Tricks to make difficult subjects easy

With children, make-believe is a wonderful way to express thoughts and feelings. Replaying life’s events is a way of processing their discoveries. Thus, children love to play ‘doctor’, ‘fireman’, or ‘teacher’. Allowing your child to re-enact real life scenarios with role playing actually reinforces what he’s discovered, about how people behave in different situations. It also helps him identify with other people’s feelings. It challenges his memory, nurture problem-solving and decision-making skills, build confidence and ideas!

Scaling down big world experiences

By using playsets such as a dollhouse, we bring big world experiences down to a level children can comprehend and be enthusiasistic about. Sit back and watch your child play. You'll see re-enactments of things you do; "It’s bedtime, so trot off to bed, little one!" (it’s said to be one of the joys and often, revelations in pretend play). Do participate. For example, you may urge "It seems like little Boy Boy is tired. Do you think we should put him to bed?" and see what happens. What matters is not whether your child accepts your idea, but to plant ideas to enhance play.

Using theme toys to demonstrate

With playsets, you can even tackle difficult topics such as road-safety rules or ways to care for the environment and why! Manipulate a toy character to ‘Look left, then, right and left again’ before ‘crossing the road’ with vehicles ‘moving’ strategically on the ‘road’ to illustrate. Or have ‘Daddy’ ‘wash the car with rainwater’ , then give your child his first lesson about conservation. The possibilities for civic education is enormous.

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