In fact in our family we regularly have a giggle as we remember one story from when our youngest started preschool at age 4. After settling in happily for a few weeks I had the teacher bowl up to me one morning with clearly something pressing on her mind. In outraged tones the teacher presented me with her accusation: “Your child can’t even cut with scissors!!” (she was not a happy camper trust me). I made my cheerful reply (which definitely incensed her further) “Of course not, he’s the youngest; he’s not allowed to touch the scissors”. You’ll be pleased to know that all turned out well in the end and our son is now a well adjusted and academically excellent grade 4 student whose peers would never be able to guess his dismal beginning.

Not everyone is aware that great development of  those fine finger and hand motor skills is directly linked and responsive to growth in the gross, or large, motor skills which our kids develop through exercise and outdoor play. So, when we’re running about outside with our little kids throwing the footy, catching a large ball or just generally racing around having fun, we are actually directly investing in their future academic ability. As parents we can take the time to understand general developmental milestones (eg jump with two legs, skip, or hop with one leg) and through our time with them in energetic play, build into our kids in a fun way. Also, should it turn out there is some problem, we as parents are the most likely to notice and be able to seek professional help early.

For those of us who enjoy reading, here are a few examples of many sites easily found internet sites that have great information and even helpful activities we can do as parents to get us going:

Sean Brotherson, family science specialist, Understanding Physical Development in Young Children (http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/famsci/fs632w.htm)

Fingergym, Fine Motor Development and Early School Performance (http://www.fingergym.info/downloads/Finemotordevpp1-4.pdf)

University of Michigan, Your Child, Developmental Milestones (http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/devmile.htm)

Happy reading & happy playing!!

World famous soccer star, Pele, has something to say about this: ”Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” When our kids are filling the airwaves with those age-old early morning comments (“It’s too cold to get up”, “I don’t want to go today”, “I can’t do it, its too hard” …) our right response can build attitudes that will bring succes into their lives. It can be our  example and parenting that gives them the confidence and determination to persevere, and we can provide the fun factor which really is the lubricant of the whole engine.

We don’t need conditions to be perfect, we don’t need all the latest equipment, we don’t need to wait till we feel at our most cheerful and energetic – we can get out teeth into life’s challenges right now. Bill Shankly, soccer manager for England, is definitely from a country where the right weather rarely comes along. He said (no doubt on a cold, cloudy, wet day!): “What a great day for football, all we need is some green grass and a ball.” Let’s not wait for the ‘right moment’, let’s get out there and use what we have. Let’s teach our kids that regardless of how easy or hard, how we feel right now, what difficulties we are facing, we can determine to try hard and keep on trying until we achieve our goals. With this in hand, they’ll be unstoppable!!

Kids and teachers alike have been enjoying jumping into a variety of soccer based activities and having thoughtful conversations about the finer points of soccer along the way, eg: “Do we wear our socks on our hands? Or our feet? Why is it called soccer? Because we use our feet, not our hands” – DEEP!! Lots of fun chatting and of course engaging in plenty of active learning too.

One particularly entertaining element is the way that kids seem to know instinctively that soccer is a deeply emotional and dramatic sport – have seen some wonderful examples of kids being that much more passionate and keeping a humorous smile on their teachers’ faces!! So, continuing with the theme of soccer and extreme devotion, thought I’d share a couple of quotes with you to keep the smile on your faces too:

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” (Bill Shankly, English soccer manager)

“The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn’t move, kick it until it does.” (Phil Woosnam, Welsh soccer player and manager)

Hope you can make the most of this week, enjoying the blue skies and sunshine and keeping a bright, breezy outlook on life

“Get up & Grow” has a whole bunch of excellent suggestions to get us going; “Develop children’s skills by suggesting improvements, and encouraging them to try new things … Children need to feel confident in exploring new ways to move. Look for opportunity to slowly build on what your child can already do.” The idea is to start with basic movement and gradually build up from here. Involve kids in a variety of movement types including the following examples:

- Upper body movements: building, hitting, digging – start with large items and move progressively towards smaller and more detailed

- Lower body movements: jumping, kicking, walking – again, moving from simple towards more complex activities

- Whole body movements: dancing, climbing, balancing – use everyday items boxes, pillows, planks of wood

Once again we find that its easier than we thought and our choice to play energetically with our kids and encourage them in physical activity have far reaching effects, so much more benefit than we may ever know. Feel free to find the following site and enjoy a bit of further inspiration and helpful tips: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/CF059399C980F296CA25762E00178B77/$File/gug-hw24.pdf

Let’s get involved with encouraging our kids development of movement skills, and most of all let’s remember to really enjoy our kids at each stage as they grow!

My Grandpa lied about his age and became an ANZAC at the ripe old age of 16. We kids were obviously not around in the days of World War Two but our Pop definitely had a major positive input into our lives. Even as adults the grandchildren have been known to phone from all over the world for a bit of the best advice and encouragement which we all knew was always available from our Poppy. There was never any question – we’d surely all stop in to visit Pop, regardless of convenience, whenever we were anywhere near our old home town. Plus, we had to share our Grandpa with most of the town since they’d all claimed him as their Pop too.

As Australians (and New Zealanders in my case) we all immediately know what it means to be an ANZAC. Its part of who we are to recognise and celebrate the ANZAC culture of hard work, determination, courage, mate-ship. Why? Because its has been established in us over time to see and honour those positive elements that make us proud of our country and our heritage. So, what about us now? What will our grandchildren remember of us in 50 or more years? What elements of who we are and the culture we’ve created will be celebrated in the future? Who can we become now that will influence and impact our children and grandchildren for good?

Let’s take a look at our lives and families and be encouraged. Notice the positive things in the culture of our own families that we can highlight, celebrate and build on. Do you love to laugh? Do you have shared interests and enjoy fun together? Are you courageous and determined? Do you have kindness and empathy for others? Every family is different and we know as parents it is always so easy to notice the things we are doing wrong (I know I’m certainly surrounded by my mistakes every day!). But just for now, why not pause and take note of the good things about our families, be thankful for our children, be encouraged about the things we are doing right.

As we remember and celebrate ANZAC day, and the heart and courage that’s gone before us, let’s also aspire to leave an amazing legacy for our children and grandchildren.

So what do we need to keep in mind? “Children have small stomachs, so their energy and nutritional requirements are best met with small meals and snacks spread throughout the day” (Get up & Grow, Lunchbox ideas: Meals for early childhood settings). So what types of tasty treats can we pack that will benefit both our kids tastebuds and tummies? In today’s sugar and preservative soaked society, its so easy to reach for prepackaged snacks foods like chips, muesli bars, fruit straps, chocolate bars, lollies, donuts etc. However these foods actually decrease the good results of energy and concentration for our children. Lets instead aim for good health options such as sandwiches with savoury fillings, crackers or rice cakes, yoghurt, cheese, sliced fruit, vegetable sticks so that our children can get the best out of their day. Thirsty?? Water is definitely the best drink for our kids; lets make sure they have a bottle with plenty of water with them each day.

If you’re anything like me, its so easy to get ‘stuck in a rut’ with food preparation and end up with the same 3 boring options day after day. Why not take a few minutes to google some interesting and easy lunchbox options and even maybe read up and re-motivate ourselves about the huge benefits our children receive as we put in that little bit of extra effort. Lets enjoy the satisfaction of sending our kids off with foods that will keep them both happy and healthy!

Easter almost upon us and the first part of the year is already slipping away. It’s so great to see how much knowledge, skill and confidence is building up in the kids, even over the short part of the year we’ve had so far. I’m loving seeing kids who started out nervous and shy to participate, now boldly joining in activities and proudly telling me useful things that they’ve learned: “my heart is pumping the blood all around my body”, “I’ve got 2 lungs to help me breathe”, “my muscles make me strong and fast” and of course my favourite “look at me, I can do it!” The increase in catching, throwing, kicking and hitting ability with a variety of balls, following instructions, understanding games and plenty more is seriously so cool to see.

This seems like a great time to notice and be thankful for the good things that have happened in our lives and families. What progress have we made? What have we learnt or grown in? What challenges have we overcome? A quick look back can be so encouraging as we see how far we’ve come already this year. Then, how about taking a moment to pick one or two things to have a look at next. What would I like to focus on? For myself? For my kids? For our whole family? If we have something particular in mind, it won’t be long till we’re looking back and celebrating that too.

Hope you have a super Happy Easter full of fun, friends, hot cross buns and plenty of tasty Easter eggs!

Counsellor and physchology graduate Candice Schmidt gives us some great insight in her article “Sleep Secrets for a Better Life”. Research shows that today’s kids are “averaging an hour less sleep a night than 30 years ago” – not to mention adults! Schmidt says “We know that after a good night’s sleep we feel better, our thoughts are clearer, we are more productive and our emotions are less fragile but I was surprised at what research is revealing about the effects of too little sleep, especially for children.” She goes on to describe the results of lack of sleep for children such as “reduced academic performance … emotional instability … increase in medical conditions such as obesity” and gives plenty of helpful tips including how to recognise if our children are getting enough sleep, establishing a positive bedtime routine and healthy sleep patterns.

I found it very helpful to take a few minutes to read and ponder how to make sure enough sleep is happening in our household and you might find it useful to evaluate too. Feel free to follow this link to read the article in full: http://issuu.com/iluvthoseshoes/docs/indulge_magazine_feb12_hr?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage

Let’s get plenty of sleep going so our own little “ever-ready bunnies” don’t lose their bounce – and so we can keep up with them too!!!

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing has a few very helpful thoughts on this topic:

• “It is your child’s job to be active every day! The learning and growth gained from being active is important for developing important physical, social, language, emotional and intellectual skills. It can also directly impact your child’s ability to deal with the situations and challenges they will meet later in life.”
• “Children learn best when their whole bodies and minds are stimulated, and being active does just that. Free movement and active play is the most suitable form of physical activity for babies, infants and preschoolers.”
• “Physical activity should be a daily priority in every family, and for children of all levels of ability.”

Check out this link to enjoy a short and very helpful read:  http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/4514E0612BFDEB49CA25762E0016C426/$File/gug-hw22.pdf

Bearing in mind the clear scientific link between regular participation in physical/imaginative play and stronger intellectual and creative problem solving abilities, lets take the opportunity to “Get Up & Grow”. Though I may feel shattered and prefer to relax on the couch, I never regret the opportunities I take to head outside with my kids and get involved in some crazy, imaginative game with them. Sometimes its as simple as paying attention and giving positive feedback in those many “watch me Mummy” (or Daddy) moments that come our way. With our encouragement and participation in active play, we  can build a launch pad right now that will see our children confidently “blast off” and follow their dreams into the future.

The kids have been loving the opportunity to catch, throw, kick and run with the footy – all packaged as always in our great Smallsports blend of fun games and imaginative play. Its such an encouragement to see how quickly kids catch on and improve in their understanding and physical ability. At home with our own kids we’ve been enjoying taking advantage of a cool, breezy day to grab a ball, head out out into the backyard or local park and have a go. What about you? Lets make the most of every opportunity since we know that its our involvement at home that really supplements and cements everything the kids are learning elsewhere.

Enjoy!!