Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for CWIST. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating. All opinions are my own and those of my family.
CWIST brings parents and educators together in unique free and fun learning challenges for K-5th graders. Cwist Motivates learning by making it fun! With CWIST children work toward rewards by completing a CWIST. Depending on the age of the child, this can be chosen together with the parent, or if your child is older, you could even let them choose both the reward and the CWIST on their own, though I would definitely set guidelines! Our oldest is only 7, so I definitely couldn’t let them venture on their own!
For our first CWIST our almost 6 year old daughter was really excited about getting started with CWIST! She really likes working towards a goal, but do you know what she was actually most excited about? CWIST’s Kids CWIST for Kids Program for the holidays! We have been making a special effort this year to really focus on the importance of giving to others, but with young kids there is always some unpredictability in how they will respond. I was so happy she was THRILLED with the idea! She was also very specific about who we should choose! So we looked for a girl of the chosen age, saw the wish she wanted, and we are on our way to fulfilling that wish!
The Kids CWIST for Kids program is so special not only in the way that we’re teaching our children the importance of giving back, but they are also providing the first $2500 in toys! That means if they haven’t reached the total by the time your child completes the CWIST, the receiving child will receive their gift for free! Don’t worry, though, because if they have, you can still purchase the gift at 20% off! This definitely means you should get started soon, though!! I think this is a great reminder to our children that the season is about giving as well!
Aurora’s CWIST
Because of her age, I helped choose a CWIST with Aurora. Wow, there are SO many great CWISTs! The educational opportunities are endless! CWISTs range from Community Service, Creativity, Learning, Sports, Physical Activity, and more! Something I think is important and has a lot of educational value is manners and self help skills. I may emphasize it a little more than some parents since all three of our children have special needs and need a little additional help in these areas, but when I saw there were CWISTs in these areas as well, I was thrilled! I think it is an area that often gets overlooked!
So, Aurora’s CWIST is “Eat with Your Mouth Closed”
This is something that is quite a challenge for her, and I wanted something that was challenging and helpful as well! This CWIST walks her through the basics of eating with your mouth closed by first starting with addressing how eating with your mouth open is bad manners and including a video that shows how sloppy it looks. It included different tasks for her to do like practicing in front of the mirror. She is now in the “final stretch” of the CWIST, which is continuing to eat with her mouth closed for 15 days in a row.
As part of the CWIST we created a chart to keep track. She has just 5 days left! She has done great! Per the CWIST’s requirements, if she had a day where she ate with her mouth open, she would have to start the 15 days over again. All the visual practice really helped instill the habit, though! I think the incentive and REALLY wanting to make her “friend” receives her gift has been an important factor as well!
I think CWIST is wonderful! It has so many opportunities for kids to learn great things and covers such a variety of important skills. Their Kids CWIST for Kids initiative is also an extra special lesson in the importance of giving. I am so excited we have been introduced to CWIST, and we can’t wait to begin more CWISTs in the future!
For More Information:
Visit the CWIST Website
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What a great idea! Sounds like she is well on her way to making her goal – way to go!!
Yeah! She’s excited! She’s doing great! ๐
My Kaden could sure use that!!! ๐
Isn’t it neat? That was my thought when I saw the challenges – our kids could definitely benefit from them!
Sounds like a lot of fun! Their website looks very cool too. I have to take some more time to look at it in detail.
It is! You should definitely check it out when you get a chance!
This sounds really neat! I have to agree with you on the manners and self-help subject. We already make sure to say “please” and “thank you” and all that when we’re around our daughter (well, even when we’re not too!). I’ve tried to teach her to sign it, but she’s stubborn. lol
Our kids were stubborn about signing – even our boys who both had speech delays.
What a great idea, thanks for sharing it!
You’re welcome! ๐