I often encourage my little ones to get their hands dirty and | eBooks Cafe

I often encourage my little ones to get their hands dirty and explore as many things as possible.  This could be touching stuff in nature or having different type of material and exploration stations at home.  With that said, there will be areas or situations [EX Glass decorations, Christmas ornaments, fresh food packaging...] where it’s not safe or appropriate to touch so naturally, I would ask them to not touch them.  They will nod and agree but the next thing you know, they are touching it.  Like many of my previous videos, the key is not to focus on what they CAN’T do but rather on what they CAN do. So instead, I use this 1 finger technique protocol Allow them to touch delicate things with just one/two fingers, they will be more open to it Take time to practice and model it, they might need a few tries Set the boundaries if needed, “I see you having a hard time following this rule, I will bring you to another area instead.” In addition, you can channel your little one to substitute touching with looking, smelling if the item is truly dangerous to touch. 

@parentingbytes