The World’s Best BabysitterBy: Stephanie

The Situation:A family has hired you to act as a baby-sitter for their children for one weekend. The family's children are a one-year-old girl, a five-year-old boy, and an eleven-year-old girl. The family has hired you because of your vast knowledge of intelligence, developmental psychology, and creativity. While you are babysitting, you must intellectually challenge the children and encourage cognitive development in them. To do this you will be bringing books, providing them with toys, involving them in activities, and watching a television show or movie. Each child must have his or her own enrichment. In addition, you may spend a maximum of $100 for each child.

Activity: Laundry toss

The young girl will be shooting socks or other articles into a laundry basket. In the story “Christopher counting”, Christopher counts how many baskets his friend makes. Now, the young girl can actually try her hand at something she read while also helping to clean up the house!

Piaget’s Theory- this is helping to build her concepts of reality, and her physical interaction with the environment. She is not just reading the story, but actually doing some of the activities herself.

Gardner’s Theory- This is an example of Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence because the young girl is now seeing how mental and physical activities are related.

Toy: Infantino My First Color Puzzles

These 6 puzzles by Infantino match up and spin! See how colors are made with 6 amazing color spinners!

Piaget’s Theory: These puzzles have many colors and spin, the young girl can make a mental picture that will now help her relate these color and images to things she sees on a daily basis

Gardner’s Theory:Spatial Intelligence by using mental images to solve problems

TV Show: Dora the Explorer

A young girl with her monkey friend use a map to go on a search for different treasures every episode. Throughout each episode, Dora plays games with the audience such as counting, finding shapes, or making sounds to get her to her destination.

Piaget’s Theory:This involves play in student learning because even though the young girl may think she is just watching a show and playing along with the character, she is really learning basic skills to get her mind rolling.

Gardner’s Theory:Musical Intelligence because she must relate sound and rhythm to help her get to the treasure.

One-Year-OldBook: Christopher Counting

When Christopher Rabbit learns to count in school, he enjoys it so much that he counts everything in sight, including how many baskets his friends make when they play basketball and how many peas and carrots are on his plate.

Piaget’s Theory:In the story, the child can relate Christopher’s experiences to their own. For example, every young child is forced to eat their peas and carrots and now the child can relate their experiences and also learn how to count.

Gardner’s Theory:The counting works on the child’s logical-mathematical intelligence because it helps with the ability to reason deductively and thinking logically.

Movie: Baby Einstein: World Music

Einstein goes global, traveling around the world to introduce young viewers to different cultures and types of music.

Piaget’s theory:This movie introduces the child to different places around the world as well as the musical aspect of it. These sounds and places will create the girls visual “map”

Gardner’s theory:Musical Intelligence because the music will help the child build her auditory functions.

FIVE-YEAR-OLDBook: Big Truck and Little Truck

Big Truck and Little Truck worked on Farley's farm. Big Truck taught Little Truck everything he knew. He taught him how to carry crops. He taught him how to stake scarecrows. He even taught him how to pull his wheels out of a muddy rut in the road. Big Truck could do anything. But one day, Big Truck's engine wouldn't start. A tow truck came to take him away to the shop, leaving Little Truck frightened and alone. Would Big Truck be okay? Could Little Truck manage all by himself?

Piaget’s Theory: The child must think of experiences and try to figureout an outcome to the problem.

Gardner’s Theory:Spatial Intelligence, the ability to create mental imagesin order to solve problems.

Activity: Dora’s Tropical Fruit Salad

All boys love doing hands on things so what is a better thing than cooking! The child can help make this colorful fruit salad while learning shapes and the different colors. And best of all, when the work is done everyone gets to eat, not to mention that it’s healthy!

Piaget’s Theory:Concrete situation because directions are provided in order to figureout how to do it.

Gardner’s Theory:Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, ability to detect patternsand measure mathematically

Toy: Connect Four

This game is two players so the babysitter can get involved. Boys are usually competitive so this game will give them something to play for! You must get four in a row of your color to win!

Piaget’s Theory:Creates a mental map to figure out the patternsof the pieces in order to get four in a row

Gardner’s Theory:Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, the abilityto detect patterns

TV Show: Bob the Builder

Bob and his team must work together to repair buildings and other things throughout their town. This shows how they work together to get the job done!

Piaget’s Theory:Understanding experiences you would see in your own life

Gardner’s Theory:Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, think logically and reason deductively

Movie: Secrets of the Furious Five

After defeating Tai Lung, Dragon Warrior Po (Jack Black) faces his biggest challenge yet--teaching an introduction to kung fu class filled with eager young bunnies.

Piaget’s Theory:Concrete physical situations shown

Gardner’s Theory:Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, mental abilityto coordinate bodily movements. Mental andphysical are related.

ELEVEN-YEAR-OLDBook: Nancy Drew The Secret of the Old Clock

Nancy is a sixteen-year-old high school graduate who desires to help the Horners, who are poor, struggling relatives of recently deceased Josiah Crowley. She is spurred on by her dislike for his "heirs," who are snobbish, wealthy, social climbers. A clue to the whereabouts of Crowley's will are hidden in an old clock. Nancy interviews various relatives and friends of Crowley, and has a run-in with thieves while trying to recover Crowley's mantel clock.

Piaget’s Theory:Abstract problem solving

Gardner’s Theory:Spatial Intelligence, create mental images to solve problems

Activity: Bike riding

She can go outdoors and ride around the neighborhoodInstead of being stuck in the house all day and it’s a greatWorkout.

Piaget’s Theory:Physical experience

Gardner’s Theory:Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, mental abilityto coordinate bodily movements

Toy: Clue

A board game where each player must try and solvea murder mystery by getting clues and guessing how andwhere it happened and who did it!

Piaget’s Theory:Logical structures that explainExperiences

Gardner’s Theory:Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, detectpatterns while solving the mysterySpatial Intelligence, mental images to helpreach a conclusion

TV Show: Wizards of Waverly Place

A family of wizards lives in a normal townwhere no one else knows they have magic powers.The family must keep their secret while learninglife lessons by doing so.

Piaget’s Theory:Solving problems within the family

Gardner’s Theory:The Personal Intelligences, understandfeelings and motivations of others and of yourself

Movie: UP

The story of an old man looking for adventure.He turns his house into a somewhat hot air balloonand he travels to South America where he runs intomany exciting things.

Piaget’s Theory:Seeing the experiences of a man as heHeads to another part of the world

Gardner’s Theory:Spatial Intelligence, creatingf mental images

Bibliographyhttp://www.funderstanding.com/content/piaget

http://www.springhurst.org/articles/MItheory.htm

http://wmars.cwmars.org/search~S201?/jcounting/jcounting/1%2C18%2C1378%2CB/frameset&FF=jcounting+books&1%2C1%2C/indexsort=-

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3471711

http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Big%20Truck%20and%20Little%20Truck:3000246012;_ylc=X3oDMTB1c21tcDhkBF9TAzk2NjMyOTA3BHNlYwNmZWVkBHNsawNib29rcw--

http://www.nickjr.com/recipes/doras-tropical-fruit-salad.jhtml

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2267242&isTopSellingItem=true

http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/flicks_for_kids/ffk-secrets-of-the-furious-five.jhtml