Celebrating the New Year with Kids

With the New Year just a few days away, you can plan a fun New Years bash with your kids that’s fun and educational. Kids can feel left out of New Year’s celebrations because they can’t make the late night. But with a little planning your kids can have a New Year’s bash that they will remember for years to come.

It’s always midnight somewhere, so plan your party around the world clock and ring in the New Year like you are in another part of the world. This is a great teaching moment to learn about other places in the world and maybe reinforce geography. Another option is ring in the New Year at noon.

Pick activities that the whole family can participate in, make sure you take lots of pictures. Have them make a scrapbook, or make cards welcoming in the new year. Even have them help bake a cake for the birthday of the New Year.

Another activity is to help each other think of resolutions. Make posters or collages that represent the resolutions as motivation for sticking to them. This can help your child learn how to follow through with something they say they want to do.
A great family craft would be to make a family time capsule filled with photos from the last year, letters from each family member and pictures drawn by the kids. Save it for the next New Year's Eve party.

Make noisemakers by filling a toilet paper roll with rice or dry beans. Cover both ends with paper and decorate the tube. Shake it as the ball drops to welcome the new year.

Whatever you decide to do have a safe and wonderful New Year from your friends at the Goddard School.

Socialization

Socialization is important to your young child and working on social skills in preschool is an important factor in developing skills that will help children through the rest of their life.
Socialization is the process of interacting with others. Children begin the process of social development at an early age. They learn to interact through play and by mimicking social actions at home and in school.

Early on in life parents and guardians worry about their child’s social development. It’s not uncommon for teachers to hear questions like, does my child have any friends and do they play well with others?

Socialization is critical to developing skills like taking turns, cooperating, respecting others and forming friendships. These skills will be necessary in the classroom, on the job and throughout the rest of their lives. In fact, social skills have been linked to later success in school. Sharing and listening to the teacher's instruction are fundamental building blocks to reading, spelling and counting numbers. School friendships can also have a positive impact on self esteem which can also increase classroom participation and overall performance.

You probably notice teachers playing games with preschool children and you probably dismiss it as just having fun. However, this play is actually designed to build social skills. Playing games that have children work in small groups or even pairs helps them learn one another’s names and promotes a sense of belonging. As the children get older the teacher’s often lead discussions on friendship and what it means to be a friend, this teaches the children how to interact with their peers.

Developing social skills can be a difficult task but teachers and parents make wonderful role models and children learn from example. You can reinforce these skills at home by speaking positively and sharing positive qualities about others.

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