Play with a cock and a blanket

Article by Master Nguyen Thi Yen - Pediatric Speech Therapist - Vinmec Time City International Hospital

During the complicated development of the epidemic, children were absent from school, and parents worked from home, which led to many changes in the family's daily routine. Parents will have more time to learn and play with their children. However, many parents will quickly feel "out of ideas" because they do not know what to play with their children or do not know how to start playing with their children happily or maintain interesting and interesting play activities. taste. “Buy lots of toys” is not a good idea at this point. A small tip for parents at this time is to "make use of" all living things or anything children are interested in and turn it into an interesting toy. Like a blanket or a bed sheet, what can we play with?

This is a very simple and popular game that parents and children must have played together at least once in their lives. You can use a small blanket, a bed sheet, or a piece of cloth that is just the right size to cover your baby's entire body.
While playing with your child you can exaggerate your facial expressions to be funny or silly to attract attention and stimulate your child to continue playing.

With this game, you hold the two ends of the blanket and stand on the opposite side of the child, paying attention to standing about 2m away from the child. You call your child's name and announce the activity you are about to do (for example: Bear, I will make a vegetable spring roll now). When your child notices you, give him a voice command (eg: 1...2...3...roll spring rolls), then run up to him and hug him with a blanket. You can lift your baby up a bit, hug him or rotate him slightly to increase the interest of the game and make him feel more happy.
This is an activity that parents can play with their children every day to help strengthen family bonds.

You let the baby lie or sit in the middle of the blanket, the parents stand at the two ends of the blanket and start lifting the baby. Parents say the command "1...2...3...go" and then shake the blanket together. While playing, you can sing your child's favorite song while looking him in the eye and showing that you care a lot. While playing, you can stop suddenly and wait to see if the child will respond such as: looking at you, asking you to continue. If your child shows that he wants to continue playing but can't speak yet, model it for him, such as "continue", "swing", "more" or "you continue to play", "mommy swing again",...

One of the games with your child is up and down. With this game you spread the blanket on the floor and let the baby lie in the middle of the blanket. You and an adult in the house each hold a blanket and read the signal "1...2...3...up/down". While playing, you can gently shake the blanket to make sudden changes to how your baby responds. If your child smiles and shows interest, you can suggest that your child say something to show a need, such as: "keep playing". If your child is upset, you can guide her to express her feelings such as: "stop", "I don't like", "I'm afraid".

If you have a large yard or garden, take your child outside and create a tunnel by covering it with a blanket. You should find sturdy, medium-height objects (for example, a chair or table) and arrange them in two rows facing each other, then cover with a blanket. You can guide your child to play continuous movement games such as: tunneling, overcoming obstacles to the finish line. Or you can instruct your child to push a car or guide a ball through a tunnel.

You can set up a tent by securing the 4 corners of the blanket or just get under the blanket and tell your child that you are going camping. In the tent, you should put some of your child's favorite toys and play with them. You can also decorate your tent with your child by drawing or sticking small stickers on the tent. It will be great if you prepare a small table and a lazy pillow for your child to lie down or read a book. If possible, discuss with your child how the whole family will build the tent and guide your child from setting up the tent to being able to sit in the tent to play.

You spread the blanket on the floor and let your baby lie on the edge of the blanket. After counting "1...2...3...roll", instruct your child to wrap himself in the blanket and try to crawl away. If your child doesn't know how to do it yet, you can model and try to encourage your child to play along. This game is especially useful for children who need to find feelings such as: wanting to be hugged tightly.

In order to bring fun and create excitement to play with children every day, parents need to pay attention to the following issues:
Follow your child: you can choose 2-3 activities for your child to choose from. However, make sure it's an activity your child loves and wants to play. Equal to your child: equal in position (opposite, so that you and your child can easily see each other when playing) and equal in ability (play at your child's level of play, ask for at your child's level). the level you understand and speak at the level you use). Have a play plan: prepare your equipment well before you start playing. Because, your child may run away or lose interest while waiting for you to find things. Having a play plan is also helpful when you want to introduce your child to a new play activity. Be flexible: be sensitive to all of your child's "body cues" during play, for example: he's distracted, he wants to run away from the activity. Some children won't be able to stay active for a long time, accept that happily and go back to a watch-wait-listen and follow-up strategy. Because oddly, children only play and are happy when they can play activities that they like. Don't be afraid of gaps: sometimes, you will feel that: you have worked hard, but your child is still uncooperative and refuses to play with you. It's okay, don't be afraid of the gaps, think, that's when you give your child time to get used to the activity and also time for you to think of new play ideas with your child. Let's turn the boring quarantine days into beautiful childhood memories of your children and parents!

Reference source: professionals.cid.edu