Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd each year. It is a day dedicated to raising awareness about climate change and the challenges facing our planet. 193 countries around the world join together, coordinated by the Earth Day Network, for a wide range of events. Topics include climate action, climate and environmental literacy, conservation and restoration, the great global clean up and more. 

It can be easy to be swallowed up in despair at what we’re facing, but hope is more powerful than fear. I am hopeful about the next generation and what we can achieve together. However, in order to want to protect the planet, children have to learn to love it first. This means fostering interest and curiosity about the world and all the people in it, no matter what age. It is important that we never underestimate the capacity of children to listen, to learn, to understand the things that are happening around them. 

There are lots of things we can do to raise earth loving kids. I have compiled a (non exhaustive!) list of Global and Local Earth Day Activities for kids you can play with a map of the world. We are making our colouring-in world map activity kit free until the end of the month, you can download it here. 

I have suggested local and global ideas around topics as we’ve found this really helps ‘think global, act local’ resonate with my 7 and 5 yr old. Pick a few and let us know how you get on. 

Download your free map activity kit (pictured above) here >>

Food: 

Global: Where does our food travel from? Local: What can we do at home? Can we plant things on the windowsill? In the garden? 

Migration:

Global: Where has our family migrated to or from? Where have our friends’ families migrated to and from? Local: How many different cultures and nationalities are represented in our local area? 

Ecosystems: 

Global: Finding endangered animals – where are they, why are they endangered? Local: What animals and insects can we see outside? What might we see as a pest? Can we find out what important job it does? 

Travel:

Global: How do we get around the world? What effect do planes have? Local: Can we walk more & take the car less? 

Learning different languages:

Global: Pick a country and learn how to say ‘hello’ You can use a map of the world to talk about different languages with your children, pick a country and find out how to say hello! Some countries have a number of different official languages, South Africa has 11! Local: Do your neighbours speak a different language? How about your friends? 

Indigenous and first people:

Global: Where are indigenous communities around the world? Local: Find out more about the history of where you are living. If you have family members in other countries, find out about where they live too.

Who made our stuff: 

Global: Can we find out about where some of our toys are made? How far have they had to travel? Local: Can we make our own toys or games? 

Plastic:

Global: How is plastic made? Where do the materials come from? Why do we need to be careful with it? Local: How can we reduce and reuse plastic at home? 

You can download your map here. Don’t forget to keep in touch and let us know how you get on. 

The post Global and Local Earth Day Activities for kids appeared first on Lil'ollo.

The Adventure pack was created a few years back as a way of gifting experiences and adventures. I updated it for my children and family to connect with each other during lockdown and while we’re unable to travel.

Because we enjoyed using it so much, we want to share it with you, for free, in February and March 2021.

Each pack comes with a set of: 

• 6 cards you can write on,
• A special world map envelope you can assemble
• And adventure stickers to seal your pack with

With your cards, you can:

–    Invite them on future adventures

–    Remind them of happy memories

–    Tell them what it is about them you’re missing

–    Share a funny/scary/awesome family story

This isn’t limited to use by the younger members of our families. I have been sending the cards to my grown-up family and friends too!

The stay-at-home Adventure Pack will be available in different languages and FOR FREE for the rest of February and March 2021. Help us share the adventure by liking, tagging your friends, or sharing on your stories. Wishing you happy (and safe) adventures ????

To receive your adventure pack, please fill in the signup box below and it will be automatically sent to you. If you can’t see the language you’re looking for, let us know by responding to the email. 

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The post How to help children connect with family and friends during the pandemic appeared first on Lil'ollo.

This year, the theme is express yourself – finding ways to share how you are feeling, your thoughts and your ideas through creativity. It is about finding a way to express who you are, and how you see the world.

Good mental and physical health are the blocks on which everything else; all life learning, is built upon. It can be so easy to focus on school work, or learning activities, that we forget to look after the foundations. Although the official week is almost over, the activities we’ve done have been very helpful. Giving space for self-expression will definitely be at the forefront of my mind throughout this year and beyond.

We (at the time of writing) are in the middle of a pandemic, and you’re probably juggling work, homeschool and everything else you have on your shoulders. The Duchess of Cambridge (patron of Place 2Be) reminds us in her message to start the week, “whilst this is children’s mental health week, there has never been a more important time to talk about parental mental health and wellbeing too.”

Since homeschool/ national lock-down round 2, I often feel like my head is going to explode with everything I have to do. I imagine you may be feeling the same way.

The foundation blocks of everything

This Children’s Mental Health Week has allowed me to reflect on the importance of our mental health as a family; how we prioritise things, and how easy it is to be overwhelmed. If we think of it like a game of Jenga;

At the bottom of the tower, the foundation, is your (parent and caregiver) mental and physical health. All the activities & practices that keep you healthy reside here – this could be exercise, meditation, seeing friends and family, hugs, good food, love, connection, laughter, reading etc.

Built on top of these foundational blocks are your children’s mental health blocks; time with you, playing, exercise, love, connection, having fun, self-expression, healthy food, etc.   

We have some other things that are important and that prop up the two foundational layers – our income that enables us to have food, shelter and security. Our work can often be a foundational block if it gives us joy and fulfilment.

On top of these two layers of foundational blocks come everything else involved with family life – at the moment, homeschool for many of us, activities for the kids that aren’t directly related to their mental health, washing, tidying, cleaning, admin, etc.

There are only so many blocks we can have on the tower, so sometimes we might substitute things. For example; homeschool and chores take the place of our self-care practices. But if we substitute too many things, the tower falls down.

The question I’m asking myself is this: how many of those important foundation blocks are being taken away today? If all the blocks are being taken away, how important is finishing EVERYTHING, when really, we need to put the love and connection block back, and go and play a game together?

Which blocks are you prioritising?

Home schooling and other educational activities are important for learning, but they are rendered useless if YOU are not OK. If you are putting too much pressure on yourself, are unwell, burnt out, anxious, stressed out, then all the amazing Pinterest boards in the world are not going to help.

Children learn far more from who we are, than the activities we put in front of them.

The most important piece in their learning puzzle is you. You need to look after yourself and be looked after. 

If there are activities that you all enjoy doing, then great. If you get through the homeschool work, then well done. If not, then DON’T WORRY.  You are doing an AWESOME JOB.

We need to embody the messages we want to send to our children. 

You are enough. 

And just in case you haven’t had a hug today – I’m sending you a virtual

(COVID-free) one.

Alex X

The post How to support your children’s mental health appeared first on Lil'ollo.

This post does not contain any affiliate links, these are products and companies we genuinely love at Lil’ollo HQ. I hope you do too.

Alex xx

12 Christmas Gift Ideas for Bilingual Children and Families

(1) Arabicouples from Daradam

Daradam is a French publishing house that creates beautiful, high quality Arabic educational games. We love the Arabicouples game – this allows children (and their grown-ups) to discover the 22 countries of the Arab League and their different traditional clothing. The goal is to finish your cards quickly – look out for the ‘Scorpion’!

(2) Uncle Goose Language Blocks

Uncle Goose creates gorgeous wooden blocks in 25 different languages – these are perfect for counting, spelling, building and playing all manner of games. Uncle Goose blocks are available in Arabic, Chinese, Cherokee, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Māori, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

(3) A Story Box subscription from One Third Stories

One Third Stories create beautiful and engaging books that start in English, gradually words and sentences in a second language (currently French, Spanish, Italian or German) are introduced throughout the story. One Third Stories books come in story boxes with flashcards, activities and games, and are delivered through your door every month. You can pay month to month, or buy a six or 12 month subscription – perfect for Christmas.

(4) Hai! Hiragana 

Hai! Hiragana works by turning Japanese into creative illustrations of familiar and useful words. It’s a bit like ‘A is for Apple’ but they’ve made all the words Japanese to better introduce you to the language. So instead you get ‘Ri is for Ringo’ (Apple!). The flashcards have lovely illustrations that are all linked to the language character you are learning, making it really easy to remember and lovely to look at!

(5) Membership to the Cultured Home from The Cultured Kid 

The Cultured Home is an amazing language learning programme from The Cultured Kid, available in French, Spanish, Italian, German, English and Mandarin. Join on a monthly basis or an annual membership (a perfect Christmas present) and receive weekly lessons including immersive vocabulary videos, play-based lesson plans, topical vocabulary flashcards, age appropriate activity sheets, workshops, songs, books and more.

(6) I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL! 

I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL Is the latest book by Adam Beck, creator of the much-loved Bilingual Monkeys  website and author of the popular guide Maximise Your Child’s Bilingual Ability. I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL is a unique “picture book for adults” with delightful illustrations by Pavel Goldaev. Narrated by a lively baby, the book emphasises the most important information parents need for realising joyful success on a bilingual or multilingual journey. This is a perfect gift for bilingual families, and although it is a book for grown-ups, the children at Lil’ollo HQ love to read it too!

(7) Lil’ollo Bilingual Flashcards

Lil’ollo Flashcards are available in four different designs (colours, shapes, numbers and colours) and illustrated with our signature animals, all designed to aid language learning. Choose from English with either Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Welsh, Polish and Dutch. If you buy a bundle, you also receive unlimited colouring with our printable animal numbers colouring pack, and our extended games guide with 20 ideas for games to play with your flashcards. The bundle comes in a presentation box, perfect for gifting.

(8) Tim Tim Tom Books

Tim Tim Tom create gorgeous, personalised bilingual books in your choice of any two of the following languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese (Simplified or Traditional). You can also personalise the book with your child’s name and their appearance, with gender, skin type and eye colour, hair colour and hair style.

(9) Babel Babies Sing Languages Together CD

The Babel Babies online stop is full of lovely language learning products (if we do say so ourselves! Lil’ollo is available there too :-D) including some fabulous CDs with songs in German, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Norwegian, Russian and some brilliant multilingual ones too. Perfect for singing along at home or in the car.

(10) Booklandia Box

Booklandia source their inclusive, beautiful Spanish and bilingual book collection from publishers in Latin America, Spain and the US. Different book boxes are available for different ages and abilities, and available on one-time, monthly, bi-monthly and quarterly subscriptions. Booklandia also have an extensive section of new-releases in ‘la tienda’ section of the site. If you are buying for a Spanish learner, I challenge you not to find something perfect here!

(11) Mamma Prada T-shirts

I fell in love with Mamma Prada’s ‘Lupo’ T-shirt as soon as I saw it! She has created a great collection of Italian slogan T-shirts and bilingual clothing, available in her Etsy store. All the clothes we buy from Italy are covered in English slogans so I particularly love these!

(12) Personalised world map from Lil’ollo 

If you are a bilingual family, or learning languages at home, I can guarantee that a) you have some family roots in different countries and/ or b) you are interested in learning about the world. I created the Lil’ollo personalised world maps to help my children connect with their diverse family story, and foster an interest in learning about the world from a young age. It comes with coloured stickers and a key to personalise (with any language you like!).

The post 12 Christmas Gift Ideas for Bilingual Children and Families appeared first on Lil'ollo.

We all know that the best time to start speaking a second language to your child is right from birth. But what if you’ve missed that train?

Maybe you were too exhausted as a new parent to think about anything else. Maybe you had deep seated concerns about bilingualism that you couldn’t quite shake until now. Maybe it didn’t seem important to you at the time, but now that your child is 4 or 5 or 8, your heart aches every time you notice they can’t quite speak to their grandparents in your home country in your native language? Or maybe you simply decided that it would be good for your child to learn a second language to be more open to the world.

This is the situation that I found myself in a couple of years ago when I realised that my seven year old was bilingual in Russian and English, but didn’t know our second home language, Hebrew.

How To Teach Your (Older) Child A Second Language

The good news is that you can still pass a second language (or third) to your child even at a later age, and with enough exposure, they can still become effectively bilingual in it. In fact, new research shows that we can reach native-like mastery of a language at least until the age of 18, much later than originally thought.

To be sure, this will be a completely different process than simply speaking to a baby, and will require a lot more effort. But it need not be stressful or be seen as hard work or even “learning” by the child. Here are some things to keep in mind and some ideas to get you started.

Make It Fun

First of all, don’t ever use the word “learning”. True, your child is not a baby so there WILL be actual learning involved, but they’re not an adult either, so doing something that’s not enjoyable with a long term goal in mind makes no sense to them. For you the idea of them being able to speak to their grandparents next summer might be motivating enough, but they’re asking, what’s in it for me NOW?

Sing songs in the new language together, over and over again. Children’s songs with hand movements that are maybe familiar to them from their first language. Sing until they remember the words by heart even if they don’t completely understand them.

Pick a soft toy and pretend that it only speaks that language. Draw, dance, play, using the language. Play games like “Simon says”. Let them use all their senses in their learning.

Point to objects around the house and name them in the new language throughout the day. Gradually introduce new words and phrases into familiar routines. Before you know it, you’ll be doing the entire mealtime in that language and they will never guess that they have done a lot of learning.

Most importantly, focus on the process, make it fun and tailor it specifically to your child.

Don’t Correct Mistakes

I don’t mean don’t correct mistakes at all. If the child repeats a word after you incorrectly, it’s fine to correct them to help them get it right. What I mean is when they’ve got enough language in their head from songs, books and games, they will want to reproduce some of it. When they start speaking in phrases and sentences, even if they don’t get it right, refrain from correcting their mistakes. Focus on the interaction. One of the main reason why many adults take a long time to learn a language is because they’re afraid to make mistakes. Children don’t have that level of self consciousness yet and that’s a great thing! Let them make mistakes, play with the second language, get the confidence, get to feel as if they already know it super well. Let them make friends with the language on their own term. They will always have a chance to start learning proper grammar, but shattered confidence will be difficult to reclaim.

Find A Community

Especially if you’re not a native speaker of your target second language (but even if you are), finding a community is hugely important. Even if it’s a weekly playgroup or a club it will be an important addition to your daily interactions in the language and will give them the chance to speak to more people.

Photos in order by Vitaliy Paykov , Aaron Burden and Ashton Bingham on Unsplash

The post How To Teach Your (Older) Child A Second Language appeared first on Lil'ollo.

Our World Map Colouring Activity Kit is currently available over in our Freebies Club. You can also find other fun and personalisable World Maps here.

Here are 10 ideas for games you can play to help your children travel the world:

1. Secret location: Close your eyes and stick a sticker on the map. Open them and investigate the country or sea where your sticker has landed. Look at pictures on the internet and even go on a pretend journey there! You can find our map with stickers here.

2. Where are your family, neighbours, friends from? Do you have family roots from around the world? Or maybe neighbours or friends who were born in another country? How about finding out about some of these countries and languages? You can plot them on your map. You can find a personalized family map here.

3. Sea creatures: 71% of the earth is covered by water, and our oceans are very important. There are some sea creatures on your Lil’ollo map, but how about finding out about some more? Sharks are very popular in our house!

4. Pretend to be pilots: Build a ‘plane’ (this can be a chair, or a box, you get the idea) and plan your journey round the world. Which countries are you going to visit? What languages do they speak there? Pack your plane with plenty of fuel and food for the journey!

5. Where do the animals live? Where would you find a lion? Or a giraffe? Where do dogs live? Or Kangaroos? Or giant spiders? (I’m dreading on of these being on Marco’s Christmas list!)

6. Food detectives. So much of our food now comes in from overseas, it can be a fun game and helpful conversation to start by looking in the kitchen and finding on the map how far your food has travelled. The same game can be played with clothing

7. Language Explorers: Pick a country and learn how to say ‘hello’ You can use a map of the world to talk about different languages with your children, pick a country and find out how to say hello! Some countries have a number of different official languages, South Africa has 11!

8. Boats, planes and submarines… if you had to travel all the way around the world, how would you do it? Can you draw some of your methods of transport? Do you know where the fuel comes from?

9. 2D – 3D: How about looking at pictures of the earth from space, and also a globe if you have one. We are very lucky to be near to the International Space Centre in the UK, and regularly visit. Marco is starting to make the connection between the flat map, globe, journeying into space and the solar system.

10. What time is it? The time changes when we visit family in Italy, and we have some time zone clocks on our wall. We also recently had friends visit from Australia and this prompted a discussion about time zones. It’s a complicated subject for younger children but, if your kids are interested, one to start conversations about.

We would love to hear about how you get on with these games. Don’t forget to visit the freebies club to download your world map activity kit!

Alex is a designer, writer, entrepreneur, problem solver and mother to two multilingual children. She is passionate about using design to improve people’s lives and has worked on projects around the world. Alex is a champion for languages and creative arts in early education and the creator of Lil’ollo.

The post 10 Games to Help Children Travel The World appeared first on Lil'ollo.

Phrases we have probably all heard our children say at some point are “I’m bored”, “There is nothing to do” or I don’t know what to do”.

This is true for pre-schoolers or articulate teenagers!  What has your reaction been when you hear these words? Impatience? Quickly reeling off a list of ideas/?

Have you ever said with enthusiasm “Good! It is good to be bored.”

Why we shouldn’t fear holiday boredom

As parents and carers, we need to see holiday boredom, and boredom in general as a positive. There is now increasing evidence that real creativity emerges from a sense of boredom. Some planned activities and games are important. However, perhaps we shouldn’t be sighing, concerned or trying to rustle up things for them to do to keep them occupied.

Try saying ” Great! You’ll think of something to make or do soon”, and give them the space they need to do so.

Making includes letting the mind wander to conjure up a story or a poem, plan a model to make or invent a new version of a much-loved game. How about finding a way to get a toy up the tree and then back down? To start with a child might need little suggestions. I have known children as young as five or six create illustrated stories on a wet weekend for a younger cousin or think of a poem for Granny as Granny loved poems!  My son’s Action Man was up and down all the trees in the garden but when he reached the roof, now that was a challenge!

Boredom is rarely wasted time. As parents we can often feel almost pushed into a busy schedule for our children. Perhaps we are worried they will miss out if they don’t join in. Perhaps the busy noise of Pinterest and Instagram makes us feel we always need to have a planned activity on hand. It does mean that for many children there is little time to experience being bored and the creativity that comes from this.

Have you ever tried planning a weekend with the children when nothing is planned?

I hope that doesn’t fill you with horror!  Be brave… try it. You might be surprised what the outcome is by Sunday afternoon. Encouraging creativity means the adult has to learn to let go. Giving them the ideas and finding all the things they need isn’t being creative, it is being organised!

I know it may all sound crazy as children’s lives these days are filled up after school with clubs whether that is sport, dance or cubs and brownies. However, if you want your child to know what it is like to be really creative, it is important to give them the time and space. Don’t give up too easily if it doesn’t seem to work straight away. For many children having this space without an adult organising it all for them is a challenge for them too.

When they share with you their creations how are you going to react?  No matter how strange or wonderful, their idea has to be taken seriously.

Ask them how they did it, and what gave them the idea. Your response as an adult will make all the difference between a child who feels it is worth being creative and one who doesn’t see the point. Bear in mind that creativity can be messy, especially with young children. Try having ‘messy play’ areas at home that you can easily clean up. Resist the urge to curtail any wild painting or paper cutting!

You can also think up little ideas yourself, so they see you being creative. I don’t mean writing a book or painting a picture (unless that is what you want to do!).

On one of my son’s birthdays I got the timing wrong at his party and needed to fill a quarter of an hour or so.I had to think quickly on my feet to entertain a group of primary aged boys. The answer was A4 paper and something to write with. I got them all round a table and turned the lights out. They had to follow instructions to create a picture (in the dark). I asked them to draw a lake in the middle of the page, put a duck behind the lake, put a boat on the lake, draw a tree to the left of the lake etc..

When the lights came back on they all wanted to continue with the game as it was so silly but such fun… it was then requested at subsequent parties!

Remember that being creative can also be mistaken for doing nothing.  She might be sitting on the sofa looking as if she is wasting time, but her mind will be busy with her next creation!

Have fun!

Bron Kucharski is an experienced primary and head teacher who has worked in a variety of schools over the years. She has a passion for developing in children a love of learning and language, enquiring minds and the confidence to be creative.

The post Why Holiday Boredom is Great For Our Children appeared first on Lil'ollo.

We wear so many hats during the day, don’t we?

Today I have been:

Mummy, Iron Man, daughter, wife, sister, friend, cook, vegetable negotiator, art facilitator, laundrette, cleaner, Bat Girl, train track fixer, That Baddy From PJ Masks, taxi driver, hoist, swimming teacher, mediator, toy doctor, project manager, CEO, designer, sock-reuniter, personal dresser, reader, medical assessor, first aid giver… exhausted mother…

The list goes on, and I bet yours does too.

Being a mum is without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me. However, it is also the most physically and mentally challenging. It is exhausting, physically from the quadrupled work-load, but also mentally. We approach motherhood expecting a certain degree of exhaustion. Nonetheless, the reality can hit us like a freight train, and this can happen at any time.

Pregnancy the second time around was a different experience. When I was pregnant with my first, I spent my time when I wasn’t working doing lovely relaxing things. I would float in the swimming pool, take leisurely strolls and yoga classes, and lounge on the sofa watching box sets. My second pregnancy was spent running around after a very active toddler and working. To say I felt tired by the time baby no. 2 arrived was an understatement!

I can’t remember when the dark clouds started closing in. Ornella didn’t sleep well for a year and I didn’t prioritise rest, I just muddled through with caring for both children and working. I expected to feel tired. ‘This is just how everyone feels with two young children and a job’ I thought.

Slowly the exhaustion became all consuming. I would wake up feeling exhausted. I felt low all the time and couldn’t look forward to anything in the future. I felt anxious and easily tearful. The last thing I wanted was to let how I was feeling affect my children. As such I held everything in and tried to put on a brave face.

‘I am just exhausted’ I told myself. When I catch up on my sleep, everything will be better.

My lovely Mum, who recently retired from General Practice thought otherwise. ‘I think you are depressed’ she told me.

‘I can’t be depressed’ I replied. ‘ Everything is OK’. I repeated this again and again in my head, and kept going. I worried that if I admitted I wasn’t coping, I would be seen as a bad parent.

This is the thing with depression. It isn’t something you choose or you can just shut off. It can affect you when everything in your life is OK.

Eventually I couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. I didn’t want the children to see me upset so I went to get help. I was lucky I had my Mum to point out my symptoms were more than just exhaustion, but sometimes this can be difficult to work out on your own.

We just expect exhaustion as mothers; it can be easy to ignore how we are feeling and put everything down to tiredness.

I asked my Mum, Nancy, to tell me more about how to differentiate tiredness and exhaustion from depression. I wanted to share it here for you.

‘Despite one in three of us being affected by mental health problems in our lives, there is still unnecessary stigma attached to admitting we need help. I spend 38 years working in general practice, and mental health was one of my specialist areas. I have three children (Alex is my eldest) and I remember the exhaustion of caring for three small children very well. Exhaustion and tiredness can make us irritable, tearful and mentally and physically slow. When we are tired or exhausted, enough sleep and rest will alleviate our symptoms and we will feel better.

If we are depressed, unfortunately rest will not be the only thing we need to help recover. Continual and prolonged sleep deprivation can cause depression, and tiredness is one of the symptoms associated with depression. However, it isn’t the only symptom.

Depression is a common mental disorder that causes people to experience depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep, altered appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. Depression is different from feeling down or sad. Unhappiness is something which everyone feels at one time or another, usually due to a particular cause. A person experiencing depression will experience intense emotions of anxiety, hopelessness, negativity and helplessness, and the feelings stay with them instead of going away.

Symptoms and signs of depression.

• Excessively anxious with irrational thoughts
• Difficulty getting to sleep or waking up early (without the help of children!)
• Constantly tired and waking up tired
• Low mood and tearful
• Irritable
• Family history or a previous history of depression
• Blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong
• Continual worry you are a bad parent
• Unable to look forward to anything in the future
• Changes in appetite (feeling more hungry than usual or not wanting to eat)
• Loss of self- confidence and self esteem
• Unable to function and work or at home
• Thoughts about self-harm or suicide

If you are experiencing more than one of these symptoms, for even part of the day, most days for more than two weeks, please make an appointment to see your GP urgently.’

If you are feeling low, it can be easy to feel isolated. Please remember that having depression does not make you a bad parent, and you are not alone.

I’m sending you a big hug over the internet,

Alex x

Alex is a designer, writer, entrepreneur, problem solver and mother to two multilingual children. She is passionate about using design to improve people’s lives and has worked on projects around the world. Alex is a champion for languages and creative arts in early education and the creator of Lil’ollo.

The post Dear Exhausted Mother, This One Is For You appeared first on Lil'ollo.

Fast forward six months and I started to understand. I have always been able to apply myself and focus on the task at hand. However, motherhood is a totally different ball game. On one level there is so much to think about and consider. This is coupled with a long list of things to do every day that doesn’t involve the fun activities like playing with our children. On a different level the love we feel for our children, and our need to do the best we can for them brings another layer of mental load.

In her article ‘The Guilty Secret of Distracted Parenting’, Perri Class writes: ‘Our children need attention and interaction, conversation and story-telling, reading aloud, discussions of what they see and do, silly games and family jokes, and all the other back and forth that goes with family life’.

For me this is the absolute best bit of parenting, but it can often get hijacked.

When I’m feeling overloaded, I’ll admit I’m not 100% present in a game of superheroes. My mind wanders to the washing mountain downstairs, what I need to cook for dinner, an email that is about two months late, a dental check-up for the kids, something my husband needs, the wasp that is STILL stuck in our bedroom, some orders that need processing, a suspicious brown mark on the floor….

….and before I know it my mind has completely wandered off… and Iron Man and Bat Girl know it. They are now four and two, and they know when my brain has gone on a hike elsewhere.

I decided to try and do at least one activity every day (or more if I am not at work) where I make sure I am completely present. I hide my phone and forget about work and the washing mountain. I make sure I am 100% there with them. The activities aren’t always long, they don’t need much if any preparation and I am noticing a difference. I wanted to share some of them with you below.

10 Easy Ways to Connect With Your Children

1. Read a bedtime story

Bedtime isn’t always the calmest time in our household, but we read two stories every night. Reading aloud to our children is really important so it is something I made part of our routine really early on. However, I found it the hardest time to 100% focus. I’m tired, they’re tired, and my mind is racing ahead to the work I need to do once they are in bed. I reminded myself that reading stories before bed takes 20 minutes, and if I’m focussed on the story and the children it is so much more enjoyable for us all.

2. Build a den

Still the best fun ever, even as an adult. Using furniture and blankets or whatever you have to hand, (safely!) build your den. There are some amazing ideas here.

3. Get messy!

Messy play is brilliant for kids but I’ll admit in the past there have been times where it has been hampered by me trying to limit mess. I have created some areas at home where we can go wild and easily clean up (in the kitchen, garden and bathroom). Here are a few great ideas.

4. Create a family ritual

Family rituals are important, and they can be anything special to your family. For example, making pancakes on a Sunday, special code words or fun games. We go for lunch together every Saturday.

5. Get outside

We live in the UK, and the weather isn’t always great. However even when it is raining, even a small amount of time spend outside makes a big difference.  Fun outside doesn’t mean a big excursion, it can just be time in your local park or garden.

6. Make a map

My four-year-old is always curious about where I am going when I work outside of the house. I have started drawing little maps or showing him on a bigger map. We also have a map of the world that we have personalised, and we mark on where family and friends are flying if they go away.

7. Superhero chore team

Sometimes chores just have to be done, and it is good to involve our children. We have found a fun way to get them done together. Everyone takes a superhero cape and takes a different job. Dusting is far more fun in a Batman cape, believe me!

8. Toy hospital or mechanics station

One of our favourite imaginary play games is creating a hospital or mechanics station for injured toys. Both children love caring for their toys and giving me specific jobs to do such as bandaging teddy or fixing a wheel.

9. Get creative!

I have made different spaces around the house for messy, creative play. These include a big chalkboard in the kitchen, painting and drawing space that can be tidied away for eating and a mud kitchen outside.

10. Cook or create something fun to eat

I have great memories of helping my mum make cakes, but I think the success of more complicated recipes depends on the age of your children. Keeping things simple works best for us, and we love this DIY pizza idea.

We have more games ideas over in the Lil’ollo freebies club, come over and join us!

Alex is a designer, writer, entrepreneur, problem solver and mother to two multilingual children. She is passionate about using design to improve people’s lives and has worked on projects around the world. Alex is a champion for languages and creative arts in early education and the creator of Lil’ollo.

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We live in a world where being multicultural, multilingual, multi-anything is quickly becoming the norm. But I still regularly meet parents who have deep seated concerns about raising their children bilingual. They often feel insecure about their ability to pass on a second language to their kids, and have unanswered questions about bilingualism. Many parents don’t know how to do it, and are concerned that being multilingual is going to negatively impact their child’s development or their sense of identity.

If you’re secretly one of these parents, read on:

Will my child really be able to master more than one language?

The most important thing in raising a bilingual child is getting enough exposure in each language. So if your child’s contact with the second language is limited to a weekly Saturday school lesson, although there will be many benefits, it’s not going to be enough for her to become fluent in that language. But if you consistently speak the language at home, even only for a few hours every day, there is no reason she won’t master two or more languages.

Will my child’s performance in school suffer because he has to juggle more than one language?

It’s another outdated belief that having to juggle more than one language is a strain on the brain and negatively influences the child’s school performance. In the early years, the bilingual child’s vocabulary might be distributed between their two languages (for instance, at five my son didn’t know the names of certain common animals in English but only in his home language). This might give an impression that they’re behind their peers. But don’t worry, it will soon level out. It’s easy enough to pick up additional vocabulary in a language you’re fluent in, but it’s much harder to learn a whole new language later in life. Not to mention that your child will be able to reap the many well-documented developmental benefits of bilingualism, like improved concentration and maths skills.

Can my child learn a second language if I myself am not a confident speaker?

You don’t have to be a native speaker to pass on a second language to your child. In order for a child to learn a second language, they need to have enough exposure to it, but this doesn’t necessarily need to come from you. However, if you are planning on being the main source, you have to be somewhat confident. In any case, if you can carry on a conversation in the language, there is no reason you can’t start carrying on that conversation with your child! Just make sure your child gets additional exposure to that language in other ways, like regular interactions with native speakers and watching cartoons. Many parents I know do exactly that: begin to speak a second language to their child (full time or part time) even if they’re not a native speaker themselves. They’re killing two birds with one stone: practicing speaking the language and getting their kid to speak it too!

What are your questions and concerns about raising bilingual kids? Leave them in the comments and we’ll address them in a future post!

The post The Questions About Bilingualism You Were Afraid To Ask appeared first on Lil'ollo.