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The Early Years: Singing Games / Fresh Air
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I have been reading in The Early Years Handbook and have some questions. Page 62- 63 refers to “interesting singing games that have withstood the test of time” and “exercise body and lungs”. Can you give examples of these, or a list, or better yet a resource I can use? Would Wee Sing CDs be a good fit?
Page 23 talks of the importance of fresh air. With central air systems, is there still a need for ventilating the house? Are indoor plants effective enough? They provide oxygen and certain plants have been tested by NASA to clean toxins from the air like formaldehyde. The spider plant cleans the air, is safe for children and easy to care for. I have this and an aloe Vera. Can anyone recommend any more indoor plants that help clean the air, are easy to care for and safe for children/pets?
How do you find ways to spend more time out of doors and still get all of your school, chores, meals, etc. done? Do you do school outside? Which subjects? When?
At one of my DC’s well check-ups, the PA emphasized the importance of daily outside time. She said they need at least an hour outside on a daily basis. This is what I’d like to accomplish each day (but we aren’t there yet). It’s very hard right now with snow (and now mud). I’m going to try doing some subjects outside when we get some good weather, but we have lots of wind to deal with so I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to accomplish without papers flying everywhere! I’ve been attempting an “outdoor hour” from 3-4. It gives us plenty of time for school, and I can still get back indoors to start dinner by a reasonable time. My older DC often play outdoors while I’m making lunch or dinner as well, but the 2yo needs constant supervision.
I think Wee Sing would be perfect for that…I need to find my CD to start with my 2yo! I’m actually working through the BFIAR guide right now to come up with some fun activities for him, and Wee Sing was listed in the back section of the book for Hand Games. If you already own this book, there are tons of ideas in the back for preschooler playtime, and I think it is very CM friendly.
For plants, we have a ZZ Plant that’s been very successful. I’ve killed just about every plant under the sun, except this one! I think I went a year without watering it, but it’s still going strong (3 years later). My DC joke that it must be a plastic plant. It doesn’t help that it’s leaves are very shiny and plastic looking! I just looked to see if it was poisonous and apparently it is…although my cat has nibbled at it many times without issues.
Central Air systems will never be as effective as opening the windows in the house and air through. Nothing will ever equal or compare to it.
Also, children need fresh air – in the sense of getting outside and exercising, every day. With a few exceptions – if they’re not feeling well, if it’s too cold (and by “too cold”, coming from Canada, I mean, there has to be a wind chill warning and temps near 0F) or if there’s thunder, our house rule is – you’re outside every day. Even in rainy weather – rain is no excuse to stay in, that’s why rain jackets and boots were invented. Heavy downpours being an exception of course.
We don’t keep many house plants, we just don’t have room for them. But I keep an aloe vera plant (bonus in that it’s good for cuts and burns!), a type of cactus and currently a pointsetta.
We’re not anywhere close to where I would like to be for outside time. BUT I wanted to mention that the fresh air isn’t the only important aspect of outside time. The sunshine matters too!
For singing games, yes, Wee Sing could work. Also try a search on Google for “singing games for preschoolers”. They come up with tons, often related to circle time. Ones that come to mind for me: 5 little monkeys, open – shut them, twinkle twinkle little star, 10 little Indians, BINGO, Old MacDonald had a Farm, On top of Spaghetti. You get the idea!
Thank you all. Holly, I think the goal of 3-4 pm sounds reasonable. Thank you 2corin 57 for encouraging us to get out in rainy or cold weather too.
As for the songs, I am wondering about the quality, “withstood the test of time” versus twaddle. And are there any new action songs anyone would recommend? I saw many albums by Greg and Steve on Amazon. Can anyone give a review on them? I like the Wee Sing, but would like something to appeal to my 11 yo too. I certainly recognize many of the Wee Sing Play songs from my childhood but did not realize there were actions to go with them, mostly in a group circle. We are going to get jump ropes now, too, for those rhymes.
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