Archive for innovation in kids

“I do not know what to do. His exam scores are appalling. But, I can’t blame him. My poor child… he puts his heart and soul into his studies. But, he finds it difficult to concentrate and recall all that he had studied. He was not like this before. Is it a behavioral problem?” Catherine (name changed for this article) could not stop worrying as John’s (name changed for this article) exam dates were approaching.

Catherine was relieved when she came to know that there could be reasons other than psychological issues for John’s problems.

John was the typical ‘king of junk food’ guy. He always had a love for french fries, cola, and donuts. In the past, Catherine used to control his intake of junk food. But, for the past few months, Catherine had been a bit relaxed on these. But, it had taken a toll on John’s health. In fact, that was the cause for the memory issues he was facing.

Catherine made a conscious effort to enrich John’s diet with some of the ‘Brain Foods’ I had incorporated in his diet plan. The positive result of it undoubtedly reflected in John’s better academic performance, and increased energy levels and brainpower.

It is well established that nutrition and learning go hand in hand. If you include the following food items which I like to call ‘Brain Foods’ in your child’s diet, it could result in a positive effect on their brain development and memory functioning.

1. Avocados

5 Brain Foods you must include in your child's diet

Monounsaturated fatty acids in this fruit help proper brain functioning. Have it in the form of a shake or as a dip mixed with vegetables.

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2. Blueberries

5 Brain Foods you must include in your child's diet

Diets rich in blueberries help improve learning capacity and motor skills. If your child does not like the taste, give it to them fresh with yoghurt, as frozen pops or as candies by freeze-drying.

3. Lentils and Beans

5 Brain Foods you must include in your child's diet

Folate in lentils and beans help to increase brainpower. You can give about 100gms of cooked beans a day to your child.

4. Oatmeal

5 Brain Foods you must include in your child's diet

Oatmeal is not just a healthy morning cereal; this also helps in improving memory power. Have it as a breakfast cereal with hot or cold milk.

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5. Nuts and Seeds

5 Brain Foods you must include in your child's diet

Nuts and seeds are tasty and at the same time they help in brain development. Add an ounce of walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or flaxseeds to your child’s everyday diet.

Catherine made small changes in John’s consciously. Gradually he changed from a ‘king of junk foods’ to a ‘king of brain foods’. His grades started improving and he became more confident of himself and his abilities. Is your child a ’emperor of junk foods’ or an ’emperor of brain foods’?

 (A version of this article first appeared in The Kidz Parade Edutainment Magazine)

Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules. 

Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!

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Public Speaking for children Singapore

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The Kidz Parade Magazine 

Are you looking for a special present for an adorable child? Why don’t you give a present that will leave a lifetime positive impact? When you give The Kidz Parade Edutainment Magazine as a present, you are opening the door to a world of Creativity and Communication.

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About Ujjwala Baxi

Ujjwala Baxi is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator and a Medical Nutrition Therapist with an experience of 10 years. She provides diet consultations, helping her clients to attain their health goal in the most practical and affordable ways to create lasting results. She is actively involved in creating health awareness through her various workshops for children as well as adults. She is a Health Promotion Board Ambassador and founder of Poshan - Cure thru Diet. In the past, she has worked as a Research Dietitian at B.Y.L Nair hospital and as Chief Dietitian at K.J. Somaiya hospital, Mumbai.

Be patient with the ‘Why’s and the ‘How’s coming out from curious minds

Creativity has been a buzzword for a decade. Before creativity was deemed as important, parents had no idea where to look for information. Today, there is so much information available that parents now have no idea where to begin to satisfy the young curious minds! As a primer to creativity, it is worth taking time to separate the wheat from the chaff – what is creativity and more importantly, what isn’t creativity.

Mention the words “Creative Genius” and most people would think of a lone mathematical genius toiling away at some mathematical proof, or a gifted writer who receives a spark of inspiration and proceeds to write the next New York Times bestseller. Neither of these misconceptions do justice to what creativity really is – a skill. More importantly, a skill that, given the right investment of time and effort, can be strengthened.

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Creative people are curious minds and do not develop their ideas in a vacuum

They pay attention to their surroundings and are intrigued by what they observe. George de Mestral, a Swiss electrical engineer by training, exemplifies this curiosity and attention to detail. After he had returned from a hunting trip with his dog, his curious mind became intrigued by the burrs that were stuck onto the dog’s coat. Examining them under the microscope, the engineer noted hundreds of “hooks” that caught on anything with a loop. This eventually gave him the idea for an invention that everyone is familiar with today – Velcro.

Children are naturally curious and this curiosity should be encouraged

However, the same child-like wonder that led to the invention of Velcro is also the bane of many parents. All too often, parents get irritated by their child’s incessant “whys” and their ire gradually tells children to stop asking so many questions. Next time, if you find yourself on the receiving end of your child’s curiosity, encourage him or her to find the answers. Better yet, make it a bonding activity where the both of you can try to find the answer together. You may not always get a totally satisfactory answer for the curious minds of your child or yours every time, nor would the answer definitely lead to a new innovation. However, the message that is sent to the child is very important: keep taking in the details around you, and never stop being curious.

Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules. 

Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!

Public Speaking Camp designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

Public Speaking for children Singapore

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Growth Mindset Workshop Singapore

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking  Camp

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You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking  Camp

The Kidz Parade Magazine 

Are you looking for a special present for an adorable child? Why don’t you give a present that will leave a lifetime positive impact? When you give The Kidz Parade Edutainment Magazine as a present, you are opening the door to a world of Creativity and Communication.

NEW POSTER 6 copy

About AMM Research

As Many Minds Research Team www.AsManyMinds.com

Shyness: 5 effective ways to help your child overcome shyness

Half of all adults think of themselves as shy, and many more say that they were shy as children. Shyness keeps children from learning social skills, trying new things, visiting new places or may prevent them from being a part of a group. Shyness also causes children to have a hard time relaxing and connecting with others. The good news is that it is possible to help your child overcome shyness.

Learning soft skills help child to be successful as an adult. They just need a little extra support and encouragement to boost their courage.

Here are some tips that will help kids in dealing with shyness:

1. Help them to be sociable

effective ways to help your child overcome shyness

Find ways to join group activities with other children and adults. Getting involved in group activities helps your child to be sociable with others.

2. Guide them to solve their own problems and make their own decisions

effective ways to help your child overcome shyness

Taking responsibility for solving problem increase their self-esteem and confidence. This will help your child tremendously when they deal with their shyness.

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3. Help them to find their strengths

effective ways to help your child overcome shyness

Being able to find their own strengths will boost your child’s natural self-esteem and ego. They will better identify with themselves. This will give your child the confidence to break self-imposed barriers of fear.

4. Face your fear in communication

Effective ways to help your child overcome shyness

If you have a fear in communicating with others, the natural tendency is to run away from the situation. Teach your child to curb that tendency, take a break and deal with situations where communication is needed. For example, help them to plan a short conversation piece and practice it to use in situations where they need to communicate with others.

5. Adult support is of paramount importance when helping kids to overcome their shyness. Understand their needs and support them throughout the process in trying out these tips. It may take time, but your effort and patience is worth the wait.

This article first appeared in The Kidz Parade Edutainment Magazine.

Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules. 

Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!

Public Speaking Camp designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

Public Speaking for children Singapore

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Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

Design Thinking Singapore

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Growth Mindset Camp

Growth Mindset Workshop Singapore

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The Kidz Parade Magazine 

Are you looking for a special present for an adorable child? Why don’t you give a present that will leave a lifetime positive impact? When you give The Kidz Parade Edutainment Magazine as a present, you are opening the door to a world of Creativity and Communication.

NEW POSTER 6 copy

About Vinti Mittal

Vinti Mittal is a professional Counsellor with a Post Graduate Diploma and a Master's in Counselling from Monash University. For the past 6 years, Vinti has been providing counselling support to preschool children, pre-teens, teens and adults on various issues. She counsels on stress, anger, anxiety, confidence, self-esteem, body image, depression, social skills, grief and academics. She has also been helping parents deal with their own issues relating to martial conflicts, divorce, etc. She strongly believes in using the concept of Early Intervention when working with very young children. Early Intervention enhances the overall growth and development of the child, which in turn improves the functioning of the family. She has extensive experience in dealing with children coming from different environments as well as school systems. She has been living and working in Asia and the Middle East for the past 15 years. Singapore became her home for the last 10 years. She works with both Singaporeans and expatriates from all over the world. Vinti is well versed in English, Hindi and Bahasa Indonesia.

Confident Child: Top 3 things every parent needs to do to create a confidence boosting culture at home

The discussion on whether confidence is nature or nurture has been around since a long time. When it comes to parenting, it always opens up many other questions. When a confident child find more opportunities, many parents wonder what can they do to make their child too more confident.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou.

Are today’s kids really keeping more and more to themselves? Are kids today really less confident than they used to be? Is technology keeping kids away from human interactions?

While it is easy to find conflicting arguments on these topics from various sources, there is no controversy in the fact that self-confidence is an important key to success. The more opportunities a child receives, to deal with people and manage situations, the better their self-confidence develops. Many parents wonder how they can set conditions at home so that their children acquire the skills to build their competence and boost their confidence.

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The good news about self-confidence is that it is something that can be nurtured, nourished and boosted with right guidance and preparation. Here we have some tips you can follow on a day-to-day basis to boost your child’s confidence to prepare your child to take up the challenges of life. Select one activity from each of the below areas every day and observe how a confident child emerges and spreads their wings.

1. Ignite Curiosity

Confident child

Children are born curious. Their curious minds are like sponges, they can absorb a lot of knowledge. They get immense confidence from the various ways they amass their knowledge. However, the aggressive demands of today’s school system put a detrimental effect to their curiosity. A major part of their curiosity diminishes as they progress through school. Only a few manage to keep the streaks of curiosity alive amidst the pressures of the school system. But, you can help them still be in touch with their curious self.

I. Do simple science experiments at home: This is a good way to make kids wonder about things around.

II. Discuss your family history with your child: What is more interesting than getting curious about one’s own self?

III. Ask them ‘What if…’ and ‘Do you know…’ questions.

2. Promote Creativity

Confident child

According to a survey by IBM of over 1500 CEOs, Creativity is one of the most important skills required to be successful in the 21st century. Contrary to popular belief, creativity can be taught and nurtured. These are some easy to follow activities that you can do at home to engage your child’s creative confidence. When you acknowledge your child’s creativity, give opportunities to express that creativity and show willingness to discuss about it, you will see him/her developing into a confident child.

I. Make your own story: Make a story from a picture, with your child. To make the best out of it, set aside a family time slot for ‘When a picture tells a story’. You  can refer to The Kidz Parade magazine (download 2 free issues here) for pictures of this category.

II. Allow your child to read for pleasure: Reading helps your child to visualize a situation. It helps in igniting creative sparks in them. They will feel tempted to discuss about their creativity. More communication could pave the way towards a more confident child.

III. Show enthusiasm to appreciate your child’s ideas: But, keep in mind that creativity is not just ideation. It is also about taking action to implement these ideas. Showing interest in their ideas and providing motivation in trying out some those ideas are the best encouragement you can provide to boost their creative confidence. An increased creative confidence could lead towards a more confident child.

IV. Brainstorm together on topics related to your family: What will you do on the weekend, should you you have a TV-free day, what should you cook for dinner… the topics are unlimited.

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3. Provide Inspiration

Confident Child

People tend to look at inspirations as benchmarks and when you have benchmarks, you try to achieve as great or better than that. There are many ways you can develop the habit in your kids to look out for inspiration.

I. Encourage your child to express their viewpoints: Make opportunities for them to communicate their opinions about their experiences, observations and aspirations.

II. Teach your child to learn from mistakes: We have heard this many times.  But, it never loses its magic touch. Discuss a time when you failed, but took up the challenge and succeeded.

III. Bring your child’s attention to the achievements of people they can relate to: Provide your child with opportunities to feel “If they can do it, I can also do it”. Inspiration need not always come from a famous person. Kids get more inspired by the achievements of their peers. Discuss with them how your peers inspire you.

IV. Provide them with opportunities to make changes in their society: You blame our academic system or their age or the human nature, but most children build limits to their ability to make a difference in this world. What if they start a club to stand for a cause they are passionate about? It could be as simple as a nature club they start at your home with their best friend.

The children will eventually grow up, figure out how to live their lives and they will spread their wings. How well they will spread their wings depends mainly on the unconditional love and the opportunities for confidence building they experience now.

Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules. 

Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!

Public Speaking Camp designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

Public Speaking for children Singapore

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Junior Champs Leadership Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking  Camp

Junior Champs Leadership Camp designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

Public Speaking for children

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking  Camp

Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

Design Thinking Singapore

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking  Camp

Growth Mindset Camp

Growth Mindset Workshop Singapore

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking  Camp

Junior Public Speaking & Confidence Building Workshop designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

Public Speaking for children Singapore

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking  Camp

The Kidz Parade Magazine 

Are you looking for a special present for an adorable child? Why don’t you give a present that will leave a lifetime positive impact? When you give The Kidz Parade Edutainment Magazine as a present, you are opening the door to a world of Creativity and Communication.

NEW POSTER 6 copy

About Sindu Sreebhavan

Sindu Sreebhavan is the founder of As Many Minds Minds Pte Ltd and the founding Chief Editor of The Kidz Parade Edutainment magazine, Asia's premium publication for cultivating creativity and creative writing in children. Sindu is also the founder and the Chairperson of International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF). Sindu is the author of 'Infinite Possibilities' and the lead co-author of Amazon bestseller 'Breakthrough'. With a passion to infuse innovation in education and inject growth mindset and innovative mindset in people and organisations, Sindu writes, speaks and consults on innovation and creativity in business and education. She says innovation does not start with invention, it starts with a mindset. “The best gift you can give a child is the power of Confidence, Creativity and Communication” is her tagline. She is passionate about educating educators, parents and children about youth development, youth leadership, education innovation and 21st century education. She supports children, parents, schools and several organisations in these areas.