Growing Nimble Families

Time for baby play

“[tag]Babies[/tag] [tag]brains[/tag], it seems, are working overtime, processing information and building neural connections that will serve as foundations to their emotional, social, and intellectual development throughout life.” Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love [tag]Linda Acredolo[/tag], Ph.D., and [tag]Susan Goodwyn[/tag], Ph.D Experiences… with a [tag]newborn[/tag] you forget that lots of things are just…well….new to them. Sensations, sounds, colour. They… View Post

Carnival of Parenting Podcasts No.18

in Play activities, Podcast on 10/28/08

Welcome to the 18th edition of [tag]Carnival of Parenting Podcasts[/tag] It’s a place to share and find some new parenting [tag]podcasts[/tag] from the podcaster and recommendations from those who listen to podcasts. ..Not sure about Podcasts? Try this ecourse. Top 10 Send in your favourite podcasts of the fortnight. Positive Parenting radio: When grandparents become babysitters + Raising well-adjusted kids… View Post

What type of play do you encourage?

in Uncategorized on 10/24/08

Convergent or divergent toys? Which do you regularly choose for your tot? And what are all those expensive educational toys like on the market today? Most are convergent in nature; they usually look for a single, correct answer to a problem because they are busy teaching skills. Yet the research…suggests that [one] group was not only more creative in their… View Post

Fall Fun with leaves

in Education, Play activities, Seasonal play on 10/21/08

In our neighbourhood, while we were out someone came around and heaped the leaves into big piles on our lawn. Seeing all those little hills looked like we’d had an evasion of giant moles. Something drew us to the pile. The kids were soon jumping, throwing and rolling in them. Looking down the street, kids were emerging and doing the… View Post

Playing with keys

in Play activities on 10/17/08

We’ve moved a few times and seem to keep collecting [tag]keys[/tag]. Well I keep collecting keys. I always think it might be important so best to keep it, just in case. So I have a bit of a collection. But if you don’t try asking around. You’d be surprised at how many lonely, lost keys are floating in draws and… View Post

Carnival of Parenting Podcasts No. 17

in Podcast on 10/15/08

Welcome to the 17th edition of Carnival of [tag]Parenting[/tag] Podcasts It’s a place to share and find some new parenting [tag]podcasts[/tag] from the podcaster and recommendations from those who listen to podcasts. Top 10 Send in your favourite podcasts of the fortnight. Yoga Mama Satsangha: Infertility podcast & Blog: episode 51 All about about.com Activated stories: The legend of the… View Post

5 things to take to the playground

in Play activities, Seasonal play on 10/10/08

[tag]Bubbles[/tag] Alternate who has them. When you have them you’ll find other children gravitate towards you and it helps to facilitate [tag]friendships[/tag]. At our local [tag]park[/tag] it’s always a little windy soÂ we get so many more bubbles for little effort- a big bonus for the Middle guy who’s learning to blow. Â Snack + drink Bring something nutritious to keep… View Post

Riveting Reads for boys

in Education, Play activities on 10/07/08

** Don’t forget the celebration contest open until Wednesday 29 Oct 2008. ** Getting [tag]boys[/tag] to stay interested in [tag]reading[/tag] is a common problem as they get older. As a mum , I choose books I think they’ll like. But boys books are just different. I look at my husbands bookshelf and don’t see anything I like so I know… View Post

Carnival of Parenting Podcasts No 16

in Podcast on 09/30/08

Welcome to the 16th edition of Carnival of [tag]Parenting[/tag] Podcasts It’s a place to share and find some new parenting [tag]podcasts[/tag] from the podcaster and recommendations from those who listen to podcasts. Top 10 Send in your favourite podcasts of the fortnight. Parenting Zoo presents Fun and fabulous music for preschoolers posted at ParentingZoo, saying, “Great music for preschoolers and… View Post

Celebration contest

in Uncategorized on 09/29/08

Congratulations Jo In celebration of the birth of my third son in July, [tag]Play Activities[/tag] is offering a [tag]contest[/tag] for the little ones at the fabulous [tag]Arabella Miller[/tag] shop. There are two [tag]prizes[/tag] for two winners Dragonfly long sleeve t-shirt Close Encounters long sleeve t- shirt Rules Contest is open to those in the UK and EU only. Shipping address… View Post

Carnival of Parenting Podcasts No 15

in Play activities, Podcast on 09/16/08

Welcome to the 15th edition of [tag]Carnival of Parenting Podcasts[/tag] Back from the Summer break……… It’s a place to share and find some new parenting [tag]podcasts[/tag] from the podcaster and recommendations from those who listen to podcasts. ..Not sure about Podcasts? Try this ecourse. Top 10 Send in your favourite podcasts of the fortnight. The R3-30 Podcast: Back To School… View Post

Yummy veg garden + announcement

in Play activities, Seasonal play on 09/05/08

Now we’re in September, we’re able to sit back and enjoy the veg [tag]garden[/tag]. It’s our first veg garden and it’s not gone as well as I had hoped but the boys have loved seeing the garden grow. They have watered the garden with the garden hose. The attachment was a lot of fun to turn it and get different… View Post