If your kids spend much of their time cooped up indoors, you may be worried about nature-deficit disorder (NDD), a term that describes the physical, mental, and emotional effects of spending too little time in nature. To assist you in getting your children outside and teaching them to appreciate the great outdoors, we’ve put together the following list of backyard activities and nature-based outings for families. NannySavvy invites you to read on to get started!
Unique Strategies for Getting Your Kids Outside
These days, it can be tough to pry those kids away from the television or iPad, but don’t worry. Here are lots of things you can try.
If your little one has a fondness for bugs, or you want to prevent them from developing an irrational fear of insects, Fatherly suggests you try sending them on a backyard bug hunt. And if they’re really ambitious, you could even challenge your little nature-lover to build a backyard bug hotel!
There you have it: a variety of family-friendly activities to get you and your kids outdoors and exploring the natural world around you. Whether you build an outdoor basketball court or go mountain biking as a family, you’ll be exposing your children to the great outdoors while protecting them — and yourself — from nature-deficit disorder.
Summer is a great time to plan new activities with your children. With schools off, children have plenty of time for fun and learning activities that you can do together. You can choose from a plethora of activities that are fun for the whole family. Summer can also be a great time to engage in productive activities for a child’s personality development. Such activities are crucial to develop your child’s confidence, communication skills, and most importantly, to help parents understand their child’s dominant personality traits.
Personality development activities are great for parents and children to know each other better and bond with one another. This bonding can be essential for raising your child better while engaging your child in productive activities that don’t rely on technology. So go ahead and try the activities listed below to develop your child’s social and personality skills over the summer break –
Get Artsy
Art is a beautiful form of expression that brings out the creativity in children. Asking your child to draw something that gives them joy or something they fear can give you insights into their creativity. Art is also an excellent way to stimulate your child’s imagination. Children who speak less find it easier to express their thoughts through art, and in turn, it can help you understand your child better. Art is a crucial part of personality development for children.
It may sound simple, but reading with your child from a young age can contribute significantly to your child’s personality development. Reading at bedtime can be a routine activity, but you can find more time to read with children in the summers. Experiment with new kinds of books that your child has never read before. New books can give your child food for thought and enhance their thinking. Introduce new concepts through storybooks and discuss them with your child. Reading for kids helps them develop a reading habit for life, builds vocabulary, and improves communication skills.
Play pretend with your child as they are the star of the show on a stage, while you and the other family members are the audiences. Give your child a mic to play with or to sing into. A lot of children get stage fright just because they have never seen a mic before. Such activities will help your children overcome stage fright and encourage them to participate in school-stage activities.
Find new games that are not only fun but also help your child learn in the process. There are many games such as puzzles, quiz games, and word games like scrabble that the whole family can play together. Such games help in stimulating your child’s thinking and enhance their problem-solving abilities. If your child needs more practice in a particular subject, pick games that allow children to practice skills in that area, such as math games or science experiments.
Maintaining a journal is an excellent habit for everyone to sort their thoughts and introspect. Start this habit early by encouraging your child to write a journal describing their day. Encourage them to write about anything new that they did or anything memorable. Journaling can help your child express thoughts that they are unable to say aloud and develop their writing skills. Writing a diary can also be an excellent way for children to unwind at the end of the day.
Personality development for children is not a goal that can be attained overnight. Parents need to make continuous efforts throughout the child’s schooling years to help them attain the skills they need to become responsible adults. Summer is a great time to focus on other aspects of your child’s learning that are not taught in a classroom. Whatever activity you choose, think about how it can be productive and fun for your children.
Every child is different, and you may need to come up with new ideas that suit your child’s interests. Make sure to try some of the activities listed above and see the results.
Imagination and kids go hand-in-hand. And when it’s playtime, a kids playroom should be filled with toys that spark their imagination and creativity. Whether that’s with a kitchen playset for a child that loves the idea of being a chef or a table for all sorts of arts and crafts, the options are endless. If you’re looking for a way to highlight your child’s creative mind in your home, look no further than these 21 kids’ playroom decor ideas.
Whether you’re living in Vancouver, CA or in Charlotte, NC incorporating any of these inspiring kids’ playroom decor ideas will make your home a more imaginative place for you and your child.
Kids playroom decor ideas should embrace creativity. I love having a space carved out for my children to get creative. A kid-sized table for crafting and art is a must. I think it is important to keep paper, crayons and playdough within their reach so they can feel empowered to create when they want to. – Rosemary Pritchard, Hopscotch City
Include a space that encourages children to be imaginative. An art table is a great way to encourage this creativity. Start with a child sized table and chairs and add paper, construction paper, crayons, washable markers, water color paints, stickers, washable scented stamp pads and stamps, glue sticks and scissors. These items will encourage your child to use their imagination to create beautiful pieces of art. – Kid City USA
Set up an area for art and let that be messy. A low sink in the playroom will help them with independence. Learning how to wash their hands/materials after working with clay/paints will also give them plenty of sensorial stimulation. A magnetic wall/chalk paint on a wall adds lots of excitement to a playroom. Remember, play is their work. Instead of fixating on “educational” materials choose things that keep them engaged. – Szilvi Kovacs, Director of Kids Collective Preschool
Create small play zones in different areas of the room, and in those areas, only have one type of activity to help the kids focus. Rotate the activities periodically and to make toy rotation easy for you, store the activities by type in large ziplocks or stackable shoe bins. Activity planning then becomes easy and you don’t have to spend the time and energy thinking about the setup. – Myra Epp, Tetrachrome Design, LLC
Have ways for kids to get their energy out. Get those wiggles out! Incorporate items like a toddler trampoline, Nugget play couch, and wood climber that take the place of small toys and get all that toddler energy out. – Kyle and Kim Griffiths, State of Play Kids
Set your playroom up to grow with your child, and make age appropriate toys available within their reach so that they can have the opportunity to play independently while you take a moment to yourself. Some of my favorite things that I keep within reach of my toddler include her bag of musical instruments, shape puzzles, legos, paper and crayons, coloring books and books. Things I keep out of reach include Play-Doh, markers, paint and arts and crafts supplies. The playroom will get messy and I’ve learned to just embrace the chaos… but I don’t need googly eyes or beads all over the house. – Erica Brennes, Real Mom Real Tired
Create a hideaway underneath the stairs. We created a secret hideout by adding some fun festive lights and shelves to the nook area under the stairs. It is a great area to build towering block castles, do puzzles, and experiment with science kits. A monthly subscription to our toy rental service keeps your hideout freshly stocked and clutter free. – Green Piñata Toys
You can make space in your family room. Use low level storage at child height with baskets which fit in with your decor. The key here is to have a place for everything and everything in its place and for the children to be able to access the toys easily for play and for tidying up. Once they are in bed, adults get to enjoy their space with no mess in sight. Children like a low table so your coffee table can do double duty while a floor matt gives versatility. I would make sure to include construction toys, small world toys, drawing supplies and books in the designated area and then swap them out for others to keep their interest. – Dominique Lyons, Founder of Kids Rule Interiors
Create a cozy corner for reading and relaxing. Children love to read books. Create a cozy reading corner by mounting spice racks as bookshelves in a height your kids can reach. Place a comfy mattress on the floor, or even better, a stylish little sofa for “hygge” time. – Leander
Select the right toys and neutral-colored storage. If you’re like us and your playroom is in the same space as your open-concept living room, my biggest tip is to be selective with the toys you have and the storage you have so your living room doesn’t feel overrun by toys. For us, we prefer minimal and/or wood toys over plastic toys, and, rather than plastic tubs in primary colors for storage, we collect toys into large, oversized neutral canvas baskets to group similar items like blocks, Duplo legos, and Magnatiles. – Hunter Rohwer
The less toys, the better the playroom. A playroom that has too many toys can overwhelm a child. Research tells us that less toys leads to more creativity and ultimately happier, more engaged play. You’ll never go wrong with a neutral colored playroom with a carefully selected rotation of toys that encourage a child to use their imaginations. – Jackie Ciaramella, Whole 9 Family
Your space should be clear and clutter-free. Having a space cleared of extra knick-knacks allows for better creative thought. De-clutter by storing and cycling toys seasonally throughout the year. Bring warm season toys out as it warms up; bubbles, jump rope, sidewalk chalk. Bring cool season toys out as it gets chilly; puzzles, books, games. Stage toys to make them inviting and engaging for children to play. Don’t just throw the baby doll and her blanket into a toy box, prop the baby up in her doll house and set the blanket and bottle next to her. – Rebecca Calbert NCARB, LEED AP, Childcare Design Studio and Calbert Design Group
Make sure toys are visible and labeled. If they can’t see their toys, they won’t play with them. Instead of toy boxes, invest in clear, high-quality plastic shoe storage boxes. Label them for easy sorting and clean-up. – Pilar Bewley, Mainly Montessori
Toy rotation is key. The best advice I have for keeping your playroom organized and your children engaged while playing is… toy rotation. When all the toys are out and available, they often get mixed up, scattered across the floor, and the mess can be overwhelming for both parent and child. Categorize your toys (ex: puzzles, play figures), keep one item in each category on a shelf in your playroom, put the rest of the toys in boxes and store somewhere out of sight, rotate the toys weekly. – Shara Challa Arora, Executive Director of Sugar Mill and Meadow Montessori Schools
Include a closet space to keep the majority of toys and activities packed away and out of sight. Keep a limited number of toys out for play, rotating the options on a regular basis. Children will engage better with their toys when there are fewer options, plus old toys seem new again when they have been hidden a while and they will be excited to see. – Nanny Savvy
Label storage with pictures and words. When using storage bins, take photos of the contents and label with both the picture and the words. Not only does this help keep toys organized, it promotes literacy skills as children connect the written words to the image. Don’t forget to make books easily accessible. – Stacey Grumet, Founder & CEO of Paper Pinecone
Stock your child’s playroom with open-ended, age-appropriate materials. These would be any toys and supplies that have more than one possible use. Materials like wooden blocks, art supplies like play dough, and even things from nature like sand, water, rocks or sticks encourage creativity, experimentation, trial and error, problem solving and critical thinking. – Lauren Besack, Ducklings Early Learning Franchise Director of Curriculum Development
Accessibility is key for a playroom for kids that inspires independent play (every parent’s dream). Low shelves with open bins are a must. It also helps to keep the shelves organized and as clutter-free as possible. Too many toys can be overwhelming and make it difficult for a child to find something to do. I recommend keeping the bulk of your toys in a closet and to rotate what’s available on the shelves every few weeks to keep kids interested and avoid toys getting “old.” – Amanda Armbruster, Take a Break Tots, LLC
Highlight toys to spark creativity. My number one tip is to stage and style toys in a way which invites children to jump in and play instead of hiding everything away. – Lindsay Pavlick, The Well Styled Child
Everything should have its place. Make sure everything has a home and make sure that home is labeled. I like using pictures for labels on containers to allow even very young children to know where each toy lives. – Jessica Wade, The Wiggle Room
It’s no secret that winter is long, cold, and dark. So long that you may be feeling a bit at your wits end with all of the cabin fever and are desperate for something to do with your kids.
According to Baby Steps, Compulsively active kids need a lot of energy burned off. Sometimes it’s just too hot, too rainy, or too cold for outdoor activities. What do hyperactive children do when they’re stuck inside? Well, sit in front of the television all day? We’ll show you an array of indoor activities to keep your child entertained!
Kids can have a lot of energy and may find sitting still problematic and frustrating. A way to help release that built-up energy is to play dress-up. Here are some ideas for playing dress-up with kids:
Put some clothes on the floor or a chair, close your eyes and then tell the kids to get dressed. When they are dressed, open your eyes and guess who is who. Sometimes you can get them to do funny poses for their photos.
Get the kids to dress up as their favorite storybook character – with lots of accessories! Then act out the story.
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It is not only a fun way for your kids to get some exercise doing something that’s all about touching and moving their fingers, but it can also be an excellent way for you to teach them about their body parts – like the hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders they use when creating these prints.
You’ll need:
Printable hand-print art template
Construction paper in various colors, or plain white paper for painting later on.
Sharpie for writing on the hand-print template
Glue sticks
Scissors, sharp ones – just in case you have a craving to be a surgeon. They’re also helpful in cutting out letters, numbers, or shapes.
Construction paper in various colors, or plain white paper for painting later on. Sharpie for writing on the hand-print template Glue sticks Scissors, sharp ones – just if you have a craving to be a surgeon. They’re also helpful in cutting out letters, numbers, or shapes. How to make hand-print art:
Get your kids in a comfortable position and have them place their hands on the construction paper as you see pictured above. If they are four years old or younger, it’s best to have an adult do this with them – if they are over four, you can let them do it independently. Have the kids trace around their hands with a dark black Sharpie marker.
Then have them trace over the outline of their hand to make a printable hand-print – follow the directions on the hand-print template and try to make their print as large as you can. It is a good time for you to talk with your child about all of the different parts of their body involved in making this print (the hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, etc.) Encourage them to join the folds of their hand with the folds in the paper – this is called “blending” and makes a more fine print.
Once your kids are happy making prints, have them go over to their art table, and you can have them paint over their hand-prints. It will give them a chance to feel what it’s like to use different colors and glues.
3. Make an indoor path w/ foam blocks
You will need duct tape, which you can use to stick the foam blocks together, creating a big path. You could also use paint and stencils to decorate the track making it even more fun. Please make sure you get different colors for the blocks so that they can tell who they are when they’re finished.
The next step is to lay the path wherever you want it but make sure it’s in a flat place. We used the kitchen floor because it was easy to clean and got rid of all extra tapes. It was a bit messy, but it was worth it!
Now your path is ready! You can stand in front of it and let everyone walk around it, or you could make it bigger by adding more blocks.
It’s a bit cold outside to be building forts, but you can make the insides of your house the perfect setting for creative play.
For a musical fort, cut holes in the walls and windows of your bedroom or living room, then cover them with blankets, couch cushions, and pillows. When your child is in the fort, they can pretend they’re conducting an orchestra. For a blanket fort, place sheets over couches and blankets on tables to make a tent underneath.
As you’re making these forts, invite your child to create their imaginary worlds and characters. By making different worlds, it gives them a chance to use their imaginations.
5. Create a family tree
Every family has a different story, and when you create a family tree with your kids, you can explore all the branches that make up your family’s tree. You may think this is something only adults want to do, but nothing could be further from the truth. Besides learning about where they came from, kids enjoy researching what their grandparents did before they were born and seeing how their lives are intertwined. So, why not begin the activity by starting your family tree that will turn into an album as your family continues to grow.
There is nothing more impressive than making your kids feel connected to all their ancestors; you can have them research information about where they live and who their ancestors are. When researching, children can read books, listen to CDs, and even YouTube videos on this subject. And when they are ready for a genealogy lesson, the Internet offers up endless information for free about origins.
Advantages of Keeping Your Child Entertained at Home?
There comes a time in every child’s life where they are bored. It is a usual part of growing up, but parents shouldn’t let their children suffer from boredom. Engaging your child in an entertaining activity can help you spend quality time with them, help them learn new skills, and even bond with them.
Children can get bored quickly, and parents don’t want them to go off the deep end with their boredom. If you feel your child slowly loses interest because of boredom, try to find a way to entertain them for a while. You can play educational games, read an exciting book or even have them watch an entertaining movie.
Children may also get bored because of too much TV. While there are some great advantages of having a TV in your home, it can be more beneficial to have television out of reach. You don’t want to cut them off from the world completely, but you don’t like to offer up more screen time either.
You can teach your children creative skills while you entertain them with games and activities that they will enjoy.
Not every kid is interested in playing an educational game with you, so there are some ways to pull them into learning. Please make it a competition between children and the consequences of losing can be something fun. You can play games like matching memory games or memory races. Even simple card games are fun because they teach children to be competitive and learn how to win and lose. You can also involve your child in more physical activities when they are bored.
As you can see, there are a lot of creative and fun things you can do with your kids indoors. Give them a chance to explore their imaginations and learn about different things that they never knew before. Let each of the activities run smoothly, and make sure you keep their attention. If your kids are having a good time, it’s easier for them to learn and grasp new concepts. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to make sure they are safe and entertained while teaching them.
These ideas are just a tiny sample of what you can do indoors with kids this month. The possibilities for your kids indoors are endless; they don’t have to play inside just because it’s cold outside.
Now, I’d love to hear from you! If you have additional suggestions for hyperactive kids’ indoor activities, leave a comment below or send me a message at brigid@nannysavvy.com.
Celebrating a birthday at home can be a dream come true or a major let down. For most kids, an at-home birthday may seem boring, but with the right themes, decorations, and activities planned, you can create an at-home birthday experience your child will love and cherish for years to come!
Start the Parade!
If you’re stuck at home for your child’s birthday party, raising a rally and getting friends and neighbors involved will make your child feel special and really show just how much they are loved.
Crafting
If your child leans toward the artistic side of things, a craft party is a great way to let their creativity flow and get the fun going! Try making custom frames with their names on them, or provide decorations of their favorite show or animal.
Book/Journal Exchange
This is a great idea for kids with a love for reading! Your little bookworm will love a journal or book to read. Plus, it’s easy to get other kids involved! Have friends write short stories or do drawings that they want to share, so your child will always have something to remember this special birthday party by.
Scavenger Hunt
For the adventurer! A scavenger hunt is a fun, easy, and creative way to get the kids involved and working together. Whether it’s in your house or outside, a scavenger hunt is the perfect way to celebrate a birthday at home. The kids will entertain themselves, and you’ll have time to relax…but it’s more likely that you’ll have time to clean up after cake!
Camping in the Backyard
When nature calls, you answer! A backyard camping trip is a cheap and safer alternative to going into the woods for camping. A small backyard tent, a bonfire, and some s’mores are all you need to make this birthday a hit with your child!
Video Game Party
If your kid is hooked to the TV and loves gaming, give them exactly what they want–but just for today! A video game party is something kids can lose themselves in and do for hours. Plus, you may even have the opportunity to show them some classics like Super Mario Smash Bros and Sonic.
Bake Off
On your mark, get set, bake! Whether your child is ready for a real oven or still on the easy-bake, a bake-off is great for the baker at heart. All you need is some cake mix, frosting, and sprinkles. The kids will be able to go for hours and show off their skills all while learning something new! Plus, you won’t have to worry about dessert…well, maybe have some backups just in case.
Building Party
This one may be better suited for the older kids, but a building-themed celebration will give you and your child an experience you can enjoy together. Building a custom chair or even a simple table is a bonding experience you both will cherish, all while helping you and your child learn something new.
Spa Night
Sit back and relax! A spa night is an ideal way to spend a birthday, right? Even for kids, relaxation is a crucial part of the day. This is an easy and fun way to celebrate any child’s birthday and will leave them feeling like a pampered princess or prince. All you need is some nail polish, lotion, and cucumbers to turn your home into a place of rest and relaxation.
Fashion Show
Strike a pose! This is for the fashionista in your life. Set a runway, get some lights, and don’t be afraid to accessorize! Boas, gloves, tiaras, sunglasses, and jewelry are just some of the things you can get to help your child be the style icon you know they are!
Don’t let your home limit you–a birthday is special no matter where you celebrate it. Just remember that a birthday party is supposed to be fun and the gifts aren’t nearly as important as the memories.
NannySavvy 