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June 8th, 2011
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Birmingham Public Library (AL)
Listening to audio is a skill that’s not confined to just car journeys. There are many times when we need to add some downtime or slow the pace down.
Listening is a very active form and a really easy way to provide imagination, inspiration and entertainment.
Here are 3 go to places for active listening
Listen and Play
This is part of the BBC school programming and is published on a Tuesday. They are available on demand for 7 days after broadcast.
Each programme includes familiar songs, rhymes, stories and sound discrimination games to develop children’s phonological awareness and confidence with spoken language.
Each show has kept my little one interested and we’ve subscribed via iTunes so can listen again to older versions. if you live outside of the UK access to the BBC iplayer is restricted but you can subscribe via iTunes and download as a podcast.
Listen and play
Playtime
P-L-A-Y-T-I-M-E …It’s PLAYTIME! P-L-A-Y-T-I-M-E………
With the current interest in letters and singing of the ABC song along with the phonic game on the fridge this show is perfect for my soon turning preschooler. It’s full of energy and emotion that he’ll stop to listen. We pretend together and with siblings as well.
Songs, stories and movement activities for pre-school children inspired by popular themes.
This is also part of BBC programming for schools.
Playtime
Barefoot books podcast
I’m a big advocate for diversity in book and literature with my family of boys we just love the Barefoot Books as they have a range of stories both traditional and from different cultures. We always have lots to talk about seeing the people and places in these books. Now you can read along or just listen to your favourite books.
Barefoot books publish a huge range of stories and many of them for the over 5s so watch out for the themes.
Barefoot books
We’ve been experimenting with audio and listening recently and have tried them at our family dinner time. Instead of the usual hustle and bustle we listened to a story and then discussed it afterwards. It was really a different way to celebrate dinner together.
We’ve tried the traditional sit down and listen but this doesn’t work as well for us . It’s been great tidy up ‘music’ and listen to in the morning music before everyone is awake.
Photo credit: Birmingham Public Library (AL)
When do you listen to audio and what do you listen to?
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April 22nd, 2011
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| This is a guest post by Sally . If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. |
10 Tips for a Fun Family Evening That Won’t Break the Bank
In a tough economy, one of the smartest choices a family can make is to stay in and have fun at home. Here is a list of my favorite money saving ideas for an evening with the family that won’t break the bank.
1. Make Hot Fudge Sundaes
Rather than spending a fortune going out to a restaurant, why not make dinner at home and then enjoy some homemade hot fudge sundaes? All it takes is some ice cream and a few toppings, and your kids will think they have died and gone to heaven. Special Note: This can also serve as a great reward children can earn for good grades or behavior.
2. Make Up Funny Stories
Kids really seem to love it when parents join in on this one. One person simply starts a story, and the next one adds a line, and so on, and so on, until everyone is laughing too hard to even finish the story. This can make for one hilarious evening.
3. Sock Puppets
Sock puppet performances are always a hit, no matter what. All you need are a few old socks(or new ones if you wish) and some random craft supplies. Have each member of the family create their own character and then act out a story involving them all. This is a fun activity for everyone in the family, especially when everyone really gets into it.
4. Draw Family Portraits
Drawing family portraits together can be a fun way to get the artistic juices flowing in the home. Kids will love this time to be creative, and it is always interesting to see how each person perceives the family as a whole. Besides, whose refrigerator couldn’t use a few more masterpieces?
5. Sing Karaoke
Singing karaoke is something that any family can enjoy. All you need is a radio and a makeshift microphone.(I find a wooden spoon or a hair brush works great for this!) And the best part is, it doesn’t matter how great a person is at singing, because this simply makes for a more memorable evening. Usually, the worse one is at singing . . . the better!
6. Act Out Family Stories
Retelling some of your favorite family stories is always hilarious, but acting them out is even better. Kids enjoy the ability to relive their favorite stories, and everyone gets a chance to work together while acting out the scenes. A nice twist is to allow the person telling the story to act as the “director”. This can make for some pretty hilarious moments, and it always makes for one incredible evening.
7. Dress Up in Halloween Costumes
Dressing up in Halloween costumes is a hilarious activity to do as a family, no matter what time of the year it is. It is so much fun to have a contest as well, to see who can come up with the best costume. As a spin-off into more family fun, the person that wins the costume contest then gets to pick the next game for the family to enjoy together. Kids love playing this game, and it can get quite competitive.
8. Paint a Room Together
I know it seems a bit like it may violate some sort of child labor laws, but it can be an amazing experience to paint a room together as a family. If you have a room where you can spare a wall, one of the best things to do is allow your kids to paint whatever they want on a wall. This can be a fun way to get a job done and also make kids feel like they are truly contributing to the family as a whole. Kids get to leave their mark on the family home, a task gets completed, and everyone enjoys an evening of laughter and bonding.
9. Have a Tea Party
Although it’s primarily a great game choice for families with young girls, families with boys shouldn’t count out the idea of a tea party. It doesn’t have to be all dresses and dolls, and it provides a great way for kids of all ages to learn proper manners. Girls go nuts over this, and if there are snacks involved, your boys will love it too!
10. Organize Family Photos or Scrapbook
If your family has a lot of random unorganized photos laying around, consider working together as a family to get them arranged in a photo album. Another option would be to create a scrapbook that highlights family events or specific memories. Either option will provide everyone with an enjoyable evening of reminiscing about the memories captured in the photographs.
These are ten things that any family can do at home and that don’t cost a lot of money. My family has enjoyed these activities for years, and hopefully, now your family can enjoy them too.
Byline: Sally is an avid guest blogger who enjoys informing and educating parents about cost effective ways to spend their family leisure time. When she’s not busy writing, she enjoys bonding with her husband and prepping her home for their soon to be newborn child.
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March 29th, 2011
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When you look through your books do you see a diversity?
Do you have a range of many different types of books?
I had an opportunity this week to look at my bookshelf and share some of them with my children. Yes lots of ladybird books and Mr. Men books. I never had though many non fiction books. What’s on your children’s shelf? Sure enough the books we buy are usually fiction. The books we borrow are often non fiction.
Let’s look wider. Do the books I have available show a diverse world? How do I share cultural hertigages from around the world or talk about friends in my neighbourhood who are different?
Read More…
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December 30th, 2010
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Play everywhere- Play-Activities.com/blog
This year has been another busy year of play. Has it been for you?
If you are new here welcome and here’s a chance to explore some of my favourite play ideas and activities we’ve had this year. We don’t record all our play moments and activities.But we use this space to journal our play activities using mostly things you would find around the home.
We started the year with 1.5, 4, and 6 year old boys.
January starts with a play evaluation via Raising Playful Tots Podcast. We look back at our finances and plan our holidays but do we look at play for our family. Is play on your priority list this year? I talk about how we can ease play into our lifestyle without having to buy lots of things. After an article and discussion about young boys and writing we had a lovely fun afternoon of mark making
February is my first trip to Blissdom where I meet some amazing blogging friends. We work on an ABC spy bottle, and with a birthday comes the nod to the boys current obsession with superhero activities. We celebrate our 18month old with a range of activities he loves.
We worked on finding extended periods of time to play with building in time of unstructured play and teaching children perseverance during March. The winter weather often gave us long periods of time to fill.
With the weather changing we were travelling more in April and visiting restaurants. We also joined the fun meme We Play =8 things to do when stuck in traffic with the kids We Play 6 boredom busters when waiting for food to arrive
During May we experimented with play activities from around the web and mused over perhaps having a left handed child.
It’s almost time to move so lots of packing going on in the background. However there’s time to
appear on the TV and a contest.
With Mr Playactivities deploying shortly; family vacation we spent most of the month offline. I was very grateful to guest posters who shared some great play activities.
July is full of lots of family holidays and vacation time. Special thanks to guest posters
It is fitting to end with
Play anywhere which highlights our year.
No matter where you are and what’s happening there’s always a chance a way to play. We just have to look for play in all that we do.
Wishing you all the best for 2011.
Thanks for stopping on by and don’t forget to come visit us again
Play on………….
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December 27th, 2010
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Christmas has come and gone but most likely you have a huge pile of wrapping paper to recycle. Dig them out and start a tradition.
What shall we do with all this wrapping paper?
5 ways to reuse Christmas wrapping paper
Read More…
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