The importance of playtime

Monopoly

"Save time for playtime."

This video from Hasbro made me shed a few tears. Play time is extremely important for children. We are so busy in our daily lives that we do not have time for the most important thing: Playing. We also forget that we should make time to play with our children as well. They crave the attention of their parents in fun interactive playing.

We CAN make some time each day to engage more meaningful with our kids.

Thanks for the reminder, Hasbro! This weekend we will take out the Monopoly again. (I had to scroll back quite a few months to find the photo shared above. That's scary!)

Visit Hasbro Gaming @MonopolySouthAfrica on Facebook for more information.


Disclaimer: We are not paid to post this, but we got a Hasbro Monopoly as gift a while ago, and we have not played in quite a while.

Our weekend started with a doll and camping in the garden

It was a very low-down weekend here. The budget was low, and we chilled at home.

Luckily it started with a package delivered from Our Generations Dolls which I had won over on Blessed Barrenness' blog. Little Miss got Abrianna with a camping set! She could not wait to get home to open up the package. (That made our Friday afternoon drive much easier in traffic!)

That started a whole weekend of camping inside and out of the house. She even got me sleeping inside her tent on Friday night, and still believes we both slept there for the whole night!

Setting up the Our Generation Doll camp set

Her friends came over and they "camped" the whole of Saturday and Sunday. We usually have a rule that there is no playing inside houses and they had no issues playing outside this weekend!
It worked perfectly with this weather. It's summer here!

It's lovely summer again! (How I love Summer! I have to note it, again!)

Little Miss even complained when we went for an ice-cream at five today!
She still wanted to play!

But I got a smile from her, eventually...

How was you weekend?

The Little Toys that Aren't - Great project from the Topsy Toy Project!

The Little Toy that Aren't

A toy project that involves a Toy Library! This is definitely something that has been added to my online Christmas Shopping list!

Little Miss was sent a "Princess Jewellery"-item from the series of The Little Toys that Aren't - which are available for purchase on Spree. The donations are helping to stock a Toy Library in Mpumalanga.

We all know how important play is to our children, and that they do not play enough!  

The Topsy Foundation is an NGO that cares for orphaned and vulnerable children in rural Mpumalanga. There is often not enough money to put food on the table and keep the household going, let alone provide toys for the kids to play with. These circumstances are robbing them of the opportunity to develop some of the vital skills they’ll need later in life. 

The Topsy Toy Project is trying to right this wrong. Kids in the communities where Topsy work end up playing with whatever junk they find lying around. Their makeshift robots, dolls, cars and fairy wands inspired our own range of toys – The Little Toys that Aren’t.

Through a partnership with Spree and Your Parenting, these bits and pieces are being virtually sold online as real toys. Shoppers are able to make a donation by “buying” one of ten different toys, with the full amount going straight to Topsy to stock their Toy Library.
Through the Topsy Toy Library, partnerships have been formed with twenty-three day care centres in the area, as well as a centre for physically disabled kids. With Topsy’s help, more than 1 400 children are now getting access to specialised educational toys and better-trained teachers. We’d like this campaign to also spark a bigger conversation about early childhood development and how important it is for parents, teachers and nannies to help kids learn through play.

Spree is available on mobile as well, and it is very easy adding one of these Little Toys that Aren't as a R20 donation on the site.

Spree on Mobile

Princess Jewellery - The Little Toy that Aren't

We are struggling to contain the overflow of toys in our house, and it is humbling to see that kids can play with make-shift toys like these.

I hope that this project will help more children to play with the real thing!

How to Plan the Perfect Playdates at Home: Building Lasting Friendships for You and Your Children

Guest post by Kaitlin Krull

Making friends with other children and their parents can seem even harder than dating. Juggling the social interactions of your kids as well as your own is a complicated dance, and many parents often end up feeling lonely and without support. Here are some tips to planning play dates in your own home in order to foster friendship for you and your children.


Build a friendship group

If you’re searching for friends for you and your children, consider local playgroups and preschools. Your children are most likely to play well with friends and kids they see often, so utilise the resources you already have and chat to parents at the school gate or playground. Playdates are just as much for parents as they are for children, so invite parents you’d like to get to know better or have things in common with already. If you can, arrange to meet parents one evening without your children, so you can get to know each other properly and start to form the bonds without little ones tugging at your sleeves. A wine bar, casual dinner, or movie night are all great bonding opportunities, or choose another event you will all enjoy.

via Local Ecologist

                                     

Rotate playdates

By setting up a playdate schedule, you and your children will feel a sense of regularity and come to expect and look forward to playdates. Scheduled playdates have the added benefit of spreading out hosting duties. When you play at other’s homes, offer to bring snacks or toys to help out other parents, but most parents will likely prefer to take turns and prepare their own snacks when they host. When your turn to host comes around, try to be flexible about your home: remember that the happiest homes are often the messiest, or your guests will pick up on your stress level. Keeping calm and relaxed helps everyone to have a great time!

via Creative Kid Snacks

Create a child friendly play space

If you have children, your home will likely already be set up for child friendly play. Designate a safe space for children to play semi-independently (a playroom or part of the living room work well) while adults chat and hopefully find a little time to relax. The best playrooms have separate areas for different kinds of play. Art stations, quiet/reading corners, dressing up areas, and building tables are all vital parts of the playroom. Set up a few activities at the separate stations to foster independent play for your children and their guests.

via No Time for Flashcards

Theme playdates

Once your children have met a few times and are comfortable with each other, a regular playdate may start to seem a bit boring. Spice things up by offering themed meetups, such as teddy bear picnics, tea parties, or dressing up parties. You don’t have to go to too much trouble to satisfy your child’s imagination, but the little details do make a difference. Cut the crusts off some cucumber sandwiches, dress up with your fanciest jewellery, and get involved with your children during snack time to make their regular play dates feel extra special.

via Lillypaul Designs

By planning your own play dates, you can control your social schedule and your children’s play environment at the same time. Find a solid and reliable social group, rotate play dates, and keep things interesting with themed events. With any luck, you and your kids might just make a few lifelong friends.


For more tips and tricks, head to Modernize.com

Six habits of highly effective parents #Infographic

This makes a lot of sense!
Source: Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com/

Wordless Wednesday #232 - A Dad with his little girl

Wordless Wednesday #224 - Dad's back

Big girl

She is Big! in so many ways now!

- We are seeing less of those tantrums. (I hope Murphy is not around!)

- She has lost her first tooth, and it was so much fun enjoying the first visit of the tooth mouse in our house. The Tooth Mouse  got a letter from her, and she was extremely impressed that he left her a small thank you letter as well. (He wrote to say thank you for the very well preserved tooth, and that he can see that she brushes her teeth!)

- She thinks that R10 ( 0.95 USD) in coins is a lot of money! *Phew!*

- It is an absolute pleasure to take her to a play area nowadays. She goes off and plays on her own for most of the time. Just sometimes she still needs her dad to come and watch something that she is doing.

- She is doing hand- and head stands all the time, and getting it right some of the times. She is mightily impressed that she can swing upside-down hanging from her legs, although her hands must still be able to touch the ground.

- She plays on her own at home as well. If left to her own devices, she will be found painting, colouring, playing with her dolls, building Lego, or trying to jump rope. "Because my teacher said I must practise!"

- She tries to understand how stuff works, and how the universe is put together. We have to really think about our answers.

- She has an in-built "wisdom", and sometimes you just have to nod and say: "Yes, that's how it is!" Because disagreement is not worth the arguments that follow! She KNOWS how it works!

- She asks constantly when it is going to be school again! She loves it!

- She still argues about clothes, and wanting to wear shorts when it's cold. I sometimes just put in the warmer clothes, because she is the first to complain when the cold air hits her legs!

- She still loves her pasta. She had pasta for breakfast just this morning at her grandmother's house. (It was supposed to be for lunch...)

- We are loving having social responsibility conversations with her. "I would never steal other planet's resources!" (While watching Avatar.)

- We love our Big Little Missy!  She was small just the other day, and we sometimes miss it!
But we love the personality unfolding!


Photo: At the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens yesterday. She spent most of her time collecting the dandelion seed pods and blowing them away!

Wordless Wednesday #223 - Blowing bubbles at cattle

Lego happens on a Sunday

We were walking around in the mall on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We found the Lego shop, and Little Missy started to build immediately...

Lego spaceship?

The options are endless

It was very difficult to leave the shop. And not only for Little Missy...
Dad was "forced" to buy a small box.

And the rest of Sunday was spent building with the Lego.
It is always a good way to spend with Dad!

Wordless Wednesday #214 - Window painting

Wordless Wednesday #203 - Nintendo 2DS keeps 'em busy

Wordless Wednesday #200 - Random

Wordless Wednesday #195 - Summer play

Four and a half years

 I used to post each month on the 21st a monthly update, but the 21st days of each month are passing too quickly...
She's getting bigger! Too soon!

Little Missy is her own personality, and it is such a blessing to see her becoming her own person.

She still wants to be carried, and that's why we have to get a shopping cart.
(She is four; sometimes small, and sometimes big!)
15 kilograms are heavy, especially if she is all over the place.
Look there!
What's that?
Why are they wearing that?


She also does not want to sit in the chair, but at the back of the shopping cart, or standing on the front, holding.
Or being pulled like a roller-blader all over the shopping mall floors. (See the Vine above)
Anything, but walking...
Walking on her own needs creativity with racing from one shop to another, or seeing who gets where first!

I have a friend who still has to carry her 25 kilograms 4-year old! We consider ourselves lucky :D

Do you also struggle with getting them to walk on their own, or should I start worrying?

Wordless Wednesday #180 - Trampoline jumping

Wordless Wednesday #176 - Playground antics

Wordless Wednesday #156 - Toddler playing in sand

Wordless Wednesday #149 - Play in the mall fountain