Singing is another terrific way to help kids learn. Not only do they practice musical skills but also important ones for learning vocabulary, rhythm, word order and language patterns, but it also strengthens their auditory memory and provides good listening practice. There are some fabulous children’s entertainers with simple and catchy songs but plain, ordinary, everyday singing with parents and caregivers can be done anytime, anywhere and on any subject. One trick is to piggy-back new words onto old tunes. Following are two examples.
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.
Drive, drive, drive your car, gently down the street. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a treat.
Fly, fly, fly your plane gently in the sky. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life’s too fun to cry.
Tune: She’ll be coming ’round the mountain. Words by Daylene
We’ll be going on vacation in the car, honk, honk.
We’ll be going on vacation in a plane, zoom, zoom.
We’ll be going an vacation in a train, chug, chug.
We’ll be going on vacation in a boat, toot, toot.
It’s okay to use the word truck in these songs, although it is best to avoid that mode of transportation for some others. Phew. The ever-popular “Wheels on the bus” can be the wheels on the car with almost endless verses for another song. Any other possibilities for cartunes?
Pardon the pun, but practicing numbers on a vacation just adds to the fun. No matter the age of your little ones, just pointing out all the places where there are numbers helps kids learn how important numbers are. Road numbers, prices on signs, hotel room doors, addresses, elevators, clocks, money and menus are just a few places. Children also enjoy reading the numbers or having someone else say their names. It’s easy to make connections with questions like: Are any of these numbers the same as how old you are? Are any of these numbers like our house number? etc. Another idea is giving a child a little notebook and special pencil for writing down numbers that s/he sees. Multiply your holiday fun with numbers! Any number of suggestions are welcome.
Talking about what you might need and making a list can be great fun. Are you going somewhere warm? Check with your child if you will need snowpants. Talk about the items that need to be included on the list. Ask some crazy, silly questions mixed in with some sensible ones. Imagine the things you might be doing and what things are important to pack. Will you be skating? Are parachutes a good idea?