Rainy Day Activities for Preschool Kids

I know how difficult it is to keep kids indoors when the skies open up and pour their hearts out! The kids are more than ever eager to step out and get soaked in the monsoon showers only to go down with a flu attack soon after. After much research and brainstorming, I've arrived at a few awesome preschool games and activity ideas that will make the little bundles of energy willfully stay indoors. Here are some of them.

Rainbow by Steve Snodgrass

Messy Fun

How the kids love getting messy and playing with colors, paints, squishy foods, chalk dust – just about anything under the sun that serves their objective of messy play! So what if they can’t step out in the rains – bring the fun indoor right in the bathtub! Hand them anything and everything that can get messy like shaving cream, bathtub paints, and bath crayons, pudding cups, acrylic tubes, etc. and let the fun begin. Allow the preschool toddlers to paint with their fingers, toes, heads, fists, anything for more fun.

Sticker Album

Get a few old magazines, pamphlets, and newspapers and sit your child down with them. Let kids find pictures of animals, food, babies, or cars from the piles of paper. Give them safety scissors and help them cut out the pictures. Stick the pictures on the large construction paper and your rainy day sticker album is ready for display!

Indoor Tents

A great way to promote role play among preschool children is to set them up a tent and invite a few of their friends. Since the weather outside is not too conducive for children to go out and play, it’s time you set them up an indoor tent.  Spread a bed sheet over a dining table and your indoor tent is ready to be camped in! Serve your little guests a few monsoon snacks like fritters, nachos, pancakes and the kids will be set to have a gala time camping!

Marshmallow Sticky Figures

Hand over a few thin pretzel sticks and a bag full of marshmallows to your preschooler. Have her build 3D houses, tepees, stick figures, etc. with the tools in hand. You’ll be surprised at some of the creations! Later lay out the creations on a plate at dinner as desserts.    

Storytelling

Don’t limit storytelling during monsoons to just bedtime. Sneak in under warm comforters whenever the sky wishes to turn into a gloomy shade of grey and read out from your child’s favorite books with cups of microwave-made steaming hot chocolate waiting for you both on the bed side table. Isn’t that a wonderful way of spending monsoon indoors?

However, don’t restrict yourself to just these ideas. Explore!

10 activities to celebrate Independence Day with your kids

Independence Day by Micky**

Plan ahead for the Independence Day weekend. Too busy to think up activities? Not enough time to plan some fun time with the kids? Worried the kids might end up playing regular online games on a special day? Hakuna Matata, which, if you have forgotten, roughly means 
'Don't worry, Be happy'!

So here are 10 great activities for celebrating Independence Day, with your kids:

1. Begin your day with star spangled slime (how cool is that!).

2. Make a T-shirt and wear them around with pride.

3. Decorate your home with an Independence Day Wreath.

4. Eco-friendly stars on your lawn.

5. Simple and fun games for the kids.

6. Spread the holiday happiness - spread some confetti!

7. Watching a parade? Get the kids to make their own independence day visors.

8. Make a Geodesic dome by changing the yellow straw to red!

9. Make some patriotic dessert (what's that?)!

10. Know more about the celebration, play a trivia game.

You have any other great ideas, let me know. 

A Memorable Summer

As kids grow many of their earliest memories fade, as childhood amnesia kicks in. Once they reach the years from when memories can be retained, it’s important to give them special memories, so that they can remember things via incidents, as in ‘…that summer when we went to Niagara Falls..’ or ‘…that winter when we built a snowman and have him wear grandpa’s red jacket…’ and so on. 

Here are 4 activities which are guaranteed to help build great memories:

tents by Marina Kuperman Villataro

Go camping
Kids love this one, inside or outside. Yes, I said 'inside'. Sometimes, as parents, we don't have the time or resources to take the kids camping. Well, we can always simulate it. Pitch a tent inside the house or in your backyard. have some interesting 'camp' food, sing songs, sleep early and make great memories!

Go on a trip 
Short, long, with extended family or just the immediate family, children love trips, the games played and the sights seen. Make sure there are lots of activities for younger kids. My kids remember a fireman’s pole they first saw on a holiday. It was ‘that’ holiday, when they saw it. Don't be hesitant. Soak in local stuff, go to farmer's markets, local parks, eat local, go fruit picking and do something totally silly. 

Visit relatives
Seriously - visit relatives. It can be pleasant, if everyone makes the effort to be well behaved. Kids need to know they belong. To grandparents, immediate family, cousins and close family friends. There are people they will fall back on in case of an emergency. More than anything else, large warm families meetings help build good behavior in kids. Kids insulated from families, need to learn about where they come from. 

This summer go do something off beat, which will build some great memories. 

Father’s Day – finding the right gift!

Father’s Day is around the corner and kids are buying, making, cooking, ordering their fathers a gift. Psychologists categorize fathers as providers, enforcers etc., but this categorizing of fathers is more fun!

"Father on father's day" by Dean Michaud - [1]. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Father_on_father%27s_day.jpg#/media/File:Father_on_father%27s_day.jpg

With modern life evolving all the time, men have changed as have women. Duties of fathers and mothers are no longer demarcated. With stay at home dads, the mothers have become primary providers, which was the most traditional role. As dads and their roles have morphed, our gifts too should change. Here are a few gift suggestions:

1. Bake him a cake or a cookie tie.
2. Get him a useful app or forget usefulness – get him a fun app.
3. Make him a toy from his childhood.
4. Make him a puzzle or a piece of art.
5. Buy him a funny book. 
6. Plan a surprise picnic for him.
7. Get all his favorite people to come over for a party.
8. Put all his old pictures together and make him a collage.
9. Design a scavenger hunt for him.
10. Buy him a fun father’s day card 

Let me know how your gift was liked! 

When is a Pet Game not Good for Kids

As parents are increasingly aware of the dangers of letting kids loose on the internet, more of them are taking an effort to understand what their kids are doing online. However, for many parents, this understanding is still limited. Parents have some idea of what to look out for, but often miss out on other areas. This article focuses on some of the overlooked concerns regarding online games for kids.
 

Take the popular genre of pet games for kids. These games are generally understood to be for young kids, and the theme is often kid-friendly. The games revolve around adopting pets, caring for them and looking after their needs. Kids can often play fun games with these pets and go on virtual adventures with them. At the surface of it, these games seem pretty harmless. However, that doesn’t mean your child is not at risk when playing pet games. Here are some of the other things you need to look out for.

1.       Disproportionate costs

Teaching kids about the value of money is a very real and increasingly difficult task. And if your child is playing an online pet game where they are asked to buy an expensive membership to enjoy most of the features or if they are frequently presented with innumerable in-game purchasing options, it makes your task even tougher. That’s not to say that your kids should only play the games that are absolutely free. For good quality pet games, you may have to shell out some money. But it’s better for you to make that decision beforehand and then allow your child to play the game rather than allow the game to market their products to your child and then find yourself either giving in to their requests or trying to appease disappointed kids. You don’t want young minds to be exposed to the idea that anything enjoyable must be paid for. Read up about the game to understand the costs involved, including the hidden costs. You may not find all the information you’re looking for on their website. Online reviews and forums are a good place to glean additional information.

2.       Exposure to strangers

Yes, even pet games for kids sometimes allow players to interact with strangers. However, many of them have controls in place that prevent players from sharing sensitive information or using inappropriate language. That said, you must be aware of what options are available to your child, what controls are in place and whether your child is ready for those kinds of interactions. If you choose to let your child interact with strangers, make sure to discuss the dangers involved, what type of behaviour is not acceptable and when to talk to an adult. (Remember that there is no way of guaranteeing that every person playing a kids’ game is actually a kid.)

photo_1752_20060703 by reynermedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0

3.       Exposure to bullying

Even if the pet game that your child is playing does not allow players to interact with strangers, your child can still be exposed to bullying. Yes, bullying can happen online and yes, it can be as harmful as bullying in the real world. Very often, the bully is known to the victim and can include classmates and even people in the victim’s friend circle. If the pet game allows chatting and sharing of information between acquaintances, make sure to talk to your child about cyberbullying and how to prevent it. Also discuss what should be done if it does occur.

4.       Unsupervised forums

Many pet games have official forums where players can interact with each other and discuss topics that are of interest to them. These forums are usually supervised to prevent users from sharing sensitive information or using inappropriate language. However, the really popular pet games may have fan sites and other unofficial forums where users are free to post what they like. Make sure you know if your child is visiting any of these places, and be aware of the kind of conversations that happen in those places.

This list is not meant to discourage you from allowing your kids to play multiplayer online games. To the contrary, kids can learn many useful skills from playing the right games and socializing online. However, it is important to speak to them about the dangers that come with the internet, and to teach them how to behave online as well as how to respond to unacceptable behaviour. Most importantly, take time to play the games your kids are playing and understand from first-hand experience what the games are about. Make friends on the game, join the forum discussions, do it all and then you can share really meaningful conversations with your child about the online games they play.

Holidaying with Kids

When it's May, holidays pop into our minds. It creeps into chats, discussions and arguments. Everyone loves a good holiday, but we might all differ in our definition of a ‘good holiday’. The ideal holiday is always one that caters to all of us in small ways. At the end of a holiday, we must all have great memories to keep.

Kids in the Boot by Ben Francis

With kids, it’s all the more difficult. Younger kids have less patience, while older kids enjoy a variety of things. Here are a few things you could try:

Treks: Typically younger kids have no patience for treks which last more than an hour, while older kids are quite comfortable walking for a couple of hours. Many teenagers who enjoy the outdoors can do full-fledged treks on their own.  

City Trips: One has to pick a good kid friendly city, which is friendly to everyone in the family. Generally such trips can include museums, parks, shops, fun eateries, a Zoo if the city has one, the riverfront(again if available) etc.

Road Trips: These can be great fun. It gives families the option to stop and go at their leisure. Younger kids love these breaks. It could be at a park or a restaurant or just an open field. If you are driving along the beach, it’s fun to stop and play a bit before continuing. Here’s more on kid friendly road trips.

Theme Park Trips: These can be great fun, but generally include staying within the theme park premises. After one or two visits, older members of the family might find it boring, but there's always the room to laze in.

Trips are a good way to bond with relatives. It's good to visit them or meet at some place. With nuclear families, trips might be the only time cousins get to meet. So what are you doing this summer?

Your Child and Social Networking – How to Get off on the Right Foot

Everyone’s talking about and on social media – posting selfies on Instagram, tweeting opinions in 140 characters, liking and sharing statuses and videos on Facebook and building professional networks on LinkedIn – we seem to do everything with one eye cocked on social networks. Why should kids be any different? They come with their share of sociability after all, and a need to talk about everything they see and experience, so it’s natural that your child should be curious about whatever social network happens to be currently popular among his or her friends and school mates. As our family lives are affected by social media, we need to know more about it.

“The kid never stops txtn” by Alex Gaylon licensed under CC BY SA 2.0

Networking for Kids – The Need for Vigilance

More than 70% of tweens and teens below 17 are active social networkers and more than 5 million Facebook users are not yet 10. These statistics strike terror into the heart of the bravest parents and rightly so. Toddlers with Twitter handles may be cute but most children are poorly equipped to deal with the predators, stalkers, pedophiles and cyber bullies that populate the underbelly of the virtual world. Burying your head in the sand and refusing to recognize the dangers of social networking simply don’t work. Here are 3 important tips you can use to make it a safe, age-appropriate and pleasant experience for your child.

1.      Allow them to explore kid-friendly websites

Just because they’re under 13 doesn’t mean you should bar your kids from exploring the virtual world. There are plenty of kid-centric websites that offer fun educational games and Role Playing Games where players can chat and interact with like-minded peers. These websites are designed to keep kids safe by blocking the exchange of personal information, inappropriate language and real life contexts – all potential sources of danger your child will definitely encounter on social networking sites meant for adults. Just make sure you do your research before allowing him to sign up. Steering your child in the right direction is as important as steering him away from the wrong one.

2.      Set up limited accessibility

Allowing your child to join social networking sites is fine. What is NOT fine is letting him have unlimited, unsupervised access to social media. Too much screen time can be detrimental to schoolwork, hobbies, real life friendships and family ties. How much is too much? 30-45 minutes a day is more than enough for teens, tweens and younger children. Set and manage the websites your child can visit; monitor his requests and set appropriate restrictions on games and apps. If he uses mobile devices, install parental control aps. Some social media sites have child-friendly privacy settings but you can’t afford to let your guard down.

3.      Make them aware of online dangers

Social networking is a great way for kids to connect with family, friends and class mates. But cyber bullying, identity theft and stranger danger are very real threats that come with the territory. And sometimes, online “friends” can be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Teach your child to take these precautions when he’s online:

·                         Not post his full name, address, school or date of birth
·                       Accept friend requests ONLY from people he knows in the real world
·                       Upload ONLY appropriate pictures, videos and posts
·                       Report bullies immediately

4.      Play Multi Player Games with them

A good way to ease them into the online world is to play along with them on Multi Player Games or Cooperative Games. There are special “Parent” Accounts which can be used. A good thing to do is check the age suitability of the content on a game. Games which involve cooperation in playing, mirror real life and builds a sense of sharing. Inbuilt controls in games, allows parents to make sure that they are around while it’s played. Sites like Common Sense Media have game reviews which are very useful.  

The most important precaution you can take to keep your child safe on social media is to talk to him about it; the earlier the better!