Autumn is well and truly with us in the UK. We've been updating our autumn pages with lots of good new ideas, but we have more to come in the next week or so too. Autumn / Fall
Bonfire Night is coming up soon, and you can celebrate it with our growing collection of crafts, recipes and other activities. Bonfire Night
Diwali falls on 9th November this year and we have some wonderful new activities and crafts to help you learn about or enjoy the Hindu festival of lights Diwali for Kids
Thanksgiving is celebrated on 22nd November this year. Head on over to our Thanksgiving pages to find new crafts, origami and printables to enjoy with the children. Thanksgiving for Kids
Are Your Kids Happy?
Are your kids happy?Do they have enough time to do things that they really enjoy? What do they really enjoy doing?
Many of us adults are so busy coping and rushing through our days that we have little time to spend doing the things we really enjoy, and may even have lost touch with what those things are. That burst of happiness and appreciation which we might feel when the sunshine hits our faces in the mornings or our littlest one gives us a cuddle is often lost in the rush to get the kids to school or the threat of another load of laundry waiting on the bathroom floor!
And it is not just adults who find themselves barely coping with daily commitments. Children have increasingly busy school lives, more and more homework, frequent tests and exams, and even an overdose of after-school clubs and activities for which we sign them up in the belief that we should give them every opportunity we can. Kids can go from one extreme to the other: from mad rush during term times to absolute inactivity during the school holidays. They look to other people - most often you - to provide them with something to do, and depend on other people or extreme "busy-ness" to keep them happy.
Perhaps it is time to stop and think about
how we can incorporate more "happiness" into our everyday, family, lives. I
an effort to do just this, I sat
down with my children last weekend and asked them to brainstorm a list of things which really make them happy. I wrote my own list at the same time, and prompted them a bit to get them going. Now, to be honest, I didn't get a lot out of my teenage boy, but at least I got him thinking! My daughter came up with a list of 30, including such gems as "watching Daddy snoring" and "waking up and remembering that it is Saturday". She also put 3 or 4 things on the list that I would never have thought of and which I can easily include more in our days, such as gardening and shooting hoops! We all agreed that we love going to the seaside, listening to a good story on car journeys, and having friends around.
This little exercise proved so worthwhile that we are keeping our lists displayed on a board in the kitchen, and adding to them when we think of something else that makes up happy. The short term benefit is that we have all been able to make small changes to bring more enjoyable activities into our days, and my husband and I can ensure that everybody's favourite activities are included when we plan what to do as a family. Longer term, I hope that we will all remember to appreciate the little moments of happiness that each day brings, and to realise that there are many, many opportunities to feel happy as we go through our everyday lives.
Until next week,
Lindsay
Squabbling Siblings? Chores not getting done? If you are finding it difficult to put your children to bed at night, or suffering from squabbling sibling syndrome, have a look at the Better Behavior Wheel. Just hanging it in your kitchen (or installing the software version on your computer) can be enough to encourage kids to behave better. Every family should have a Better Behavior Wheel!
Something To Think About...
"It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself."
This is a cute website for younger children - read and have fun with
Sebastian Swan.
I came across this website when we were having some anger management issues
at home. There are lots of really
useful articles for both adults and children as well as some
on-line games and activities.
This on-line book provides an excellent
look at color, very clear and easy to understand with lovely
graphics.
Check out
the links here for an amazing collection of games and activities for
learning the
alphabet.
