Tag: orlandomoms
The Bountiful Benefits of Basket Rides
Wheeee! Bet your toddler loves going for rides in your laundry basket. What you may not know are all the developmental benefits you are giving your child in these moments, and some of the ways you can make this an even more beneficial experience for you and your little one.
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First, notice how these parents work smarter, not harder, by having a scarf or rope attached to the basket enabling them to stand up and protect their back muscles. (These are the kind of parenting tips our experienced Kindermusik educators share to set you up for success.)
Second, each parent is respecting their baby’s needs during this activity. Some little ones are enchanted by being pulled in the basket, others want to be close and cuddle as they are parading around the room. Toddlers who are totally focused on walking may want to put their favorite stuffed animal in the basket and push it around themselves!
So let’s highlight some of the benefits of this traveling laundry basket experience.
Balance and Coordination
Sitting upright in a laundry basket as it is moving forward and side to side activates and strengthens your child’s core muscles, and is a delightful exercise for developing balance and coordination. So if they are old enough to sit up by themselves, place them in the center so they are less inclined to lean back. Don’t worry too much if they do.
Spatial Awareness
As your child sees and feels themselves traveling through the room, they are becoming more aware of where they are in relation to the space around them. Your child is developing the spatial awareness they need to navigate the world around them.
Sensory Stimulation
Whether your child is sitting directly on the grooves in the bottom of the laundry basket, or a soft towel or blanket on the bottom, they are getting sensory input from the density and textures on their skin as their body moves around on top. Try it with a load of warm laundry for additional sensory input. Both the warmth of the clothes and the scent of the fabric softener strengthens the building of strong neural connections.
As your toddler’s eyes see objects move past them, they are becoming more observant of their environment and how things look from different perspectives. To activate the same effect with their hearing, have music playing in one room, and move past the door to that room so your child’s ears hear the changing location of the sound.
Imaginative Play
Does your child love trains? Create chugging sounds and train whistles, and maybe even listen to songs about trains on your laundry basket adventure. Pretend to make scheduled stops and announce the location loudly. There are so many ways to stimulate their ability for imaginative play on a topic they love. If your child loves their stuffed animals, set them up around the house and pretend to be a train traveling around the zoo and talking about each animal. Maybe they can be the zoo expert after your many repetitions. Start by becoming acutely aware of what your child is most fascinated by in this moment, and initiate pretend play accordingly. Then watch as your child starts to initiate it in their own.
ADD Social Interaction
Some of these suggestions are extras you can add that we can’t include in our Kindermusik classes. But your mommy and me time (or daddy and me, grandma and me, nanny and me…) during class provides you with a continual supply activities, music, and information to level up your daily play at home. You will both meet new friends with your classmates, adding the benefit of socialization and interpersonal connection.
It is so easy to sign up and preview one of our classes full of music and movement with your child. Our unique programs for each age (infancy, early toddlerhood and early preschool ages) ensures you are both gaining what you need for each stage of their development.
Let’s nurture these young minds together. Wheee!
We did it!
Hello friends! We have officially finished our Summer classes, and we can now safely say that it was a total success! I mean, check out this completely joyful moment from this week! After a VERY long time only doing virtual classes during Covid, we returned to the classroom for in-person classes this Summer. We want to send a HUGE thank you to all the amazing parents who worked with us in adapting for covid safety. We all have a single goal which is to keep our littles safe. We did it! Our virtual classes were a blast also. We love all the interactions and ideas from our Kindermusik Virtual kiddos!
We are excited to share that for the first time since our studio creation in 2005 we are running a full school year with both in-person and virtual classes running at the same time! Never, in our wildest imagination did we ever think this would be something we would do. Our goal is to continue to learn, grow and evolve as a studio so we can serve our musical community far and wide as best we can.
So, with that said, we of course want to encourage you to head to our website, find an offering that works for your family, and sign up. : )
Everyone who can attend in Eastern Standard Time – virtual classes are available (even in afternoons/evenings for those in preschool!). Try a FULL week of unlimited classes for only $5!
Note: this is an amazon afilliate link. If you purchase through this link, a bit comes back to help our studio. Thank you!