Here’s an easy way to teach your child to recognize different colors.

What You Need to Do Beforehand

Take a couple of dozen plain white sheets, and stack them up evenly one on top of another. Draw a simple tree shape with a thick trunk and a bushy top on the topmost sheet of paper. Use a sharp paper cutter to cut out the shape of the tree, so you have a couple of dozen cut out paper trees.

Take a single tree cutout. Pour different colors of paint – red, green yellow, and orange – in separate bowls. Cut up a piece of sponge into small 1/2 inch circles, and oval shapes. You can draw these shapes on the sponge, so you get the required shapes.

Tell your child to use a tweezer or clothespin to pick up a piece of sponge, dip in color and create apples on the tree, by dabbing in the appropriate bowl of color. Once she’s done with apples, give her another tree cutout and this time, tell her to add pineapples or oranges or melons to the tree. For each fruit, she’ll need to figure out which color is to be used, and dip the sponge in that color.

This will not only help her with color differentiation, but will also help her learn the names of fruits and vegetables. You don’t really have to supervise, and the only thing you need to help with is making stacks of paper tree cutouts. Easy!

I like this one, not just because it requires both you and your child to participate, but also because it’s a great way to preserve her artwork for life.

What You’ll Need

White tightly woven fabric (like a kitchen apron or a pillow cover). The tight weave helps hold the color better.

Non toxic fabric paints in red and green

What to Do

Wash and dry your child’s hand.

Use a paintbrush to paint his outstretched palm with the green fabric paint, and before it dries, quickly make an imprint on the white fabric, with the fingers slightly spread apart. Get the paint off before it has a chance to dry – the paint is easier to get off the hand when it’s wet. (Just soap and water will do. Because time is of the essence, I suggest you try this near a water source, like your kitchen sink. )

Once you have the green palm imprint, and have washed her hand clean, take your child’s finger, dip it in red fabric paint and create a flower shape at the tip of the ring finger, creating a circle of five petals. Dip another finger in yellow, and press on the fabric in the middle of the flower to create its center.

Repeat the procedure – create another flower on the tip of another finger imprint, until all fingers have a flower perched on top.

Use the tip of her thumb to dip in green paint, and create two or three leaves, randomly placed among the fingers.

Tip: For best results, try on waste cotton fabric first before using the apron or pillow cover.

Here’s a cool magic trick for when your child is bored!

Take some milk in a pan, add some drops of food color (different colors) at the side of the pan and then squirt in a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid in the center.

Enjoy!

A hotel in Scotland reports that the weirdest thing that guests left behind this year was a 4 year old boy. Apparently, the boy’s parents had a family party to attend, and were completely flustered on their way out of the hotel. When they realized they were missing their flesh and blood, they turned right around in panic and back to the hotel room where they found their son – still playing with his toys, and none the wiser (which is a good thing.)

I refuse to go tsk tsk here. Just yesterday, we went on a family picnic to a nearby wildlife park with my husband’s entire family. There were 4 cars and every time we stopped for a toilet break, the kids would change cars. When we left at around 6 pm, it was getting pretty dark, and in all the flurry of getting back, I began to panic that my son wasn’t in any of the cars. A couple of high decibel hysteria packed minutes later, we got out, took a roll call, found my son in one of the other cars, and were then on our way. Happy ending, thankfully!
I don’t find it strange that they had a momentary attack of amnesia where their son was concerned – it happens to the best of us. What I found weird was that they didn’t realize he was missing even when they were in their car, and starting off!

Back to the story, and what other things have people been leaving behind in hotel rooms? I love this one – an urn full of ashes.

I am guessing someone didn’t want her mother in law sitting on her mantle.

So why am I focusing so much on nurturing and encouraging creativity in your preschooler? Because it’s the only time you’ll be able to take concrete steps to fan the flames of inspiration. Children between the ages of 2 to 6 are in their prime to explore and absorb.

Here are just some reasons to feed that creative itch:

• When kids use their hands and fingers to paint, sketch, mould, and hold crayons or paint, they are enhancing their motor skills.
• As they get older, they learn to use their creative skills to solve problems.
• Art can also give them a means of self expression to express their feelings. There’s a reason why disturbed or abused children draw and paint dark and gloomy images.
• Take a look at some of the most intelligent and forceful personalities through out history; without exception, they have all been creative people.

Encourage Art

This one is a no brainer, and is the one of the easiest ways to encourage your child’s artistic side.

• Always keep arts and crafts supplies close at hand.
• Don’t supervise his work.
• Offer words of encouragement, but don’t constantly hover above him saying, “The sun should be a deep, yet mellow orangish yellow” or other such neurotic behavior. Nothing kills a child’s creativity faster than setting marked boundaries for him.
• Don’t force him to create entire masterpieces from scratch. Some days he’ll want to do nothing but rub crayon on paper. Help him by creating a rough sketch for him, so he can fill in color to his heart’s content.
• Praise the oddities in his artwork. For instance, “That’s a really beautiful sea. I like how you’ve made the whale orange.”
• When he’s made something, remember to frame it or display it.

Encourage Imaginary Friends

I know Moms who are freaked out over their child’s fictional friends or playmates and try to talk them out of it, or scold them when they mention these playmates.

Don’t.

Kids love to enact situations (it makes them feel all grown up) and an imaginary friend helps them act out situations that are interesting to them, and experience emotions. A terrific creativity booster.

Allow Time for Play

A 4 year old child’s life shouldn’t be a never ending cycle of art, activities and other educational play. Allow time for normal play and exploration. Don’t over schedule his life. A clockwork military style regimen is another outstanding way to kill creativity.

I can understand why discipline and obedience would be a concern for parents, but balance is key here.

Play Dress Up

Kids love to pretend they’re other people, especially older people. Nothing gives them a bigger kick than dressing the part. Little girls love the entire princess routine; boys are likely to pretend they’re Spiderman. No matter what they chose to be, encourage the behavior and play along. Ask questions.

So, where are you going all dressed up tonight?

Who are you going with?

What will you do when you get there?”

You might be amazed at the answers.

Trash the TV

Well, maybe not. But try to cut down on how much TV they watch. Here’s a doable way you can set a TV schedule for your kids.

There’s a lot on TV that’s educational and informative, and lots more than isn’t so great. The worst part about TV as far as creativity is concerned is that it makes kids lazy. Instead of using their own imagination, they sit back and watch the results of other people’s imagination at work. Plus, it’s addictive. You might find your kids less interested in arts and activities once they’re hooked.

By the time your child is three, he will (hopefully) begin seriously dabbling in art at home. Add to that, the mountain of artwork he will collect over the next few years from school projects, holiday crafts projects and others, and you have a logistical nightmare.

So how, and where do your display little Picasso’s masterpieces? Here are a few places to set up an impromptu art gallery.

Bulletin Board

Use a bulletin board displayed at a prominent space in the house to display artwork, and update regularly. Getting rid of old artwork (after a few months, you’ll have a sizeable collection of masterpieces that’s he’s created at home, plus dozens of school projects that his teacher will send home with him) will be impossible, so set aside an acid proof box (available at stationery stores) to store pictures once they step off their exalted status on the board.

Avoid using pins, especially if the board is low enough for a child to reach up and remove them. Use staples instead.

Wall Gallery

This isn’t every parent’s favorite way to display pictures because they can damage paint. Try using gift wrapping bows to attach pictures to the wall. They don’t damage the paint as much.

Besides, the colorful and shiny bows add a special accent to the artwork.

Or, frame the pictures and hang them on an entire section of a wall or entranceway, so every one who enters can have a look at them.

Refrigerator Gallery

Stock up on refrigerator magnets, and use them to turn your refrigerator into a gallery. This is an inexpensive and non messy way of putting artwork up, and is easy enough for your child to do it himself.

Clothesline Gallery

Hammer in a couple of nails about 6 feet apart on your child’s bedroom wall, or a passageway, and tie a clothesline to each nail. Use clothespins to hold up artwork. You can create two rows of lines, and push pictures back when they are older, using the front row for the new ones.

Door Gallery

Cover the back of your child’s bedroom door in colored paper chart paper, and staple or stick artwork on it.

Frame Gallery

Buy one of those large inexpensive poster sized box frames, and use them to hold multiple pictures. You can have more than one such frame displayed in the living room, dining area, and another in his bedroom.

If you have more than one preschooler in the house, have separate frames for each child.

This is wrong on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin.

The Hannah Montana False Essay Story is all over the place, but I’ll recap for those of you who’ve missed it.

A Texas mom helped her 6 year old girl  win the first prize in an essay contest. The prize: Four Hannah Montana concert tickets, plus airfare. Her prize wining submission began with these profound words : My Daddy died this year in Iraq.

A sad enough essay it would have been, except that as it turned out the girl’s farther is not only alive and kicking in a nearby town, but has also never served in the army!

According to the mother who came up with the brainwave scheme for the tickets, “We did whatever we could to win.” Nice.

Will this deceit scar the little girl for life? No. Absolutely not. Telling your child to write an essay in her name saying that her father – who’s alive and well – has been killed in combat, and all for four concert tickets and a plane trip? What could possibly go wrong?

Continuing in the spirit of the New Year’s, here are some resolutions you can make for 2008.

Bump at least three of these to the top of the list of your other resolutions.

These are not just much easier to follow, but are also guaranteed to show results, not just over the next 365 days, but for years to come. So here goes:

• I will spend more time with my child, doing the things that he loves to do.
• I will visit his class and discuss his progress with his teacher at least once a month.
• I will visit all his preschool activities and plays.
• I will tell him every single day that I love him
• I will tell him “You’re the best kid in the world,” every day.
• I will teach my child one little thing every week. (This could be something as simple as the difference between “big and small,” “near and far.” Use daily activities or objects lying around the house to make your point.) There’s a beautiful Persian saying that I love. A mother’s lap is a child’s first school.
• I will encourage more family time. (This could be anything from having dinner together daily, or catching a family movie or play every weekend. Don’t set high expectations, however. Be realistic.)
• I will discuss better ways we can raise our child with my spouse. (This is especially true if you’re a working mom.) Being able to divide responsibilities with your spouse, and decide on who’s going to take your child to school or to the playground will lessen the burden on you.

So what if your New Year’s resolution history is littered with the graves of promises broken? A new beginning is a great time to help your kids set small goals for themselves. Just make certain you don’t burden your child with must dos.

• Treat it like a game rather than a contest.
• Keep resolutions few, and keep them simple. This is very important. You can increase the nature of resolutions as they get older, but at this age it’s best to focus on a few key issues relating to health, hygiene and social skills rather than school work, or learning skills.
• Give your child a choice in the resolutions. Read out a list, and let him pick 3 that appeal to him.
• Don’t force your opinion on him. If watching less TV (him, not you) would make you happier, but he’s crestfallen at the idea, don’t force him into it. The idea is to make the whole process seem fun, and make him feel like he’s in control of his actions.

Here are a few suggestions from the American Society of Pediatrics to get you started:

• I will brush my teeth twice daily.
• I will pick up my toys everyday before I go to bed.
• I will wash my hands before eating, and after using the bathroom.

Here are some more that are doable:

• I will drink a glass of milk every morning at breakfast.
• I will watch 30 minutes less TV everyday.
• I will be polite to Mommy and Daddy.
• I won’t make a fuss before going to school.
• I will say “Please,” “Thank you,” and “Sorry” more often.
• I will not tear the wings off a butterfly or insect.
• I will eat my dinner without complaining.

Here’s wishing you a great New Year!  Stay healthy, and be happy!