Magic of Togetherness
“In my little tent we play
In and out the whole day.
You and I get our meals, to sit cozy and dine,
Mom, dad, sister and brother in the tiny ray of light we shine.
Get me a sheet, get me a scarf, get me two shirts or get me swirly skirts,
Help me with little kick knacks to make my tent look like a tower, for today I am the
queen and you are summoned into my watch tower.
Tomorrow you shall see what a gorgeous reading library my tent can be,
Day after you might find some little animal friends join me, in my little lion den that my tent will be.
But for today help me pull the strings and tie the knots, for my tent is my make-believe haven of sorts.” --NR
THE TENT continues to be one of my favourite and highly recommended activity. It works well for the parent who wants to
teach and for the parent who wants to laze around.
Every time the child wins!!
As child, I found it to be my cozy little place where I could snuggle in with a book and read undisturbed for hours together. My tent was a simple bed sheet pitched over the dining table.
As a parent, I was always looking for creative ways to keep my children and their friends engaged ,specially during the summer break. At times our tent had a simple bedsheet, other times it would be made from sheer curtains. Sometimes, it housed just one and sometimes it catered to all of us, sometimes it was simple as it can be and sometimes it had bead curtains, plants and ribbons to add colour.
There is no dearth of learning that goes on when setting up the tent and then maintaining the space.
Children get real life lessons on collaboration, creativity, problem solving (where do we pitch our tent so that it is safe and fun? What materials do we use today? How do we hold it together?). You can easily build in concepts of Literacy and Numeracy as well as sense of Community. Just use your creative sense and stretch it as much as you can.
This activity is one of the many that cater to the whole child development.
But before getting caught in the teaching learning--just go and have fun with your child and bring out the child in you too.
If you need to know the steps to " A perfect way to make a tent"check out the link below
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Blanket-Fort