12 Aug Five Ways To Make Your Daily Commute To Childcare Meaningful And Enjoyable

At Little Kingdom Childcare, we have families that travel each day via buses, trains, ferries, cars and by walking. This is a great time for working mums and dads to spend with their child each day! Instead of simply ‘doing’ things as we often do, we can choose to ‘be’ in the moment. Being present and enjoying the period of time that you spend with your child each day. It’s time that you will never get back! 

Below are five useful tips that can make your journey with your child more meaningful and enjoyable:

1. Plan your trips in advance. Prepare your child for the journey ahead.

Prepare your child for the trip ahead. Tell them about the things that you will do together to get there. Make it fun! Remind them of the great things that they’ll do and see, not only on the way to childcare but also when they get there. 

2. Notice things on the way. Talk about them with your child.

Throughout the trip, take some time to talk about the different things that you notice around you. Children have a natural sense of wonder about the world around them. Talking about the things that you notice as you travel helps children to make sense of what they observe. It also helps them to organise the information into meaningful patterns. 

3. Ask questions. Encourage them to do the same.

Depending on the age of your child, questions that you can ask or discuss with your child include:

• What can you see outside?
• How many ‘things’ (cars, people, buses etc) can you see? Let’s count them.
• What different colours (of the sky, nature, cars, buildings etc) do you notice?
• Do they have a favourite game? For instance, ‘I spy something that is blue…’ What is it?
• What is the weather like? What clothes do we wear to keep us warm or cool?

Talking together about a variety of topics helps your child to ask questions. As they notice objects they can group them and compare the differences. As they talk about what they see they are developing language to describe their thinking and observations.

When children begin to describe their thinking they have started to hypothesise. By hypothesising they are beginning to connect what they see to past experiences and to use this information to make decisions, reflecting on why things have happened. Talking about and exploring the natural and everyday environment with your child will help them to develop the skills to notice, take risks and ask questions.

Even if your child does not have a natural disposition to be creative and curious, by exploring and posing questions you are helping your child to experiment with different ways of thinking.

4. Encourage and praise their efforts

Encourage your child on a regular basis. Praise them when they communicate with you, or when they notice something new or different. By encouraging them, you can then have them look forward to their next journey with you. 

5. Create a travelling box

You can create a travelling box of special items that can be played with during the trips. Your child can help select these and put them in the box prior to your trip. This will help build excitement and allow them to look forward to the journey.

We’d love to hear your tips for travelling with children or any entertaining stories that you may have relating to your trips! Please let us know your comments, ideas and stories.

Little Kingdom Childcare offers exemplary quality education and care in the Sydney CBD and Georges Hall. With stimulating play spaces, child-led learning, healthy nutrition and the most passionate and experienced educators, we truly become an extension of your family.

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