Activities | The Social Maze

TV Watching Increases as Toddlers Age

Studies have show that a large number of young children are watching some form of TV each day, whether through direct.tv cable, satellite tv or Internet streaming. Roughly 20 percent of toddlers were watching a video or DVD each day with more than double that amount watching at least some TV according to a 2010 survey. Popular videos with toddlers are Baby Einstein and other videos seen as educational and stimulating to the toddler’s forming brain. Reports are conflicting as to whether or not these videos offer true educational value but there is little doubt that children often sit transfixed by the images. Parents also report allowing their kids to watch shows on public broadcast. Programs such as Sesame Street, Super Why, or The Electric Company offer lessons to kids in terms of reading and appropriate social interactions.

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As toddlers age and grow to be six and seven years old, TV watching tends to increase. Kids at this age are turning the TV on themselves and often no longer look to their parents to provide their programming. Nearly 70 percent of children at this age will look for the DVDs they want to put in the player and will usually channel surf until they find something they want to watch. While parents may welcome the opportunity to step aside as the child entertains himself, the results aren’t always great. Left to their own devices, children will often search for shows their friends are talking about at school and not necessarily a program that offers any educational value.

Monitoring your child’s TV habits is important. Use the channel blocker to restrict their viewing and always know just what your child is watching.

Filed Under: Activities, Parenting Tagged With: Child, Sesame Street, Toddler

Balancing a Family and Work

Parenting is a challenging job, but especially for single parents who have to balance a busy work schedule while raising a family. There are several ways to make this tough job a little easier.

The first step is to find a quality daycare provider to watch your younger children while you are at work. The daycare should be licensed and you should inspect the premises before leaving your child there. You can get referrals for a good daycare by talking to family, friends and neighbors. The center should be willing to take you on a tour, show you what kind of activities they do and answer any questions that you might have.

Set aside a time each week for you to spend time together as a family. Pick out a fun place to go, eat out or just spend the evening together at home playing games. This gives everyone a chance to relax after a busy week and enjoy each other’s company. It is also important for the parent to find time alone to take a break. Setting up a daily schedule of chores, activities and events can help to keep priorities organized. Post the schedule where everyone can see it and make sure that it is updated weekly as needed.

Children can greatly help the parent with chores such as laundry, house cleaning and other small tasks. This keeps the parent from feeling that he or she has to “do it all.” It also teaches children responsibility and to have a strong work ethic.

Filed Under: Activities, Working Parents Tagged With: Family, Work

Getting Ready for Halloween

There is nothing more popular than a costume party when you have kids. Costume parties allow kids to dress up and become anyone they can imagine for the day. From superheros to favorite fictional characters, costumes allow your kids to escape reality.

Superhero costumes are definitely popular among children. Characters likeBatman, Superman and Spiderman can captivate kids. Characters from popular movies or TV shows, such asPirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Power Rangers and Ironman, can be good choices for costumes. Younger kids might want to dress like characters from the Wonder Pets, Phineas and Ferb or Sponge Bob.

There are a few ways to come up with creative and cute costumes for your kids.

First, there are often stores dedicated to costumes and party favors, so checking at those locations is always a great start.

Second, if you are unable or not interested in finding a shop that sells kids costumes, you can always make outfits at home. Any arts and craft stores will have basic outlines for popular costumes, and this can give you a chance to add a personal touch.

Third, it is always an option to search for online retailers that might carry a specific costume. You are almost guaranteed to find something that is a perfect fit for your costume needs.

No matter where you get your kids costumes, both you and your children will remember dressing up for Halloween. From childhood to adulthood, people enjoy costumes parties, which continue to be a pretty big hit among anyone who wants to have a good time.

Filed Under: Activities, Parenting Tagged With: Costume, Power Rangers, Wonder Pets

Kid’s Computer

When the time comes to purchase a computer for the kids, many parents are eager to do so. With the cost of computers going down dramatically in price, the purchase is not only fiscally sound, but givesparents peace of mind that their computer will be exclusively for them from that point forward. There are some considerations to make, however, when purchasing a computer for a child. This includes educating a child on the dangers of online predators, making sure that children provide parents with passwords for all their accounts for games or chat sites, and making sure that children understand how viruses are downloaded or embedded into a computer. For instance, warning them about spam and pop-ups is a great way to do this.

In order to help children protect their computer, it is wise to download solid antivirus software. There are many types on the market, and finding the right one can be tricky. These types of things do not need to cost a fortune, and many that advertise as being the best will do the same type of protecting, but they cost a pretty penny.

A good antivirus program should have a few main features; primarily, protection against viruses such as Trojan horses and protection against malware that is downloaded via email. Malware can make a computer run very slow, and therefore create an aggravating situation where the positivecomputer experience dwindles. Finally, a good antivirus should protect against spyware. Spyware is all the little bits of information that embeds into a computer that can help a perpetrator gain personal information on the computer it is embedded into. This means that names, dates, credit card numbers and other personal information are at risk. PC Tools antivirus is a great antivirus program—it protects computers from all of the threats that can damage a computer and cause it to run impropertly.

Filed Under: Activities, Parenting Tagged With: Anti-Virus, AntiVirus, PC Tools

Art and Children

Cover of Art Projects (Art Ideas)

Many children love art and art activities. This can be a great educational opportunity and a great way to connect with your children.

Art classes are often offered at local community centers as well as at art supply stores. This can be a great way for your children to learn new techniques as well as meet new friends and feel like they belong in a group.

If you can’t find any local art classes, or you can’t afford to send your children there may be some great ways to learn new art techniques online. Browse around and I’m sure you will find what you are looking for. There are many great videos on Youtube that teach painting techniques or how to do certain crafts.

Art is being removed from our public schools at a rapid rate, but if your school district still offers art you should encourage your children to participate and absorb everything they can during their art classes. These classes normally teach about art history as well as technique, so your children will get a well rounded art education.

If all else fails, check with your local library. There are many great books that will teach your children about art and how to create different art projects. The library is an amazing resource that we all seem to forget about these days.

Learning about art, and learning how to create art projects is something that your children will remember for their life. Take the time to become involved and participate with them whenever possible. Just because you don’t think you are artistic does not mean you can’t create wonderful memories as well as art with your family. They will appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

Filed Under: Activities, Education Tagged With: Art, Art education

Achieving a Stress Free Pregnency

Image by lululemon athletica via Flickr

Pregnancy is a time of mixed emotions. One moment you will be feeling happy and overjoyed, and the next you’ll be feeling stressed, depressed or worried. While emotions are a major part of pregnancy, it is important to try to avoid stress and worry while you are pregnant. Being involved in stressful situations can lead to potential problems throughout the pregnancy. This is why it is important to try to reduce your stress.

Here is a look at some ways that you can reduce stress and relax for the nine months of your pregnancy.

Bubble Baths. Bubble baths are a great way to pamper yourself during your pregnancy. Baths will reduce the aches and pains that come with pregnancy while offering a calm, relaxing atmosphere.

Day at the Spa. A day at the spa is a great way to reduce the amount of stress that you experience during pregnancy. Spa days can include pedicures and manicures as well as any other beauty tips that you might have neglected while you are pregnant. Some spas might even offer yoga sessions, which are a unique way to relax during pregnency.

Research Pregnancy and Parenting Tips. New parents and some veteran parents experience a lot of stress regarding their new addition. They are afraid that they will be unprepared for having a child or not know what to do. To reduce the stress and worry that comes from this, parents can read up on pregnancy information as well as parenting tips online so that parents will be informed and know what to expect.

There are a lot of things that you cannot control during your pregnancy. You can’t control the way you look or the emotional rollercoaster ride that you will experience. However, by following some of these tips and allowing yourself to be pampered and prepared for your child, you will be able to reduce a large amount of the stress and worry that you experience during your pregnancy.

Filed Under: Activities, Parenting Tagged With: Health, Parent, Pregnancy

Coloring

Image by Richard_Miles via Flickr

Coloring seems like a very simple childhood activity, but in reality it offers a lot of benefits to children. Luckily this is an activity that many kids enjoy, and can be an activity you do with your children.

The materials needed to color are simple. At their most basic paper and some form of color is all that is needed, however there are many options. There are coloring books that have been produced featuring many different themes. Quite likely, if there is something your child is interested in, there is probably a coloring book available.

Crayons are the most popular thing for kids to color with, however markers and colored pencils are also great choices. Each of these mediums brings a different style to the coloring project. There are crayons and markers in many different subtypes. There are thick crayons made for young children who may not be able to grip anything smaller and there are sets that include nearly every color imaginable.

Coloring is one of the first artistic activities many children do. They learn about colors and making choices each time they work on a picture. Without a doubt, coloring effects the artistic activities that a child will engage in later in childhood.

Coloring can be a fun family activity too. There are many large poster size designs that are made that would allow the entire family to color at one time. Another option would be to work on pictures independently and then display them in the kitchen or give them to each other as gifts.

Coloring will bring your family together, and can lead to more artistic activities. If you haven’t sat down to color a picture with your child in a long time, take the time to do so soon. They will be grateful for the time to interact with you and you will likely enjoy the stress releasing aspects that coloring brings.

Filed Under: Activities, Resources Tagged With: Activity, Color, Coloring book

Choosing Children’s Activities

Getting your children involved in social or sports activities can be a great way to bond with them. If you enjoy working with kids, there are many opportunities for you to help serve, no matter what activity they choose to become involved in.

Scouting is a great way for many families to come together. The scouts are not what they used to be. When I was a child they were mostly all about camping and outdoors activities, but now the scouts will allow your child to experience many different types of activities.

Another great source of children’s activities is your church. Many churches offer more than just Sunday School. There are often choirs, or drama groups they can be involved in if they have an artistic slant. There are many other groups that are geared towards kids of different ages that may give them the chance to learn about missionaries, or maybe work on service projects in the community all while having a good time.

Sports are the classic choice for children’s activities. There’s more than baseball now, no matter what sport they have an interest in you can likely find lessons or a team to get your child involved in. Girls as well as boys have teams now, and there are many non-team sports too. Bowling, billiards, swimming and archery are great choices for sports that kids can be involved in without committing to playing with a team on a weekly basis.

When they get older, kids will find activities on their own through school. But during their early years you will be able to help them choose activities that will fit in well with your family life, and perhaps get them involved in something that you yourself enjoyed as a child. But don’t let your feelings push your children in to an activity they are not going to enjoy. There is no need for them to feel pressured to be involved in something they don’t enjoy.

Filed Under: Activities, Parenting Tagged With: Bowling, Child, Sport

Learning how to Relax

Being a full-time mother is a lot of hard work. There are always demands on your time and for your attention. It can all be a little overwhelming, especially since those little ones that get all of our attention seem to never appreciate all that we do! If you are a full-time mother, single mom, or a working mother, then you must take time for yourself to relax.

Learning to relax can be difficult, especially when there is a house to clean and dinner that needs to be cooked. However, if you are going to be the best mom you can be, you need to learn to relax. Here are a few ideas for you.

- Take a long, quiet bubble bath. Lock the door, light some candles, and just relax.

- Ask for help. If you need to go out for a walk or out to do errands without your little people, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Ask a friend or a neighbor to look after your kids for a couple of hours so you can have some time to yourself.

- Set some goals. Sometimes as mothers, we often lose our own goals and priorities in the other demands of life. Take some time, perhaps after the kids go to bed, to re-prioritize your life. Setting some goals and having something to work towards will make you feel better.

- Don’t rely on substances. It might be tempting, but don’t turn to drugs or alcohol to help you relax. This can only make your situation more stressful as your body becomes dependent on a substance to function. If you, or someone you know, has turned to substances to cope, get help today. Visit MichaelsHouse.com to find the help you need.

Most importantly, remember to breath. Take deep breath and know that no matter how terrible today is, tomorrow is a new day.

Filed Under: Activities, Working Parents Tagged With: Bubble bath, Mother, Single-parent