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5 tips to teach kids about ‘originality’ & ‘authenticity’
The latest Zooboo story book ‘Finds a story’ is all about a little child trying to write a story for their school project. The child asks around at home, neighborhood as well as looks to the TV for inspiration for their story. The plot and ending of this book led us thinking about a few issues such as ‘original thinking’ and ‘authenticity’. How many times do we come across children who are more than willing to mimic ideas from the internet/society? Are we also guilty of consciously or unconsciously guiding kids to follow a pre-planned path with no creativity of their own? Research has shown that when parents focus on ‘teaching values’ v/s ‘rules’ and encourage kids to take ‘sensible risks’ that will allow them to try new things – such children grow up to be great contributors in the society. Here are 5 simple things that YOU can do to try and inculcate the importance of original thinking, creativity, and authenticity in your young ones: Tip #1 Encourage them to always read & remember the name of the author & the illustrator This is something you can start even when kids are a few months old. Always make it a habit to read the name of the author & illustrator of the book before you begin reading it. This allows kids to understand that there is someone who has taken the effort to write and illustrate this book for them. That not all books are the same and there is a person is who thinking original ideas & is creatively presenting it for them. Tip #2 Seek books with a moral Along with picture books, try to also read out stories that have some moral attached to it. Doing this from an early age encourages kids to think about the values and consequences of their actions. Tip #3 Encourage creativity in all forms It is upto us what rules and conditioning we raise our kids with. Instead of giving them the rules of society, life and your personal set of rules, teach them the values behind it. Let them know what your family believes it and the reason behind it. For example if you want them to clean their room, rather than saying ‘Clean your room’, say ‘This is why we as a family believe in a clean and neat environment. And this is why it’s a core value to keep our belongings neat.’ Tip #4 Guide with relativity rather than absolutes If your child is drawing or painting an image of the sky, let them pick out the colours rather than giving it to them. And now if they happen to paint it pink & purple, will you tell them – The sky is blue, not pink. OR will you tell them – The sky can be blue, sometimes it can also be orange and at twilight, it can even be pink or purple! Rather than saying ‘This is a stone’, say ‘This could be a stone, or it could be Y, or it could be Z, what do you think it is?’. This allows them to let their mind run free and fosters creative thinking. It helps ‘out of the box’ ideas. Tip #5 Model ‘authenticity’ yourself If you want to raise an honest citizen who is true to their self and stands against borrowed ideas and pirated/copied work then YOU need to model this behaviour too. Show them the importance of being original by being original yourself. Don’t download that song from the internet/unofficial source. Don’t buy a book unless its author is getting their due credit. Don’t quote an idea or phrase without mentioning the source you got it from. There are small ways that kids are observing us & what we say, do & talk makes an impact. If you want your kids to be inspired to write their own story or do some original thinking then try this NEW personalized storybook by Zooboo called ‘Finds a story’. Personalize it with your kids name & character & enjoy Rs. 300 off. Use code STORY
10 Tips to make your child love reading!
Does your child run away from books? Are you looking for ways to making reading time more fun and less boring? Are you tired of extended screen time for your child? If you answered yes to any of these questions then this useful article is exactly what you need, trust us! This week we partnered with the amazing Mom Blogger @Vandita.momandmore who spends dedicated time reading different types of books to her 2.8 year old son Viaan. When it came to helping fellow parents, she was more than happy to share her personal tips on raising a budding bookworm. Here are 10 super useful, realistic, tried & tested tricks penned by her! “I don't consider myself an expert, just a fellow parent trying her best to inculcate a love for reading in my little guy. Whether my son will continue to love books or not, I don't know! But for now, I'm doing my bit! Here are my top 10 tips to raise a reader: START EARLY - If possible, start when the child is in the womb. I know not everyone is comfortable with it. So you determine what's early enough for you. I started reading to my son when he was 3 months old. 2. TRY PERSONALIZED STORYBOOKS! - Try personalized books to engage your kid. Reading his name in his storybook was a big excitement factor for my kiddo! I tried Zooboo’s ‘What's behind the door Viaan?’ and he was thrilled to read his name in the storybook. His interest in reading definitely went up after that. 3. CONSISTENT ROUTINE - Schedule reading time in a day - it may be before each bedtime and make this consistent. But don't watch the clock, watch only your child. Watch which parts they laugh at, what they ask for repeats of, which pages they like to linger on. 4. HAVE BOOKS EASILY ACCESSIBLE - Place books in different areas of the house - for eg, a small bookshelf in the dining area, a basket of books on the play mat, some books by the bedside table, and some in the child's closet. The books should be easily accessible to the child without any adult help. 5. READ EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACTIVE AUDIENCE - Don't expect little ones to sit through a book with rapt attention each time or even sometimes. I have often read to my son even when he's roaming around the room and playing with something else. But he's still receiving the language input and picking up on my tone, fluency, expression and body language. 6. MAKE IT INTERACTIVE - Have fun with role-playing - try out different accents and voices for characters. Have your children point to pictures and words and repeat them. 7. RE-READ FAVOURITES - It will give kids the opportunity to hear or see something that may have been missed the first time and provides another chance to hear a favourite part 8. CREATE BUZZ AND EXCITEMENT AROUND BOOKS - Gift books to your kids every chance you get. Gift books to other kids on occasions or have them donate a book to someone in need. Involve them in the gift buying, wrapping and giving process. 9. TALK, TALK, TALK! - A child's vocabulary grows through rich conversations. No matter your child's age, narrate what you're doing, talk in full sentences, and sprinkle your conversations with interesting words. 10. BE A READER YOURSELF - Monkey see, monkey do! Model the right behaviour, let the child see you enjoy books. Remember, you get to decide if you make reading aloud taste like medicine or chocolate!” Try a mix of these tips with your own parenting styles to encourage the habit of reading in your kids. Research has shown that personalizing a child’s books makes them more curious to read. Try it out yourself with Zooboo’s books that allow you to customize your child’s name on the cover page and throughout the storybooks! Did you know that Zooboo books have been penned by some of India’s award-winning authors? Click here to read more about the amazing panel of Zooboo’s authors.
