years old girl. She felt extra special that daddy dropped her off at daycare but after daddy left she missed him so much that she was teary the whole morning until she started painting on the easel. When I asked her to tell me what the painting was she pointed at a patch of yellow in the middle and said “this is daddy, he is a diamond. I am painting this for my daddy”. The week prior we had set up an activity with different plastic diamonds and children were fascinated with the shape of the diamonds and how it seemed to sparkle when you hold them up in the light. They were told that real diamonds are precious. You see, this little girl didn’t paint a Picasso and the painting looked like a lot of scribbles; but she had found a way to express her emotion by painting a diamond to represent her daddy because she wanted him to know that he is precious like a diamond to her and that she missed him. When I told her dad the story behind her painting, he was very touched by what her little girl had done for him. Since then, children’s paintings and drawings have a totally new meaning to me. I highly recommend you to spend a few minutes listening to your children the stories behind their drawings or paintings. It is also a great opportunity to find out what your children are thinking about or are going through that you are not aware of.

I decided to provide Draw and Tell Robin as a FREE eBook because I want parents to be able to experience what draw and tell is about and how simple and effective it is to draw and tell a story. I want parents to draw with their children and I want children to use their drawing to tell a story.

Many parents around the world have downloaded Draw and Tell Robin and I hope you will too. Simply visit www.rainbowballs.com.au  You may also like to download “how to draw and tell Robin” and “Draw and Tell follow up activities” which are also available for FREE.

I would love to hear from you. If you would like to tell me how you and your children may have benefited from drawing and telling Robin together please inbox me a message on facebook www.facebook.com/officialRainbowballs

Happy reading and drawing!

Chirp chirp...till next time....

Simone