Hang the
Better Behavior Wheel on your kitchen wall, and the atmosphere
in your home will change overnight. It's guaranteed! Watch the
dramatic changes as homework gets done, clothes get picked up,
arguing stops...in short, the Better Behavior Wheel produces great
kids and a stress free environment!
Get the Wheel!
A Message From Lindsay
Firstly I would like to say a big welcome to all
our new members, and apologise that there has been such a wait between
newsletters! All being well we will be back on a weekly schedule from
now on, and we will be archiving newsletters on the website in the
future so that you can find that particular craft, puzzle or website
that you enjoyed easily again!
Has summer arrived in the UK at last? Kids will be breaking
up for the long summer holidays in a fortnight or so, and once again the schools are
winding down. We will be bringing you lots of good ideas over the next
few weeks to help you keep your kids entertained over the holidays, both from Activity
Village and other sites. You will find links to some recommended sites
in the box on the right side of this page.
Can I just remind everyone to check the blog often
by clicking the "What's New" link on the menu above? We are making a big
effort to keep it updated with the latest additions to the site, as and
when we make them, and also to bring you website recommendations, videos
and reviews from elsewhere. Those of you with a feed
aggregator can subscribe to the RSS feed and be updated quickly and
easily.
What's New At Activity Village?
Canada Day
We've added new coloring pages, Happy Canada Day cards, puzzles and some
really super crafts to the Canada Day pages this week. Canadian visitors
- and anybody else interested in learning a little about Canada - please
take a look!
Patriotic Crafts and Printables
Perfect for Canada Day, July Fourth, the Summer Olympics - or just when
the urge strikes you to be patriotic! We have pulled together our
existing patriotic crafts and are adding new ones all the time,
including these very cute T-shirts modelled by Jack and Sam, Sarah's
boys.
It's almost the end of the school year and you may, like many other
parents, be desperately trying to think of a present for your child's
teacher which will show your appreciation - and be appreciated! We have
lots of ideas for you on our Teacher Appreciation pages, as well as some
fun new thank you cards to print. Teacher Appreciation
Narnia is about to hit our screens again, with the second film, Prince
Caspian, just released. Head on over to our Narnia pages to find
puzzles, printables, craft ideas and lots of ideas for related
activities... Narnia
And don't forget to check out our Summer Olympics pages! We have some
really fun ideas here to get the kids involved and interested, and I
have even more worksheets, crafts and activities (including those great
Olympic biscuits in the photo above) waiting to go up on the site this
weekend or early next week. Summer Olympics
Printable rosettes, badges or medals
Perfect for rewarding children at home or school, these rosettes or
badges come with "Superstar", "World's Best Blank", "Number 1"
and "Blank is a star". Fun, and useful!
This tip comes from Alison in Portsmouth, UK. Thanks Alison!
"Roll your
children's clothes before putting them into drawers, rather than
stacking them in piles. It makes it much easier for kids to recognise
what they have and they much less mess when taking them out and putting
them back! Plus packing is a breeze - just take the rolled articles out
of the draw and stack them into the suitcase."
Do you have any
child-related “Reader Tips” to make life easier for other parents, teachers and
grandparents?
Send them to us (suggestions@...) - and we may publish them in a future edition of
the newsletter.
Have You Seen?
Blowing Bubbles
If the summer has come to your neck of the woods, why not celebrate with
a massive bubble blowing session in the garden! Check out our page just for Bubble Blowing, which
includes a recipe for bubble mixture, ideas for making bubble wands,
other bubbly activities (perfect for the summer) and
bubble blowing links to enjoy. Bubble Blowing
A Giggle!
Children are natural mimics: they act like their parents in spite of
every attempt to teach them good manners. Anonymous
Something To Cook With Your Kids This Weekend..
Jumbles - a delicious, gingery biscuit
which kids will enjoy cooking - and eating!
Something To Think About..
"Always smile back at little children. To ignore them is to destroy their
belief that the world is good." Pam Brown
Those of you who enjoy paper models will go wild
over this site, which is absolutely packed full of wonderful printables,
many educational (and some very difficult). Enough to fill up a year of
rainy days, and use up quite a lot of printer ink too!
http://cp.c-ij.com/english/index.html
Excellent game for 8-12 year olds
http://www.globalgang.org/funandgames/
games/citizenship/game.htm
After a storm, children from around the world and very diverse
backgrounds are lost at sea. Survival skills are needed to get the
‘Global Gang’ home safely. The only way back to land is by completing a
series of tasks, including building a shelter, fishing for food,
collecting water and navigating through dangerous waters. As each child
has special skills which contribute to the team effort, the game
cleverly introduces the concepts of respect and co-operation.
Free printable cards – choose
your design and personalise your greeting before you print or email
these cards for all occasions (includes some new coloring cards which we
particularly like).
https://www.mycardmaker.com/flash.html?
Ideas For Sharing Stories
With Children
This two-part article discusses the ways in which stories and
storytelling play an important role in children's lives. Techniques are
offered for using stories to help develop children's verbal skills and
imaginations. This is part one.
Parenting Discipline - Teaching
Children Self Respect, Self Control and Empathy
For many parents, the words parenting discipline have very negative
connotations. There is the association with their own childhood and the
often unpleasant memories that thinking of discipline raises. Then there
is the association of the word discipline with ideas around corporal
punishment, with spanking, hitting and hurting children.
Who Owns The Problem; Parent or Child?
It is tempting for parents to assume ownership and responsibility for everything that goes on in the life of their child. However, when the parent jumps in too soon to solve the problem or give the answer, the child never learns to trust his own judgment and become a critical thinker.
Parenting - Making A Schedule This article on the benefits of scheduling your day as a parent
really struck home with me. It took me a while to work this out for
myself when I had young children at home, and I wish I had done so - and
benefited from the much calmer household that was the result - sooner!
Being Left Is The Definition Of A Mother
To be a successful mother you must be left. Not left handed, nor to the
left politically, but just left. This necessary abandonment comes in
gradual stages and the steps toward this goal are painful to be sure.
The Uneducated Palate
When did you learn to really enjoy food? How about experiencing taste
and textures? I think children develop a taste for food a lot sooner
than we think.
Ways of Dealing With
Separation Anxiety
All parents will remember how difficult it was to leave their children
when they were young, and some of us had to deal with unhappy children
suffering from separation anxiety, again and again and again! Veronica
shares some tips on how to make the partings easier.
Math Games
for the Active Child
To put it in a nice way, my son is rather squirmy. He doesn't like to
sit still for very long unless he's playing a video game, then it's just
amazing. So instead of constantly telling him to sit down and do his
math, we take it outside or up the stairs, literally...
