September 30 is the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Flintstones. At first, I was perplexed as to how that could help with kindergarten readiness. But, the Flintstones has a yabadabadoo lesson for any generation. The entire world of Bedrock is created with Imagination!! In the spirit of the Flintstones, today, you and your child can let your imaginations create a unique, fun world. It may be a world in a shoe box, or under a blanket spread over a table or in a corner of the yard. What do the people use for their furniture? What do they use for their houses? How about their food? While using one object to symbolize something else is playful, it’s actually a very important thinking skill. Who’d have thought the Flintstones had a message for helping prepare kids for school! As Fred would say, “Have a yabadabadoo time,” playing, creating, imagining, and thinking, today.
What’s your favorite Flintstone memory?
As a change and extension from reading books, it’s important to also tell stories. Ask your child to choose a fall leaf. Either you or your child can be the voice of the leaf and tell about being on a tree and all the things it saw. For example: “I am a leaf. My name is Lucy. I lived at the top of a very big tree and I saw all around. One day a little boy left a bicycle by my tree. He ran off to play with a ball and the bicycle got up and started to chase the ball, too.” Or, choose 2 leaves and let the leaves have a conversation.