Month: February 2025

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Parents Zone

Training Young Minds: Brain Training Games

Parenting Tips

February 2025

Written by: Ms. Carmen Leung, part-time lecturer for Bachelor of Education in OUHK

DHA is merely a nutrient that supports brain development in children, but to make children smarter, their brains need proper exercise. Here are some brain-training games that are perfect for children aged 2 to those in primary school!

  1. Maze and Spot-the-Difference Activities
    Although mazes and spot-the-difference games were popular when we were young, they remain valuable tools for children today. These brain-training activities come in various forms; any image-based game that requires children to observe and concentrate to complete tasks qualifies as a brain exercise. For instance, are you familiar with “Where’s Wally?”—one of the most popular brain games worldwide?

In fact, brain games don’t necessarily need to be purchased or printed in books; you can easily create them at home. For example, parents can hide two candies among a pile of clutter, and children will surely focus intently to find them!

  1. Organizing and Categorizing Household Items
    Everyday life offers excellent opportunities for brain training, such as tidying up and sorting. Organizing items systematically not only enhances children’s organizational skills but also encourages their creativity. Sometimes, children may classify items differently than adults, but their methods can be quite logical. Parents might ask children why they categorize items in a certain way, discovering that children’s observational skills can be sharper than expected. They often use details they observe for classification, so parents should avoid imposing adult categorization methods to prevent stifling their problem-solving initiative.

You might wonder what to do if your child dislikes tidying up. Before children develop the habit of organizing and sorting household items, it’s essential to start with games to boost their motivation to complete “missions.” For instance, you could hold a “Room Organization Contest” or “Clean-Up Day,” encouraging family members to help each other tidy up, which also serves as a fun way to exercise their brains!

  1. Memory Games
    There are many memory card games available, such as flipping over a set of cards and taking turns to reveal two at a time. If the cards match, players keep them. Additionally, there are cards with different pictures on them that parents can lay out for children to see, then flip them over and ask children to identify where a specific item is located. These are excellent memory games, and both adults and children can add creativity by changing the rules to make them more interesting.

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Can Kitchen Scraps Be Ingredients? Eco-Friendly Recipes That Are Healthy and Delicious

Parenting Tips

February 2025

Written by: Ms LEUNG, Ho Ki, Winky

United Christian Nethersole Community Health Service

Community Nutrition Service / Community Nutrition Promotion Officer

“Six eggs, how much sugar? Two teaspoons, and some orange peel.” Whenever I hear this line from a television advertisement, I can’t help but think, “Can orange peel be an ingredient?” My curiosity drove me to find answers, and I discovered several eco-friendly recipes that use kitchen scraps as ingredients. This new discovery inspired and reminded me that many of the ingredients we casually discard, such as fruit peels, eggs, and bread crusts, are actually useful and can be incorporated into dishes.

 

Take orange peel, for example: it is the main source of aroma in oranges. When food is infused with this natural fragrance and color, it not only enhances the flavor but also makes the presentation more appealing, thereby allowing cooks to reduce the use of chemical flavorings and seasonings.

 

Homemade Orange Jam: Sharing Eco-Friendly Eating Tips

 

Readers might want to try making refreshing orange jam at home. When preparing the jam, pay attention to whether the white part of the orange peel is bitter; if so, only use the orange part of the peel. Soak the orange peel in hot water, then simmer it with the orange flesh and juice until thickened. Once cooled, spread it on toasted whole wheat bread. Additionally, parents can make jam with their children, teaching them the importance of eating two servings of fruit daily while sharing the message of eco-friendly eating.

Food not only provides a sensory delight but also supplies us with energy and health. However, food waste often generates a large amount of kitchen scraps, impacting environmental health. I invite all readers, starting today, to put more thought and creativity into their “food” choices, enjoy with a grateful heart, and actively work towards the goal of “zero waste” in their lives, taking action to love our planet.

For Those Dining Out:

     Low-Carbon Eating Tips:

  • Practice a diet rich in vegetables and low in meat.
  • Order according to your needs (e.g., less rice, less noodles, less sauce).
  • Reduce consumption of coffee and soda (due to excessive fuel and water used in their production) or avoid using straws.
  • Dine in more often and order takeout less.
  • Bring your own food container to “pack” leftover food.

For Those Dining at Home:

Healthy Cooking Tips to Avoid Waste: Watermelon Rind Soup

 

Nutritional Benefits:

  • Watermelon rind has a sweet flavor that enriches the taste of the soup, reducing the need for seasonings.
  • Bread crusts can be baked into crispy sticks and enjoyed with low-fat yogurt.
  • Choosing whole grain bread along with the crusts increases dietary fiber intake, aiding intestinal peristalsis.

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Oral Muscle Development Training: Laying the Foundation for Language Skills

Parenting Tips

February 2025

Written by: Speech Therapist Ms Jenny T. Y. Kwok

Every child’s language ability is different. Some children can speak various words by the age of one and form sentences by two, communicating effectively with others. However, some children develop their language skills more slowly. In fact, the development of oral muscles has a profound impact on both eating and language abilities. Parents can engage in various small games to train their children’s oral muscles, laying a solid foundation for their language development.

 

Oral muscles include the muscles of the cheeks, lips, tongue, and jaw, which develop and improve with age and eating experiences. The strength, control, flexibility, and coordination of these muscles are crucial factors in a child’s ability to learn to speak.

 

Daily meal times provide excellent practice opportunities. However, some cases involve children primarily eating finely chopped or pureed foods, which can hinder the normal development of their chewing abilities, affecting both eating and language development. Common issues include drooling and unclear or inaccurate pronunciation, so oral muscle problems must be addressed.

 

Here are some simple games to train oral muscles, which we hope will improve children’s oral capabilities through fun activities, thus laying a strong foundation for their language skills.

 

Blowing Practice

 

How to Play:

 

First, prepare a basin of water and position it between the parent and child, who should face each other. Fill the basin halfway with water and place a paper boat on the parent’s side, adding a small treat or toy (such as stickers, etc.) inside. The parent blows the paper boat toward the child, who can then take the treat. If the child wants more, they must blow the boat back toward the parent.

 

This blowing exercise strengthens the ability to retract the tongue and round the lips, enhancing the stability and control of the jaw, which improves speech clarity.

Chewing Practice

 

How to Play:

 

Cut harder vegetables or fruits (such as carrots, cucumbers, celery, and apples) into strips approximately the length and thickness of a finger. The parent holds the end of the vegetable strip and places it between the child’s molars to encourage chewing. The parent should stabilize the food’s position, pushing it slightly each time the child bites until the strip is completely eaten, alternating sides for practice. Parents can adjust the size, length, and hardness of the food strips according to the child’s abilities.

 

Chewing requires the coordination of the lips, tongue, and jaw muscles, while speech development also relies on the collaboration of different oral muscles to produce various sounds. Therefore, chewing training helps improve clarity of pronunciation.

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