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October 4th, 2010
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If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Easing into another week with the children, I have some links to share. I’ve been inspired by so many posts, articles and links this week. Here are a few of them to get you going.
So grab yourself a cuppa/smoothie or whatever your passion and enjoy these links.
Read More…
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September 27th, 2010
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New routines usually take a while before everyone feels at ease with them. Starting school routines are no different. As I talked about in my recent post about after school activities to reconnect with your school aged child, my enthusiasm at seeing them and the activities we plan to do and the tiredness and hunger they greet me with was leading to problems.
It was a mismatch.
I know we needed to change our routine from what we did before to something entirely different that would fit this purpose more.
Here are 4 awesome ideas from readers of the blog and followers on Twitter.
jdaniel4smom @playactivities We cook together. I do real cooking and JDaniel cooks with bubbles in a tub. He has a drawer for his cooking tools. [other times]..We do Starfall.com and ReadingKingdom.com together.
nurturestore @playactivities We love some kind of sensory play after sch, esp playdough, to be creative, play alongside siblings but also chill out
Mum_TheMadHouse @playactivities We have been reading as the boys have been to mentally tired or going to the park
Melissa We hang out and eat snacks and I make my girls have room time to decompress from the day. It seems to be working really well for them. Then, after some time playing or reading, they are refreshed and much more pleasant to be around!
NB: I missed taking these off my @mentions on Twitter. I had no way of finding them if I didn’t know your username. So apologies if I missed you off.
I’ve had a chance to try out these ideas at home over the past few weeks and wow they have made a difference. I had to be more organised and have the snack ready along with a drink when they get home or on the way home if we walk. What we do at home has changes and is a little flexible but everything seems so much easier after a little decompressing time and food.
Thanks for the ideas and keep them coming.
What do you do after school to make a connection with your young school aged child who is really tired from school?
Via email: Julie S Well, its just morning preschool for us right now. But we go directly to the school play ground for 30 minutes (before the big kids come out after lunch) and play one-on-one. I do a few playground exercises I found in Parents Magazine (9/2010) and follow the leader (she’s the leader), then we do 3 laps around the sandbox (very large area) and then get back in the car and have a snack ready for her (water or juice or milk). Good time by all. Yes we have done a few things like StarFall too!
thanks for your blog!
Technorati Tags: after school activities, Twitter, school
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September 24th, 2010
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Last time I talked about the reasons why you should subscribe to play newsletters. I’d like to share 6 play newsletters you should know. I wouldn’t suggest subscribing to them all. Each newsletter should have an unsubscribe link. If you like them don’t forget to tell your friends and feel free to email the writers.
- Kids craft weekly
Amber writes about ..”new craft ideas that are cheap, educational, child-friendly and fun.” Amber has crafted up amazing newsletters for many years now and archives them on her site as well.
2. Play activities
Here you’ll find open-ended play activities for the under 5s. Many of the ideas are starting points allowing everyone to take the activity in their own direction. I also add in reader submitted activities.
3. Productive parenting
Productive Parenting provides one new activity suggestion each day based on your child’s birth date! These activities are all about fun, creativity and bonding.
4. Refresh
Stef produces a fortnightly or biweekly ezine of encouragement and simple solutions for busy parents. Each issue has a resources or link section and a great story.
5. Kaboose Weekly Newsletter
Kaboose produce a range of newsletters. I subscribed to the Kids’ Crafts & Activities Newsletter. I found the activities interesting but highly polished. So it was good for specific projects but I didn’t find it easy to use them as a springboard.
6. Family Crafts Guide
About.com have a few newsletters. I enjoyed the family crafts guide. The ideas were varied , entertaining and engaging. The activities are great for multi aged families.
Who did I miss that you would suggest?
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August 12th, 2010
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Traveling unsettles children. They are out of their routines and everything is just different. We can’t always bend enough for their needs and that inflexibility leads to conflict.
We’ve just had one of these periods of traveling. Things are not as we expected, which is fine and normal. How would we really know how things would be? We’re adjusting and reformulating plans. Hence my absence from Twitter, Blogging and Podcasting. Trying to get back on track for next week.
One day at a time……….
This is a post I had started for July .
Here are a few toys and ideas to keep them encouraged and positive about the future.
1. World puzzle
Showing them different places in the world.
2. Balls
3.
Only One You
4.pretend play
5. spinny critters
The boys have taken a keener interest in maps now that their dad is round the other side of the world. So we look at different map types every chance we get. Who can find dad the quickest etc?
Balls are a great way to burn off energy.
I need to talk about Only you another time. But it helps when you feel like another fish in a big pond and you know noone.
Kids act out and play through new situations. What better way than through a pretend play set from the region.
Laughing helps …………..we couldn’t have survived this move or traveling without having lots of opportunities for laughter. While the makers of spinny critters probably wanted matching parts. I know this was a super ice breaker and mood lifter when you showed a mixed up animal. “Horse-o-lion”. OK we loved the jokes 
These are some of the things we have done recently. What do you do to prepare your child for long distance travel or moving? Would love to hear.
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June 26th, 2010
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Welcome KMGH-TV Channel 7 Denver viewers! Thanks for watching this morning and stopping by for more information about the products I featured on TV.
While you’re here, you can learn more about me and my work on my profile page.
Featured products
Sport Brella
At the park, beach, pool or campsite, the SKLZ Sport-Brella gives you instant protection from the sun, rain, and wind with its domed shape, side flaps and 125 SPF. Its umbrella action open mechanism allows it to be set up in just three seconds and fits the whole family. Includes top wind vents, side zippered windows for efficient airflow and additional visibility, internal pockets for gear and valuables, convenient carry bag and tethers/ground stakes for use when necessary for additional stability. $69.99, sklz.com
Thermacell Outdoor Lantern
The ThermaCELL Outdoor Insect-Repellent Lantern is the best option for keeping mosquitoes and other insects in any outdoor setting. The Patio Lantern is both a powerful insect repellent device and a functional and portable, long-lasting outdoor LED lantern, with both functions being usable separately or together. Providing a 15×15 ft mosquito-free zone, it is 98% effective (tested and used by the Department of Defense and the United States Army), making it the most effective insect repellent device on the market. It is also non-toxic, safe and non-intrusive, being DEET-free, silent, portable and odor free. Rather than a harmful toxin, ThermaCELL utilizes allethrin, an artificial version of a natural insecticide found in chrysanthemum flowers. Weighs only 13 ounces. $31.99, mosquitorepellent.com
Pottyflip
Pottyflip is a full size, clean, safe, portable, disposable and biodegradable child potty that folds out from a palm-sized package. Easy to carry several in any purse or handbag, it is also easy to use. Just unwrap, flip open and it is ready to go. After use, fold it back up and dispose of the whole potty. No mess, no fuss. No more dirty public restroom seats or trying to find some hidden corner for a child to go to the bathroom. Also environmentally-friendly, it is fully and rapidly biodegradable. $24 for a pack of 12, pottyflipusa.com or at stores throughout North America.
Snack-Trap
The Snack-Trap is a child feeding product (designed for toddlers/kids ages 1-5) that minimizes wasted snacks and saves associated clean up time while promoting the development of self-feeding skills among infants. Consists of an attractive, colorfully imprinted, tip-resistant, handled cup that allows toddlers to grasp and hold the cup themselves with a unique, patent-pending lid with slits that allow toddlers to see and retrieve food with ease themselves but automatically closes when the toddlers remove their hand. 4.99, snacktrap.com, or at retailers throughout North America.
I’m giving away these 4 items. All as seen in the TV segment.
- Green Sport Brilla
- ThermaCELL Outdoor Insect-Repellent Lantern
- Potty Flip (2) unopened.
- Green snack trap with a dinosaur.
Four winners will be randomly chosen, each person winning one item.
To enter, leave a comment and tell me which two of these products you’d most like to win and why.
Please leave your e-mail address so I can reach you easily if you win.
For bonus entries, you can do one or more of the following – be sure to leave a separate comment for each extra entry:
- Follow me on twitter at @playactivities and tweet “@playactivities is giving away awesome outdoor products at http://tinyurl.com/2wqqazq . Enter today! “
- Subscribe to the RSS feed for play-activities.com
- Subscribe to the Play-Activities newsletter
- Subscribe to the Raising Playful Tots newsletter found here
- Post an entry on your own blog about this giveaway and link back ( trackback)
- Subscribe to Raising Playful Tots, the play activities podcast through iTunes. Come back and leave a comment here.
Contest details ( closed)
The contest will close at 11:59 p.m., MST, Friday 2nd July 2010. Four winners will be chosen using random.org. I will do my best to match the item to the person’s first or second choice, however I cannot guarantee that. If a winner does not want the assigned item, another item will not be offered, they will forfeit their win and another person will be chosen. After e-mailing the winners, they will have 48 hours to respond before I draw another name. I will publish the winners first names on my site after they have confirmed. Continental U.S. Entries only.
Disclosure: I was not paid to appear on TV or review these products. I did receive free products so I could show them during the segment. I was given the option to keep all of the products, however, I am choosing to share the love and give them away to readers. I will personally pay shipping fees to mail products to the winners.
Good luck
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