Priscilla, I'm so glad you're grabbing this
opportunity to work with 9-12 year olds, it’s a great
age.  15 minutes will zip by as kids have questions &
time flies, so you’ll want to make the most of it.
I’ve been working with 9-12 yr olds in another
capacity for several years so I vigorously agree with
the comments about “hands on learning.”  Since
“feeding” is just part of your presentation I would
stick to normal infant care and leave artificial
feeding to our good friends in the formula industry.
(Smile with me here, please!)  After all, your first
priority at a “health” fair is probably “good health”
and normal infant needs.  I’d leave the babysitting
issues to babysitting classes and concentrate on these
kids as future parents and helpful friends to
breastfeeding families.  (By the way, my daughter is a
sought-after babysitter/mother’s helper for
breastfeeding families and has never handled a
bottle.)

Kids might enjoy feeling the true weight of a baby in
a sling or special massage “tricks” to soothe.  They
also love “weird” science (what kinds of disgusting
germs can baby pick up at the park & how does
breastfeeding help baby fight this) & odd facts (how
much milk will baby “create & take” in a day, let’s
see it in a big container, no bottles please…).
Face-making and other traditional baby games might be
fun ways to link the “science” of baby’s learning with
everyday family experiences.  You could pick a few fun
items and present them in an interactive format.
Safety issues (choking hazards, allergies,
electricity, etc) all present opportunities for
interesting quick demos with a little humor.  Kids
love to contrast their sophistic understandings with
baby’s view of the world.

Stats are of little interest to kids this age unless
they’re “shocking” or kid-pertinent.  For example, my
daughter was delighted to learn the first food I ate
after her birth was cauliflower – her lifelong
favorite vegie.  This drove home the idea that babies
may learn taste at mother’s breast.  Most kids would
be more interested in actual diaper load comparisons
than the latest SIDS data.  Less disgusting but also
of interest might be stones or a series of balls
representing baby’s tummy at different ages.  Kids
could pick up one after another and learn about why
babies nurse so often.  It’s probably pushing a bit
with this age group but you could also make a plug for
all the interaction (think face-making, goofy
singing)that happens when babies get picked up so
often.  Babbling in arms as a stimulant while may make
a stronger point than stats on IQ.  To make an impact
in 15 minutes, do a few things well and have the kids
demo-ing the whole time.  Invite kids to participate
without pressure and you’ll see smiles of engagement.
A small smooth stone or bit of clay (representing
newborn tummy size) might be a good “take-away” to
reinforce the idea in the re-telling.

If you’re not in the habit of speaking publicly about
breastfeeding, by all means treat yourself to a fresh
reading of Diane Wiessinger's classic “Watch Your
Language.”  Language is all part of the teaching.

Sounds like fun, the tough part is keeping it simple.
You just might not have time for feeding practices and
behaviors that aren’t the norm!

Susan Johnson MFA, IBCLC
Salt Lake City, Utah  USA






__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs
http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html