GRAND Vol VI, Ed III

Grandparenting
Summertime Is Grandparent Time
Summertime often means more
time for grandparents to spend
with grandchildren. Sometimes
that’s a vacation or cottage getaway.
Sometimes it’s a childcare-in-the-city
situation. Either way, it may be a time
where grandparents get more day-to-day
interaction with their grandkids who are
not in school. With lots of activities and
destinations to choose from, how does a
grandparent decide what to do?
You may want to think about activities,
which, while being fun and novel, will
also support academic learning. Some
of these will be obvious, but some might
have benefits you have not thought of.
Take the dolls tea party, for example.
Set the table for tea time with the dolls,
stuffed animals and action figures—don’t
forget about the beloved cars and trucks.
Discuss patterns, distributing one napkin
to each creature, anticipating the needs
of others. Pouring out the “tea” and passing
the cookies provides practice in turntaking
and polite pleases and thank yous.
If you want to go all out, how about
baking the cookies? Choose a really simple
recipe with few ingredients. But even
a three-year-old can help to measure and
pour and stir. Cooking is a great way to
reinforce math concepts (measurements
of volume and weights, setting timers,
talking about temperatures).
Baking is also an opportunity for practicing
fine motor skills, pouring, cutting
(butter, with a table knife, for example—
nothing sharp!), blending butter into
flour. It gives kids a chance to experience
and talk about textures (powdery flour,
greasy butter) which they don’t feel
every day, as well as smells: cinnamon,
lemon peel, cloves. Not to mention the
way soft dough become crisp cookie—it’s
not magic, it’s chemistry!
Building with blocks provides lots
of opportunities to practice fine motor
coordination and engineering skills. Of
course it all starts with you building a
tower and your grandchild knocking it
down. A great exercise in turn taking!
A little later, set up a small construction
and challenge your grandchild to copy
it. Then ask them to set you a challenge.
Create enclosures for toys animals and
dinosaurs. Make a house for the dolls.
Lots of opportunities for telling stories.
With older kids (4 and up) grandparents
can teach them card games. Start
with sorting the cards into red and black,
or suits, or numbers versus face cards.
Progress to Memory where all the cards
are laid out face down and each player
turns over two at a time. The goal is to
remember where the cards are and find
matching pairs. Games like War and
PishePasha great starting games that
don’t require small kiddy-hands to hold
fanned-out cards (that’s a difficult fine
motor skill!). By the time kids are 6 or
7, they can learn Crazy Eights or Gin
Rummy. And I know eight-year-olds who
play Bridge!
Outdoor play is a great time to develop
gross motor skills, like running, kicking
and throwing.
These skills take a long time to develop
and kids need a lot of practice! Take the
opportunity to discuss things we CAN
kick and throw (balls in the field, stones
into the water) and those we must not.
There are lots of games you can create
around throwing stones into the ocean
or a lake: who can throw it farther (of
course), who can hit that log, who can
do the silliest throw, who can throw over
their shoulder. But just meditatively tossing
stones in the water can make space
for conversation and connection.
Time outdoors also promotes healthy
eye development. Studies have shown
that spending a couple of hours a day
outdoors reduces the incidence of myopia
(short-sightedness). It seems that the
bright light of the outdoors, and the opportunity
to focus on the far-away things
give the eyes the stimulation they need.
On Vancouver Island we are so lucky
to have relatively easy access to the shore
and the ocean.
There are so many opportunities there
for wildlife observation, exploring tide
pools, building sand castles, collecting
pebbles or driftwood. But remember that
just being outdoors, with unstructured
time is hugely beneficial for children—
and everyone else. The fresh air, the sunshine
(remember sunscreen, hats, and
the hydrantion), and the freedom is what
summer is all about!
Eva Bild, MA, AdvCD(DONA), LCCE
is a Childbirth and Lactation
Educator, and Birth Doula
Trainer. She has been teaching
and supporting childbearing
families in Victoria since 1994.
She become a grandmother this year!
6 GRAND grandmag.ca