Toddler/Preschooler Doesn't Like to Get His/Her Hands Dirty

Does your toddler or preschool throw a fit whenever he or she is asked to handle glue or paint in school? Does he or she ask to wash hands in the middle of an artwork activity? Don't fret - this is fairly common, especially with children who are faced with paste and paint for the first time. Sometimes they just need to get used to it and realize that it's harmless and ultimately, fun to use. You can help hasten the process by giving them their own glue, paints, and activities to do at home.

(1) GLUE/PASTE - I recommend Kumon's Let's Sticker and Paste activity book. It's fun, colorful, and age-appropriate. The first few activities involve putting stickers in the appropriate places (stickers are included in the book) such as sticking animals on a farm, winter clothing on a child, flowers on an apron, etc. The latter part involves cutting (to be done by an adult) and pasting activities to complete parts of animal faces, put together a vehicle, paste toys in a cabinet, etc. After going through the activities in this book, my toddler was no longer afraid to use glue in school and she became quite adept at properly aligning items to be pasted unto her worksheet.

(2) PAINT - Buy fingerpaint and let loose. Extra-large coloring books are best for first-time painters. You can also simply cover his/her hand in fingerpaint and teach him/her to make colorful handprints. You might want to invest in a smock or apron as well, to keep their clothes clean.

(3) If you feel that your child's fear or dislike of paint/glue goes beyond a mere case of ickiness, you might want to consider alternatives, such as using a paintbrush to apply glue. When in doubt, consult your teacher and/or pediatrician.

(4) ALWAYS check the labels to ensure that the glue and/or paint is non-toxic and safe for children.

(5) Make it clear to your child that the paint and/or glue is to be used for the given activity only. Stress that it is not something to be smeared liberally on the walls, flooring, or other people.

There's ABC and then there's abc

If you're starting to teach your toddler lowercase letters, you might want to consider using Kumon's ABC's Write and Wipe Lowercase Letters. This pack of flash cards represents each of the letters of the alphabet in lowercase format. Each card has the letter on one side and a sample word and picture on the other side. What differentiates it from other flash cards is that the letter side follows a tracing format using broken / dashes lines, which toddlers can attempt to follow using a pen (included in the pack). Once done, you can use the eraser (attached to the pen) to erase and have your toddler try again! The letters are quite big, perfect for first time writing attempts and the reusability factor is a must when dealing with kids this young. My only gripe is that the pictures are not colored, so it's difficult to identify some of them. Also while most cards feature a word that starts with the given letter, X is the exception - it shows the word "OX", which confused my child at first given the consistent pattern of the other cards. They could have used xylophone, at least.

Still, I'm satisfied with using the cards to practice lowercase letter recognition, writing, and spelling/reading. This pack of cards and other Kumon products are available locally, at Fully Booked.

Kumon Workbooks

While in National Bookstore, looking for a book of tracing or basic mazes to help my toddler refine her writing skills, I stumbled upon two shelves full of Kumon workbooks! I've been looking for Kumon workbooks for quite some time now and the actual product did not disappoint. Each workbook specifies the appropriate age range, starting from age 2. The most basic of the set is My First Book of Tracing, which branches out to the basic coloring, counting, cutting, mazes, uppercase and lowercase letters books.

The books are a bit pricey at ~P300 a pop, but each one contains full-colored pages with images and activities that are appealing to children. I'll try the tracing book first and see how it goes. More to blog once my toddler gets her hands dirty with this one!