@ TWO
So my little son is already two and it’s hard to keep him entertained as he really gets bored with things that we do over and over and over and over again. I’m not too sure if he got it from me or from his dad but all I know is I was like him when I was little. :)
Well to get started he can name the alphabets and count 1 to 10, he can basically play alone ( in the garden of course!), but always in the look out as one slight gap he always targets mommy’s beautiful plants. He is a clever little pea, so sometimes I make planned activities which works out well especially the chemistry experiments that we usually do such as the elephant toothpaste
and the reaction of NaHCO3 and CH3COOH (acetic acid).
Now for a mom to explain that to a child can be very difficult obviously I cannot say, Hey son! here is an experiment of Acid Base Reaction- which is a neutralization reaction where enough base is added to an acid to neutralize it into a salt and water, then you get a paper and scribble in it writing: A. CH3COOH + NaHCO3 ===> NaCH3COO + H2CO3 (vinegar) (baking soda) (sodium acetate) (carbonic acid) B. H2CO3 ===> CO2 + H2O (carbonic acid) (carbon dioxide) (water) Overall: CH3COOH + NaHCO3 ===> NaCH3COO + CO2 + H2O (vinegar) (baking soda) (sodium acetate) (carbon dioxide) (water)
Compound Reaction – reaction where there are intermediates that are not in the products or reactants Decomposition Reaction – separation of a chemical compounds into elements or simpler compound
Exothermic Reaction – a chemical reaction where energy is released in the form of heat or light.
So how in the world can I explain the reaction to my two year old son? simple, as my partner’s advice be truthful and just tell him that it is what is it is and as he gets older repeat the experiments and explain further details to him in such a way that he can understand it, ob
viously you have to imagine yourself being in a child’s shoe rather than with a teenager (which is still a child in such a way, of course). Be careful not to bore the child as well.
I have been doing lot’s of researches on how to entertain my little boy but not all are successful of course! When all else fails, dirt is always the answer, basically I just allow him to dig and dig in the garden up to the point that he’s almost eating worms, not!
Also, since my partner and I are of different culture and origin and the only similarity is English we are struggling to teach the little one to learn all three languages. But this little man is like a sponge absorbing everything in a snap. So we’ve been teaching him few words per day Dutch- English- Filipino and vice versa, he gets confused by it all but he is really really coping well. You can see that when we ask him a certain word it clearly shows he is thinking because it takes few seconds before he responds, but in the end he gets most of it right, and we’ll keep doing it until he can speak all three languages or understand it even more.
I am really not good in categorizing activities but some of our activities I will publish for mom’s that are struggling to keep the toddlers entertained. I will keep you posted how it goes.:)