ENGAGE

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Ok, so now you have their attention!  Remember that the goal is to get them to a place of peace and secruity within so you can enjoy some quiet time to yourself, or enjoy youru spouse or friend's company while they are quietly engaged in an environmentally appropriate activity.

This is also easier than you think! Use the many games in the book to interact with them. Touch is very important in this step as part of their anxiety is linked to being no longer physically connected to you in the womb.  Emotionally they will be dealing with this phase of growth for years to come. When handled well, your chances of raising  confident, well-adjusted children who continue to excel later in life increases dramatically. But when not dealt with well, the opposite is generally true.

To initially fully engage your child,  simply move to one of the games in the book that involve some physical touch, such as Thumb Wars, or having them sit with their back to you and drawing a letter or smiley face on their back with your finger and have the guess what you drew. 

Then move to games that don't involve touch such as word games, involving the Alphabet dice, or math games involving the numbered dice.  When your food comes, use the Game Mat and toss a coin, dice or clay ball onto the mat. Whatever they land on, they must eat that many bites of food, making the sound or face of the animal they landed on. 

You will find it very easy at this point to help them finish all the food on thier plates, and even want to keep playing long enough to try something new off of yours ⏤ like a VEGETABLE!  Once they have settled into this, they are now ready for the next step: CHANNELLING their new good energy into a fun, educational craft or game with each other or on their own.