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Thoughts from Fun Van

Congrats and Goodbye

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By A.J. Gain

Welcome to a new Fun Van grant year! If you have been with us for a few years you have probably grown quite familiar to our staff, but things are going to look a little different this year. At the end of June we sent Miss Julie off to retirement with a fun celebration, but man are we sad to see her go. I was able to catch up with Miss Julie before she ventured into the great unknown to ask her a few questions about her past memories and future plans!

What was the best part about working at Fun Van? The joy of helping others and playing with the kids!

What will you miss the most (aside from A.J.’s fantastic performances)? Driving all over Pinal County in Bertha (the biggest Fun Van vehicle)!!

What are your plans for your retirement? Read, garden, travel and spend more time with my four grandchildren.

What is the best retirement advice you have received? Your 60’s are your “go-go” years. Get going while you still can!!!

And that’s exactly what Miss Julie is planning to do. Fun Van will not be the same without her. Our lives and this program gained so much richness from her warmth, knowledge, organizational skills, and kind words of encouragement. We wish her the very best and hope she comes to visit us soon!

If you have a special message for Miss Julie, leave a comment below and we will make sure she reads it!

Let’s Hear it for the Dads!

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Let’s be honest…Father’s Day sometimes gets pushed aside. With summer break, vacation, Mother’s Day burn out and the overall craziness that comes with small children, it’s no surprise that our special guys sometimes get the short end of the stick. But not this year! This year I want to make sure we take a day to say, “Thanks,” to the dads, grandfathers, uncles, foster dads, surrogate fathers and male mentors who make our lives grand! Here are a few ways to help make this Father’s Day one to remember!

  1. “Dad, what would you like to do?”: First and foremost, make sure you ask dad about his expectations for Father’s Day. It’s easy to get carried away with extravagant plans, or to give them what we think they like only to find out that another light up tie was not on their list. Remember, most guys are happy working side by side on something active, not talking about the wonder that is Fatherhood.
  2. Let’s Play: Hey Dad! play boxes are one of my more recent finds. The boxes come once a month and include everything you need to create fun experiences for dads and children ages 3 and up.  Think indoor camping, PVC pipe creations and super hero play. Each box includes an instructional video. I will definitely be checking these out when my daughter is older! Head over to Heydad.com for more information or research ideas to make your own.
  3. Out and About: Some dads are thinkers and some dads are doers. For the doer dad, an adventure may be just the thing he needs to feel special. Bowling, fishing, a movie, mini golf, splash pads, a day trip, hiking, an amateur sporting event, or even geocaching are all fun adventures to try. Check Groupon and other discount sites to see if there are any holiday deals!
  4. Fill their Stomach: What’s a celebration without a delicious spread to satisfy dad’s appetite? Spoil dad with breakfast in bed, enjoy a barbecue or skip the meal preparation and head out to eat. Just remember to call for reservations since it’s a holiday.
  5. Let Him Sleep: Any adult who takes care of young children knows that sleep is a precious gift. If at all possible, let dad sleep-in or catch up on zzz’s with a mid-afternoon nap. If dad is not a nap person, offer to give dad a few hours of alone time to catch up on reading, video games, a workout, or anything else that gets lost in the shuffle of day-to-day life with young children.

Above all else, say thank you! Here at Fun Van, we have a great group of dads who are working hard to raise awesome kids. We see you and want you to know that we appreciate all that you do. Happy Father’s Day!

Raising Children Who Delight in Reading

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As I lugged all of my bags after work to the front door of my home, I could hear squeals seeping from the windows. I smiled as I thought of my giggly, toddler daughter playing happily with her dad. I imagined them shaking maracas and beating on the cajon together, or throwing balls back and forth, two of her recent favorite activities. Instead I found my sweet daughter laying on her play mat, happily exploring a Berenstain Bears book she had recently received from a friend. As she flipped the pages, she pointed excitedly at different pictures and babbled and laughed as if the book was an old, dear friend. My heart melted as I realized that my daughter delighted in reading, even before her first birthday.

In our home, we are readers. If you open my front door on any given day you would find books on our coffee table, books on our shelves, books on the floor, books on the kitchen table, books in the toy area, books in our bedrooms, and yes, even a book or two in the bathroom. We read A LOT. And my husband and I decided that our children will read A LOT. But how do you raise children who love to read, without force, bribes, or tears? How do you compete with the bright screens, noisy toys and short attention spans?

After doing some research I ran across Sarah Mackenzie’s blog Read Aloud Revival. She wrote and produced a podcast and blog series titled Creating a Book Club Culture at Home. In this series, she gives tips and tricks to remove the pressure placed on our children to read and encourages parents to cultivate a home environment that satiates their desire to delight in a book. Below are a few of her tricks, along with some tips from the educators at Fun Van, which we hope will lead you on your way to raising children who devour books purely for the sake of enjoyment.

Tip 1: Model Reading in front of your children: Often we read to our children, but we wait until they are not around to read “our” books. Our children need to see us indulging in our favorite books just as much as we want to see them reading their books. Don’t have time? Try just 10 minutes. Pull out a book while your children are playing quietly, have a book in the car to read while waiting in the pickup line, bring a book to appointments, or even set aside 10 minutes for everyone to read their own books together.

Tip 2: Schedule reading time into your day: Make reading books a natural option during your day. For smaller children, pull them onto your lap and read a quick 5 minute story before running an errand, or while they are eating a meal. For older children who do not nap anymore, establish a quiet hour (or 30 minutes) where everyone engages in books either together or separately to wind down and recharge. Bedtime is still a great time for scheduled reading, but try to get more creative as your children get older.

Tip 3: Have conversations about what your children are reading daily: At first it may seem awkward, but the more you engage your children in discussions about what they are reading, the more they will be eager to share what they are enjoying, what moves them, inspires them and even what questions they have about a book. This should be a discussion, not a drill of questions. Think about how you discuss a movie you really enjoy. You use phrases like, ” I was surprised that…” or “I could relate with this character because..” These questions get to the heart of what moves your child to read because they want to, not because they are going to be quizzed on it. ( There is a time and place for asking questions for comprehension, but try to limit those times when encouraging reading for reading’s sake.)

Tip 4: Display books in an appealing way: Have you noticed how libraries and book stores display the books they want to catch your attention? Cover facing out! Try to find creative ways to display books with their covers facing out to attract your child’s attention. Books can be displayed on window sills (like the picture below), coffee tables, in baskets on the floor, and anywhere else where your child will be able to see and reach books whenever they want.

A Fun Van parent’s display in his daughter’s play room!

Tip 5: Choose a small snack or treat to serve your children during their quiet reading hour: Sarah Mackenzie points out in her podcast that anyone who has attended a book club knows that half of the fun of book club is dishing over your favorite book while eating delicious food. So, why not create the same environment for your home? Try a small treat that has a low chance of damaging a book. Sarah suggests 3 jelly beans, but you could also give yogurt drops, pretzels and cheese, dried fruit, popcorn (for children over 4) or something else yummy your child enjoys. The positive association of a special treat while reading will increase the likelihood that your child will be excited to participate in quiet reading time.

Tip 6: Create a mock book club or other special reading event: As your children begin to enjoy reading and discussing books more, you can plan your own book club event. Choose a book suitable for the majority of readers in your family and decide on a date and time to discuss the book. Create a warm environment (maybe a fort, or a tent outside, or even tons of blankets and pillows to create a comfy book nest), have special treats (you could even have themed treats to the book you read), and model discussions about the book with your children. If you need help with what questions to ask, some books have a book club discussion guide that you can modify for your family. If you do this, please send us pictures to feature on the blog and Facebook!!

What about you? What tips have you tried with your family to cultivate a lifelong love of reading? Leave a comment below to let us know! Thanks to Sarah Mackenzie for her great ideas and articles. Click over to readaloudrevival.com to learn more about reading aloud as a family.

And the winners are….

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We are excited to announce that the following individuals are the winners of the Refer a Friend, Win a Prize Contest. Your teachers will bring your new set of Magna Tiles to class!! Thank you for promoting our program and we hope to do another giveaway soon!

Names are listed first initial, first 4 of last name and last 3 digits of phone number.

BHUB5948– AJPL

KGUS7305 – Maricopa WIC

MMAR8149 – CGPL

CFIS3615 – CGPL

4 Tips for a Wonderful Mother’s Day

“Successful mothers are not the ones that never struggled, they are the ones that never gave up despite the struggles.” – Sharon Jaynes

                Well isn’t that the truth. And with my first Mother’s Day just around the corner, I can safely say that this mothering gig is no joke! This isn’t news, more of just a confirmation that, yep, it’s hard to be a mama, or a caregiver in general to small children. But isn’t it amazing too? The chaos is balanced out with cuteness, the tired is balanced out with the triumph, and the gross is, well kids are just gross sometimes. But despite all of the work, all of the confusion, all of the chaos, and all of the doubt that we are doing it right, isn’t it beautiful to know that for this moment in time we are someone’s superhero? We have an amazing opportunity to help create and shape the future. It is an opportunity worthy of being celebrated. And for one day we finally get that celebration.

                But as is true with most commercial holidays, sometimes the hype smothers that true intention of the day. Mother’s Day is often tethered with lofty expectations. In one of her classes, Fun Van educator, Ashley Crooks, shared 4 tips for making this Mother’s Day one to enjoy.

  1. Have healthy or even low expectations for Mother’s Day: It’s easy to dream up big, outlandish plans and expectations for Mother’s Day. After all, we go above and beyond to make magic happen for birthdays, holidays and milestones, shouldn’t we expect the same for our day? Simply put, no. Remember that to your children, especially those under 5, Mother’s Day is the same as any other Sunday. You will still have to referee fights, clean up poop, prepare meals, and plan around naptimes, grumpy moods, and last minute accidents. While we wish the whole world would just stop for a day and recognize that it’s finally a day just for moms, truth is, it’s the same old same old. If you set your expectations for the day low, anything out of the ordinary will feel extraordinary.
  2. Communicate Your Expectations with your spouse or loved ones: It’s okay to have some expectations for Mother’s Day, just make sure that other people around you know what you are hoping to experience. Remember that no one can read your mind. It’s best to communicate what your hopes are and what you would like the day to look like, even if it doesn’t all happen. If you have a favorite restaurant you want to eat at, make it known. If you want alone time, tell your spouse. If there is a gift you have your eye on, send a quick text to share. If your expectations are out in the open, it will make it so much easier to celebrate you in a way that feels special just for you.
  3. Plan something for you: Be intentional about planning something small just for you to enjoy. Even if the whole day goes sideways, carve out something for you to celebrate your sacrifice, dedication and awesomeness as a mama. This could be stopping to grab your favorite drink on the way to the kids’ soccer game and not having to share it, or taking a bubble bath with ice cream to snack on after the kids are asleep. Whatever your little luxury is, take it upon yourself to create a moment for you. Self- care is essential and if you don’t prioritize it, who will?
  4. Enjoy it: Most importantly, be in the moment with your kids and family. Regardless of how your Mother’s Day will look this Sunday, remember to soak it in and savor it. While the job of being a mama never ends, it will look different this time next year, 5 years, 10 years and 20 years from now. Enjoy today. The snot, the tears, the laughter, reading the same book for the seventh time, and the big wet kisses planted on your cheeks after a long day. Relish in the little ones you have created and the work you are doing.

From all of us at the Fun Van, we see you. We see how hard you work to love your kiddos in the mess and we just want to say, Happy Mother’s Day. Whether you are a mama, grandma, foster mama, caregiver, aunt or friend, you are valuable, you are important and you deserve to be celebrated. It’s good, hard work, mama, and you are doing great.

From One Mother to Another- A.J.

Cold Weather Fun

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I don’t know about you, but I am feeling robbed this winter here in the valley of Arizona. We Phoenicians typically brag about our mild climate in the winter and plan all of our outdoor activities for December- April, but not this year. It is cold.

So what are we do to with these tiny humans who are trapped inside the house and are ready to play outside? How do we keep our sanity when we also want to be outside enjoying the mild weather before the triple digit weather returns? Below are a few fun activities that take minimal supplies and will keep your children busy for a little while we wait for the warmth to return.

  • Cozy Day: Start and end the day in PJ’s, have a warm cocoa bar with fun toppings, watch a family movie together, build a fort, snuggle with stuffed animals, or read-aloud a fun book. There are very few opportunities to bundle up and just enjoy each other, so this is a great excuse to lay low and practice hibernating! You can even use this as an opportunity to teach your children about animals that hibernate in the winter.

 

  • Balloon Ninja: Blow up a few balloons and encourage your children to try to keep them in the air by using their hands, feet or even their heads. This game encourages cooperation and is safe to do inside.

 

  • Where’s the Toy? : Have your children choose a favorite stuffed animal or small toy. Hide the toy somewhere in the house allowing a little portion of the toy to be seen. Let the children work together to find the toy. Take turns being the person to hide the toy or choose specific rooms to hide the toy. After a few rounds encourage your children to lead the game themselves, which will give you a well-deserved break.

 

  • Messy Play: Often times as parents we shy away from messy play, but it is an extremely important part of play and learning. Grab a cheap table cloth or use the bath tub to allow your kids to explore messy play. This could be anything from bubbles and water, play dough, shaving cream, yogurt, Jell-O, or pudding. I like to use food because it’s one less battle to fight if your child decides to eat it. For babies, I love using different types of baby food to let them explore taste and textures. It’s a great way to expose picky eaters to new foods without the pressure of being hungry or trying something new during meal time.

 

  • Play Board Games: Take out a few of your favorite children’s games and teach your children how to play. You can change the rules if you need to make the game more developmentally appropriate, or make up your own board game.

 

  • Read books!:This may be so obvious that we forget about it. Cuddle up and read books together. Use colddays to delve deeper into subjects that your children are interested in, and take the time to research the answers to those endless “Why” questions. Act out stories, listen to books on tape, or even let your children read to you.

 

  • Tape Trap: Using masking tape and a hallway, create a maze back and forth between the two walls. Encourage your kids to try to make it down the hallway without touching any of the tape.

 

  • Bundle Up and Go outside: Take a nature walk and look at the difference between being outside in the warmth and the cold. Talk about the differences in the environment, the animals you see, how your breath looks in the cold and anything else your children notice. Play games that encourage your children to run around and stay moving to keep themselves warm.

 

  • Culture Pass:  If you are a member of certain libraries, you can check out a Culture Pass and receive 2 free tickets to museums, the Arizona Science Center, performing arts programs and more. Contact your local library to see if they participate in the Culture Pass Program and which passes are currently available.

 

  • Bake for Neighbors: Teach your children about generosity and thinking of others while also exploring math and science. Choose an easy item to make like No-Bake Cookies, Trail Mix, or Sugar Cookies to bake and bring to neighbors. Encourage your children to brain storm people they would like to share treats with like the school nurse, their teachers or friends. Extend the activity by coloring cards or pictures to go with their treats.

 

 

 

Being inside can be challenging, especially with young children, however it can also be a great opportunity for bonding, teaching cooperation, creative play and scientific observations. Feel free to leave comments about how you are spending these chilly days with your children!

Social and Emotional Development

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Social and Emotional Skills:

There is a lot of talk about social and emotional skills in the early childhood development community. When we think of these skills, typically our first thoughts are related to feelings and emotions. While that is true, there is much more to social and emotional development then just how a child feels. Social and emotional development occurs as a child learns how to process and manage his/her own feelings, express his/her feelings to those around him/her in an appropriate way, assess and respond appropriately to other’s feelings and interact with peers and adults in a positive manner. Smiling, pointing, making eye contact, blowing kisses, taking turns, asking for help and yes, even temper tantrums, are all normal milestones a child experiences as his/her social and emotional skills develop. As these milestones happen, it is crucial that children have access to attentive caregivers who take the time to process and teach them how to handle each of these experiences.

Research shows that children who enter kindergarten with poor social and emotional skills have a significantly more challenging experience than their peers. These skills are instrumental in helping children feel confident away from their parents, asking for help from another adult, learning to trust other adults, engaging with peers, managing their emotions when they don’t get their way, taking turns, expressing their feelings appropriately and taking risks. Helping young children learn these skills is not always easy. It requires patience, understanding, and a healthy dose of laughter along with regular communication and ongoing teaching moments. Here are a few other tips for encouraging your child’s social and emotional development.


Activities to Support Social and Emotional Development

*** One of our favorite activities do to at Fun Van is make sensory bottles. These bottles are wonderful to help teach young children how to manage their feelings. These are great for shaking to get out frustrations or helping your child to calm down while watching the items swirl and sink.

Here’s what you need:

  • plastic water bottle (we use the VOSS bottles)
  • 1 bottle of glitter glue
  • warm water
  • food coloring
  • heart stones or small water safe trinkets (from Hobby Lobby)
  • hot glue gun

To start, pour about half of the bottle of glitter glue into the water bottle. Next, pour in the warm water. Also drop in some food coloring to make the water colored (since the glitter glue doesn’t color the whole water). Put the lid on and shake hard. It may take a minute to get the glue to mix with the water. Then open the lid and place the hearts in the water. Glue the lid on with a hot glue gun. Shake and enjoy!

 

 

  • Read books to your children that highlight different emotions. Spend time talking about the emotions, why the character feels this way, if your child has ever felt this way, and what to do with this feeling. Try to choose emotions that are not often talked about in your day-to-day life (ex: jealousy, grief, frustration, and loneliness). This is called emotional literacy and is a great way to help children learn appropriate ways to handle feelings in a low stress environment.
  • Use stuffed animals to help children learn how to take turns. Watch how your child responds when asked to take turns with the animal and help them problem solve through their feelings.
  • Play games with your children. Allow them to practice winning and losing and how to handle both appropriately.
  • Give your child a child-safe mirror to look at themselves while they experience different emotions. Help them label which emotions they are feeling in the mirror so that they can match how they look on the outside with how they feel on the inside.
  • Plan play dates with other children or take them to activities that encourage social and emotional development. Fun Van is a great option! Model appropriate social interactions for young children and help them work through their problems. Give older children space to problem solve and work through frustrations while being present to intervene if needed.
  • Give your child his or her own alone space to feel safe, experience emotions and calm down on his or her own. This can be a corner in your living space, their room, a play tent, or even just a comfy blanket with a few special stuffed animals.
  • Play different types of music for your child. Talk about what each piece makes you each feel using feeling words. (ex: This song is so bouncy and quick. It makes me feel excited when I listened to it.)
  • Above all else, listen to your child’s emotions and give them a safe space to feel them. It’s not a bad thing for children to feel strong feelings, but they need to learn how to feel these feelings appropriately.

 

 

All About Gross Motor Skills

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Gross Motor Skills:

If fine motor skills are skills that involve using the small muscles of the hand, then gross motor skills are skills that involve using the larger muscle groups of the body to accomplish tasks. Gross motor skills, or large body skills, use the arms, legs and torso to execute complex movements in our everyday lives. Walking, jumping, climbing, balance, body awareness, coordination, physical strength, crawling, dancing and sitting upright are all gross motor skills. These skills build one on top of the other in complexity. For example, at infancy our babies aren’t able to walk. It takes time for them to master holding their head steady, rolling over, maintaining their balance while sitting upright, crawling, cruising along furniture, balancing while standing and then taking their first steps. It is not something that happens overnight, but a process of skills that are learned, practiced and fine-tuned over months and even years.

Children and adults need ample time to practice each of these skills. Here is a very short list of fun ways to encourage gross motor development. And a link to an article by the New York Times about the importance of roughhousing. I highly encourage you to give it a read. It’s great food for thought.


 

Infants:

  • Tummy Time! Place objects just slightly out of their reach to encourage moving, twisting, rolling, etc.
    • Some of my favorites are: scarves, balls in a muffin pan (big enough to not be a choking hazard), supervised water play with a tin of water and bath toys in front of baby, tissue paper or a fuzzy blanket to run their fingers through
  • Give baby a full plastic water bottle to crunch, roll and bang
  •  Give baby pots and pans or plastic containers to bang, stack and push
  • Encourage baby to crawl through, under or over things
  • Let children crawl on different types of surfaces (grass, wood chips, gravel, sand, etc.); each requires a different level of balance and coordination to manipulate (Please remember to supervise your child in environments with small pieces)
  • Encourage kicking by letting baby kick in the water, or loosely tie a balloon on baby’s foot and watch him kick as the balloon dances with him (supervise at all times around water and balloons)
  • Have a dance party

Toddlers:

  • Jumping, rolling or crawling on Bubble Wrap
  • Climbing, swinging, running and jumping inside and outside
  • Pile couch cushions or pillows on the floor and let children crawl over them
  • Jump or crawl through hula hoops
  • Practice climbing stairs
  • Let children play on different types of surfaces (grass, wood chips, gravel, sand, etc.); each requires a different level of balance and coordination to manipulate
  • Use masking tape to create different lines (straight, zig-zag, curvy) for children to follow on the floor
  • Yoga or exercise moves
  • Dance Party!

Preschoolers:

  • Build Forts with cardboard boxes
  • Indoor and outdoor obstacle courses
  • Ask your child to “help” you carry heavy items or give him weighted items to carry (cans, small weight, small plastic jug of water)
  • Race your child while outside
  • Practice balancing on ledges or raised sidewalks
  • Practice tossing and catching balloons or balls
  • Let children play on different types of surfaces (grass, wood chips, gravel, sand, etc.); each requires a different level of balance and coordination to manipulate
  • Using tape or string, create a web across a room that children have to go through without touching the string or tape
  • Yoga or exercise moves
  • Dance Party!

 

 

 

“Gross Motor Skills.” Kid Sense Child Development, Kid Sense Child Development, 2018, childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/gross-motor-skills/.

Team, Understood. “Gross Motor Skills: What You Need to Know.” Understood.org, 2014, www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/movement-coordination-issues/all-about-gross-motor-skills.

Developmental Skills: All about Fine Motor Skills

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Developmental skills…you hear us talk about them all the time during our Fun Van classes, but what are they, and why are they so important? In early childhood (birth to 5 years old) we commonly refer to 5 developmental domains, or skills: fine motor skills, gross motor skills, language and literacy skills, social/emotional skills, and cognition skills. These skills are vital in performing everyday tasks. The more developed they are, the more successful children are in engaging with the world around them.

As parents and teachers, it is our responsibility to set up environments and experiences that allow children to practice and perfect these skills, but it can sometimes feel overwhelming to do so. Over the next few weeks we are going to investigate each of these developmental domains and give a few examples of how you can help encourage these skills. If you have any questions about these domains, please ask your Fun Van educator. We are happy to help you come up with different ideas for your family.


Fine Motor Skills:

Fine motor skills involve the use of the small muscles in the hands. Think about buttoning a shirt, tying shoe laces, holding a pencil to write, or stringing beads onto a necklace; all of these activities require the precise use of our fingers in just the right combinations to accomplish the task. The more developed the muscles are the better the quality and quicker the task is accomplished. Fine motor skills are also necessary for academic tasks. Young children need help perfecting these skills. Look below for a couple of activities that help to promote fine motor skill development.

Infants:

  • Messy play with pureed food
  • Reaching and grabbing toys in front of them on bouncers or activity mats
  • Picking up and dropping toys into recycled cans
  • Rattles
  • Exploring touch and feel books
  • Picking up Cheerios and putting them in a bowl
  • Pulling scarves out of an Oball
  • Letting baby “paint” with ice cubes on construction paper

Toddlers:

  • Playdough play- this is a great opportunity to practice with scissors
  • Sorting toys from one container to another
  • Practicing with a child appropriate fork and spoon handling during meal times
  • Peeling painters tape or stickers off of paper or different surfaces
  • Building with blocks or Duplos
  • Sand, water or snow play
  • Anything arts and crafts related: gluing, cutting, coloring, threading etc.
  • Stacking cups or containers

Preschoolers:

  • Threading yarn through holes or pipe cleaners in a colander
  • Practicing with crayons, markers, colored pencils and Kwix Sticks on paper
  • Practicing cutting with scissors and paper
  • Hammering tees into Styrofoam pieces
  • Coloring with Chalk
  • Threading fruit loops on yarn
  • Playing with puzzles
  • Using kitchen tongs or clothespins to grab objects

 

 

 

 

“Fine Motor Skills.” Kid Sense Child Development, 2018, childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/fine-motor-skills/fine-motor-skills/.

Meet The Boss!

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Here at Fun Van, we have a pretty incredible boss leading us, but many of you never get to see her. This week we are shining the spotlight on the lady who helps make Fun Van happen!

Meet Pam Harrison

What is your role for the Fun Van?

Fun Van Supervisor- I write the grant, attend meetings, file paperwork, lead meetings and observations, and other boss-like things.

What other responsibilities do you have at the Apache Junction Library?

I am the Youth Services Supervisory Librarian. I also do Storytime, Preschool University and special Library events.

What was your childhood ambition?

To become a teacher, get married and have kids. I achieved two of them!

What book are you currently reading?

Murder in the Air by Hart

What’s your favorite fall or winter beverage?

Hot chocolate

What was your favorite toy as a child?

My bean bag baby. I still have her.

What’s a fun fact about you?

I used to be a karaoke hostess.

What snack is your guilty pleasure?

Potato chips and ranch dip

Why do you think the Fun Van is an important resource?

The best educators in the area travel to every nook and cranny of Pinal County to provide support and education in best parenting practices and early literacy skills for their 0-5 year olds, while the kids learn important developmental skills through play, stories, art and more. And it’s free!

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I like to kayak with my husband and hang out with my four animals.

Who are a couple of your favorite children’s authors?

Image result for judy blume books

 Judy Blume and Watty Piper          

Do you have any tips for parents who want to enhance their story time at home?

Get the kids involved. Ask them questions, make animal noises together, change your voice for the characters—anything to make the story meaningful to them and interactive as you bond with your child. The more you read to them, the better they will succeed in school!