Tickle Baby with Feather

You can be creative and use different things to dust your baby. You could also use a feather to tickle your baby.

I got many of the ideas from this book "Play & Learn:  1001 activities for baby and child" by Dr. Roni Cohen Leiderman and Dr. Wendy Masi. Instead of using a feather duster as mentioned in the book, you can use a feather.

This book is available from Amazon:

http://amzn.to/1sZxPEs

7 June 2016 (3W2D)

Dust Baby

Age: From 0 month old

According to the book "Play & Learn:  activities for baby and child", "tickling your baby with a make-up brush, a feather or clean feather duster helps her feel where her body begins and ends. Keep "dusting" your baby, and by about 3 months of age, she might giggle every time you pull out that "toy.""

This book "Play & Learn:  activities for baby and child" by Dr. Roni Cohen Leiderman and Dr. Wendy Masi available from Amazon:

http://amzn.to/1sZxPEs

Montessori Activity: Blowing Feathers with Straws

Age: From 3 years old

Objective(s): To teach the concept of how wind works in a simple, fun and tangible way
 for young children.

Materials:
1. 2 feathers
2. 2 straws
3. 1 tub filled with water

Directions:
1. Put the feathers on the tub of water.

2. Have fun with your child by blowing the feathers with a straw and see whose feather is going faster.

Additional Information:
Joshua tried this today. He preferred to use the straw to blow bubbles in the water instead towards the end of the activity.

If you don't have feathers at home, you can substitute it with paper boat, or bath toy boat. You can get feathers from Amazon:

Montessori Activity: Practise Pincer Grasp with a Playdough Peacock

Idea from My Montessori Momemts

Age: From 2.5 years old

Objective: To provide a fun way to practise pincer grip and fine motor skills

Materials:
1. Some feathers (if you don't have feathers, you can use toothpicks and make a poccupine instead :-))
2. 1 lump of store-bought or homemade playdough

Directions:
1. Demonstrate to your child how to insert the feathers into the playdough to form the tail of the peacock.

2. Invite your child to try.

Additional Information:
Joshua is still not very good with his pincher grip. I have some feathers at home and I found this fun idea from My Montessori Moments. I also made my own playdough for the first time today. So I decided that I am going to let Joshua try this activity. I think it looks more like peacock than turkey, thus I am claling ours a playdough peacock.

Montessori Activity: Pasting Feathers on a Bird

Idea from Cherry Blossom Adventures

Age: From 2.5 years old

Activity Duration: 5 - 10 minutes

Objectives:
1. To train the child's fine motor skills
2. To provide sensory play with feathers.
3. To provide a fun way to teach colours.

Materials:
1. Some feathers
2. 1 sheet of printed bird (I have made an outlook of the bird from google image search. Click here to download)
3. 1 bottle of glue

Directions:
1. Demonstrate to your child by gluing one feather on the bird.

2. Invite your child to choose the colour of the feather and to glue it to the bird.

Additional Information:
I thought this was a brilliant idea from Cherry Blossom Adventures. Instead of the usual colouring, this makes the picture more life-like with feathers glued to the bird. J tried this today and thought it was fun. I hope to repeat it again.

References:
http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2011/09/20/tot-school-birds/

Montessori Activity: Heavy & Light Sensory Box

Age: From 1.5 year old

Activity Duration: 5 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To stimulate and develop the 5 senses.
2. To introduce the opposite concept of heavy and light.

Materials:

1. 1 transparent storage box approx. 40 x 30 x 16cm
2. 5-10 feathers
3. 1 bag of pebbles

Directions:

1. Mix them in the box.

2. Let your child hold the contrasting weight and feel of the pebbles and feathers without saying anything.

3. Then describe the feeling, the touch and the name of the sensation to your child, for example, stones are heavy and feathers are light.

4. Point to your child the picture in the flash card and the words of heavy and light.

Cost:

Total cost: 35 DKK (8.40 SGD)
Feathers: 20 DKK (4.80 SGD) including other materials in a hobby set jar
Bag of pebbles: 9 DKK (2.15 SGD) from IKEA
Storage box: 100 DKK (24 SGD) for 3 in Jysk
Chinese flash cards from Singapore Popular Bookstore in Bras Basah