You can help your child become school ready through love, devotion, and following
The Basics five simple steps!

Did you know that 80% of brain growth happens during the first three years of life? You can help your child be successful in these early stages by following five simple science-based principles known as The Basics:

• Maximize Love, Manage Stress
• Talk, Sing, and Point
• Count, Group, and Compare
• Explore, Through Movement and Play
• Read and Discuss Stories

The Houston Health Department has teamed up with Children's Museum Houston to bring this this initiative to Houston parents for FREE. Through a series of free “fun-shops”, new parents are encouraged to practice The Basics and build an early foundation for their children to be able to read, speak, solve problems, do well in school, and have positive relationships later in life.

The following Basics Fun* Shops will be held during Free Family Nights on Thursdays at the Museum. We also hold Fun Shops in neighborhoods around the Houston area.

Checkout My20 KTXH and Univision 45KXLN for our video series and learn more about the Five Basics Houston.

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Visit Our Upcoming Fun*Shops (no registration required)

For parents and children under 3 years (and siblings too!)

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January 5th

Maximize Love, Manage Stress / Dale todo el amor, controla el estrés

A bilingual Fun*Shop aimed at families with children from 0 to 3 years old in which we will share ideas and strategies to strengthen emotional health, cope with stress and provide your children with an environment more loving, safe, and predictable, which will help build your baby's brain.

Storytime

Llama Llama Red Pajama/ La Llama Llama Rojo Pijama by Anna Dewdney

Activities

• Cozy Comfort – Parents/caregivers and their children will create a colorful security blanket like the one that helps Baby Llama cope with the stress of being     away from his mama.
• Reflecting Emotions – Parents/caregivers and their children will have a fun opportunity to talk about emotions and teach their babies how to put feelings into words.
• Bonding with Baby – Families will create an artwork that symbolizes their love for each other.

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February 2nd

Talk, Sing, and Point/ Háblale, Cántale y Señálale las Cosas

A bilingual Fun*Shop aimed at families with children from 0 to 3 years old in which we will share ideas and strategies to boost your child’s language skills and knowledge of the world, which help build your baby's brain.

Storytime

Where’s Spot? / ¿Dónde estáSpot? By Eric Hill

Activities

• The Search for Spot - Parents/caregivers and their children will use the Peek-a-boo boards to find Spot and other animals. A fun way for toddlers to point out objects and vocabulary development.
• Mystery Box – Parents/caregivers and their children will explore the Mystery Boxes full of objects, name them or ask the little ones if they know the name and     then encourage them to match the objects they retrieve from the boxes, with the pictures in the books related to the activity.
• My First Farm - Parents/caregivers and their children will make a Storytelling bag by creating a little barn and animal puppets to retell the story/Nursery Rhyme of Old Mac Donald Had a Farm.

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March 2nd

Count, Group, and Compare / Cuenta, Agrupa y Compárale las Cosas

A bilingual Fun*Shop aimed at families with children from 0 to 3 years old in which we will share ideas and strategies to start building your child's Math foundations and will help build your baby's brain.

Storytime

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed / Cinco monitos brincando en la cama by Eileen Christelow

Activities

• No More Monkeys - Parents/caregivers and their children will make puppets of the five little monkeys to act out the story and start practicing subtraction in a fun way.
• Wheel of Colors- A great opportunity for children to start grouping objects by colors and sizes, which is a math skill. Also, will help children understand the true     concept of color.
• Animal Sorts – A playful activity to encourage children to start grouping animals by size and compare between big ones and little ones.

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April 6th

Explore Through Movement and Play / Exploren Mediante el Movimiento y el Juego

A bilingual Fun*Shop aimed at families with children from 0 to 3 years old in which we will share ideas and strategies to encourage curiosity, discovery, and a healthy body in the little ones, which will help build your baby's brain.

Storytime

Row, Row, Row Your Boat /Rema, Rema, Por el Mar by Annie Kubler.

Activities

• Building Strong Little Sailors – An imaginative play activity where babies improve their gross motor skills as they learn to balance and increase their stability while sailing in a homemade boat.
• Tummy Time to Explore - A great opportunity to encourage infants to explore the world around them and develop gross motor skills by spending time on their stomachs.
• To the Rhythm of Maracas - Families will create colorful maracas to play music and keep time as they dance to the rhythm of the Animal Boogie.

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May 4th

Read and Discuss Stories / Lean y Comenten Cuentos

A bilingual Fun*Shop aimed at families with children from 0 to 3 years old in which we will share ideas and strategies to develop your child’s knowledge, reasoning, and early literacy skills, which will help build your baby's brain.

Storytime

Dear Zoo / Querido Zoo by Rod Campbell

Activities

• The Perfect Pet- Families will make a special request to the zoo and will enjoy the imaginative play by doing an extension activity on the story Dear Zoo.
• Roll With the Beat – A fun game to encourage children to recognize or learn common body parts, as parents and caregivers retell the story and song on Head, Shoulders Knees, and Toes.
• Common Connections - A warm experience that will encourage parents and caregivers to retell the story Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, as they make their babies' fingerprints.

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Information

Gisela Treviño

‍(713) 535-7224‍

‍gtrevino@cmhouston.org

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Program Partners