5 before 5 – Five places your kids must visit before they turn 5

‘90% of a child’s brain develops by the age of 5 years’, is the ‘mantra’ for early childhood development. And children learn the most from outdoor play and experiences. So, as a parent, we must try to show them as many different places as possible. Here is your Must-visit list of 5 before 5!

1. Places to visit: Religious Monument

A religious monument tops my list – Mosque, Temples, Church, Gurudwaras. Learning how to behave and pray in a set up that requires social decorum is a good learning experience. How to offer prayers, keep silence and talk softly, what kind of offerings can be made, what are the different religious monuments, their designs and architecture, cultural elements are all important things to learn about.

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2. Places to visit: Market

Market – one of the most difficult but important places to visit with a kid. Difficult because the constant fear of having separated from your child in the rush gives every Mother the jitters. It is essential that you make a few visits to the market with your child in order to coach him to stay around, even if his or her hand has not been constantly held. The child needs to know a course of action in case they separate from the parents. Having them memorize their address, phone number and names of their families will be a savior! The amount of stimulus available is indefinite – colors, textures, behaviors. Lessons of not picking up anything randomly without paying or even learning names and colors of fruits and vegetables can be surely done at the market.

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3. Places to visit:  Water Body

Being in an around a pool, river bank or a beach is a good experience for there is lots of water for your kid to play with! River banks can be slippery, beach water can be hurtful in the eyes while a pool may have varying depths – so, safety, gross motor skills like managing oneself in water, learning about fishes and other water animals (if any), or even overcoming fear of being in water, are some of the things your little one can learn from a water body.

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4. Places to visit: Library

A library is a Must visit by every child in today’s times where parents are trying to hard instill habits of reading in children. The very atmosphere of a good library instills love for books in children. Other activities like finding a particular book, maintaining silence, keeping the books properly at home so as not to cause damage and learning to share the books with others are lessons that will follow if you take your kid to a library on a weekly basis. 

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5. Parks, Play areas and Places of Amusement 

The zoo, aquarium, museum, adventure and theme parks are all fun places to visit where learning comes along with play. Things that they have been seeing in their books and toys come to life in such places. Watching different land and water animals, the adrenalin rush of being on rides, or even running after bugs and butterflies, observing other kids in action – all offer great stimuli and are important in their own ways. 

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 So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t visited even one of these places, plan your next visit soon, even if that means going for a holiday! Childhood passes with the blink of an eye and your little one has the world to conquer. Make the most of it!

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