Meaningful Engagement Activities for Kids

I was preparing for some time to share important learnings related to the ‘whys’, ‘hows’, and ‘whats’ of mental development of high-performance individuals and the importance of early childhood training in their lives. While I was planning to share that in a more phased manner (Which would take a few weeks, given the frequency at which I publish my posts), Medha Ji’s request actually gave me an idea to perhaps use some of the important activities that I had already identified to share in this separate post.

I will not delve into the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ in this post. I will share the top two picks in this post depending on the age group. The intent is, while the participants are actively engaged, some parallel development takes place which will help in the overall goal of becoming a high-performing individual.

We did have the luxury of using some good online stuff before the Covid 19 started as there was a balance between regular physical activities and screen time, but with the current scenario, the online activities and screen time has increased so much that adding another basket of online activities will do more harm than good. So am avoiding recommending any activity that involves adding more screen time.

Age Group 4 to 8 Years

Geographika

A map and cards-based board game. Just search by name in Amazon and you will find it

Advantages

It gives excellent exposure to the breadth and diversity of the planet by using the world map and the various places, food, things, etc. I am personally using it for my 4-year-old and it’s a super engaging activity for kids. On average, a kid spends 1.5 hours a day on this.

Work from home parents just need to engage for 5 mins every 20 mins to keep the activity going.

Areas of Development

Hippocampus: The brain has a specialized region just for navigating the spatial environment. This structure is called the hippocampus, also known as the map reader of the brain. The hippocampus helps individuals determine where they are, how they got to that particular place, and how to navigate to the next destination. This game is a good early-stage exposure to becoming a google map expert 🙂

I would recommend having a globe or a wall-size map for kids from early childhood and doing a daily activity as time permits.

Age Group 8 to 12 Years

Dominoes Fall

Very useful activity to creatively engage kids in building something at the same time understand the simple principle of the Domino effect. A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events where the time between successive events is relatively small. Recommend you to watch the video (link in title)

Advantages

• Very engaging. Some kids can actually end up spending hours on it. 
• Long build-up time but instant gratification (what kids love nowadays)
• There are no boundaries or limits so it’s left to the kid’s commitment and imagination. 

Parents can pitch in based on their availability and actually have some good engaging time given that there are no more team building activities in Work From Home scenario 🙂

Areas of Development

• An early-stage exposure to building things and creativity for kids
• Dominos, unlike computer games, is a traditional game that people tend to play and enjoy.
• Helps players to develop critical thinking skills.
• Creates a bond within families and social groups (if possible in today’s times)
• Playing dominos games needs a lot of attention and focus

By the way, if your child really gets a hang of building things he can venture into building contraptions. Maybe a bit too early for kids but hey! our aim is to expose them to all possibilities.

Is your child above 12? Well, they already know what to do with their time so no worries 🙂

Will soon come up with more detailed posts on early-stage development for kids.

Enjoy and Stay Safe