Safety and injuries

Babies

Vocabulary:

baby food = soft pureed food that comes in bottles, for babies who don’t have enough teeth yet to chew

cranky (very often used to describe a baby that is in a bad mood, crying, angry)

fussy – another word used very often to describe babies that are crying, restless, etc

colicky (a baby that won’t stop crying; colic has a specific medical meaning, but people use the word without any real proof that the baby has digestive problems)

to burp a baby

to have gas - often said of babies who seem “colicky” - “He needs to be burped; he’s got gas.”

to swaddle a baby (wrap a baby tightly with a blanket, for little babies who are comforted by this)

to start a baby on solids, to start a baby on solid foods

teething= when the teeth start coming in (“She’s very cranky; she must be teething.”)

changing table = table on which the baby is put for changing the diaper

changing pad = small washable vinyl pad that a baby is put on for changing the diaper

mobile = toy attached to a crib, with several things hanging from it, that babies like to look at

crib = a baby’s bed with railing all around it to prevent falling off

crib railings = the vertical slats of wood that surround a crib and keep a baby from falling out of its crib

umbrella stroller = a type of stroller that folds compactly; looks sort of like an umbrella when folded

double stroller = a stroller for two children

in-line double stroller = one child sits in front, the other in behind

side-by-side double stroller = the children sit side by side

pacifier = plastic/rubber item put in baby’s mouth for sucking comfort

to suck = what babies do as they drink milk or use a pacifier

playpen = a box or space confined by a fence inside which a baby plays; they can’t get out of it

folding playpen = a playpen designed to fold up, convenient for parents

rocker = rocking chair

baby bottle

to sterilize the nipples, bottles

formula = artificial milk substitute for babies

(Artificial) nipple

nipple ring = the plastic part with a hole in it that the artificial nipple is inserted in,

which is then screwed to the baby bottle

nap-time, nap

to coo over a baby = for an adult to say nonsense things (usually done by parents, grandparents, friends) as they gaze admiringly at a baby

cootchie-cootchie-coo (spelling?) Common nonsense phrase people say as they tickle a baby

peekaboo - game that babies love. You hide your eyes behind your hands, or a towel, or anything else, then you uncover your eyes and say “Peekaboo!”

bed guardrail = a plastic or wooden railing placed on one side of a bed, fixed by sliding part of it under a mattress. Prevents the child from rolling off the bed

teething ring = comfort toy that babies chew on when they have pain from teeth coming in

whiny, to whine - He’s whining for his bottle. / He gets rather whiny at dinner-time.

wipes = disposable paper towels that come moist out of the box, to clean a baby when changing their diaper

training pants / pullups = like diapers, but shaped like pants, so a child being potty-trained can pull them up and down all by him/herself

newborn – a baby up to about 6 weeks or so (maybe longer)

preemie – a baby born prematurely (more than 3 weeks before due date)

growth spurt – period of time when a baby grows particularly fast (“You just can’t stop eating! You must be having a growth spurt!”)

pattycakes – another game often played with babies, involving clapping hands and saying a traditional rhyme

Sentences:

“Up you go!” (Said when picking a child out of the crib, for example.)

“It’s time for a nap.”

“He wants/needs to be held.”

It’s time to burp Baby.

Do you need to be burped?

Did you wet your diaper?

Mommy’s going to change you.

You need to be changed.

Did he wet his pants? (Urine in the diaper)

Do you want Mommy to pick you up?

Has she started on solids yet?

She turned over on her side for the first time today.

She’s started sitting up.

She started crawling at six months.

Let Mommy rock you a bit. (Meaning: the mother is taking the baby in her lap and rocking in the rocking chair.)

Greetings

Hi, Hiya (Hello)

Hi, precious.

Hi, sweetie.

See you later, alligator.

Wave bye-bye to the nice man. (Something you’d say to a 1-year-old)

Hey, champ. (For a boy)

How’s my buddy?

How’s my princess? (for a girl)

I missed you (terribly/very much). Did you miss me?

How did your day go?

Waking up

Did you sleep well?

Did you have a bad night?

Wake up, sleepyhead.

Time to get going.

We need to get moving.

It’s already late.

Are you still lazing around?

Rise and shine!

9. Clothing and getting dressed:

Vocabulary:

onesie = a common type of clothing for babies, that is one piece, and snap buttons around the legs

ponytail = long girl’s (usually not boy’s) hair, tied together but still hanging down

pigtail = long girl’s hair braided and hanging down

sneakers/ tennis shoes = shoes used for athletic activities

party dress = a fancy girl’s dress that she’d wear to a party

Sunday best = more formal clothes children have, that they’d wear to formal family functions (weddings, funerals) or, in religious families, to attend services

barrette = clip worn in girl’s hair to keep it in place

panties = underwear pants worn by girls

snowsuit = suit covering the entire body (except head) for going out in very cold weather or snow, often worn over another set of clothes

booties = just about any soft shoe worn by babies. Although it’s a diminutive of “boots”, which are higher around the ankles than regular shoes, a lot of things that people call “booties” aren’t really like this

velcro = a kind of closure for clothing or shoes where the two pieces just stick together when you press them together; to open you just pull them apart

bobby pins = hair pins worn by girls

Sentences:

It’s time to get dressed.

What do you want to wear today?

What do you feel like wearing today?

You need to change; we’re going to the store.

This shirt doesn’t go with those pants.

It’s too cold for short sleeves.

Is this shirt too tight?

Did you outgrow these pants already? Wow, you’re growing fast.

Are those shoes pinching your toes?

Here’s a pretty little shirt for you. (the words “pretty little” are just added to be affectionate)

You tore these pants; you can’t wear them today.

Look, you have a hole in your shirt.

Pick up your socks and put them in the laundry basket.

How did your clothes get so dirty?

You look smashing!

That dress was made for you!

That’s your style of shirt.

It’s not really your look.

Red is definitely your color.

Do you really have to change clothes three times a day?

Why does it take an hour to get dressed?

About the actual process of putting clothes on:

Your pants are on backwards.

You’ve got your shoes on the wrong way.

Let me button up your shirt.

Your shirt is buttoned up wrong.

Do you know how to tie your shoelaces yet?

Straighten out your legs.

Put your legs straight out.

Don't bend your legs.

I can't get your pants on with your legs like that.

Come on, we need to get these pants on.

Sit still. / Stand still. / Stop squirming. / Stop fidgeting.

Will you button up the coat by yourself?

Unbutton your shirt.

Zip up your jacket; it’s cold out.

Unzip your jacket.

Now put on your sweater.

First put your arm through the sleeve, now put your head through.

You put your shoes on wrong / the wrong way.

You've got your right shoe on your left foot, and the left shoe on the right foot.

Those shoes are on wrong.

These shoes don't match/ don't go together.

Your sweater is on backwards. (meaning, the front side is in back).

You have your sweater on backwards. ( “ )

Your sweater is inside-out. (meaning, the inside part is showing on the outside).

You have your sweater on inside-out. ( “ )

Put your hand through the sleeve. Now the other one. Stretch your legs. Don't bend over.

Put your clothes on. / Get dressed.

Put your hand/arm through the sleeve.

Your right arm goes in the right sleeve.

Now put your other arm in the other sleeve.

Your little finger is stuck in the sleeve; let me get it out.

Lift up your leg.

Put your foot through here / through this opening. (i.e., through the opening in the pants)

Now your other foot / leg.

Take your clothes off. / Take off your clothes. ("Get undressed." is also correct.)

Pull down your pants. (this is when using the toilet)

10. Kitchen/mealtime vocabulary:

baby food

sippy cup = a leakproof cup with a top (but no nipple)

high chair

booster seat - put on top of a kitchen chair to help a child sit higher

bib - piece of cloth attached around neck and hanging down, to catch spilled food

yummy – tasty, delicious; something fun to eat

to be excused – for a child to be given permission to leave the table after a meal

crackers In the US, these are never sweet. Salty and crunchy.

cookies In the US, these are always sweet and they’re not cakes.

sweets = candy = treats = goodies general words for any sugar-based food that’s fun to eat

cotton candy (A really disgusting (well, many kids like it) “treat” of puffed up colored sugar)

soda-pop (often used for soft drinks, like coke, pepsi, etc)

jellybeans (sort of the quintessential American candy)

milk and cookies = the quintessential American afterschool snack

popsicle = frozen dessert on a stick, usually fruit-flavored

lollipop, sucker = hard sugar candy on a stick that slowly dissolves in mouth when sucked on, often fruit-flavored

jello = a gelatin sweet dessert, often fruit-flavored

Kitchen/mealtime sentences:

Does baby need to be burped?

Don’t throw food on the floor.

Stop playing with your food.

Don’t smear that all over the table.

No elbows on the table. (Said mostly by picky parents.)

We’re having your favorite today! (Meaning, the child’s favorite food dish.)

Come sit at the table.

Don’t talk with your mouth full.

Just eat one at a time.

Don’t put all of those in your mouth at once; you could choke.

Wash up, it’s time to eat.

"Don't spill tomato sauce on your clothes; it's very hard to remove."

"You know you're not supposed to spill food on your clothes."

Din-din is ready. (Din-din is a silly word for dinner.)

Help Mommy set the table.

Help Daddy do the dishes.

Help us clear off the table.

You’re a little piggy! (Said to a child who’s very messy.)

Can I be excused? (Very common way for child to ask if he can leave the table.)

You’re excused. (Adult gives child permission to leave the table.)

Safety and injuries

Special vocabulary:

safety scissors = scissors with blunt ends and dull blades that can cut paper but can’t injure children

safety plug = a plastic piece put in an electrical outlet to prevent a child from sticking something like a screwdriver or pencil in it

outlet cover = a plastic box that fits over an outlet to prevent children from playing with it

goose egg – a big bump on a child’s head that came from falling on something hard

strangers - any adults the child doesn’t know, and therefore should not trust

bad people - a term for thieves, criminals, etc, for young children who aren’t ready for detailed discussion of this

Sentences:

Don’t touch.

It’s bad for you. (Very common general way of telling a child why they shouldn’t do something.)

Don’t run in the house.

Don’t run while carrying that pencil.

These tools are too sharp; they’re only for grownups.

The oven is very hot; you could burn yourself.

Don’t touch anything on the stove.

If you tip that pan over, you will get burned very badly.

Don’t leave toys on the stairs; people will trip on them.

Don’t climb on this table; it can’t hold you / it could tip over.

This ladder isn’t stable.

Don’t touch the electrical outlets.

Don’t ever put anything in the outlets.

Don’t try to plug anything in the outlet.

Don’t chew on that cord.

Don’t sit too close to the TV.

It’s nothing. It’s just a little cut. You’ll live.

It’s just a bruise.

You’re lucky; you could have been hurt much more badly.

Don’t use Mary’s cup; you could catch her cold/germs that way.

Don’t ever talk to strangers.

Never accept anything from a stranger.

"Don't play with matches!"

"Playing with fire is very dangerous."

Traffic safety:

"Don't cross the street without looking both ways."

"Always look both ways before crossing the street."

"Never cross the street without looking to make sure no cars are coming."

"Wait for the green light before you cross the street."

"Remember, some cars don't stop for red lights. You always have to be careful."

To make a stronger impression, on a child who tried to do something very dangerous:

That was a really stupid thing to do.

Have you taken leave of your senses?

Are you out of your mind?

What possessed you to do that?

What were you THINKING?

Real swift, you turned the burner on. Don’t you know that could start a fire!?

Climb up on the roof? What, are you crazy or something?

12. Playtime indoors – toys, fun, games

Vocabulary:

stacking cups = a set of cups, each one smaller than the last, which can either nest or stack

blocks, building blocks (whether square or not) - used for construction, usually wooden

rattle - baby toy that makes noise when shaken

stacking rings - toy, a set of rings, each smaller than the last, that stack in order on a pole

floor puzzle - a large jigsaw puzzle meant to be put together on the floor

crayons - made of wax, for coloring

colored pencils - pencils with colored leads

coloring book - book with black and white drawings that a child colors in with crayons

construction paper – paper that is thicker than ordinary writing paper, coming in many different colors, and used very often by children in the US for crafts projects

arts and crafts – term used (e.g., by teachers) to refer to the part of a child’s education that involves making things with paper, modeling clay, etc, or by drawing or coloring

flash cards -cards with pictures, numbers, or sometimes math expressions such as “2+2" on them, for teaching children. The children have to name the object shown on the card, or do the addition “2+2=4", etc.

markers - felt-tipped pens for writing on paper or whiteboards

whiteboard - erasable board for writing on with special markers

chalk board

magnetic letters / fridge magnets - plastic pieces shaped like alphabet letters, with magnets attached so they will stick to a metal surface like a refrigerator. To teach young children the alphabet

stickers = small adhesive pieces of paper with pictures on them, usually meant to be put on a piece of paper or in specially marked places in a sticker book

rubber duckie - typical bath toy, a duck made of rubber that can float

Simon says - game where the principal player says things like “Simon says close your eyes”, and a person loses if they don’t follow the instructions correctly

board game - indoor game involving a board, and often dice, or tokens, or “pieces”.

Snakes and ladders is a common, easy one played by preschool children

slinky - toy made of plastic or metal, shaped like a very long helix. It can “walk” downstairs when started properly.

to play pretend, to pretend – refers to imaginary play, such as a child pretending

that she is a dragon, or sitting in a box and pretending that it is an airplane

hide and seek, hide and go seek – game in which one child hides while the other(s)

cover their eyes. Then they have to find the child that’s hiding.

Sentences:

“Don’t leave crayons on the floor where people will step on them.”

“Please put the caps back on the pens/markers when you’re done with them.”

“Don’t waste paper.”

“Want to play hide-and-go-seek?” (also: “hide and seek”)

“I’m going to count to ten.” (Said while playing hide-and-go-seek)

“Ready or not, here I come.” (The standard thing you say after you’ve counted to ten and you’re going to go look for the child.)

“Let’s play ring-around-the-rosie.” (Where the children join hands in a circle. Uses a traditional English rhyme. They move around, and all fall down to the ground at the end.)

“Gotcha!” (slang- Any game where you have to catch someone, you say this when they’re caught)

“I’m just a pretend dragon.” (even though “pretend” is not really an adjective in

English, children very often use it this way, referring to imaginative play)

"Roll the ball. / Roll the ball to me. / Roll the ball over here." (if you want the ball rolled across the floor instead of thrown through the air)

"Roll that (toy) car over here."

Board game sentences:

“Move your piece three spaces/squares forward.”

“You lost your turn.”

“It’s your turn to throw the dice.”

13. Playtime: Indoors: ABC’s, Learning etc

To sit Indian style = common way children sit on the floor, with legs crossed in front of them

“Let’s see you draw a circle.”

“Can you draw a picture?”

“What does “dog” start with?”

“D” is for dog.

“Color this picture for me.”

“Color within the lines. / Stay within the lines.” when a child is learning to color in a coloring book.

“How many trees do you see in this picture?”

“That’s a great coloring job.”

“This is a sloppy coloring job. You went too quick. Take your time next time.”

If your child comes to you with a paper full of scribbles: “That’s interesting. What is it about?” or “What did you draw here?” or “Tell me about this picture.”

When the child is uncooperative:

“Don't mark on your clothes with the magic markers."

“You tore off that picture again, didn't you?”

“You've been tearing pages out of that book, haven't you? Now what did I tell you about that?”

“Why did you tear up that paper? Now you have to pick up all the pieces off the floor.”

You might want to translate instructions in preschool workbooks into English. Here are some typical ones:

“Circle the one object in each row that does not belong.”

“Color in red all the objects that are usually colored red.”

“Draw a line from each object on the left to the object on the right that goes with it.”

“Find three differences between these two pictures.”

“Circle each group that has exactly eight objects in it.”

“How many triangles can you find in this picture?”

Playing outside

wagon (small cart on wheels, usually has handle for pulling it)

training wheels - two extra small wheels attached to a bicycle for helping a child

learn to ride, and for keeping their balance

swings, swing set

seesaw – a board supported in the center. Two children sit, one at each end, and

the board tips back and forth

slide – children climb up a ladder, then slide down the slide

merry-go-round – or caroussel, a round, revolving structure in a playground that many children can get on; they have to push it around

monkey bars - metal structures set up in playgrounds with bars that children can climb on or hang from

jungle gym – a (usually metal) structure in a playground that children can climb on

follow the leader - a game where everyone has to do what the “leader” is doing

forward roll - when a child tumbles forward by putting head down, the whole body then rolling forward until he has done a complete rotation and is sitting again

Sentences:

Want to swing?

Let’s swing on the swings!

Shall I push you? (Said by an adult helping a child to swing)

You can touch the sky! (The child is swinging very high.)

Want to go down the slide?

Let’s play ball. / Let’s play catch.

Catch!

Good catch!

Throw me the ball.

Let’s make a sand castle.

Bundle up; it’s cold out there.

You can’t go out without shoes. (Meaning, you’re not allowed to.)

Want to play outside? Want to play in the yard?

Let’s go play in the park.

Did you get dizzy on the merry-go-round?

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 807