The school year is coming to an end up here above the equator… and summer is just around the corner. And THAT means kids looking for things to do!
Summer Fun for Kids
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Category Archives: Games
Play Ideas
I promise not to go on and on today as I wrap up this series on playing with your child. I have to confess I cringed when glancing at my very lengthy last post… the thing is… play is super important to me. (obviously LOL)
Today’s post promises to be much shorter. Now that you understand the role ‘play’ holds in life… I thought I’d just share a few ideas to get your imagination moving along playfully. In fact, below you’ll find a link to several suggestions of things to do. When you’re running out of ideas it might be handy to have on hand. Continue reading
How Can I Play With My Child?
People are all different. That’s hardly news but it means not every game or every play style will appeal to your child. Or you for that matter. So if you’re tempted to give up on having fun playing with your child consider the idea that playing something else might be the answer. After all, it’s unrealistic to think you have to enjoy all the same games with one another.
Yet a word of caution here… don’t be tempted to get in a rut with your kids playing only the familiar games. Sure, some kids will find certain kinds of games more challenging that others. Some more boring than others. That’s okay… and you do want play that is fun (after all, it’s hardly ‘play’ if it doesn’t have an element of ‘fun’). But do your best to find a way for your children to build up skills in new areas too. Variety is the spice of life. Continue reading
“Come Play With Me!”
For some reason the topic of playing with children has come to my attention quite frequently lately. In just the past two weeks I’ve had 2 different friends, who happen to be young mothers with young children, comment that they seem to be ‘play-challenged’… meaning they just don’t really know how to actively ‘play’ with their children. And I heard the same conversation going on while listening to the women of CBS’s daytime show The Talk.
I can empathize… at least to a point. For whatever reasons, and I suspect there are several, I find it quite easy and natural to play with kids. However, there certainly are times I simply don’t feel like it. And I wonder if parents who think they don’t know how to play with their kids might be confusing ‘being comfortably able to play’ with ‘feeling the desire to play with a child at any given moment’. Continue reading
Celebrating HALF!
The grandson’s birthday is this week and it’s just inspired a very downstream idea!
As kids get older the birthday parties get more and more crowded. That’s to be expected. But while I look forward to the ‘Cosmic Bowling’ party for a first-grader, it occurs to me that I could have a blast… and get some great one-on-one time… by spreading out the celebration of those special kids in my life by celebrating their HALF BIRTHDAY! ;-)
Admittedly, this January birthday girl always yearned for a summer birthday so that may contribute to some of my enthusiasm here… but the more I think about it the more full of ideas I get. In fact, I’ve updated my calendar right now and I’m ready to celebrate in March and July with all things HALF.
Toy Talk – How to Choose Toys
100 Cute Cupcakes
Keyholes-A game of seeing differently
Part of childhood is playing games where you ‘pretend’ to be something/someone you’re not… yet, anyway. ;-) Today let’s explore playing games of “pretend” by agreeing to play one. Now I realize that you may believe this to be a stretch for you… yet I want to assure you that, in fact, you’re playing “pretend” almost all of the time anyway!