Preparation for the first grade- games suggestions

The first grade is the starting point of any person's academic life; it's an adventure full of excitement and fears. The educational plan by the ministry of education is full of educational- pedagogical assignments that affect the child's play time, recess time, and the development of social skills and emotional maturity, while placing a lot of burden both on the kg teacher and on the child.

Entering the first grade is transferring from a world of less rules, contingency movement and flexible structure, to an entirely different setting,with structured classes, longer sitting times, less mediators and less play time (there are, off course, more differences; and there are different schools and approaches).

It's preferable to play with our children as a preparation for the first grade, and not to  burden them with learning more academic skills, since they will do it any way in the Kg (some love to do it at home too).

You can play games and sing songs about letters, numbers and more; read books, talk and develop spoken language and work on social and emotional skills.

You are welcome to enter the following posts and play to improve the key aspects that will lead to their success in entering the first grade; educators-  - it is highly recommended to work on those skills in the first few months of the a school year and you'll see a lot of  improvement in the children performances:

1.       Sitting and concentration

2.       Strong shoulder belts and hands

3.       Balance, posture

4.       Emotional expression abilities

5.       Basic motor skills- for girls and boys

6.       Social skills- cooperation, empathy, loosing and winning

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Improving Concentration and Attentiveness while playing

I am fascinated with the subject of how children with attention deficit disorder (for various reasons) cope with the class' life - from the mutual aspect of teacher-pupil relationship, the learning experience, the social experiences, their sense of self-esteem and abilities, and off course the emotional experience.

I believe that a lot of flexibility is required from the teacher, a flexibility which is also derived from offering the children with tools and coping strategies.

I recently read a nice article about children with attention deficit disorder which claimed, among other things, that ordering them in a manner of imperative mood - sit! listen! etc. takes up a huge energy from them - they are concentrating on the sitting itself, instead of the learning tasks which they face. This has made it clear to me that such children should be approached in a manner of movement to increase their listening abilities, while combining learning tasks.

In this post I would like to present to you with 4 simple movement games, that can be practices in every kindergarten/classroom/home/playground. They work on listening, focus of attentiveness, and combining working with active learning attentiveness:

1. Knowledge in Movement - 

a game of "balloons in the air". Each child gets a balloon and they must keep it up in the air with using various body parts.

It is not allowed to touch the other players' balloons - not to "help" them and not to snatch them.

The teacher ask questions or gives assignment during the balloons game. For example: 

X - how much is 30+3?

Y - What is the capitol of China?

Z+P+U - bounce the balloons only with the help of your knees.

The purpose is to determine a specific play-time with specific rules, and thus create the need to listen and simultaneously perform an action/calculation/answer etc., and detect when does the teacher change the instructions.

The level of the teaching/questions/calculations etc. must be adapted to the pupil's level.

When dealing with a child who has an attention deficit disorder we will start with changing our instructions, and with time and level of progress will ask for general knowledge/calculation questions.

2. An obstacle course with a prolonged mission - 

Building a confused phrase or assembles pictures to a story, or build a story with separate phrases, while each educational mission builds gradually.

You give the child one part of the puzzle/pictures/structure etc., and every time he finishes a part of the course or the entire course you take or being given the next part.

If you cannot build an obstacle lane you can give the children a props - basketball/hoop/rope etc. - and give them an assignment - to dribble the basketball, walk and dribble/ turn it around etc. When the teacher calls for the first part, everybody must run and get it. The winner is whoever finishes first the puzzle/assignment/phrase etc.

This game requires persistence and organization alongside to attentiveness.

3. Keeping balance - 

Maintaining a balance demands concentration, coordination, a physical fitness and self-esteem. Combining an educational assignment while performing balance exercises forces the brain to coordinate between it's different parts and cells.

I recommend to use what's available in your environment for practice - walking on a bench/beam, jumping using only one foot, walk on a rope which is spread in different shapes, walk only on or between  taped marks (prepared in advance) on the floor.

While the pupils exercise their balance, the teachers starts to ask questions, riddles etc. Take notes to yourself who manages to answer fast without losing their balance. This pupils can be challenged with higher levels - collect balls/balloons - and then continue with the task.

This activity encourages and develops a listening sequence, better pose and balance, while cooperating in your own space without bothering your fellow pupils space.

4. A Quick observation game - to which we have already dedicated an entire post in our blog:

http://togiplaytogether.blogspot.co.il/2015/04/a-quick-observation-game.html

Enjoy :)

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All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Playing catch and self esteem

Playing catch with a ball demand motor skills:

1. eye hand coordination.
2. power adjustment.
3. catching with hands/ legs/ accessories.
4. coordination (basic or complex).

social skills:
1. willingness to play with others.
2. sharing
3. plying with friend/ friends

emotional skills:
1. diligence.
2. don't being frustrated.
3. self confidence.

Children who succeed catching and throwing a ball are exited and full of pride, while playing football or catching. the excitement is most highly to toddlers (up to 4-5 years old), but recognized in any new game, with special balls, and after sequence of no success, if happened.

The skill of catching and throwing is building gradually from very young age while rolling ball to a baby and improving the eye- tracking, the eye- hand motor, touching the ball and eventually rolling it back.
The ability to catch and throw different sized balls in games and real life, and being afraid of "not catching" might cause anxiety. we wrote is another post on gender equality and it's connection to motor skills- those are important once.

Here are five catching games that work on all the skills and increasing self esteem :)

1. Rolling balls at different sizes from one to another-
   start with big ball (to toddlers) and change the sizes.
   you can play with two balls- roll two with both hands, or roll in the same time.

2. Playing catch (soft ball in the beginning)- slowly increasing the space between and players.
   you can also play standing on one led (from age 5), in movement (from age 4).

3. Kicking- great for power adjustment, from age 2-2.5.
4. Throwing a ball while catching it with an object/ tool-
   using box, basket, bag or etc.
   It is a fun game that improves eye- hand coordination and movement planning.
5. Touch and throw, with no catching- you can play with balloons, balls, beans bags (above 6 you can use a hoop).
   The aim it to leave the ball/ balloon in the air.
   you can count up to 10/21/30 with no falls.
   The game demand high precision.

* You can challenge the children - standing on a firm bench or togo.

Enjoy :)

- Remember to fit the difficulty levels to the age and abilities of the children.
- you can play all the games also in groups.

   
Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or ourYoutube channel.
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All the responsibility is on the parent and/ or educator.

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

TOGI With Balloons Coloring page, Download, Print, Color, Share :)

TOGI  With Balloons - Coloring page

TOGI Jpeg A4

Download
Print
Color
Share :)
Download A3 PDF file from our Google Drive.
ENJOY :)

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.
You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay

:)

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Air balloons games

We are happy to introduce you to a game with 8 difficulties levels.

Balloons are accessible, cheap, light weighted and fun. Even adults enjoy playing with balloons (soap bubbles, for example).

I always keep balloons at home and in the stroller. I also keep them in my classroom, because they are perfect for playing with my pupils when we need a break, when I want to raise their energy, and when I want to exercise specific materials, or just for fun in the middle of day.

Age The games are suitable to all ages, starting from the moment toddlers can walk, given each age and developing stage it's own adjustments.

Remember, the aim is fun with added value of:

1. Eye-hand coordination.
2. Response speed.
3. Coordination.
4. In some stages we also work on collaboration and understanding instructions.

Participants The games can fit to parent-s and one child or more, and up to a teacher with a class.

Time from 5 to 20 minutes.

Accessories balloons.

Aim The balloon must stay in the air J

Difficulty levels:

1. Everyone keeps their balloon in the air; they can do it with the help of different body parts. Everyone keeps their balloon in the air but only with one body part- only hands/knees/shoulders/feet etc. The instructor or the players can determine which one body part to use and then change it after a few minutes.Playing catch with the entire group with 1 balloon- up to 21 catches.
2. Playing catch with the entire group with an identical number of balloons as number of the players.
3. Playing catch with several balloons, while every player can touch a balloon only once.
4. Every player has his / hers own area, balloons shouldn’t fall there. If a balloon falls the player is disqualified.
5. Group game- the last one who touched a balloon and didn't keep it in the air is disqualified.
6. Free play J

 Short video about Air balloons games in Togi youtube channel:

ENJOY :)

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.
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:)

written by Sharon Ramon

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Stretches are the muscles meditation

Most of us spend most of the day sitting down; in the office, in meetings, in classrooms and in our car. One of my dreams is that all educators will hold a stretch time and/ game time at least once a day. Until then, we would like to suggest you with some stretch exercises that we recommend to do with your kids, for four critical areas in your body.

Flexibility and range of motion are two parameters which greatly influence our ability to move, help preventing injuries, influences our everyday activities and our posture.
We chose to focus on those areas:

1. Shoulder belt and the upper back.
2. Lower back and hamstrings (back of the hip).
3. Feet.
4. Joints.

You can do all of the stretches alone, but we recommend that you turn it into a family activity - shared implementation gives motivation, collaboration, closeness and new ideas. You can help others in their stretches, but do it gently and with their approval.
We recommend that you exercise 2-3 times a week, 4-5 stretches every time.

* It is imperative to keep still in each posture for 10 sec. minimum.

1. Shoulder belt and the upper back

In this stretches you need to feel the work in your upper back, the area between the shoulders and the center of the back. The more you will curve your back, your buttocks and belly will also workout.
For six revisions- convex and arch your back (A)
Bring your knee toward the chest (B)

Send your hand up and far back while arching your back (A). If done correctly, you will also feel the stretch in the side of your and ribs (B).

Sit straight, and slowly move your chin back and forth. Don't force your chin to touch your chest if it's not comfortable. In this stretch we work on our upper back and the back of the neck.

2. Lower back and hamstrings (back of the hip)

The next stretches work on the area which tends to shortens and stress due to prolong sitting, too many power exercised at the gym and too little flexibility exercises. During the following exercises you will feel your buttocks, back-thigh and lower back. It is important to remember that stretching is not supposed to hurt us! If you are experiencing an uncomfortable pain – stop and rest.

Stand-up straight and then bend and stretch your hands to the floor, stay still in the most remote point you can for a few seconds.

For six revisions-  Lift your pelvis up, keep your heels on the ground and chest headed to the floor. Then lift one leg, and then the other. You can see that the back is a bit arched. You need to aspire to slowly straighten it as straight as possible.

Sit on the floor with straight legs, and then pull your feet with a towel.

Sit in a cross-legged position while sending your hands as far as you can, while making sure that your pelvis stay on the floor and does not lift up.

3. Feet

We stand on our feet most of the day, they are wrapped in shoes and they are our connections to the ground; let's give them some respect.

Open and close your fingers.

Open and close your feet.

Stand on your toes, and walk on your toes.

4. Joint

We have many joints, and we must keep working on our range of motion since it decreases on a yearly basis (starting from adolescence)

Spin them.

Open them to various sides (carefully and gently).

Twisting games.


Do all the stretches calmly, with no pressure or over stretching. Remember that the main purpose is quality time with benefits.

Remember that we are stretching our muscles and some of our tendons a bit outside our comfort zone, but don't hurt yourselves!

Enjoy.



! All the exercises in this film are professional recommendations.  However, the implementations are under  parents and/ or educators responsibility.
* If you see no improvement, or have multiple challenges consult a professional.

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.
You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay

:)

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Music, body and soul

Music is one of the few common elements to all the cultures in the world, whether it is a cultural  characteristic or a connector between different languages or worlds. Music is an element that can trigger a huge variety of emotions: joy, enthusiasm, calmness, sadness, fright, pleasantness or unpleasantness etc.

Music can help us to connect to ourselves, to our body, which is the most effective tool for movement, achievement and expression of emotions. We sometimes forget this simple fact in our hectic life's packed with cognitive thinking, lots of sitting down and multiple electronic screens.

We will suggest you with some musical games you can play with your children. While playing them you will get familiar with your children emotional world, and will introduce them with your favorite music. You might even learn what sort of music they like. You might feel a bit awkward at start, but we are certain that all awkwardness will disappear once you start, and joy will take it's place.

All the games can develop to various directions, depends on where you will steer them. They all work on movement, coordination and rhythm. If you will dance a lot, your heart will also thank you :)

1. Teach the children the steps to one of your old favorites. For example:

2. Invent new steps with the children to favorite song - whether it is their favorite or yours.

3. Drum on your body and on improvised drums with a beat song

4. Choose a song/music that has a repetitive theme in it - tango, waltz, lambada or others. Ask the children to try and trace the repetitiveness in it, and try and dance the actual steps, or just invent new ones and repeat them - once to the left and once to the right.
How to dance Tango:

Tango Example:

How to dance - The Waltz:

Waltz music:

5. Play music and dance/jump freely to the sounds of it. stop the music every 30 seconds. when the music stops everybody needs to freeze in a funny position/statue/animal-like etc.

6. Introduce the children with your favorite songs. Step in the room to the sounds of the music, talk about it. Talk about the performing artist, about the feelings this songs brings to you, when did you first hear it, etc.
My favorite song:

7. Try and learn to listen to new kinds of music. Play a western country song and dance like in the wild west or square dancing. Play some Indian music and try some Indian moves....

8. Hold handkerchiefs in your hands and dance them in the air to the sounds of the music.

9. Play some calm music, lay on the floor on your back, take some deep breaths and relax.....

10. Just dance :)

Some music we like:

 

Shakira - Waka Waka

We Are One (Ole Ola)

Gipsy Kings

Purim Playlist

a-ha - Take On Me

Do you have questions? Comments?
We will be happy to hear them, here, our facebook page, twitter, or our Youtube channel.

You can tag your instagram photos with #Togiletsplay

:)

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Exercises to strength shoulder belt for children

Around this time of year, parents are advised to strength their children's shoulders belt; mainly before the last kindergarten year and first class.

We believe that all the parents and educators need to know how to do it.

A strong shoulder belt influences the body's ability to sit and walk straight, to write, to catch and throw a ball, to climb, and to enjoy basically every movement.

Many children are sent even before the first grade to strengthen their shoulder belt, in order to better their performances in class and in writing. A strong shoulder belt is also important for building a confidence and being part of a social group, taking part in games with peers.

Following, are some exercises for this purpose:

1. Hanging from a horizontal bar.

2. Climbing up a fireman's pole or a rope.

3. Wheelbarrow walk.

4. Standing on fours and playing rolling ball with a friend.

5. Standing on six, then balancing the body while lifting opposite leg and hand in the air (while tightening the lower belly muscles and straightening the back).

6.Standing in an airplane position - moving the hands up& down  - maximum 5 cm above and lower than the shoulder.

7. Crawling with one's forearms.

8. Crab-walk (reversed standing on fours and advancing).

9. Playing catch with a ball - while constantly increasing the rhythm.

10. Juggling a tennis ball between 2 hands.

11. Painting on a large canvas on the wall.

12. Carrying one's body weight on the hands.

 
Good luck
From Togi Team

we'll be happy to see you in our community on facebook: TOGI

* If you see no improvement, or have multiple challenges consult a professional.

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Why we have decided to create TOGI?

About six months ago I thought that I must develop an application that will provide parents and educators solutions to many daily situations and  needs.

after creating an amazing team they convinced me that I need to split my vision into two parts-

1. Togi- together in fun; an application that will provide games and ideas for mutual activities for parents & children (and educators), remind you to play :) enable you to set schedule and create play-dates.

2. Togi+ - an application that will be built from 4 different blocks, and will  provide you with more detailed information on different topics (social skills, shoulder belt, winning and loosing and more), and will enable you to build your own personal programs and more.

We know that information and solutions must be available to all. We know that moving more equals physical and emotional health, and helping children in all aspects of life, in and out of school.

In the first stage- TOGI we want to create a change in the way we live today. Being more active is a goal that will touch so many circles of life- physical health,mental health, relationships, development and more.

priorities must be changed, bur for that we need you to help us make an impact.

This is why TOGI is free, and we need your help in our funding campaign.

We hope to reach as many people and communities as possible, so we will be able to develop for IOS and TOGI+ and give tools, ideas and some of the answers to common questions.

In our business plan our achievements will be to create a cooperation, to reach communities, schools and organizations and build active communities.

So, we will very much appreciate your ideas and assistance!!

Thank you,

Sharon and TOGI team.

For donation enter:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/togi-application-for-fun-family-activities/x/10057878

Four dimensions of children's health, and how to increase it

Most of the time, while talking about children's health people are talking about two main parameters: Physical activity and food / diet.

We believe that there are four parameters:

1. Food / diet

• What we eat
• How much we eat
• Balancing food (yes, including snacks and sweets)
• Personal example

2. Parent- child connection

• Trust
• Personal example
• Fun mutual time
• Respect

3. Community

• Security in the neighborhood/ play ground
• Play dates
• Ideas
• Special events- by the communities /the schools & kindergartens / the municipality

4. Physical activity

• Fun, challenge & creativity !!
• Variety
• Time
• Different space challenges
• Collaboration
• Personal example.

Researchers have shown that PA (physical activity) improves our health, brain performance, concentration, self esteem, confidence, decreasing anxiety and more. mutual activities helps to profound relationships, deepen trust, increasing intimacy and openness. combining PA and mutual time together can use to give a role model and give our children quality time set with significant appraisal.

Children have group activities, we have our daily/ weekly walk/ gym time/ other PA and we hope that it's a role model, but when we are coping together, sweating, laughing and more the impact is much more significant, and the children enjoy it with and without us.

Only 15 years ago we had more time and more freedom- we spend more time out side, we walked more, we spent more time with our parents and more time with our peers as children. the challenges that play and PA brings contribute to all life aspects and to all the motoric development.

we, as parents and community need to make sure that we have time and space to move- in the yards, the park the play ground; and we play with our children and not just stand there we all benefit from it; parallel of course giving our children time to play alone and with their friends.