Hey Moms and Dads, kids love to play, and playtime is a great way to bond and have silly fun with our kids. We need our kids as much as they need us, and the great things about having kids is they can escape from the pressures of daily life. Here are some fun activities that don’t have to cost an arm and a leg we can enjoy with our children:

Fun Kids Activities 

• How about having a picnic? Requires food out of the fridge and stuff from around the house, use paper plates for easy clean up, spread a blanket out right outside your house and have a picnic. Raining, snowing, or just too darn hot outside? No problem, move the furniture out of the way and have a picnic on the living room floor.
• Go buy a puzzle and make it together. This is a great learning activity. Check out Ann Bowers article on "Teaching with Puzzles". Ann has been an educator for over 20 years and provides great insight on the effectiveness of puzzles in teaching children skills and concepts.
• Go to the local park, playground, garden path, or whatever you have for gathering of children in your area with no admission fees! Even if you go to the local school during “off time” usually weekends and after 6:00 pm on weekdays get some play time in and have a ride on the swings
• Take pictures ~ what better way to see the world through your child’s eyes than to hand the camera and let them snap a few shots. If your kids are like mine, they love it when the camera comes out.
• Play a board game, but be creative and create new rules!!  
• Go to the movies. At home! Make a big bowl of popcorn and snuggle up to watch a favorite movie together, remember to turn out the lights for super theater effect.
• You know that video game they like to play? Play it with them, trust me there will be laughing, a lot of it.
• Play hide and seek. Classic, and still fun.

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Has your child accumulated what seems to be a million toys? The family room is cluttered up, toys are overflowing from their bins everywhere in your house. The worst thing of all is your child seems bored! How can that be?

So he or she is bored. This is a familiar scenario among kids of all ages. Formerly beloved toys sit forlornly in a corner after a few months, weeks, or even days of use. Your child’s lack of interest in his or her toys doesn’t necessarily mean they are spoiled. Rather, they may have used a toy enough that it’s no longer a novelty, and now they’re looking for something else to stimulate their mind.

You can take steps to ensure that your child’s creative juices don’t dwindle away along with the excitement of the toys. In addition, you can breathe new life into those very same toys. Here are some ideas:

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Sharing is probably one of the most important lessions you can teach your child. Do you remember the old adage “Sharing is Caring.”? Perhaps we can use this little ditty to explain why sharing is so important. Here are a few ideas that may help teach your child to share.

Children learn by example. Don’t forget, you are their best role model. If your child notices that you share with others, it may induce your toddler to do the same. However, kids will be kids, and as such they tend to guard what is theirs with a passion. To this end, perhaps you can utilize these tips:

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Here are a few ideas to keep your toy box from getting boring and not having to spend a fortune:

• Every 3 or 4 months change the toy box and it will be like having all new toys! (This is my favorite!!)
• When your child wants to buy a toy that you aren’t thrilled about have them make a list ~ why they want the toy and how it benefits them, this will help them see if they really do need or want the toy.
• Use Rubbermaid tubs as your toy box, but instead of buying one buy three and put different toys in each one. Don’t be afraid to let the kids pick what they want in the toy aisle, if it’s a chore give them options “you can get this, that or this” instead of standing in the toy aisle waiting for a decision 
• Find a local trading group and swap your kids outgrown toys for something more age appropriate; sometimes called toy co-ops. 
• Subscribe to the area freecycle list and give away and get some pretty cool toys (and sometimes stuff for mom and dad too!)
• Avoid having too many toys; they’ll get boring, broken, and lost faster than you can say “put your toys away”
• Read product reviews before you go shopping; avoid toys that break easily (certain brands of dolls and action figures are notorious for arms and heads falling off) 

Kids love to plan and Mom and Dad are usually their first and favorite playmades.  By taking time to play with your child, you may find that  it will help build confidence, teach cooperation and taking turns, and also help build a closer, loving, and stronger relationship with your child. When you spend an afternoon playing games with your toddler, you might be surprised at how much fun your time together is for you as well as your child. So grab a board game, bouncy balls, or a beanbag collection and spend the afternoon indulging in a few toddler games!

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It’s often the case that kids are bored at home with nothing to do and mom can’t face another costly activity. There are lots of fun actitities that don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

Children’s activities don’t have to cost much and they certainly don’t have to be boring.

Here are a few ideas:

Take a trip to the airport. You don’t actually have to go in the airport but you can park close by and spot the airplanes. Talk to your kids about where the airplanes may be going or how many people may be on board. Kids find airplanes fascinating. Read More

Many children today have so many toys that they do not even play with half of them, and they lay forgotten in the toy box. Some of these toys are monsters and guns and many of them do not promote learning, but often promote violence.

When picking out toys for your children you should consider the educational value that they hold and how they will affect your children. Giving your child musical instrument toys is a good way to interest them in music at a young age and will perhaps later end up in them choosing to study some aspect of music. Read More

by Michelle Donaghey

Does your child enjoy cooking, playing his saxophone or drawing  characters? If so, work to encourage him or her to develop hidden talents!

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When I was a child my time was spent outside playing “make-believe” in the backyard with my brothers. We focused on doing things that were fun for us, this could include many different things but among them were those games that allowed us to create a world all our own. With today’s youth however it is becoming the norm to just play games that are already created for you. Video games are among the most popular toys children play with. Even toddlers now have video games catering to them. Yes it is great for children to use these games to help with their hand-eye coordination and many other basic functions, and sure they are a lot of fun, but adults need to remember that a lot of a child’s cognitive learning comes from actually creating and developing things for them to act out.

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