Creativity is at the epicentre of human exploration and discovery. Creativity is a force that nurtures human development, innovation and helps us appreciate nature around us. Everyone is creative. Being creative helps children to look within themselves, take a pause and helps them to calm down. Below are a few ways to nurture your child’s creative ideas and imaginative spirit:<ol><li>Encourage possibility thinking: Pose the “What if?” question in front of your child in as many ways as possible; these help children naturally think of creative possibilities for everything they encounter.</li><li>Nurture your child’s interests: Allow your children to choose their after-school activities. Encourage them to more deeply explore those activities in essays and projects at school.</li><li>Expand the language of emotion: Being able to understand and describe emotions is critical to the creative process. Help them with the emotional vocabulary so that they can express their feelings better.</li><li>Play, play, play: Through imaginative play, children explore their ideas and create meaning about the world around them. It is better to provide all kinds of art supplies - crayons, play dough, construction paper, glitter to your child so that (s)he can create freely.</li><li>Explore the beauty of nature: The natural world inspires children to think, question, make suppositions, instil problem-solving skills, and develop creative minds. Children can draw in the sand, make designs with twigs, build forts with branches, or simply lie on the ground and look up at the sky.</li><li>Advocate for the daydreamer: When kids daydream, they explore associations, make connections, and search for possibilities. Daydreaming and a bit of solitude for reflection are among the attributes of highly creative people.</li><li>Invent scenarios: Invent scenarios with your child. This way (s)he will try on lots of different roles and organise his/her thoughts while developing social and verbal skills. Encourage your child to play house, doctor, zoo, farm, space station, school, or store.</li><li>Verbal activities: From rhymes to riddles (check our rhymes and riddles content to get you started), silly sounds to phonics, games such as "I Spy" (and many more activities on our app), verbal interactive activities can inspire and nurture creative minds.</li><li>Encourage art activities: Through painting, sculpture, collage, clay, drawing or any other medium, art is a way for children to work through emotions, make decisions, and express their ideas.</li><li>Ask open-ended and thought-provoking questions: Asking questions that provoke imaginative and creative thinking is an effective way to invite your child to express his/her ideas and share his/her visions. "What do you think would happen if….?" "What's the difference between a dog and a cat?" "What are some other ways to do this?" are a few questions to get you started.</li><li>Limit screen time: Nurturing imagination and parenting in the digital age can be tough. Focusing on a screen is a passive way of learning for children. Engaging children in a kinesthetic manner using their entire bodies and their five senses helps in deep learning and also opens up their minds.</li><li>Remember to allow for downtime: Unstructured, unscheduled time allows children opportunities to imagine and create.</li><li>Limit electronic toys: Electronic toys don’t engage a child’s imagination and so children are simply better off playing with a basic wooden toy.</li><li>Ask questions about their creations: Kids have their own thought processes, and we can’t always see what they are thinking just by looking at something they’ve made. Ask them what they have created to help them articulate their process and the ideas behind what they thought of creating and what they ended up creating.</li><li>Respect: Respecting that each child has the right to be himself/herself and believing in his/her uniqueness builds your child’s confidence. Respect his/her imagination and fantasies.</li><li>Base on Values Not Rules: Too many rules hinder creativity. If you let your children decide their behaviour according to those values, creativity will flourish.</li></ol> Here are some examples of comments that nurture the creative environment:<ul><li>“It’s fun to try it different ways”</li><li>“Tell me about it”</li><li>“Let’s try it anyway”</li><li>“Have you thought of any alternatives?”</li><li>“I see you are having a lot of fun”</li></ul>

Creativity is at the epicentre of human exploration and discovery. Being creative helps children to look within themselves, take a pause and helps them to calm down.

Nurturing your child's Creativity

Being creative helps a child take a pause from the constant running about of life and makes them feel relaxed.

Nurturing your childs Creativity

It's just a few days to your child's birthday and you are wondering if everything will go according to your plan or not. Well, here are a few things you can prepare beforehand so that on your child's special day you are not busy with organising and execution and are able to spend quality time with your child: <ul><li>If you're calling your child's friends over, make all the calls at least 3 days prior and take the confirmations so you can make the arrangements accordingly.</li><li>If you are planning to get food from outside, call the catering people and make appropriate arrangements for the special day.</li><li>If you are going to plan an activity for children, get all the materials for the same and keep everything in one place so that you don't have to rush around for everything on the day of celebration.</li><li>Get a house help for the whole day to help you with the arrangements prior to the celebration and also to help you tidy up the place post the celebrations.</li><li>Make your child try on the clothes and footwear before their birthday so that if any changes are to be made, they can be done within time.</li><li>Wind up all your personal/professional work one day prior to your child's birthday so that you can give your undivided attention to your child.</li></ul> If you are confused as to what you can do to make your child's birthday fulfilling, take a look at our 'Birthday Celebration Ideas' article to get some ideas.

Don't fuss about the preparations on the day of the celebration of the child's birthday, instead, see what you can manage prior to the celebration to make the day less stressful.

Preparing for your childs Birthday

Don't fuss about the preparations on the day of the celebration of your child's birthday, instead, see what all you can manage prior to the celebration to make the day less stressful.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is widely celebrated in our country. With the entire nation glowing brightly with lights and people celebrating the festivities together, it is a wonderful time for everyone.Parents interact with each other, children burst crackers, and there is happiness all around. However, children may get bored after a point, hence you will need something to keep them engaged. So, we have some amazing Diwali activities and games for children to play this Diwali and make it a memorable one.1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Quiz Time: If your house is buzzing with relatives and their children, it is a good time to get all the children busy by making them participate in a quiz. Pick certain topics about <a href="https://www.beeparenting.com/s/diwali-gk---qna" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Diwali Quiz</a> and they will enjoy them. You can divide the children into two teams and let each team quiz each other. Make sure you keep prizes for everyone so that nobody is sad about Diwali.2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jewellery Making: Instead of giving your children actual gems and precious items, let them pick some household items such as pasta covers, beads, and other essential things. Ask them to paint these items using and then sprinkle glitter. Allow them to turn those raw items into great jewellery pieces. These jewellery items can go with their festive wear and on other special occasions as well.3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Paper Firecrackers: Although crackers are something that children look forward to on Diwali, it is important to make them realize the negative effects of the crackers on the environment. Engage them in craft activities where you help them create rockets and firecrackers out of colourful paper, decorate them, and hang them or stick them on a wall for a festive look.4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rangoli Art: Although rangoli is traditionally done by girls and women, let’s evolve in modern times and include all children to try out their hand at it. Give them some specific designs that they have to make in different areas of the house or provide them with a printable worksheet and ask them to decorate with different craft materials and colour them, which would be supervised by older children. Later on, let them unleash their creative best and come up with some beautiful ways to enhance their creativity.5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Diya Painting: Diwali is a festival of lights and is incomplete if your house is not illuminated with the diyas all around. This Diwali, let those diyas not be bland and allow your children to paint those diyas with colours of their choice. Make use of watercolours, paints, and everything at your disposal to provide the little ones with the tools to deck up those simple diyas.6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Diwali Stories: Narrating the story of Lord Rama’s win over evil and his triumphant return to his people in Ayodhya, can be a good story to play. Let the children showcase their talent during the Diwali celebrations and get over their ‘stage-fright (in case they have any!)7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Musical Chairs: The simplicity of the game might make you feel like a weird addition for a festive occasion such as Diwali, but when you have siblings, relatives, and friends at one place, any game is fun. Let children play separately or mix them up with adults as well. Choose the popular songs of the time and let your children have fun running around and rushing to grab that empty chair.8.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Diwali Work Book: Let your child discover India and one of the most fascinating Indian holidays with this <a href="https://www.beeparenting.com/u/z6236k" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Diwali Free PDF printable worksheet</a>. Enhance your child skill by printing the worksheet and using the printable worksheet to learn more about the Diwali Festival of Lights.9.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fancy Dress Competition: Use Diwali to create a fun, fancy dress competition, maybe by using the Diwali colours as a theme? You can ask children to dress up in the shades of yellow, orange or red and get creative as they can.10.&nbsp;&nbsp;Making Paper Lanterns: This fun and easy activity will add to your festive decorations. Use these <a href="https://www.beeparenting.com/u/Q86JEG" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lanterns</a> to decorate your home during Diwali and many more festivals, occasions and events. Your kid will feel immense pride when their masterpiece would be displayed in the house.11.&nbsp;&nbsp;Tongue Twister Challenge:&nbsp;Diwali games at home are incomplete without the tongue twister challenge. This game will give you sure-shot, belly-aching laughter like none other. You just need to write down some tongue-twister phrases on chits. Come up with innovative tongue twisters or buy the latest tongue twister book online - your choice! Now allow your guests to pick a chit. Now comes the most fun part! The players need to say whatever is written on the chit again and again without breaks. If they fail, a nasty dare awaits!&nbsp;12.&nbsp;&nbsp;Play Dough Rangoli: Interesting way to add to the festive fun! Give each one of them a play dough kit and ask them to make a rangoli out of it. You may want to show them an example.Let them know they can take the kit to add to their delight. You can give them some sequences/embellishments too to decorate their play dough rangoli.13.&nbsp;Movie Time: Arrange for some popcorn and sandwiches and nimboo pani. Create a movie-like atmosphere in the room with curtains closed and dim lighting. Select a favourite movie and watch it with them.Hope you like the above ideas? Would you try them out for the children? We’d love to know how you plan to celebrate Diwali this time.Wishing you all a happy, safe, and prosperous Diwali!

Here are some interesting activities that your little ones can try this Diwali and have a wonderful time together with your children. Happy and prosperous Diwali.

13 Wonderful Diwali Games and Activities for Children

Diwali is not only a time for celebration, but also for family get-togetherness and activities! Here are some interesting activities that your little ones can try this Diwali and have a wonderful time together.

Following are a few tips to keep in mind while you babyproof the house: <ol><li>Keep the bathrooms locked at all times.</li><li>Lock and hasp on doors in rooms and bathrooms should be shifted up (at the height of an adult’s head).</li><li>Keep the cribs at the lowest height because as children advance developmentally, they tend to launch themselves out of the crib.</li><li>Change the positions of electrical boards, keep them high so that they are out of a child’s reach.</li><li>Check the sharp corners and cover them with soft rubber. Stick rubber cover at the corners of kitchen tables, beds, dining tables and TV units.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>If you are living in a double storied house, fix a small door on the staircase. This will ensure the baby doesn't crawl and climb up.</li><li>If the child is using a walker make sure there is no bump or slope on the floor.</li><li>Keep the heavy objects, sharp objects, glass objects and such hazardous objects out of reach of the child.</li><li>Keep the use of rugs at a minimum as children tend to slip because of them. If you do use rugs, put non-slip pads beneath them.</li><li>Unplug all electrical appliances when not in use.</li><li>Put all the sharp objects of the kitchen in cupboards.</li><li>Remove table cloths if any.</li><li>Install safety guards on windows and doors.</li><li>Make sure there's no water spilt anywhere in the house.</li><li>Do not paint or renovate the house immediately after the baby arrives home. The chemicals are harmful to the baby. Wait a few years and then make the required changes.</li></ol>

Children are curious by nature and they will explore everything you have in the house. So it's better to keep a check on all the things you have in the house before the baby arrives.

How to baby proof your house: 15 baby proofing tips 

Children are curious by nature and they will explore everything you have in the house. So it's better to keep a check on all the things you have in the house before the baby arrives.

15 Tips to baby proof your house

Are there any psychological effects on children watching cartoons on TV or mobile?Cartoons are the most popular entertainment for children. Earlier children would spend time outside playing with their friends, compared to now where they choose to spend time in front of the TV, watching their favourite Cartoons for hours. Ever since the emergence of the cartoon industry, it has been noted that watching cartoons can have both negative as well as positive impacts on a child's psychological growth along with their physical growth. Positive Impacts:<ol><li>Early Education: Preschoolers can get help to learn alphabets, shapes, numbers, and colours while watching TV. Undoubtedly, television can be an excellent educator and entertainer. The moving, talking pictures and colourful visuals make learning interesting and fun for kids.</li><li>Cognitive development:&nbsp;Watching TV and cartoon can help in the development of cognitive skills in kids. Skills such as logic and reasoning ability, visual and auditory processing, and sustained and selective attention of a child are developed and enhanced in kids.</li><li>Linguistic skills:&nbsp;Watching cartoons in different languages can assist children in not just learning different languages but can also help them improve their pronunciation and their manner of talking.</li><li>Creativity:&nbsp;watching cartoons enhances creative thinking in children. They may start thinking of new creative ideas like stories, characters, situations, etc on basis of cartoons they watch.</li><li>Morals and Culture:&nbsp;Mythological cartoons can introduce children to their religion and culture. Many cartoons end with good lessons of morals like kindness, caring and compassion.</li></ol> Negative Impacts:<ol><li>Violent Behavior:&nbsp;Kids who watch violent acts are more likely to show aggressive behaviour and also may fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them. Also Because Cartoon characters display no more than little harm during violent scenes, children may believe that no one gets hurt or feels pain since cartoons escape unscathed after experiencing violence or an accident.</li><li>Less-empathetic behaviour:&nbsp;Few cartoons characters display a lack of empathy and rude/ disobedient behaviour towards others. Kids might mimic this behaviour and challenge their elders when they are disciplined for bad behaviour.</li><li>Rough Language:&nbsp;Few cartoon characters make use of rough language, as a result of which children begin to use foul/ rough language in their day to day life.</li><li>Anti-social behaviour:&nbsp;Several cartoons encourage antisocial behaviour and give wrong messages to kids. Cartoon characters often display risky behaviour, such as smoking and drinking, and may also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes. These can affect a kid's behaviour and make them believe it is normal to be aggressive, spoiled, or violent. cartoons may be the reason for many children to even become bullies in schools.</li><li>Health Issues:&nbsp;Children who consistently spend more than 4 hours a day watching TV are more likely to be overweight. They watch cartoons even when they eat because many parents believe it gets easier to feed babies watching television. Health issues arising due to sedentary lifestyle and inactivity for hours include obesity, vision problems, and nutritional deficiencies due to bad food habits.</li><li>Role models:&nbsp;From a very young age children start to mimic their role models. A role model is someone who either inspires and motivates the kids or discourages and admonish them, thereby shaping their character and personality as adults. Children often idolize their favourite cartoon character which could be Often a misleading role model that encourages the wrong habits or displays insensitive behaviour towards others. This kind of impact of cartoons on children’s psychology can often lead to devastating outcomes and result in kids being withdrawn, uncommunicative, antisocial, or unruly.</li></ol> Tips for parents: <ul><li>To make cartoons a healthy entertainment and a good and effective source of learning for kids, parents should pay more attention to providing selected cartoons to their kids that could positively influence them.</li><li>Parents must control the time children spend watching TV. They can choose appropriate cartoons for their kids. It would be better if parents also regularly watch and discuss the characters of cartoons with children. This way they will not only keep their kids away from violence but also direct them to different activities.</li><li>Lastly, it is recommended for parents to avoid placing their kids in front of screens while they’re eating.</li><li>Let's protect kids from the negative impact of Television media! Because healthy kids mean a healthy future!</li></ul>

Watching cartoons programs had a significant effect on the behaviour of children. Cartoons can have both positive and negative effects on cognitive and behavioural development.

Influence of watching cartoons on children

Watching cartoons can both negatively and positively influence children. Along with being the best educator, Watching TV can surely encourage children to become aggressive and violent. Hence, the cartoon industry is believed to influence a child's brain as well as physical development.

It is found that 3-day-old infants are able to discriminate between their mom’s milk from someone else’s by its smell and babies love the smell of mommy.

Can newborns recognize their mother’s smell?

A baby can recognise his/her mother’s smell within a few days of birth. It is found that 3-day-old infants are able to discriminate between their mom’s milk from someone else’s by its smell and babies love the smell of mommy.

are babies able to identify mother's smell

are babies able to identify mother's smell

A baby can recognise his/her mother’s smell within a few days of birth. It is found that 3-day-old infants are able to discriminate between their mom’s milk from someone else’s by its smell and babies love the smell of mommy.

Bee Suggestions

About Bee