Home-Based Activities for young children*
Few suggestions For Parents
For training and learning of children, parents and care takers can involve children in various home based activities…..Some are as follows;
Interior decoration:
Children may be encouraged to participate in home beautification activities like planning placing/ putting wall hangings, show pieces at appropriate places, arranging furniture, flower’s arrangements. They may also be involved in selection of interiors. Opinion of children may be taken into consideration to buy furniture, curtains, choosing wall color, and other household equipments. But before that they should be well-oriented about the scope, purchasing power of the family and space available etc.
Value
- Creativity, imagination aesthetic and artistic sense improves. There is more participation of the family members.
Household cleaning
Children may be involved in daily, weekly, monthly, half yearly and annual cleaning in the house depending upon the availability of time. The tasks can be daily dusting, cleaning their study table and room, arranging their bookstand clothes in cupboards, and clearing their play material etc.
Value
- Children learn about importance of cleanliness, space arrangement and importance of keeping things at the appropriate places.
Involving children in kitchen related activities
Children can also be involved in the kitchen-related activities. While young children can do simpler tasks like sorting / grouping of vegetables, fruits, the older ones can help in pre-preparation of materials for cooking food. They can also help in salad preparing, setting table for meals. While doing these activities young children can be informed about color, size, shape, weight etc. of food items and utensils and equipments like bowls, tumblers, plates whereas the older children can be informed about nutritive and medicinal value of different eatables, seasonal availability and different ways of preparing them. Sieving flour, semolina, cleaning and washing rice, are other activities in which children may be involved (but with utmost care). Scientific knowledge may also be given on use of various kitchen equipments. Information like the following can be imparted.
- Heating helps to cook food.
- Adding salt and soda in food and pressure cooking reduces cooking time.
- Perishable food items like milk, cheese, cooked vegetables etc if kept outside in hot weather get spoiled quickly. Keeping food items in refrigerator or at cool place keeps food in good condition for longer time.
- Different food stuffs have different tastes.
Children may also be taught about importance of hygiene like washing hands and fruits and vegetables before eating.
Activity:
Children can plan weekly menu for their Tiffin/breakfast /lunch/dinner and display in kitchen.
Value:
- Children learn to appreciate skills related to kitchen work and observe and participate in various activities.
- Working in kitchen may also help develop taste for nutritious food items that children usually don’t like.
- Parents/caretakers get support and help.
- Family members get more time to interact with each other.
- Scientific attitude develops, and understanding of cause and effect relationship improves.
- Cooking teaches Math (measuring, counting and approximation) and they also learn about importance of maintaining personal hygiene while cooking and eating.
- Children learn to read recipes, follow directions, and sequencing.
FOOD GROUPS-WISE ACTIVITIES
Vegetables: Young children may be oriented about various aspects related to vegetables like types of vegetables; roots, tubers, green leafy vegetables and other vegetables. They may also learn about color, smell, shape and comparative size and weight of each type of vegetable.
For example, potato is light brown in color, commonly round in shape and medium in size. Other examples are in the following table ;
| Vegetable | Colour |
Shape |
Comparative size |
|---|---|---|---|
Tomato(ripe) |
red |
round/oval |
medium/small |
Cabbage |
light green/purple |
round |
big |
Lauki/gourd |
light green |
long/round |
big |
Lemon |
Yellow/green |
round |
small |
Pumpkin |
yellow/green |
round/oval |
big |
Spinach |
green |
leaf shape |
medium |
Activity:
Children may be asked to draw above vegetables in the drawing book and color them. Additional information that can be provided is;
- Change in shape and color from raw vegetables to final cooked.
- Common insects that infest vegetables like in cauliflower, peas.
- Vegetables having peculiar smell like cucumber, lemon, mint and coriander.
- Vegetables that take less or more time in cooking.
- Various recipes/items that can be prepared from the same vegetable like chips, cutlets, burger filling, samosa(a stuffed and fried snack ) and vegetable curry can be made from one vegetable….that is potato.
- Nutritive value and medicinal value of common vegetables and yellow vegetables. Like carrot and yellow pumpkin is good for eyes.
Activity:
A small kitchen garden can be developed at home. If enough space is not available, vegetables and other medicinal plants that do not need much space may be grown in pots. These include mint, tomatoes, tulsi(basil) etc. Children can be given the responsibility of looking after the plants like watering them.
Value
- Enhances awareness related to various aspects of vegetables and plants.
- Children will develop scientific and exploratory attitude.
Fruits:
Activities Related to the Fruits can also be done in the same way as discussed for vegetables.
| Fruit | Colour |
Shape |
Comparative size |
|---|---|---|---|
Orange |
orange/yellow |
round |
medium |
Apples |
red /yellow/green |
round |
medium |
Water melon |
green |
round |
big |
Mango |
yellow/green/ |
red /yellow/green |
medium |
Children can be given information about fruits like heavy or big sized fruits that grow on trees have strong stalk such as jack fruit. Some fruits have thick skin while others have thin. Some fruits grow in bunches like grapes and cherries while others grow single.
Comparative Thickness of Outer Layer / skin of fruits
| Fruits | Comparative thick of outer layer/peel |
|---|---|
Banana |
Thick |
Mango |
Thin |
Orange |
Thick |
Apple |
Thin |
Pears |
Thin |
Size and types of seeds in fruits
Banana |
usually no seeds (but a few varieties do have very small seeds) |
Mango |
One big seed or kernel (yellowish white) |
Orange |
small white seeds |
Apple |
few small seeds, black in color |
Some fruits have big seeds while others have small. Some have none, others have just one.
Activity
If space permits, fruit trees like guava, banana, and papaya can be grown at home.
Value:
- Children learn about various aspects related to fruits like their season, growing stages.
- May develop taste for different type of fruits having more nutritive value.
Various aspects related to cereals/millets, pulses/legumes like rice, wheat, bajara, maize, barley, ragi and rajmah may be discussed with children. They may also be provided information related to Recipes (composition and method of preparation of various items) available in the market as well as those are cooked at home. For example;
| Items | Ingredients ( main ) |
Common Cooking method |
|---|---|---|
Pizza base |
mainly refined wheat flour and other items |
baking |
Burger base |
mainly wheat flour and few other items |
baking |
Noodles |
commonly wheat flour and other items |
baking and boiling in water |
Cake |
refined wheat flour, sugar, ghee/butter/oil |
baking |
Dosa |
rice + dal (pulse) |
(shallow frying) cooking in Less oil. |
Idli |
rice + dal(Pulse) |
baking |
Bread |
wheat flour (also sometime Other items like dry fruits) |
Steaming |
Biscuit |
wheat flour and other items |
baking |
Samosa |
wheat flour and other items potato or any other item for stuffing like boiled peas |
frying |
Momos |
wheat flour (refined), vegetables/chicken |
steamed/frying |
Additional information that can be provided to the child on following:
- Story of preparation of bread, pizza base, burger, noodles
- Some cereals and pulses get infested quickly in rainy and hot season.
- Common insects in the cereals and pulses like cow pea weevil, their various stages of life cycle.
Activity
Children can develop a scrap book of various pulses and cereals. They can also keep them in small pouches or bottles and label them.
Value:
Children may be more curious to know about composition of various food items and will try to get more information from various sources.
Milk and milk products
As per many studies, Milk is considered essential for children as it contains various nutrients required for their growth and development. With age many children start disliking it and its products (due to various reasons). However, if children understand importance of consuming milk and its products they mafy develop taste for it and will like to take it in different forms. Information on following points, if provided in an interesting manner will help them increase in their knowledge.
OBSERVATION:
Older children can observe and understand the process and scientific reasons behind following:
- Boiling of milk
- Setting curd
- Setting Ice-Cream
- Formation of household paneer ( cheese )
Activity:
Older children may be given responsibility of bringing milk from the milk booth from the market. This will make them feel more responsible. Activities with clothes / garments and other linen; Small children like to enjoy playing with bundles of clothes. Children may be involved in doing following activities.
- Making their beds.
- Keeping shoes and other objects like keys of the home and cupboards at right place.
- Keeping newspaper at proper place.
- Dusting table and furniture.
- Sorting clothes. This activity can be utilized for making them understand colors, shapes, and numbers and type of material (soft, rough, smooth, slippery).
- Buttoning of their clothes.
Value:
- Child learns about color shape of clothes number, texture etc.
- When child is fully involved and absorbed in the activity, she/he feels very happy.
- Sorting, serration, buttoning, their own clothes help them to be self sufficient and independent
(Source;Nutritive Value of Indian foods(yr 2000)
* Nirmal Tikku, Ex Deputy Director, NIPCCD , New Delhi, INDIA
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