Holiday Activities for Families – Share your ideas with us!
Posts tagged children
How Playing Helps Your Child Develop Physically and Mentally
Dec 19th
Playing is an important part of child growth and development. Even animals, cubs roughing it up with each other, birds diving through the air, monkeys running around, all enjoy playing as an integral part of living. Playing is an essential part of life, and experts believe it is crucial in children sharpening their faculties and abilities.
Playing, especially on an outdoor swing set, gives your children much-needed exercise of their muscles and helps them stay in shape physically.
It has been proven scientifically that during play, brain connections are enhanced especially in the case of children. A lot of parents do not realize the significance of recreation for children, and in this fast-paced world, tend to neglect making opportunities for and overseeing constructive play.
Playing helps children learn more about the world they are in. They can observe and recognize and test their beliefs, their relationship with their surroundings, and they can identify their role in the family. What is amazing about playing is that it covers learning of practically all aspects of life.
Children would often play with something that they know they can do well, and this aspect helps them improve their self-esteem and boost their confidence. Playing fosters socialization, when they start with physical toys and begin to share these with their playmates, learning to take turns and honing their assertiveness, and ultimately realize how to care for others. Extensive studies show that parents who play and interact with their children end up with children developing superior social skills and emotional quotients.
Playing is also an avenue where children can do problem-solving and deal with the different situations that may arise from it. Surprisingly, playing even develops a child’s language skills, as it often takes lots of words and sentences repeatedly during their play activities. When children play or pretend to be truck drivers, doctors, or office executives, they even grow beyond their years and mature more rapidly.
Today’s wide variety of swing sets for kids gives children of all ages many opportunities to develop both mental and physical abilities. These creative backyard play sets come with many options and features that inspire the imagination of children and provide lots of wholesome exercise in the great outdoors.
Tips for Choosing Your Own Outdoor Playset
Dec 17th
A lot of grown-up people still cherish happy memories from their childhood of playing on outdoor playsets.
Whether at parks, malls, fast-food restaurants, or even right in your own backyard, outdoor play equipment such as slides, swings, climbs, and bridges give kids enjoyment for long periods of time. Some points to consider when looking for the right outdoor playset are your finances, available space for the playset, necessary tools, and the construction of the set.
Here are some pointers to help you pick a backyard swingset for your family:
- Be aware of the various playset construction on the market. Playsets are available in plastic, metal, wood, and recycled materials. Each of the materials has its own features, advantages, and benefits that pertain to its durability, depreciation, and usability.
- Most outdoor playsets are not pre-assembled due to their enormous size and shape. You have to know about the assembly features that go with every playset by asking your local dealer about this and other pertinent information on setting up an outdoor playset.
- If you have the knack for it, you can save money by assembling your own playset. But you have to make sure that the playset you are going to assemble is already painted, screw-perforated, and pre-chamfered for ease of work and effort.
- Make sure that your available space can fit your desired playset by taking measurements of both the space and the new outdoor playset prior to purchasing. Remember that aside from the actual measurement of the playset, you have to provide ample area measurement for running space around the playset itself.
- Look for safety features. Needless to say, safety is first and foremost to any given playset, and so extra safety features such as non-slip steps, guide railings, and long-lasting swing swivels are important to your purchasing consideration and guidance.
- In order to make playing more fun and adventurous, search for playsets with a variety of interesting climbs, swings, and other accessories.
- Ask about maintenance of playsets like service warranty periods. You may need to repaint a wooden swing set after a few years to keep it safe and attractive.
- Search for playsets designed to protect tender hands and skin. This includes rounded corners, recessed hardware, and rubber-coated chains.
Outdoor playsets bring many opportunities for you to build relationships as a family and make precious memories together. A well-chosen, creative backyard play set also helps your children develop physically and mentally and gives them some much-needed exercise during the warm parts of the year.
Choose an outdoor playset that your children and grandchildren can enjoy for years to come. Hopefully, they will also grow up with fond memories of times spent together as a family in the security of your own backyard.
Encouraging art and creativity in children
Dec 16th
Encourage creativity in your children by providing them with the time, resources, encouragement and the space for making art.Set aside interruption-free time for drawing, in a mess-proof zone – so that their creativity can run wild. Make sure you cover all surfaces so that any splashes of paint or scribbles of crayon are ‘caught’ – because nothing squishes creativity more so than a parent saying “Don’t make a mess” at regular intervals.
Choosing the right drawing materials is also very important. Many craft materials can be improvised (think of kitchen roll tubes, yogurt pots etc) but when drawing tools and paper are required, opt for a small selection of good quality age-appropriate products, rather than loads of inferior products. Always make sure that you check safety information and follow instructions. Young children should always be surpervised during arts and crafts activities because many necessary materials – such as crayons – pose a choking hazard.
Surroundings:As with writing or working at a computer, good posture and a comfortable position are important for drawing. A child sized table and chair is actually preferable to an easel. If the chair is a little high, provide a phone book as a footrest. An inexpensive plastic chair set in front of a coffee table works well. A small kitchen storage trolley is ideal for containing supplies, or if space does not permit, a portable tackle box is a good option too. Messy toddlers may need a drop-cloth and supervision to avoid ink-stained walls, as even ‘washable’ pens often don’t deliver on that promise!
Art Materials:Avoid cheap markers, too-hard pencils and thin paints – these types of materials are discouraging to the child and therefore a waste of money. Provide many sheets of plain blank paper to inspire their creativity and occasionally invest in a canvas so that your child can paint something and chances are you’ll want to hang it on your wall! Provide also coloring books or coloring pages which are bountiful online – coloring pages are not so great for creativity, however they do provide children with the chance to practice their fine motor skills and sometimes it’s very relaxing and just what they need. They can simply color in without feeling the ‘pressure’ about WHAT to draw. Little boys typically enjoy coloring pictures of cars and trucks while little girls usually enjoy colouring images of princesses and fairies - however you can’t go wrong with Disney characters and at sites like Disney Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Disney coloring.
When it comes to drawing and coloring, at each age/stage of your child’s life provide….
Toddlers:
- Child-safe markers and wipe-off boards
- Chalk boards and safe chalk
- Plain paper and coloring pages
Juniors:
- Sketchbook
- Student colored pencils
- Washable Markers
- Oil pastels
- Plain paper and coloring pages
Middle School:
- Sketchbook or scrapbook
- Graphite Pencils
- Watercolor sketch paper
- Watercolor pencils
- Marker pens, marker paper
- Plain paper and coloring pages
High School
- Sketchbook or scrapbook
- Quality drawing papers and boards
- Graphite Pencils
- Artists’ quality colored pencils
- Illustration markers, marker paper
- Pastel paper and hard pastels if liked
- Plain paper and canvases to work on
All ages:
- Safe sharpeners, erasers, dusters, stencils and rulers
- A folder for storing large pieces
- Storage boxes for smaller pieces
- Consider photographing or scanning pieces for a permanent record.
How Outdoor Playsets Benefit Children
Dec 15th
Recreation time, or time away from school and other scheduled events, is important in the growth and well-being of children. Having ample free time is as necessary to them as following a structure in developing into well-rounded persons in the future. Giving children free time on outdoor playgrounds gives them physical fitness and stress relief through exercise, letting them experience social interaction with their peers, and promotes the use of their imagination, essential in honing their problem-solving skills.
Children are provided the opportunity to connect physically and emotionally with others when they play in the playground. When they play together on outdoor playsets, slides, or monkey bars, children have an opportunity to learn basic traits like sharing, taking turns, and other socially acceptable behavior. They are exposed to different people and the playground becomes a classroom for social ethics and human behavior. They begin to understand and comprehend how to relate to their playmates with civility, and how to treat others with respect and dignity beyond their differences. They are given the chance to know their abilities as well as limitations physically and emotionally, and get to do what they want under a social environment. The free time given these children also gives them the chance to see and accept each other’s weaknesses and strengths.
Play time affords children the chance to use their imagination, vital to honing their problem-solving skills. They can think of wild adventure treks while simply climbing rope ladders, or skydiving feats while dropping down a slide. Putting their imagination through healthy use helps them think independently and maturely, and come up with out-of-the-box approaches to difficult situations. They can even look at life as an exciting adventure.
Having their time in the playground also releases stress and excess energy, while away from their stressful time in school. Remember that human nature needs a third of the time each, for work, for rest, and for recreation. The running, climbing, swinging and jumping on outdoor play equipment is very good for the children emotionally and physically. Taking time off from the routine of life is important to keep children balanced. It gives children a respite and a chance to restore themselves back to structured living. A playground is not only a place to play, but also a venue to interact and grow.
Jewellery and Children
Dec 14th
I first thought of this when I was on my travels the other day, walking around I spotted a young girl wearing very expensive jewellery and I was just so shocked at how proud the mother looked of her.
Now silver necklaces is something you would expect to find on a woman not a very small little girl and thinking back on this incident it is funny to remember just how stupid the girl looked.
People should really wait until the kids are old enough to choose on what they want to wear?
It can actually be a competition between mothers on who starts the trend. Basically one mother will walk into a toy shop and purchase a cheap looking plastic ring that might look a bit realistic and then when the girl is seen wearing it many women then think, I now have to go out and buy my daughter something that contains expensive silver gemstone jewellery. Of course this then kicks off everything and they are always trying to buy their child new things.
Although this isn’t a very big problem here in the UK it would seem many celebrities and rich people think of their children as a fashion accessory rather than their own flesh and blood.
They decorate their children in the same way normal people would decorate a Christmas tree and bring the child up to believing that all of this is normal. How do you think Paris Hilton became her.
Giving your child a sterling silver pendant is not normal and is about time that the celebrities and people that do this are told how to bring up children properly.
The thing to remember is that a small piece of jewellery is perfectly fine for a child to wear. All you need to do is make sure you do not take it too far.
Little Tikes Play Houses
Dec 10th
You’ve got kids right?. If the answer is yes, then you’re surely conscious of how much of your time they need. Notice that I did not say desire, but need instead. The truth is that with youngsters comes a mammoth responsibility. One which will last you an entire life since you can never wish to quit acting like a parent. Heck, my mummy still does this and I’m thirty five years old. Regardless of how much attention youngsters need, one single facet of having them is certain. I am chatting about toys. There’s no escaping the toy issue. And when I say no escaping, I’m talking about ever. They may harass, perturb and just plain bug you to death about toys, toys, and more toys. It’s a never-ending cycle. The more they get, the more they desire. There’s no escape. Well, since this is an undisputed fact, the secret is to buy them toys that they’ll enjoy to the fullest and stay interested in it. This in trade allows you to get things done. Similarly, you wish to get your money’s worth. That having been said, some of the most helpful toys I have ever come across is the little tykes play house. These toys are a life-saver.
Do your children play day-in and day-out in little tykes playhouses? We purchased one of these back when our child was three years old and it has certainly proved to be a sound investment. Now our daughter is seven years old and still playing with that playhouse daily. Now that is’s value for money if you ask me. I can’t think about a single other toy that she has owned from age three. The reality is they just out-grow many of them. However, when looking at the little tykes play houses, my small girl plans to keep and employ hers till she physically no longer fits in it. I can’t say that I don’t appreciate this actual toy. It has proven to be very sturdy and it keeps her occupied while I’m employed and / or clean. Don’t we need some of that time? If you’re looking for little tykes toys, one of the finest places to buy is the World-Wide-Web. Although your local home and toy stores generally carry a few little tikes play houses, there’s a much greater selection on the web. So dive into cyberspace and check out all that is’s now available. Those little tykes playhouses will certainly make your small one content camper.
Kids Party Ideas
Dec 9th
If the family is not on holiday at any of the vacation spots or your son is not in any of the camps, why do not organize kids party for them instead of letting the kid/kids watching TV even if you have the best plasma TV? Then you probably will be needing kids party ideas that would help you get the perfect ideas so your child and the friends that you have invited to come would enjoy the party, right?
With the right research, you will be able to obtain kids party ideas that would be advantageous on your end. You do not have to worry about your financial means because, you do not have to spend too much for this. The kids can appreciate the simplest thing here in the world. So, from here you can be rest assured that you don’t have to worry about the expenses, for your child can surely appreciate almost everything.
A themed party is one of the most commonly used kids party ideas that many parents make use of nowadays. Usually these themed parties are based on a cartoon character, Disney characters and other characters that the kids love. You’ll have to choose the character that your child wants the most, and then, that would be your theme for the party.
Like for instanceif it’s a Disney character that the child wants for his or her birthday theme, you must prepare party things like, plates, hats, cups, napkins and the cake, they all should have the character your child wants on them. It’s not that difficult to search for these characters. You can even go to a supermarket to shop for these themed party accessories, you will see them all available at the kids section.
Having mentioned about party bags, another part of your kids party ideas are these goody bags, you shouldn’t forget about that. Sometimes these bags are more known as loot bags. The children love this part because this is where they get some goodies, treats and toys. For the kids, goody bags are something that one should look forward to.
If your budget allows you to have other forms of entertainment like magicians, clowns or even, mascots, that would be one of the great kids party ideas that you can make use of. This is something that you should look upon to make it to the point that your child and the guests enjoys the party. While you could also have the kids take delight in the games and activities you prepared.
And finally, you should look into the food that you’ll serve. You don’t have to cook too much. Your guests are children, so it is essential that you are ready with your finger foods, pasta, fries and baked goods, they love these kinds of food.
Having all these kids party ideas at hand, you should be able to come up with a kind of party your child will enjoy. It would be better if you would organize the party yourself as a parent, you don’t have to worry about your children, they will definitely appreciate this party very much.
