January 4th, 2008 Play activities New year play date Posted by Melitsa in play activities, Media, Sites to visit, Good reads

Play activities got a chance to play in Hawaii.

Kailani of An Island Life is a busy mum of two girls, Girlie Girl (5 years) and Baby Bug (21 months). She’s been happily married for the last 8 years. When she’s not at home in Hawaii, she’s flying the friendly skies as a flight attendant.

1.What’s your favourite activity?

• My daughter loves anything to do with arts & crafts. Our favorite thing to do is finger paint. I roll out a long sheet of paper and we have a blast decorating it.

2. What’s her favourite book?

• Our favorite book is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give…). She will ask me to read it over and over again.

3. What do your children like to doing?

• She loves to draw. She’ll take her notebook and pens with her when we go out and draw things that she sees. She says she’d like to be an Artist one day.

4. What was the last project you worked on together?

• For school she had to make a timeline of her life. We found pictures of her since she was born and put them in chronological order. She couldn’t believe how small she used to be!

5.Kailani , what were your favourite play-activities when you were little?

• When I was younger I wanted to grow up to be a teacher. I would have all the neighborhood kids come over and pretend they were my students. I even gave them homework to take home with them!

6. Where do you go locally for walks?

• Sad to say that I’m really not much of a walker. However, if I really need to get the kids out of the house, we walk to a nearby park.

7. What everyday play-activities did your parents do with you?

• My parents never really played with us. They both worked long hours. However, I do remember going to the beach sometimes on the weekends. That was a lot of fun!

8. What’s a typical day in your household?

• My older daughter is at the age where she loves to help around the house. I figure I should take advantage of it before she starts refusing. *wink* So, I let her do simple things like set the table for dinner, rinse the dishes, make the beds, etc.

• As for play time, we don’t have a set schedule, it’s whenever the mood strikes us!

9. What childhood games do you remember fondly?

• Growing up, most of our games were outdoor type like dodge ball, tag, or riding our bikes. We used to go outside after school and come home when it started getting dark.

10. Do you have play dates?

• My daughter’s last play date was at the home of one of her best friends. The Moms kept an eye out for the kids while the Dads watched football.

11. What open ended play ideas do you have in your home that your children can start and stop by herself?

• Pretty much everything in my home is unstructured. The kids have a lot of toys (a little too many) available to them whenever they want. They engage in a lot of imaginary play.

It can be a hard transition being at home with a little one or two, juggling everything. Being a parent is just so different to everything that came before.

12. What 3 things would you recommend to the parent at home and having a hard time?

• Get help. Sometimes you just can’t do it all by yourself and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you need help, ask for it. You’ll be surprised at how willing people can be.

• Have a life of your own. Once in a while, take some time to do something that you want to do without the kids in tow. We all need a little “me” time.

• Be flexible. Sometimes, even the best laid plans will fall apart. Be willing to just go with the flow.

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