The Wonder of Make-Believe

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For parents who have jobs, grown-up friends, and adult interests, it can be hard to step into the shoes of our children. But if we want them to get the most out of their lives, step into their boots we must.

Over the years, researchers have spent a lot of time thinking about why children engage in make-believe, and the benefits they may derive from it. As science has progressed, it’s become clear that make-believe is a lot more complicated than first imagined. It is now thought that make-believe is an essential tool that children use to prepare themselves for experiences that they have not yet had. As a result, it can be a great way to supercharge their development. So what do you need to know as a parent?

Use The Right Props

Let’s say that you want your child to start becoming more independent when it comes to food. Investing in a wooden play kitchen would be a great way to get them used to the idea of actually making their food. Sure, it wouldn’t be the real thing. But unlike in a real kitchen, your child would have far more freedom to explore the world of food in a safe and controlled way. You could even get them to pretend to follow a recipe and serve it up to friends (or teddy bears).

Of course, you don’t just have to focus on cookery. There are all sorts of different concepts you could explore, from going to work to building a castle.

Get Them To Build Something

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It doesn’t matter what your child builds: a fort, a rocket, a treehouse - they all engage the creative and spatial areas of the brain. So as a parent, it’s a good idea to provide the raw material they need. Although it might sound expensive, building things like forts and rockets can be very cheap, often using stuff you already have or were going to throw out. Old boxes, plastic bottles, cushions, and so on can get them started and making something exciting. You’ll often find that once you’ve provided the raw materials and prepared yourself for the mess, the kids will use their imagination and get on with things themselves.

Put On A Show

It’s a myth to think that it’s only kids who play make-believe. Adults, of course, do it too in film, art, and music.

One way to get kids started, according to Care, is to get them to put on a show. Rather than coming up with ideas on the spot, which can be a little haphazard, creating their shows allows children to plan ahead. They can come up with plot twists, characters and exciting storylines that the people watching will love. It can be something as simple as a 5-minute puppet show or a quick sketch with a sibling.

As a parent, you can also help get into the world of make-believe through role play. Your child can then explore you as a different character. Perhaps you could be a busy firefighter, a troll under a bridge, or a scarecrow. You might want to skip accountant though.

Misawa Air Base

**Collaborative Post**

Living Arrows 2018 41/53

Welcome back to another week of Living Arrows hosted by Donna over at What The Redhead Said. If you are new to this then the name of the linky comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth"

It's been another busy week getting ready for our holiday! James has had a great week at school and is getting so excited about our upcoming trip! On Saturday we went to a BBQ at James Beavers Scout Hut! The boys had a brilliant running around and James loved showing daddy and Freddie where he comes for Beavers. Mummy has actually already got Freddie's name down for Beavers!

Freddie had a great week at playgroup again! He loves going for his two sessions a week! I am wondering how he is going to react in January when he goes in for more as once he turns three he gets his funded 15 hours. So we have decided for him to do one full day and three half days as a morning session and two afternoons! On Monday Freddie had actually got up for the day at 5am do he ended up crashing out on the sofa for an hour!

The boys have decided or should that be James has decided he wants to share a room with Freddie so once we are back from holiday we are going to start putting the plans into motion to redo James bedroom and make it into a room for both of them, starting with getting them bunk beds!

Supporting Creativity in Your Kids

Supporting Creativity in Your Kids

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Children are naturally creative from a young age, and if you nurture that creativity as they grow it will get even better. Their imaginations are far superior to ours, and a recent study showed that this helps them to cope with pain and stress. Creativity can make them more confident, become socially adept and make learning easier.

Give Them Space

Find a space in your home for them to be creative. It does not need to be a large space or a special room. The corner of their bedroom or the living room could be ideal. Just make sure they have things they can be creative with. Dressing up clothes, a bag of Lego, plenty of crayons, pencils and paper are a good start. The important factor is that it is their space and they feel free to do whatever they want in it.

It should be a simple area. It does not need to have a lot of expensive toys and gadgets. The coolest kids bedroom furniture; the kind of furniture that allows them to explore and imagine, such as beds that are pirate ships or which have slides to come down from in the morning,  can make the difference between your child being creative or not. It gives them more to think about and they will enjoy creative play far more with it in place.

Give Them Time

It’s great them having the space they need but they also need the time to use it. Don’t organise every minute of their day. Let them have a few hours without scheduled activities so they can potter and do things at their own pace.

Unless they ask for your help, leave them to do their own thing. Managing them takes away the need for them to be creative themselves.

Show Them The World

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The best places to take your kids to activate their senses are places like art galleries, museums, libraries and outdoors. This does not mean that they should never go to theme parks and have fun, it is just that at some point they should visit these other places as well.

Apart from encouraging their creativity, these sorts of venues can also be educational.

Help Them Pursue Their Passions

If your child becomes interested in a particular subject, make sure they have the materials and activities to help them. A child interested in art, for example, you could buy an easel and varying sorts of paints for. If their love is motorcars, you could buy them books about them and let them watch some of the programs on TV or Youtube that are car related. Some children become interested in subjects that you may know very little about, and then they may need help from other people to be able to progress with them.

Be Creative Yourself

Kids learn by example, and if you are creative your children are more likely to be. Join in with colouring and drawing from when they are young, you might actually find you enjoy it. Many parents do which is why there are so many adult colouring books available. If they want you to dress up with them, play the part they want. You may be surprised at the fun you have and certainly, it is a great bonding exercise for the whole family.

**Collaborative Post**

Living Arrows 2018 40/53

Welcome back to another week of Living Arrows hosted by Donna over at What The Redhead Said. If you are new to this then the name of the linky comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth"

Our Holiday is getting even closer and we cannot wait! Mummy and Daddy did the majority of the packing last weekend while James and Freddie went to spend some time with Nana and Gaga for the weekend. 

James is getting along with his glasses really well! So far we have only forgotten to take them to school once, So mummy had to run home and collect them and take them back to the Key Stage One door where James TA met me to take them up to his class room!

James had his beavers meeting on Thursday night which he loves! I'm so glad he is enjoying Beavers as it is something for him to do outside of school and make friends that he does not go to school with!

Freddie is still loving playgroup! He is such a good boy for them, although he is such a monkey at home! He has taken to pouring his water all over himself meaning he is going through at least two or sometimes three sets of clothes a day!! He also likes launching his dry cereal across the room so mummy and daddy are doing a lot of hoovering!

Before we took James into school on Friday, we had to pop into playgroup for the photo day! I took James with me to see if we could get a nice photo of the boys together! It was actually a no go as Freddie would not sit down!

After mummy dropped James off at school on Friday she popped into the school hall for the Macmillan coffee morning. Although this year poor Freddie could not have any of the cakes due to his dairy intolerance. He was pretty grumpy about that! But mummy made sure she had some of his dairy free snacks with her!!

Nana and Gaga came down in the afternoon and collected the boys before taking them up to their house for the weekend!

What I'm Packing For Freddie

So in a few weeks time we are off on our first family holiday and I am so excited! I have been buying and putting things away for this trip for months and its finally time to pack the case for the boys! 

The best way I find when packing for any trip for the boys is using Ziploc bags and putting stuff together ie day time outfit including a pull up and socks in one bag and same for evening in a separate bag. I find doing this it takes up less room in the case. I am also then going to put the boys stuff into separate packing cubes to keep their things separate. 

So for Freddie I am packing eight day time t shirts - we are away for 7 nights but will arrive at the resort around midday on the Monday and leave mid-morning the following Monday so I will be changing Freddie out of his traveling clothes once we have arrived at the hotel!

Then we have two pairs of swim shorts and his swim jacket. We have six pairs of shorts for wearing during the day and four pairs of shorts for evening. We then have seven smarter tops for wearing on an evening. 

We also have his Paw Patrol poncho and a big beach towel packed for Freddie as well!.

Shoe wise freddie will be traveling in his primark trainers, but we will also pack his sandals and also his doodles.

For his nappies we have 21 nappies that he wears over night, Two packets of swim nappies and 10 pairs of pull ups. We have ordered the rest of his pull ups and extra swim nappies from Boots and will collect them once we are air side at Newcastle airport! 

His changing bag will also be fully stocked and packed into the boys case. The bag that goes under the pushchair which contains our SnoozeShade, some carrier bags and our first aid kit will also be in here.

What am I Packing for James!

So we are finally off on our first long awaited family holiday very soon and I am so excited! I have been buying and putting things away for this trip since we booked it in November last year and its finally time to pack the case for the boys! 

The best way I find when packing any time the boys go anywhere is to use ziploc bags. This means putting stuff together ie day time outfit including pants and socks in one bag and same for evening in a separate bag. I find doing this it takes up less room in the case. I am then going to put the boys stuff into separate packing cubes to keep their things separate.

I am packing eight day time t shirts, even though we are away for seven nights we will arrive at the resort around midday on the Monday and leave early the following Monday morning so I will be getting James to change out of his traveling clothes once we arrive at the hotel, especially as he will have been in these clothes from around 2am!

James has two pairs of swim shorts and his swim jacket. We have two pairs of shorts for wearing during the day and four pairs of shorts for evening. We then have seven smarter tops for wearing on an evening for when we go for dinner and probably a walk around the resort. We will probably try to watch the hotel entertainment on a night as well especially as there is a mini disco every night! I'm hoping this will tire the boys out so they will sleep!

Shoe wise James has his leather trainers which he will be traveling in, a pair of cheaper trainers for wearing during the day and also a pair of sandals for around the pool. 

James also has his Spiderman poncho and a big beach towel packed. There will also be an extra set of inhalers in his case. 

I think that is everything we need for James! If we do need anything else then there are shops in Majorca!

Living Arrows 2018 39/53

Welcome back to another week of Living Arrows hosted by Donna over at What The Redhead Said. If you are new to this then the name of the linky comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth"

This week Freddie and James have been pretty busy with school and playgroup. 
James has had his second lot of spellings to learn at school and we also collected his glasses on xxx. I'm hoping these glasses will help James to improve his reading and writing. He has been so stubborn towards his homework, reading and spellings this last couple of weeks but I think it's down to not being able to see them properly. 

He was also made up to come home with Star of the Week! He got given a sticker in assembly and then a certificate was posted home, which mummy proudly put up on the kitchen wall!

James also had a science day at school last week and they all made slime/gloop aka cornflour and water with food colouring! He was also talking about seeing a giant tortoise in school too!

On Wednesday James had a forest school session and parents were invited in to join the fun! Mummy had a brilliant time with James making a kite, a dream catcher and also a hedgehog out of a pear and sticks! 

Freddie has been quite grumpy and waking up at silly am in the morning. He has cried at playgroup drop off again but been full of smiles at pick up. He is not seeing the dietitian for his intolerances till November and mummy is finding it tricky as he keeps having reactions with a bad tummy from either hidden dairy or hidden soya. We didn't realise that most bread companies actually use soya flour, so the poor thing has been having toast most days!.