4 Great Ideas for this New Year

December is a good month to look back. It's also a good time for reflection and planning ahead. Apart from all the serious reflection and planning, it is also a good time to celebrate life with the kids.

Happy New Year by Thanasis Anastasiou

Make memories to last a lifetime. Kids should be able to remember these moments of fun and playing together. Here are some activities which are easy to organize:

1. Dressing Up with a Twist
It's quite common for people to decide what they want to dress up as and then to go ahead and do that. Give that a twist. Everyone decides for someone else. Yes, you dress us as what another person in your family wants you to be dressed up as. Make sure everybody understands that sourcing outlandish clothes and other gear is not possible. It is strictly a 'source from home and wear it at home' activity.

2. Remembering Lines
Sometimes kids get their best lessons in life from ogres, dragons and pandas. Something about movies attracts us young and old to the moving pictures. Have a fun game where everyone takes turns to name a movie they really like and then they need to rattle off a line from the movie.

3. Create a Time Capsule
Open up a nice clean and dry bottle. Every one decides to put 1-2 things into the bottle, which will remind them of things they did through the year. For babies, other family members drop in a picture or something else that will remind them of this year. Notice how this opens up a barrage of memories. It's also a great way to remind you of things you did through the year. Once done, seal it and put away the bottle, to be opened up at some time in the future.

4. Make a collage 
Go through old photographs from the year together. Pick 10-12 pictures everyone approves of. Put them all together in a collage software and print it out. Hang it up to remind you all of a wonderful 2015.

Go ahead, pick an activity you like for New Year. If you have other ideas of your own, let us know them.

Happy New Year!

3 Activities your Family might enjoy this Christmas

Christmas is a time when members must play together and eat together. It is not a time to be alone. With busy lifestyles that families have, many have lost the rhythm of doing things together. With people spending an inordinately long time alone on their devices, Christmas is a good time to pull back and bond.

Here are 3 activities your family might enjoy doing together:

1. Work on a large jigsaw

Redhill Family Celebration - Nov 2014 -The Team Celebrates A Job Well Done by Gareth Williams

This is for families which might include kids interested in jigsaw puzzles. Buy a large one or you could even try out a 3d puzzle ball. Many of these puzzle offer a way to make it permanent once complete.

2. Cook up a delicious big meal
This is definitely for families which enjoy food. The whole family can participate and decide on a menu. Yes, it could be a little off beat, but then as long as it gives everyone a chance to participate, it is a great way to bond!

3. Visit relatives you otherwise would not
As our lives get busier, we become more and more of islands. We cut out all those parts which feel are extraneous. This is okay for us adults, but kids need the comfort of large families. They must strike friendships and establish long term relationships of their own.

So try one of these three this year and Merry Christmas!

Playing Together

Many families today are single child families, unlike earlier times, when families were mostly larger and siblings ranged from teenagers to young tots. There are definite pluses in having smaller families, for kids can have more resources, and time from their parents and caretakers. But, there is the loss of warmth and bustle of large families, which can act as safety nets in times of crises. Most importantly the biggest plus of a large family is this - kids grow up with siblings who double up as playmates. Therefore as the size of the family shrinks, the importance of play cannot be overemphasized.

Importance of Play

Play is a basic human right according to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights. In spite of understanding this important aspect of development in children, the time and opportunity for explorative play, available for modern day children is shrinking. This leads to higher levels of anxiety and stress among children.

What we think of as play is actually how our babies are learning. With their creativity flourishing, they along with their playmates and adult caregivers, learn to create worlds, where they learn to overcome their fears and develop their understanding. They learn to recognize faces, voices, things, feeling and communicate back. With physical play, their bodies grow tall and strong, creating a good space for their intellectual development. This in turn happens via play which stimulates the brain. Play at home, on playdates, at the park or while holidaying - never underestimate it's value. 

Playing with Parents
A child's first playmate is the primary caregiver, which is invariably a mother. A child traditionally accompanied the mother wherever she went, or the child stayed behind with some other responsible adult. Children like being spoken to and playing with their parents. Even though it might seem one sided, when they are too young to speak, it's a fact that they are listening, which is how they actually learn to speak. In fact a mother's voice can actually calm a distressed baby. They learn to recognize tones and looks and react accordingly. All this learning is only through play.

Playing with other Kids

Having a Laugh by Lars Plougmann

Play can be joyful, and when play happens with friends, the joy is boundless. As kids grow, they need to play with other kids. This teaches them cooperation, sharing and empathy. Children must play with other children, to learn and understand peer behavior. This will help them build friendships, bond and learn to negotiate the world they live in. Over the years when children grow into adults and go on to take our place in the world, most of their learning happens through play without their even realizing that they are learning. 

Playing in Nature

Nature is a great teacher. Spending time in nature and spending time with fellow creatures, helps kids understand the importance of interdependence in Nature. Pet games on digital devices are great, but nothing can beat the rough lick of a dog, or the warm furry body of a kitten curled up in your lap. Parents must inculcate the habit of playing outside, enjoying a trek, observing nature and the appreciation of beauty and balance in nature. 

To conclude, play is important for the well rounded development of a child. As parents and caregivers, it is our responsibility to ensure that our kids have safe spaces and opportunities to play. 

5 Sites to Know More About Games and Apps

Sometimes I need a quick online reference for a game. Maybe a rating, a review or just some plain vanilla information about it. There are a lot of people out there who enjoy reviewing apps and sharing it with folks like us who need the reviews. Thanks everybody for the great work!

Juegos tradicionales by Bea Represa

Here's a list of 5 of my favorites:

1. Commonsense Media
This is a good place to find a review for a book, an app or even a movie. They rate using stars, and along with it also rate the educational value, ease of use, consumerism and violence. Their tagline actually explains best  - we rate, educate, and advocate for kids, families, and schools

2. Best Kids Apps
Primarily an app review site useful for parents who are not into gaming, they cover iPhone, iPad and Android apps. Reviews are bunched by age appropriateness, apart from being educational, bestsellers or Free. The App developer is also mentioned.

3. The iPhone Mom
You can find app review even if they are not on an iPhone. Along with a review there is usually some contribution from her kids. What I like best is a link to the app developer's site a link to the iTunes store. Typically reviews are grouped by age and screenshots are included.

4. Cool Mom Tech
Two moms dish out common sense about technology. They don't just cover apps, but a whole bunch of other things related to technology(That's fun to read to and a lot of it is very useful)

5. Gamer Dad
The tagline 'Gaming with my kids since 2003' perhaps says all that I need. He writes extensively about video games, violence in gaming and the effect of it on children.

Well, I gather information from these sites. Where do you gather your gaming information from?

9 fun things to do this Grandparents Day

Come September, and it's Grandparents Day - a day cherished by both grandparents and grandkids. The first Sunday of September after Labor Day of each year has been 'National Grandparents' Day', since 1978, and it's purpose is "...to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer".

Grandparents Day Concert 035 by City of Overland Park

This Grandparents Day, here are 9 things grandkids of all ages could try:

1. As a run up to the day, grandkids can make simple countdown cards with messages like...3 days left, 2 to go and 1 day more.

2. Plan a nice day for the grandparents. If both you and your kids have grandparents, make it a double date. Four generations can celebrate this Grandparents Day. Memories formed across generations can be rich or sparse depending on the age and intensity of the memory. If children are older, they will cherish a memory of their great grandparents too.

3. Make a photo collage for your grandparents. Source images from their relatives and friends. Raid old photo albums. Put it all together and they will love it. It could be a wall hanging, a standalone on a desk or maybe printed on canvas.

4. Make a home cooked meal and invite them over. Introduce them to pet games, which are a rage among kids and older people. Perhaps the grandkids and grandparents can adopt pets together and nurture them.

5. Take them on a trip. If they have relatives they might like to visit, take them visiting. Or perhaps

take them out on a picnic to some place they have not gone in some years. If they had taken you there as a young child, take them back there on a nostalgia trip.

6. Give them a surprise party, by inviting over their friends and extended family.

7. If your parents cannot drive, but they would like to take your kids out to a show or even a short holiday, help them organize it. Keep in mind that holidaying with kids is not easy and that you might have to organize a trip keeping the age of both your kids and parents in mind.

8. If you want to buy them a nice gift, a tablet is a great one. Older people take to them quite well. Introduce them to games and you will soon see them scoring high scores!

9. Spend the day together at home. Just this is good as it makes them feel wanted and loved. Look at old picture, listen to old stories, eat some good food, and hear some vintage family stories.

You still have a few days for Grandparents Day. Plan it well and have a great day. Do let us know what you did!

Keeping your Kids Occupied this Summer – 4 Interesting Home-based Activities

Summer break is a great time to bond with the kids and let your own inner child peek out occasionally. But too much leisure can produce mind-numbing boredom and turn your little angels into tantrum-throwing ogres. Here are four fun activities guaranteed to keep the kids out of trouble and definitely out of your hair this summer. Feel free to add them to your parenting arsenal.

wonder of nature by JON_CF

Go for a nature walk – To add spice to your nature walk, add a theme or goal and stick to it. For instance, you could go to the beach and collect stones and shells to make an art object out of it later. In the forest, invite them to collect at least five varieties of flowers, bugs, plants or leaves. Give them a plan and a purpose so they don’t get bored too quickly.

Play online kids’ games – A simple google search will bring up scores of quality educational websites that offer fun learning games designed to keep kids productively engaged through play. Online learning games cover a variety of subjects - including math, science and language arts – and are tailored to suit kids of different age groups - preschool, kindergarten and elementary grades - and are developed by subject matter experts who know that kids learn best when they’re having fun.

Baking and cooking – Have a designated baking or cooking day once a week and be sure to involve the kids in the process from beginning to end. Give them a variety of recipes and stock up on the ingredients ahead of time. If your little one can read, let him read from the recipe and practice using unfamiliar words. Help him work through the instructions, one step at a time and avoid the temptation of doing it all by yourself. This is a great activity for summer afternoons when it’s too hot to play outside.

Start a summer scrapbook – This is a great way to preserve memories that your family can fondly cherish when the kids are older. Encourage your little ones to take pictures of special days or events and write about them. Encourage them to maintain a daily diary and describe everyday things and happenings. This is a fun way to keep them occupied and create a memory book for the future.

If you have other interesting summer activities for kids up your sleeve, I’d love to hear them!

School's around the corner - did you do anything not on your 'to do' list?

Time flies and the best example for that is the pace at which the summer goes by. We look forward to it and plan a whole bunch of things to do. Stick it on the refrigerator. Think about it. Talk about it. Actually do things on the list. But, most holidays, something gets left out for the last few weeks or days.

So the countdown has begun. Have the kids played enough? Outside, inside, with friends, on their own and with their grandparents? Oh, there's never enough time to play. Did you do something that was not on the list?

Escape the Room by karlnorling

Well, we did something interesting which was not on our list. In fact, my mother organized it for all of us. We went and played an escape room game. We were a multi-generational group - grandparents, parents and grandkids. What a ball we had!

Each one of us participated. Solved sudoku, searched for keys, scrambled through lots of misleading things in the room, and searched for clues. Yeah, all of us. On our knees, over cupboards and under the tablecloth!

We raced against the clock, shouted out stuff, scrambled around, found false leads and tried solving things under pressure. We could not get out within the prescribed time, but we did enjoy the madness!

What unexpected thing did you do this summer?